Magic items in Keep on the Borderlands

[howandwhy99]

2. B2 was not designed for the 4 character 3e party. It was designed for 6-8 pc's plus a good smattering of npc hirelings and retainers. Disbursing the magic items among 4 pc's isn't a good indication of the amount of magic items 3rd or 4th level characters were supposed to have. Disbursing the items among 10 characters would be more accurate.

I was thinking the same thing while reading this thread. You could not hope to face B2 with 4 first level PCs in OD&D without being killed or running in fear. This was a good "learn as you go" adventure where mistakes killed your character. (The gamist reality in the basic game). Character death early on meant you learned from your mistakes and you didn't suffer too much for it.

 

[Henry]

LB: sure. throw in the teeth and the hard cheese you got in that moldy sack and you've got yourself an instructor for a week.

You should have also thrown in a free language lesson in the Goblin language.

 

[diaglo]

You should have also thrown in a free language lesson in the Goblin language.

Breeyark

 

[Numion]

traded to your mentor.

So, you've got high-level, settled down characters that give services (train people) in exchange for loot and magic items. Hmm.. since everyone needs to be trained, wouldn't those guys have a *lot* of loot and magic items? To the point of having a surplus to be traded out?

But noooo ... no magic shoppes in 1E

 

[MerricB]

The other aspect to this in AD&D (and one that is mostly ignored) is that magic items were very vulnerable to being destroyed by spells such as fireball.

It wasn't "make a save for one item if you failed a save with a natural 1" it was "make a save for all exposed items when you get hit by a fireball".

Fall off something? Save versus Crushing Blow.

Of course, such doesn't apply for Keep on the Borderlands.

Cheers!

 

[rogueattorney]

So, you've got high-level, settled down characters that give services (train people) in exchange for loot and magic items. Hmm.. since everyone needs to be trained, wouldn't those guys have a *lot* of loot and magic items? To the point of having a surplus to be traded out?

But noooo ... no magic shoppes in 1E

Don't be silly. What you do is you take all your excess magic items and put them down in the deepest, darkest part of the dungeon under your Keep and make sure there are some really cool monsters guarding them.

R.A.

 

[diaglo]

So, you've got high-level, settled down characters that give services (train people) in exchange for loot and magic items. Hmm.. since everyone needs to be trained, wouldn't those guys have a *lot* of loot and magic items? To the point of having a surplus to be traded out?

But noooo ... no magic shoppes in 1E

give it to your henchmen. you had to outfit your henchmen in 1edADnD.

edit: but truthfully the Lord still had to pay for your training. the funds came from somewhere...

perhaps he sent the sword to his liege as taxes for the month.

 

[WayneLigon]

Another thing to think about, too, is that magic items in Basic/1E had terrible saving throws against even the most trivial of things. Fall off a stair, drop 10', save for all your breakable stuff vs Crushing Blow. Blow that save against an area of effect spell and suddenly you had to make a dozen rolls to keep your stuff. Most of the things on that treasure list that are not steel are going to buy it the first time the person using/carrying them blows his save.

 

[werk]

Another thing to think about, too, is that magic items in Basic/1E had terrible saving throws against even the most trivial of things. Fall off a stair, drop 10', save for all your breakable stuff vs Crushing Blow. Blow that save against an area of effect spell and suddenly you had to make a dozen rolls to keep your stuff. Most of the things on that treasure list that are not steel are going to buy it the first time the person using/carrying them blows his save.

It prevented a lot of the hording of magic that I see in 3e.

I got it, I better use it or I'll lose it.

 

[Numion]

Another thing to think about, too, is that magic items in Basic/1E had terrible saving throws against even the most trivial of things. Fall off a stair, drop 10', save for all your breakable stuff vs Crushing Blow. Blow that save against an area of effect spell and suddenly you had to make a dozen rolls to keep your stuff. Most of the things on that treasure list that are not steel are going to buy it the first time the person using/carrying them blows his save.

This wouldn't happen to be another case of selective memory for the sake of nostalgy? People seem to quote 1E rules whichever way fits the current argument. I mean, you're probably correct on the rules, but people tend to change what rules were and were not commonly used in 1E. ("Nobody uses the level limits!" "1E had balance, in level limits!", for example.)

I never had to make no saves for my items after 10' falls in 1E, YMMV.