So I got a chance to borrow my friend's Rules Cyclopedia recently (which as far as I understand it is the collection of all of the Box sets back in the day, I believe before 2e came out). Though I played a little 2e, I never "looked under the hood" of the game before 3e....so it was really neat to see some of the early rules for the game. It was cool to see how some things evolved, and honestly....I found some rules that I thought were pretty good even today. So here are a few general notes and interesting things:
**I'm going to reference "back then" a lot in the post, just noting I am sure there were other flavors and versions out there, so know I am specifically referencing the Rules Cyclopedia.
1) Alignment: As much as we like to talk about the "9 alignments" as a sacred cow, it actually was just Law, Neutral, and Chaos back then. It seems that Law was "Big L, little g" and Chaos was "Big C, little e".
2) As we talk about bounded accuracy today, there are several places where I find it interesting how much more "bounded" the game was back then. Some examples:
a) Ability scores were more spread out. You had to get very higher scores just to get even a +2 or +3, and you didn't go above 18.
9-12 +0
13-15 +1
16-17 +2
18 +3
b) Many more things used static rolls instead of adding in ability scores. Several skills, initiative, surprise, even your saving throws were almost entirely dependent on level than on your ability scores.
c) Hitpoints were tighter. Fighters only had d8 hp, and you only gained a single HP at 9th and beyond.
3) Alignments actually had their own language back then! So lawful characters could talk to each other in "secret code". That's both weird and neat.
4) In our modern day of "6 saving throws", its neat to remember we actually started with 5 not 3.
5) The "Name" level at 9th actually reminds me a bit of the 4e paragon path. Though they are much less mechanical and more flavorful, there is still the notion that you are moving into a new direction as a character, and gaining a new suite of benefits and responsibilities. Its also pretty telling that the levels could go as high as 36 but often characters were expected to at least consider retirement at 9th.
6) The term avenger as a fighting class dates way back, I had thought that was a 4e invention.
7) The concept of being able to move and attack twice existed back in the day. I had assumed 3e's "move and get 1 attack only" had been the norm for some time.
8) Its no wonder that nature clerics and druids have overlap nowadays, as back then a druid was simply a "prestige class" for a cleric.
9) It was interesting to read the "Mystic" which is the original monk. The monk honestly hasn't changed nearly as much as I had expected, and many of its current abilities you can see traces of in the original class.
10) Later editions like 3rd played with very complicated "spell preparation time formulas", but back then it was a simple single hour to memorize spells.
11) There was a neat concept back then of "reversible" spells for clerics. So the "cure wounds/inflict wounds" or "light/darkness" were actually the same spell, and the cleric could use either version when casting (though lawful classes were supposed to use this ability only sparingly). Its often talked about how few spells a caster might have prepared back then, but the reversible spells meant they had a few extra ones than the numbers might let on.
12) Cure Light Wounds could actually cure paralysis back then, neat!
13) Wish really was a "10th level spell" back then. Though it was technically 9th, you had to be 36th level to use it! Aka the highest of the high, it was clear even back then that Wish was the pinnacle of magical casting.
14) Intelligence actually determined the duration of mental effects back then. Though a little cumbersome, it was a nice bit of benefit for Int.
15) Dispel Magic actually worked more like 5e's version....automatically dispelling any equal or weaker magic, but then providing a chance to dispel stronger magic. The main difference is back then the dispel check on higher level magic was MUCH harder, which is something I actually like.
16) Skills existed back then! I had known about Thief Skills but I didn't know that the more general list of skills we know today actually did exist back then, though it was a good bit bigger than today's list.
17) The Exploration Rules are actually pretty comprehensive and have a lot of simple but useful rules, I may steal some of it for my current game.
18) Initiative was very different back then. It was a simple d6 and done by each group. The ideas of adding dex to the roll and rolling it per person were actually optional variants at that time. So was surprise, there was again no perception check back then just a simple d6 done by both sides. I like the simplicity of it, but considering how deadly surprise can be its probably a good idea they changed it.
19) The Monster Reaction and Morale tables are actually very simple and yet I really like how they make encounters more organic. Monster reactions showcases things like animals that may not be hostile due to certain circumstances, and morale gives you reasonable "checkpoints" on when to consider if a monster should just leave a fight. Its very clear that back then, it was more common for monsters to leave the battlefield than to just get killed.
20) Weapon Speed did exist in a very simplified version: Ranged Attacks went first, then Spells, then melee weapons.
21) "Power Attack" actually existed back then, called the smash maneuver. And it was quite potent, for a -5 to attack you got to add your Strength Score (not modifier) as a bonus to your damage. So effectively the "-1 attack, +2 damage" math has existed for quite some time.
22) There was a concept that your attack bonus if high enough allowed you to deal extra damage. And I don't mean the attack roll, if your skill was simply high enough vs your opponent's AC, you straight up got bonus damage. Interesting idea!
23) THAC0 tables really are as nasty as I remember
24) "Point Blank Shot" actually existed as a standard part of missile attacks back then.
25) Until you got to high levels, Saving Throws against spells were very hard to make. This meant that spellcaster spells went into effect much more often than they do nowadays.
26) Grappling was stupidly complicated even then
**I'm going to reference "back then" a lot in the post, just noting I am sure there were other flavors and versions out there, so know I am specifically referencing the Rules Cyclopedia.
1) Alignment: As much as we like to talk about the "9 alignments" as a sacred cow, it actually was just Law, Neutral, and Chaos back then. It seems that Law was "Big L, little g" and Chaos was "Big C, little e".
2) As we talk about bounded accuracy today, there are several places where I find it interesting how much more "bounded" the game was back then. Some examples:
a) Ability scores were more spread out. You had to get very higher scores just to get even a +2 or +3, and you didn't go above 18.
9-12 +0
13-15 +1
16-17 +2
18 +3
b) Many more things used static rolls instead of adding in ability scores. Several skills, initiative, surprise, even your saving throws were almost entirely dependent on level than on your ability scores.
c) Hitpoints were tighter. Fighters only had d8 hp, and you only gained a single HP at 9th and beyond.
3) Alignments actually had their own language back then! So lawful characters could talk to each other in "secret code". That's both weird and neat.
4) In our modern day of "6 saving throws", its neat to remember we actually started with 5 not 3.
5) The "Name" level at 9th actually reminds me a bit of the 4e paragon path. Though they are much less mechanical and more flavorful, there is still the notion that you are moving into a new direction as a character, and gaining a new suite of benefits and responsibilities. Its also pretty telling that the levels could go as high as 36 but often characters were expected to at least consider retirement at 9th.
6) The term avenger as a fighting class dates way back, I had thought that was a 4e invention.
7) The concept of being able to move and attack twice existed back in the day. I had assumed 3e's "move and get 1 attack only" had been the norm for some time.
8) Its no wonder that nature clerics and druids have overlap nowadays, as back then a druid was simply a "prestige class" for a cleric.
9) It was interesting to read the "Mystic" which is the original monk. The monk honestly hasn't changed nearly as much as I had expected, and many of its current abilities you can see traces of in the original class.
10) Later editions like 3rd played with very complicated "spell preparation time formulas", but back then it was a simple single hour to memorize spells.
11) There was a neat concept back then of "reversible" spells for clerics. So the "cure wounds/inflict wounds" or "light/darkness" were actually the same spell, and the cleric could use either version when casting (though lawful classes were supposed to use this ability only sparingly). Its often talked about how few spells a caster might have prepared back then, but the reversible spells meant they had a few extra ones than the numbers might let on.
12) Cure Light Wounds could actually cure paralysis back then, neat!
13) Wish really was a "10th level spell" back then. Though it was technically 9th, you had to be 36th level to use it! Aka the highest of the high, it was clear even back then that Wish was the pinnacle of magical casting.
14) Intelligence actually determined the duration of mental effects back then. Though a little cumbersome, it was a nice bit of benefit for Int.
15) Dispel Magic actually worked more like 5e's version....automatically dispelling any equal or weaker magic, but then providing a chance to dispel stronger magic. The main difference is back then the dispel check on higher level magic was MUCH harder, which is something I actually like.
16) Skills existed back then! I had known about Thief Skills but I didn't know that the more general list of skills we know today actually did exist back then, though it was a good bit bigger than today's list.
17) The Exploration Rules are actually pretty comprehensive and have a lot of simple but useful rules, I may steal some of it for my current game.
18) Initiative was very different back then. It was a simple d6 and done by each group. The ideas of adding dex to the roll and rolling it per person were actually optional variants at that time. So was surprise, there was again no perception check back then just a simple d6 done by both sides. I like the simplicity of it, but considering how deadly surprise can be its probably a good idea they changed it.
19) The Monster Reaction and Morale tables are actually very simple and yet I really like how they make encounters more organic. Monster reactions showcases things like animals that may not be hostile due to certain circumstances, and morale gives you reasonable "checkpoints" on when to consider if a monster should just leave a fight. Its very clear that back then, it was more common for monsters to leave the battlefield than to just get killed.
20) Weapon Speed did exist in a very simplified version: Ranged Attacks went first, then Spells, then melee weapons.
21) "Power Attack" actually existed back then, called the smash maneuver. And it was quite potent, for a -5 to attack you got to add your Strength Score (not modifier) as a bonus to your damage. So effectively the "-1 attack, +2 damage" math has existed for quite some time.
22) There was a concept that your attack bonus if high enough allowed you to deal extra damage. And I don't mean the attack roll, if your skill was simply high enough vs your opponent's AC, you straight up got bonus damage. Interesting idea!
23) THAC0 tables really are as nasty as I remember
24) "Point Blank Shot" actually existed as a standard part of missile attacks back then.
25) Until you got to high levels, Saving Throws against spells were very hard to make. This meant that spellcaster spells went into effect much more often than they do nowadays.
26) Grappling was stupidly complicated even then
