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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quasqueton" data-source="post: 751356" data-attributes="member: 3854">I was looking through some of my old D&D stuff this week and this really struck me. 1st-level magic-users (the term of the time) had one 1st-level spell. That’s *1* spell. And they needed 2500 xp to get second level, where they could get a second 1st-level spell. All characters had to roll their 1st-level hit points. Fighters could have 3 or 4 hit points. And death came at 0 hit points, not -10!Thieves (the term of the time) had like a 25% chance to find and remove traps. Poison killed, flat out dead, with a failed save. The average *expected* party size (as suggested in published adventure modules) was 4-8. Sometimes 5-10! I read an example of handling experience points. The surviving 3 characters (2 fighters, 1 magic-user) had killed 8 kobolds, 5 orcs, and a giant spider. (They also hauled away lots of treasure, including a +1 ring and a +1 sword.) These characters earned about 400 xp each (including treasure xp). That’s 1/5th what the fighters needed for 2nd-level. Less than 1/6th what the MU needed. (Compare this to what a D&D3 group would get - 483 each - about 1/2 needed for next level.) And note that two magic items at first level was used as an example.This all makes me ask the same question for two different subjects: 1) How did our 1st-level characters survive? 2) How did the D&D game survive? 1- I don’t really remember seeing a BD&D/AD&D character EVER raise from 1st level without major DM intervention. After playing/DMing with 1st-level characters constantly for a while, I (when DMing) started PCs out at 3rd level. Did anyone *really* survive 1st (and 2nd) level by "legal" play? Most PCs could be killed with a single arrow shot. MUs were useless after casting their one and only sleep spell. Theives died at their first treasure chest. And in BD&D, clerics didn’t even get spells at 1st level! No healing for beginning characters, at all! 2- Considering how hard it was to play the game and have a character survive to high ("fun") levels, how did D&D survive? Most players play(ed) the game to run up and get into fights; to slay trolls and dragons. Considering how lame 1st-level characters were in "the old days", there was a 50/50 chance of surviving the first encounter with 4 orcs. And PCs had to defeat hundreds of orcs to make just 2nd level. So, playing by the rules, it took forever to gain levels (read: power and fun), *if* your character survived. So why was the game so fun that it became a BIG hit even with the aggravation and lameness of low levels? My friends and I played through the Caves of Chaos with about 20 characters before we got tired of running in and dying. And even when you tried tactics, PCs fell dead in droves at 1st level. What other game could be this much fun, yet so damn hard to succeed at? Although there are plenty of things that can kill 1st-level D&D3 characters (even orcs), at least now beginning PCs start with max hit points, mages get 4 or 5 spells, and it is generally easier to survive the game with intelligent play. (No more open the treasure chest and die.) And the powerful and "fun" (from a young/new player’s perspective) levels are closer and more attainable (rules legally). Quasqueton</blockquote>

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