D&D General I'm a Fighter, not a Lover: Why the 1e Fighter was so Awesome

[Zardnaar]

All three of my bladesingers were nigh untouchable. I did not have a cloak of Displacement on any of them (I did have Bracers of Defense on two of them), but I used Blur and Protection from Evil and Good quite often.

They're gard t hit but usually low damage.

Blow your dspells to be a bad fighter. Ignore them hit someone else.

 

[ECMO3]

I haven't checked but I would expect they are rarer on the random item generation charts as well being on one of the multiple 1e miscellaneous item subtables compared with the single rings table.

only slightly more.

When rolling on the magic item tables, the chance of rolling a ring of protection randomly in 1E is 0.8% (8 times in 1000). That is a 5% chance of rolling a ring and a 16% chance of that ring being a Ring of Protection. The chance for rolling a cloak of protection is 0.69%, 3% chance of rolling on table III E2 Miscellaneous magic and a 23% chance of rolling a Cloak of Protection off of that table.

 

[Lanefan]

The Dark Conventicle Loot. From memory this one had a lot. We probably used Method V UA as dice rolling hence really high ability scores (17 or 18 dexterity). I was not the DM mates older brother was. Think we had 4 PCs (mate, one of our group players, older brothers mate, and myself maybe 1 more). This was after we played 2E (bought 1995). Adventure is in Dungeon issue 11.

There's some random encounters. Some of them have some minor loot. Ignoring them as its fairly minor. Cultists of Anthraxus alot have amulets of protection vs good (every cultist more or less).

Loot
Mirror of Opposition (basically a trap)
Bracers of Defense AC 3
+2 bastard sword
Wand of Magic Missiles(5 charges)
Potion of Healing.
Potion Extra Healing
Potion: Flying
Ring: Water Breathing
Dagger +1, +2 vs small creatures
Potion: Fire Rersistance
Potion?:Ghast Control
Cloak of Poisonousness
Potion of Growth
Scroll of Protection vs Petrification
Bracers of Defense AC 3
+2 bastard sword
Wand of Magic Missiles(5 charges)
Potion of Healing.
Lower Priests with +1 and +2 maces
Bracers of Defense AC2
Ring of Protection +4
Staff of Striking
Wand of Paralyzation
Lots of scrolls
Cloak of Protection +3
Ring of Protection +3
Badge of Monster control
+4 mace
Wand of Fear
Ring of Protection +2
Mace +3
Still more scrolls
Bracers of Defense AC 6
Cloak of Protection +4
Ring of Fire resistance
+2 staff

It was probably this adventure I got the bracers, ring/cloaks from. There is some other stuff in there I couldn't be bothered listing. Adventure level 8-12. I cant remember who got what but Bracers AC 3 or 2 would have been one of them +3 ring and cloak minimum.

What level characters was this adventure intended for?

 

[Lanefan]

I am not aware of any such explicit limitation.

I also remember there being a cap at -10 by RAW. I've always ignored it, but then anything better is very rare anyway.

The best AC I've ever seen on a PC was, I think, -12 (-10 plus Boots of Speed in the right situation).

 

[Zardnaar]

What level characters was this adventure intended for?

8-12 iirc.

 

[Lanefan]

I had a DM who wouldn't let people wear Robes and Cloaks at the same time, which made it worse. Who wants to choose between a Cloak of Displacement or a Robe of Scintillating Colors?

I'd make the same ruling. Same reason you can't wear two suits of magic armour and have them both function.

 

[Lanefan]

View attachment 416692

U Can't Touch This (reworded) is the theme song of one of my wife's heavy Fighters, whose AC is somewhere in the -8 or -9 range.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Well, a well-placed fireball did wonders, but most 1e players will have a story of casting a fireball without fully thinking through the whole "what is the volume of a fireball in a small cave that we are in?" question.

raises hand

Actually, worse than that. I TRIED to account for the spread of the maxed out Delayed Blast Fireball, but didn’t account for the extreme speed of the target. It closed with the party before the DBF went off.

 

[James Gasik]

I'd make the same ruling. Same reason you can't wear two suits of magic armour and have them both function.

Gandalf doesn't seem to mind doing it.

 

[Cergorach]

A. Fighters were the toughest class, and that mattered.

When I read this, I hear that: