D&D 1E Old module question.

[Mannahnin]

I LIKED having actual loot. WOTC D&D wants you poor and destitute, for no discernable reason. I was mostly flabbergasted because to listen to my old DM, PC's need to be po', po', po. - just like old school. Then I started reading through those old adventures- and WOW! Real treasure!!!

BTW, that same DM used to hand gold and items out by the bucketload, so I don't know WHAT he's getting on about, lol. It's like he believes we're all 1st Edition Monks- sworn to a vow of poverty.

TBF, expectations about keeping PCs poor were largely set by Gygax's extremely influential advice in the 1979 DMG. The modules and XP charts expecting PCs to acquire tens and eventually hundreds of thousands of GP in treasure were in constant tension with Gary's instructions (and black and white rules) to keep them lean and hungry, to tax their winnings, to charge them hand over fist for training, for acquiring new spells, for buying services from NPCs, etc.

MONEY

PLAYER CHARACTER STARTING MONEY

The amount of funds which each player begins with is kept low to prevent the game from becoming too easy. Players learn from the beginning that they are never able to obtain all of the goods they would like in order to feel safe and satisfied. Explain to players that sums they begin with (see PLAYERS HANDBOOK, MONEY) represent inherited monies and savings. A magic-user, for example, has had to expend most ready cash he or she possessed on training; monks are ascetics who don't care about material possessions in any event, so they do not accumulate much money prior to becoming adventurers and treasure seekers.

If you have a difficult campaign, and you opt to bestow a limited number of special items to player characters at the beginning of the game (a potion, a magic goodie such as a + 1 dagger, or even something as mundane as a family suit of plate mail) you should adjust starting money accordingly. The game is always supposed to be a challenge, to cause players to want for something, and to wish to adventure with their characters in order to obtain the desired things. Remembering that good players will be able to gain from nearly any successful encounter -there will always be some armor and weapons or equipment to be gained from an adventure - you should not hesitate to be stingy and tight right from the beginning of a campaign!

PLAYER CHARACTER EXPENSES

Each player character will automatically expend not less than 100 gold pieces per level of experience per month. This is simply support, upkeep, equipment, and entertainment expense. These costs are to be deducted by the Dungeon Master automatically, and any further spending by the PC is to be added to these costs. Such expense is justified by the "fact"that adventurers are o free-wheeling and high-living lot (except, of course, for monks). Other miscellaneous expenditures by player characters encompass such things as additional equipment expense for henchmen or hirelings, costs of hirelings, bribes, costs of locating prospective henchmen, and so on. To such costs are to be added:

MAINTENANCE OF HENCHMEN - 100 g.p. per level per month*
MAINTENANCE OF STRONGHOLD - 1% of total cost of stronghold per month

*This is in addition to all treasure shares

Finally, any taxation or other levies must be taken into consideration, along with contributions to the player character's religious organization. All of these costs will help assure the PCs have a keen interest in going out and adventuring in order to support themselves and their many associates and holdings. You may reduce costs according to prevailing circumstances if you feel it is warranted, but even so doing should not give rise to excess funds on hand in the campaign.

 

[Gorg]

Yeah, we pretty much ignored that, lol. Like we needed our nuts squeezed to convince us to adventure- it's why we played the darn game.

In those days, tight fisted and stingy, usually meant no players. I find myself having to beef up the goodies in WOTC era modules- not to Monty Haul proportions, of course- but some of them are ridiculous. I also don't go out of my way to bend players over at every turn- or jack them up- like Gary recommends. (unless they deserve it, of course)

For instance, I found my old Return to the Keep 30th anniversary module, and while reading thru the random encounters I nearly fell out of my chair! For beginning characters, and AD&D beginners at that, these are NASTY. The advice given was to have the bandits hit the party whenever they returned from the Caves- and rob them blind. (leaving them alive and with their equipment- so they could jack them up again!) Besides bandits, there are a Will O Wisp, a bullette, nasty giant frogs, and some other such. God help them, if they venture into the swamps... The hermit is now The Bee Guy; the crab spider outdoor encounter is now a woods FULL of spiders; and the lizard men have been chased deeper into the swamp- and are seriously pissed at the world, because of it. The Gnolls are now outdoors, too. Plus, a "ruined tower" that's just not nice, lol.

Didn't read thru the caves, yet, but I also have the OG, and Goodman Games' 5e conversion. (which was pretty good- I ran my first 5e party through it!)

I'm now curious to crack open my 30th anniversary Dragonlance saga, just to see what they did to it. Been years...

 

[Lanefan]

You’re subverting AD&D’s intent by crossing out all that loot. The loot was (part of) how you level up.

Only if you stayed with the xp-for-gp paradigm, which many* ditched as a houserule, and 2e ditched as RAW.

* - including the poster you're replying to with thie above quote, as noted in the post to which you replied