Thinking About OD&D

[diaglo]

thinking about it.

heck, i'm refereeing it still.

in fact next session is this coming weekend. and probably the following one too.

 

[rossik]

One variant I thought about for Clerics was to make them spontaneous casters, but limit not only daily castings but "spells known" to what is indicated on the chart. So a 3rd level cleric might have CLW and Prot. vs. Evil; he could cast each once per day or one of them twice per day, but only knows those spells. I think this goes along with the idea that clerical spells are like 'miracles' that the cleric can perform as a granted power.

thats the way i have done for more then 10 years, and works perfectly for me

 

[WayneLigon]

In AD&D (or, presumably, 3E) where the cleric has a lot more spell slots (both generally, and due to high Wisdom) and a wider variety of spells to choose from, allowing them to cast spontaneously would be too big of an advantage (IMO),

In 2E we let them be pure spontaneous spellcasters; anything on the basic cleric list could be cast any time up to the slot limit. That worked much better and didn't unbalance them too much since they didn't have that many attack spells in 2E. In 3E, that wouldn't be such a good idea.

 

[Odhanan]

I bookmarked your page some time ago, PJ, and I really like your musings. They are insightful and thought-provoking. Excellent stuff!

 

[Baron Opal]

Are the OD&D rules on a pdf anywhere?

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

Are the OD&D rules on a pdf anywhere?

Sure; you can get the OD&D rules from RPG Now. And Supplement II is available for free from Dave Arneson's site. There are links on my web page.

 

[Matthew_]

Thanks for updating your site, Philotomy. I always enjoy readin your thoughts on the subject.

 

[Ulrick]

Thank you for re-posting that site. I had it bookmarked awhile ago but lost it.
I'm starting up another campaign soon, and am strongly considering using OD&D (maybe Holmes version or the 1981 version--I don't have the 1974 set.)

I like how a DM can mold the game into what he desires in his campaign. A ruling doesn't necessarily effect other systems. That, and its very rules-lite. I'm tired of 3.5 with all its feats and number crunching.

I particularly like your defense of Vancian Magic. Back in 2e, I ruled that "cantrips" were something that all spellcasters could do, regardless of actually having that spell memorized. I read a dragon magazine article that supports casters being able to perform minor feats of magic. Vancian Magic is also easier to keep track of, particulary for new players.

EDIT: My apologies. It seems that I have confused your site with Robert Fisher's site.
http://web.fisher.cx/robert/infogami/Classic_D&D

which you have a link to.

And he even mentions that article in Dragon #200

http://web.fisher.cx/robert/infogami/The_Color_of_Magic

Thanks again!

 

[Griffith Dragonlake]

Helmets

For Helmets, consider that in the AD&D DMG intelligent opponents will attack the unarmoured head 50% of the time and unintelligent opponents 33 1/3 % of the time.

Rather than granting attackers a flat +1 to hit, consider granting them a bonus = 1/2 or 1/3 of the difference between the character's armoured AC and unarmoured AC.

Conversely consider appying a penalty to the surprise role for wearing helmets. I suggest a penalty of 1 for AC 7 & 6 and a penalty of 2 for AC 5 or less. Shields do not count towards AC when determing this penallty. This way, character who are unarmoured or wearing leather will have no penalties for wearing a helmet whereas those who choose to tank will incur greater risks of surprise.

Disclosure: IMC, I used the hit location rules from Blackmoor (roll location than roll to hit AC) rather than the above house rule.

 

[Votan]

Sure; you can get the OD&D rules from RPG Now. And Supplement II is available for free from Dave Arneson's site. There are links on my web page.

I have had good success with finding used copies at local used bookstores (at quite reasonable prices). The PDFs are slightly cheaper but I like the hard copies.