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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 8070034" data-attributes="member: 42582">Some of the comments in this thread about AD&amp;D ware wrong, in the sense that they are presenting what I take to be personal experiences as if they were (i) universal and/or (ii) mandated by the rulebooks.Appendix C of Gygax's DMG has a City/Town Encounter Matrix. On that matrix, 5% of day-time encounters and 7% of night-time encounters are with &quot;ruffians&quot;. Page 192 describes ruffians as &quot;fellows of shabby appearance and mean disposition . . . armed with clubs and daggers.&quot; It also tells us that &quot;Thereis a 5% chance per ruffian encountered [no encouner is 1d6+6] that an assassin of 5th to 8th level (d4 + 4) will be with the group.&quot; and that &quot;All weapons will be concealed.&quot; A footnote to the table on p 191 says &quot;If desired, 1 in 4 [ruffians] can be half-orc or of humanoid race (goblin, hobgoblin, kobold,, orc).&quot;This tells us that, at least in some moods, Gygax contemplated that a meaningful number of the thuggish types who hang out in dark alleys waiting to waylay PCs might be orcs, goblins etc. An AD&amp;D campaign that adopts that approach is clearly not one in which orcs and the like are inherently savage monsters incapable of taming their appetites even for a moment.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 8070034, member: 42582"] Some of the comments in this thread about AD&D ware wrong, in the sense that they are presenting what I take to be personal experiences as if they were (i) universal and/or (ii) mandated by the rulebooks. Appendix C of Gygax's DMG has a City/Town Encounter Matrix. On that matrix, 5% of day-time encounters and 7% of night-time encounters are with "ruffians". Page 192 describes ruffians as "fellows of shabby appearance and mean disposition . . . armed with clubs and daggers." It also tells us that "There is a 5% chance per ruffian encountered [no encouner is 1d6+6] that an assassin of 5th to 8th level (d4 + 4) will be with the group." and that "All weapons will be concealed." A footnote to the table on p 191 says "If desired, 1 in 4 [ruffians] can be half-orc or of humanoid race (goblin, hobgoblin, kobold,, orc)." This tells us that, at least in some moods, Gygax contemplated that a meaningful number of the thuggish types who hang out in dark alleys waiting to waylay PCs might be orcs, goblins etc. An AD&D campaign that adopts that approach is clearly [I]not [/I]one in which orcs and the like are inherently savage monsters incapable of taming their appetites even for a moment. [/QUOTE]

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