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<blockquote data-quote="Mannahnin" data-source="post: 8640509" data-attributes="member: 7026594">Race as class is indeed a thing many people get hung up on.&nbsp; Of course, this is why Advanced Labyrinth Lord and OSE Advanced both give the option to decouple them.&nbsp; Although B/X is also an excellent simple system within which to design new classes; as shown in Paul Crabaugh's classic article from Dragon 109, or the dozens of them from James V. West's Black Pudding, or the Against the Wicked City or Goatman's Goblet blogs.I hear you on the no spell at 1st level thing, but variable weapon damage was always in Basic as an optional rule, and IME it's almost universally used.&nbsp; Max HP at 1st level is also a very common B/X house rule, though TBF AD&amp;D 1E uses the exact same HP as B/X, except Fighters get upgraded to d10 HG instead of D8.This is all either untrue or equally true of every other TSR version of D&amp;D.&nbsp; 1st level characters are fragile, yes.&nbsp; Reasonably likely to die in a single hit.&nbsp; But in B/X as in OD&amp;D, plate mail is cheap and the classes which can wear it (everyone but M-Us and Thieves) are likely to be able to afford it when first generated.&nbsp; An orc, goblin, or skeleton needs to roll a 17 or better to hit a character with plate &amp; shield, assuming no Dex bonus or penalty.&nbsp; Characters so equipped are normally your frontliners.Reaction Rolls, Morale checks, and rules for fleeing encounters are there to reduce the number of times you're forced into a bad fight or stuck in one for long.&nbsp; Sleep spells and Turning Undead massively help at mitigating tough encounters where the party is outnumbered.&nbsp; And treasure is the bulk of XP, and sometimes found unguarded.&nbsp; The guideline Moldvay recommends is leveling roughly every 3-4 sessions.&nbsp; IME xp tends to follow an intermittent reward pattern- some sessions are really lean, others you make a big score.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mannahnin, post: 8640509, member: 7026594"] Race as class is indeed a thing many people get hung up on. Of course, this is why Advanced Labyrinth Lord and OSE Advanced both give the option to decouple them. Although B/X is also an excellent simple system within which to design new classes; as shown in Paul Crabaugh's classic article from Dragon 109, or the dozens of them from James V. West's Black Pudding, or the Against the Wicked City or Goatman's Goblet blogs. I hear you on the no spell at 1st level thing, but variable weapon damage was always in Basic as an optional rule, and IME it's almost universally used. Max HP at 1st level is also a very common B/X house rule, though TBF AD&D 1E uses the exact same HP as B/X, except Fighters get upgraded to d10 HG instead of D8. This is all either untrue or equally true of every other TSR version of D&D. 1st level characters are fragile, yes. Reasonably likely to die in a single hit. But in B/X as in OD&D, plate mail is cheap and the classes which can wear it (everyone but M-Us and Thieves) are likely to be able to afford it when first generated. An orc, goblin, or skeleton needs to roll a 17 or better to hit a character with plate & shield, assuming no Dex bonus or penalty. Characters so equipped are normally your frontliners. Reaction Rolls, Morale checks, and rules for fleeing encounters are there to reduce the number of times you're forced into a bad fight or stuck in one for long. Sleep spells and Turning Undead massively help at mitigating tough encounters where the party is outnumbered. And treasure is the bulk of XP, and sometimes found unguarded. The guideline Moldvay recommends is leveling roughly every 3-4 sessions. IME xp tends to follow an intermittent reward pattern- some sessions are really lean, others you make a big score. [/QUOTE]

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