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General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
Seeking advice for my first 1e campaign
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<blockquote data-quote="Sekhmet" data-source="post: 5654708" data-attributes="member: 97602"><p>What general advice would you give to a newbie 1e DM?</p><p> - There simply are not as many rules, and you're going to have to be able to make one up on the spot for a situation, even when playing a prefabbed module. Be prepared for it.</p><p></p><p>What particular rules should I look out for?</p><p> - Fighters get to attack once for each Fighter level when facing enemies of less than 1d8 HD. This includes goblins, humans, rats, etc (PHB page 25). This can be terribly broken in larger scale combat.</p><p>What's the one thing you (wish you?) knew when you first started running 1e?</p><p> - Just how diverse every character became. My group were a bunch of kids of about 15 years old, and every character presented was different from the next. This is a stark contrast to "Oh, you're playing Fistbeard Beardfist" or "ElminsterClone."</p><p></p><p>How much finesse do I need to use in building encounters?</p><p> - I'd argue very little finesse is required, but remember that Clerics cannot spontaneous cast Cure spells yet so your group may not have access to the same level of healing that is in present editions. TPKs were far more common, especially in those higher level modules where a high saving throw vs. spells made you a liability to your group.</p><p></p><p>What adventures would you recommend? (Against the Giants? Vault of the Drow?)</p><p> - The Castle Greyhawk series of modules is a classic. Follow Gygax and Rary and Bigby through their original adventures, find out why spells are named what they're named today.</p><p></p><p>Would altering the race/class/level limitations game-breaking? I was considering removing racial level caps and race/class combos and giving humans +5% or +10% experience to compensate. Is that a bad idea?</p><p> - Personally I would not give Humans an EXP advantage, but give them some other tweaks to compensate losing their uniqueness. A Human Thief is going to be so far ahead of your party Ranger it would be ridiculous! By level 10, the Thief is at 160,000 EXP and the Ranger is at level 8. With a 10% increase to the Thief's EXP, he'll hit 10 when the Ranger is level 7! </p><p></p><p>What's the general opinion of the various "Survival Guides" or Unearthed Arcana?</p><p> - UA is as it has been since, pick and choose what you like and move on with your life. On a side note, it's my favourite cover art of all the D&D books.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Sekhmet, post: 5654708, member: 97602"] What general advice would you give to a newbie 1e DM? - There simply are not as many rules, and you're going to have to be able to make one up on the spot for a situation, even when playing a prefabbed module. Be prepared for it. What particular rules should I look out for? - Fighters get to attack once for each Fighter level when facing enemies of less than 1d8 HD. This includes goblins, humans, rats, etc (PHB page 25). This can be terribly broken in larger scale combat. What's the one thing you (wish you?) knew when you first started running 1e? - Just how diverse every character became. My group were a bunch of kids of about 15 years old, and every character presented was different from the next. This is a stark contrast to "Oh, you're playing Fistbeard Beardfist" or "ElminsterClone." How much finesse do I need to use in building encounters? - I'd argue very little finesse is required, but remember that Clerics cannot spontaneous cast Cure spells yet so your group may not have access to the same level of healing that is in present editions. TPKs were far more common, especially in those higher level modules where a high saving throw vs. spells made you a liability to your group. What adventures would you recommend? (Against the Giants? Vault of the Drow?) - The Castle Greyhawk series of modules is a classic. Follow Gygax and Rary and Bigby through their original adventures, find out why spells are named what they're named today. Would altering the race/class/level limitations game-breaking? I was considering removing racial level caps and race/class combos and giving humans +5% or +10% experience to compensate. Is that a bad idea? - Personally I would not give Humans an EXP advantage, but give them some other tweaks to compensate losing their uniqueness. A Human Thief is going to be so far ahead of your party Ranger it would be ridiculous! By level 10, the Thief is at 160,000 EXP and the Ranger is at level 8. With a 10% increase to the Thief's EXP, he'll hit 10 when the Ranger is level 7! What's the general opinion of the various "Survival Guides" or Unearthed Arcana? - UA is as it has been since, pick and choose what you like and move on with your life. On a side note, it's my favourite cover art of all the D&D books. [/QUOTE]
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