Making a Character in Every Edition of D&D, Part One: 1974

[mattcolville]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnjA4D0Z4pM

I thought this would be a short video, doesn't take that long to make a dude in OD&D, but I became fascinated with all the weirdness in this game, and ended up doing a bunch of research, "why is this like this?"

Watch in HD otherwise you won't be able to read along.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Don't forget B/X D&D (or Holmes BD&D if you prefer). It will make for a nice comparison between OD&D and 1E.

Edit: Duncan the 2 hp Fighter: Always the First to Die.

 

[Hussar]

Hrm. Interesting experiment.

 

[The Human Target]

I think that was very interesting, informative, and a must watch.

I especially love pointing out that they told you to buy hex maps.

 

[Echohawk]

I think that was very interesting, informative, and a must watch.

I especially love pointing out that they told you to buy hex maps.

I also loved that bit, partly because I very recently bought a copy of Outdoor Survival just to see what these notorious hex maps were all about. (I was quite disappointed.)

I really enjoyed the video as a whole and I'd like to echo [MENTION=5868]Olgar Shiverstone[/MENTION]'s suggestion to [MENTION=1300]mattcolville[/MENTION] to include a BECMI or B/X character as part of the series. That rules system is different enough to be worth covering.

 

[Mark CMG]

Yeah, you kinda have to remember that Outdoor Survival was the most generic outdoor hex map available as a boardgame and could be had for seven or eight bucks (less if you knew other wargamers who likely were ready to ditch theirs). Heck, you can get one on eBay now for $5 if you don't need it to be pristine. Today, however, the map options out there are nearly limitless so it's hard to imagine someone wants a generic map even if it has a hard backing.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/OUTDOOR-SUR...LS-2ND-EDITION-AVALON-HILL-1973-/331140493615

 

[howandwhy99]

Nice video. Both fun and informative.

Just a couple comments.

1. Underground dungeons are often mapped by players (and other areas too). Dwarf players have benefits when their underground maps don't match up. It's not just ascents and descents.

2. Elves may freely change between Magic-User and Fighting-Man because role playing means only playing 1 role at a time, one class. You can only get XP for the class you are playing. Depending on how XP is gained, perhaps over long term actionsm it's best not to change except maybe session to session. Sort of like you wouldn't give XP in the middle of a fight.

 

[GreyLord]

45 minutes to create a OD&D character!!! Granted, most of it isn't creating the character, but commenting on the rules...but gosh...I'd hate to see how long he's going to take when he gets to 3e!!!

 

[mattcolville]

The series continues! I decided not to jump straight to 1979 because a LOT of the game we know took shape in 1976, two years after the original booklets came out. Thanks to the Greyhawk supplement, Duncan gets to use his strength for something.

[video=youtube;wKN8XJiB7lU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKN8XJiB7lU[/video]

Alas, this video is also almost an hour long. >.< I like to talk. Shorter than an episode of Hardcore History!

 

[The Human Target]

I'm glad you didn't start from scratch since there are so few changes.