The 1e Tournement

[Lanefan]

We are hoping to do it again next year.

Can I sign up now?

Lanefan

 

[Crothian]

I was originally going to DM as well, Chris, but realized that wasn't making the finances cut several months ago, so I had to bow out. I'm glad to hear that it went well

That's too bad but I understand. Each year I wonder if it is worth the cost of going. Hopefully next year then!

 

[Bullgrit]

I realize that some folks will read my question as some kind of attack on AD&D1, or the start of an edition war, but I'm curious to ask, anyway.

Was the game run by the AD&D1 rules as written? Completely? If some house rules were used, what were they?

Bullgrit

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

Re: Bullgrit's question

I don't know how the game was run, but if I were running a 1e AD&D tournament game (which is a super-cool thing to do, by the way), I'd present it as "using the AD&D (1e) rules as presented to players in the Players Handbook." I think that would be good enough. The rest of it would be the DM's purview. That's just part of the way AD&D rolls, in my opinion.

 

[Crothian]

Was the game run by the AD&D1 rules as written? Completely? If some house rules were used, what were they?

Did we use ever single rule in the books like weapon speed and weapon verse armor? No.

We did have house rules like how long it took to map out in detail a certain area because that was one of the objectives of the module. Time was also important so we kept track of time and used rules like resting so long every hour, resting after each combat, etc. We also assumed the characters were skilled spelunkers as there were many areas of climbing up and down.

 

[Bullgrit]

I'd present it as "using the AD&D (1e) rules as presented to players in the Players Handbook." I think that would be good enough.

Ironic that you would present it that way, because they apparently didn't use the "AD&D (1e) rules as presented in the Players Handbook."

Did we use ever single rule in the books like weapon speed and weapon verse armor? No.

These were rules in the PHB.

(Crothian, I'm not knocking your game at all.)

Bullgrit

 

[Crothian]

(Crothian, I'm not knocking your game at all.)

No worries. We talked about what rules to use in the months proceeding the con. It was a convention game with people with unknown 1e experience and we had a time limit on the sessions. We did not want to bog the game down with too much rules that people might be unfamiliar with or not know about. We kept it simple and it worked.

 

[MTanner]

No worries. We talked about what rules to use in the months proceeding the con. It was a convention game with people with unknown 1e experience and we had a time limit on the sessions. We did not want to bog the game down with too much rules that people might be unfamiliar with or not know about. We kept it simple and it worked.

Weapon speed is a good rule to skip for saving time. Oddly.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

Ironic that you would present it that way, because they apparently didn't use the "AD&D (1e) rules as presented in the Players Handbook."
[Weapon Speeds] were rules in the PHB.

Nah, I don't think it's ironic. Weapon speed in 1e is one of those things that doesn't come in every situation, only in corner cases. And the details of its use aren't given in the Players Handbook, even though the numbers are listed. The PH actually says "You have already seen information regarding the damage each type of weapon does, how heavy it is, how long and how much space each needs, and each weapon's relative speed factor…Your referee will use these factors in determination of melee combats…" Details for how weapon speeds might be used or applied are in the DMG.

If someone asked me "will we be using weapon speeds?" I'd answer, "You can refer to the weapon speeds in the PH to get an idea of the relative speeds of the various weapons. If a situation comes up where weapon speeds are relevant, I'll take those numbers into consideration."

In any case, my answer was just how I would do it, not necessarily how Crothian or any one else should do it.

 

[Bullgrit]

No worries.

Good

It was a convention game with people with unknown 1e experience and we had a time limit on the sessions. We did not want to bog the game down with too much rules that people might be unfamiliar with or not know about.

In the recent years where I've learned the vast amount of rules that I, in my personal home games, omitted from the AD&D1 RAW, the idea of tournaments have made me think about this question:

If a tournament game didn't use all the rules as written in the AD&D1 books -- books written specifically to regulate/conform tournament games -- did Players ever complain? And what happened if someone did complain?

I mean, just taking the weapon speed and weapon vs. AC rules, there are distinctly better and worse choices/tactics in AD&D1 combat. Players experienced with those rules could plan actions based on those numbers as presented. Some of those numbers in those charts are not minor bonuses/penalties.

So I could see a point in a complaint that an *official AD&D1 tournament* wasn't following the *official AD&D1 rules*. I could see Players being disappointed and even upset that the official book rules were being thrown out in an official game.

I have read, many years ago, a thread on another board were people were giving their convention anecdotes, and the DM not following the rules as written was one recurring theme. But that thread was during the AD&D2 era, about AD&D2 (and other, non-D&D-based) con games.

Bullgrit