How did D&D survive its early years?

[Ulrick]

I just created a 1st level Thief using the Basic D&D rules from 1981. I used the straight up rules, no variations.

It took less than ten minutes.


His stats are:
Str: 10
Int: 8
Wis: 11
Dex: 14
Con: 8
Chr: 18!!!

hp: 1

Thieves have a d4 for hit dice. I rolled a "2" and because of my constitution, it went down to "1."

I can see why people back then didn't get too attached to their characters...

 

[mistergone]

I started playing D&D even before I had any of the rulebooks. This was around '76 or so. Me and a friend would just make stuff up and roll a die or two to see if our character succeeded. Evetually, I got the D&D Coloring Book, that had a game in the middle, and played that. When I finally got the Basic Rules, I felt I was already a veteran. I guess when I DMed I fudged a lot and let players survive more often. It was fun. It was all we had. And we liked it.

 

[hellbender]

I just created a 1st level Thief using the Basic D&D rules from 1981. I used the straight up rules, no variations.

It took less than ten minutes.


His stats are:
Str: 10
Int: 8
Wis: 11
Dex: 14
Con: 8
Chr: 18!!!

hp: 1

Thieves have a d4 for hit dice. I rolled a "2" and because of my constitution, it went down to "1."

I can see why people back then didn't get too attached to their characters...

However, it was, in my opinion, a more realistic way of creating a character. I would allow a person to move statistics around (well, I do this when people play) after rolling to put them wherever they wish to allow someone to create the race/class they want to. I admit I allow people to get the basics nowadays to make a character they will be happy with to start, all within reason and the scope of the game. The old way is more realistic in that we don't even get to choose being born into this world [religious beliefs notwithstanding] any more than we choose our own natural abilities that we can hone with personal experience.


hellbender

 

[Thresher]

Step 1
Give PC a name, sex, race, class and some physical features.
Step 2
Roll dice, get excited when you get an 18, cry when you get a 5 and squish them in to make up class pre-reqs.
Roll hps, cry a bit.
Step3
The bit that takes the longest, usually on a seperate bit of paper so you can reuse it- equipment list
Step 4
Get lumped into a party.
Step 5
Adventure,get dead, some live, sometimes get a TPK.
"will monsters get xp if we run?"
Step 5A- Alive: Keep hacking
Step 5B- Dead: Characters Brother/Sister turns up, recycle equipment list, scrub out name at top and put new one in.
Step 6
3rd Level- You are hardcore, goblins arent as scary anymore. Do up a bit of history of character background.
"Morpheus...could this be the one?"
Step 7
Meet orcs, find out you aint the one and re-roll, cry a bit. Hope surviving PC's will give you your old char's stuff 'cause equipment sheets take ages to re-do.

There was a few other things we used to do, like living up to Constitiion score in rounds after goind under 0hps, sometimes when you wanted PC's to last we'd start them off on 3rd level.
Apart from that it was still fun, I mean if people got seriously cut-up over losing a character in 1E-2E then they probably took the game too seriously and where some kind of twit. I mean, you played with dice, you take the chances fate deals you even though sometimes it wasnt fair.
People protected clerics back then too
(Instead of hiding behind them )

It was fun regardless of any perceived failings. I mean, sh*t if you cant take a joke then dont play

 

[WSmith]

This is a great thread.

Characters survived by teamwork. If you could use the fighters and thieves to help your magic user get past the first few levels, you had a nice ally.

The game survived cause it was fun. I won't paint a pretty picture and say the rules were perfect. There were tons of headspinners. But, the beauty was it never seemed to matter. Just play and let the DM run the game.

 

[Remathilis]

As a player and DM, I ran Basic (Cyclopedia), 2e, and 3e. (I missed 1e). This is my take.

Magic Users: Most of the M-U I saw either carried lots of flaming oil and slings, or were multi-classed or elves. (slightly better hp, casting in armor, the latter gone in 2e.) Lastly, mages were patient. They were either cowards, XP sponges, or excellent manipulators and negociators. Then, when they had absorbed enough XP and magic from the rest of the team, they became true power houses.

We always have used max hp at first level. I know its a houserule, but we decided that upon first character roll up. And you could survive you con in rounds after 0 hp, as an optional rule in Basic D&D.

The first time I played a thief was in 2e, where racial, dex, and armor all adjusted thief skills and you could devide 60 points among them. I always went with OL/FRT/MS/HS/DN as my combo, ingoring the others. I would guess not alot of old Modules had fatal traps at first level, but I'm sure there are execptions to that!

Most of the poisons I saw were just damage (1d6, ect). I personally never saw a save or die poison until around 6th level.

Old D&D (basic, original, 1e and early 2e) assumed that there would be large parties of multiple classes, some great magic at first level (+1 swords were common), and lots of fatalities. Remember, the game came from WAR GAME roots, and these notions were commonplace. Great role-playing of a particular character would develop later, and the rules would (try) to play catch up.

 

[megamania]

High mortality rate was accepted then.

Think of it this way, it would not be very easy for the Army to defeat an elder Crimson Dragon using the technology of the mid-70's.

As said above, you had to use wits and rely on each other more then.

 

[hellbender]

This is a great thread.

Characters survived by teamwork. If you could use the fighters and thieves to help your magic user get past the first few levels, you had a nice ally.

The game survived cause it was fun. I won't paint a pretty picture and say the rules were perfect. There were tons of headspinners. But, the beauty was it never seemed to matter. Just play and let the DM run the game.

I couldn't agree with this post more. I am not going to slam any edition of the game, I still play 1e and run 3e (and Judge Dredd, imagine that!), and each edition had its plusses and minuses. If anything, the games are a sign of the times. The world back then was a bit more dangerous than it is now in many ways, and people had to stick together more than they do. Progress? Maybe to some.


hellbender

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I ran a number of campaigns back in the day where characters started at first and made it up to the mid-high (about 7th!) levels before we'd restart.

'Course, they were less campaigns as we'd consider them today, and more a series of one-shot modules run with the same characters. We spent a lot less time worrying about "character development" and more time overcoming traps, monsters, and puzzles to get their stuff.

As a result, players had less invested in their characters, since they tended to die alot. They also got really clever with mundane items, and very cautious about exploring -- you never knew when you'd find a save-or-die trap, or stick your hand into a sphere of annihilation, LOL.

3E has a LOT of PC safeties built into it now, since players have so much more invested in their characters.

One of our favorite things back then was to run a party of 1st level characters through much higher level adventures -- you could survive on your wits then, not on your stats. I'm not sure how viable that approach would be in 3E today. That was some real "IronMan" gaming -- 1st level PCs take on Tomb of Horrors type stuff.

 

[UniversalMonster]

As I recall it:

Player groups were large. Even if you only 4 players- you could allow multiple characters. I recall running a group in 1980 or so of 11 characters through one sprawling dungeon that just never seemed to end. It was being generated randomly by the 'random dungeon tables' in the 1st edition DMG, and I was allowing characters to level up as they went further and further down.

Back then experience points were somewhat ridiculous: you'd have goblins or skeletons worth about 15 xp, but then suddenly you'd spring out a critter like a gelatinous cube or something.. it was just crazy fun. By the time the group had delved down through 4 levels there were only 4 surviving characters left, but they were all 4th-6th level. Then I let them out of the dungeon and they all hired henchmen and followers ("I want to hire light footmen and heavy footmen!") to bring the group back up to 10-15. The followers were used to mob an enemy (and die, they were completely disposable) and the victors would share the experience and treasure, and go back to town to hire some more cannon fodder.