Next year, I'm back to running AD&D

[Lanefan]

... spam ...

Reported.

EDIT: aaaaand ninjaed by the Patryn!

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Reported.

EDIT: aaaaand ninjaed by the Patryn!

That's okay; we can double-report it for being really boring spam, at that.

So, how about that 1E? I have to admit, my only experience with 1E was playing Pool of Radiance, so it's fascinating to read all the opinions on the various books and options.

 

[Lanefan]

So, how about that 1E? I have to admit, my only experience with 1E was playing Pool of Radiance, so it's fascinating to read all the opinions on the various books and options.

It's not the system for everyone, I'll admit: someone who cut their teeth on 3e or 4e or any of the various other new systems might find it somewhat archaic. But for those of us who started with it and have spent years and years kitbashing it to suit what we like to play, it rocks on toast.

The core books - PH, DMG, and the three monster books - are pure gold; and Deities and Demigods isn't bad either if you de-stat the gods and just use the write-ups. After that, you really have to pick and choose what elements from each subsequent book you'll put in your game.

Back in the day, though, we had a resource that's kind of hard to replicate now: every month there'd be a new issue of Dragon with new ideas for the game. Some stuck (and turned into UA), others didn't; and each new idea in the magazine would give us new ideas in turn.

What I've found is that with a tiny bit of tweaking - namely: drop experience-for-treasure, mess a bit with the level advancement tables, and give out some experience as a "dungeon bonus" after each adventure - it's really easy to design and run a 10+ year campaign in 1e while still keeping the levels rational. The game tends to somewhat fall apart once the party levels hit double digits unless the DM is willing to do a huge amount of hammering to hold it together, so it's in your interest to hold the levels below that for as long as possible.

But your players have to be willing to accept they're not going to level up every time they sneeze. My current campaign started in March 2008 and the leading characters are just into 6th level, though there's been lots of switching between parties during that time. (see my sig. for a link to the game logs) The last one went for over 12 years and the highest PC levels were 12th; I probably could have squeezed another level or so out of it if I'd had enough good ideas for adventures etc., but I'd run out of steam and thus sank it in favour of something new.

Hidden within the admittedly disorganized mass of 1e rules are some very elegant bits of crunch that later editions could really learn from. Clerics turning undead, for example: roll d20 against a chart, if you succeed roll d12 to see how many you get. Simple, huh? Resurrection survival % chance based on Constitution - simple, but it makes death something to be feared as there's that small chance you're truly done. Teleport risk factor - the small chance you'll end up in solid rock makes the whole teleport-commuting issue rather moot. There's lots more.

Lan-"every DM's toolbox needs a hammer to get the dents out of the rules"-efan

 

[ExploderWizard]

Back in the day, though, we had a resource that's kind of hard to replicate now: every month there'd be a new issue of Dragon with new ideas for the game. Some stuck (and turned into UA), others didn't; and each new idea in the magazine would give us new ideas in turn.

There are other resources that have taken up the torch. Check out Footprints magazine over at Dragonsfoot. Its a really nice little publication for 1E material. It reminds me of Dragon without the ads and its free.

 

[Virel]

After being away from AD&D for seven years due to real life we started again in 2004.

The best choice I made as DM, was to re-read the PHB, DMG, & MM cover to cover. Solo a few encounters to get back to speed on the combat system as written. Then to decide to use my old house ruled iniative system of d6 plus casting time of spell in segments. It's like 2e's but with a d6 instead of a d10.

Memory has a funny way of clouding after a while.

Good Luck & have fun.

 

[David Howery]

I have read it - somewhere about is the PDF version, I think - and that's why I've never picked it up. We got the DSG back when it was released, or shortly thereafter. I found it a greatly inspiring book - great stuff about what might exist under the earth, plus the wonderful mapping techniques it discussed.

The closest I ever got to buying the WSG was when I had a new copy of Dragonlance Adventures in my hand, looking at the list of all the non-weapon proficiencies, and thinking "I only have half of those!"

However, memories of reading my friend's copy (and my lack of money at the time) precluded the purchase. And it's something I lack to this day.

Cheers!

I bought the WSG mainly because I was dearly fond of running wilderness adventures back in the day... and the book has some good rules on exposure, river/lake movement, pack animals, etc. Of course, none of that is really vital to the game, and you can easily skip it. Judging on what you're talking about for your upcoming campaign, you really don't need it, especially if you're not using NWPs...

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

There are other resources that have taken up the torch. Check out Footprints magazine over at Dragonsfoot. Its a really nice little publication for 1E material. It reminds me of Dragon without the ads and its free.

There's also Fight On! and Knockspell. They're not free, and their focus is broader (i.e. not just 1e, but also OD&D and other older RPGs), but you can get them as printed magazines, which is nice.

 

[dagger]

What I've found is that with a tiny bit of tweaking - namely: drop experience-for-treasure, mess a bit with the level advancement tables, and give out some experience as a "dungeon bonus" after each adventure - it's really easy to design and run a 10+ year campaign in 1e while still keeping the levels rational.

But your players have to be willing to accept they're not going to level up every time they sneeze.

Leveling in 1e is pretty close to 3e if you actually give xp for gp and magic items. But, its hard to tell especially if you run your own stuff and don't use modules. Most XP comes from the loot though.

 

[MerricB]

Leveling in 1e is pretty close to 3e if you actually give xp for gp and magic items. But, its hard to tell especially if you run your own stuff and don't use modules. Most XP comes from the loot though.

One of the very useful resources that Basic D&D gives us is a few more concrete example/suggestions about XP gain and the like.

In any case, with treasure xp, it's about an 80% treasure XP and 20% monster XP.

Cheers!

 

[mhensley]

Damn it Merric, you got me back to looking at AD&D again... and I think I like it.