Was the 1E assassin ever playtested?

[Emirikol]

I was just thinking of the power capabilities of the character classes over the three editions and what it would be like to stack up a party of 1E characters against a party of 3E or 4E characters. The 1E's would be stomped in less than a round I'd imagine, except I wondered about the assassin..didn't he have some kind of percentage of instant kill?

I remember that mechanic not really being streamlined and was wondering if it was every truly "playtested." Did Gygax "playtest" stuff or did he just come up with percentages and 1-in-d6 chance of success combinations?

Was 2E the first truly "playtested" edition?

THougts?

jh

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

The instant kill percentage of the assassin was allowed only after a "well-thought plan." The defintion of such wasn't entirely clear, but instead was left to the individual DM to adjudicate. I'm sure it varied by game from being a melee attack to a many-month plan carefully played out.

I don't remember ever using it myself.

 

[diaglo]

well the 1edADnD assassin came pretty much from the OD&D assassin. via Supplement II Blackmoor (1975)
but with some changes. like alignment.

 

[diaglo]

so um.. yeah it saw plenty of action before going to print in the 1978 PHB.

 

[Lanefan]

so um.. yeah it saw plenty of action before going to print in the 1978 PHB.

As did just about all of original 1e, though in a much less formal way than current 4e playtesting.

It's the stuff that came out of Drag-Mag articles, many written on a basis of "here's an idea for a class/ability/whatever; try it and see what you think" that wasn't really playtested beforehand...the readers trying it out *were* the playtest, such as it was. Some of those articles essentially ended up becoming Unearthed Arcana...and it showed.

Lanefan

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

Tangential comment: the Assassin's "insta-kill" table is also used by all classes for handling attacks on helpless enemies: the 1E "coup de grace."

 

[Felon]

Heh. The assassin was pretty much built to kill other party members and take their stuff, much as thief's job was to find ways to pickpocket the party when they all know the pickpocketing is coming.

 

[Tewligan]

Tangential comment: the Assassin's "insta-kill" table is also used by all classes for handling attacks on helpless enemies: the 1E "coup de grace."

Really? I never noticed that - that's handy to know, actually. You wouldn't have the book and maybe page reference handy, wouldja?

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

Really? I never noticed that - that's handy to know, actually. You wouldn't have the book and maybe page reference handy, wouldja?

Sure. 1E DMG, pg. 75, "Table I.D.2. ASSASSINS' TABLE FOR ASSASSINATIONS*" has a note below it saying "*Or attacks on helpless opponents by any character class (see COMBAT section)."

The reference in the COMBAT section is the one from pg 70, under "Magically Sleeping or Held Opponents." The relevant quote from there is "...[magically sleeping or held]...opponents may be automatically slain...note that this does not include normally sleeping opponents (see ASSASSINS' TABLE FOR ASSASSINATIONS)."

Thus:
Magical sleep == All PCs can auto-kill
Magical paralysis == All PCs can auto-kill
Normal sleep == All PCs use the assassination table
(Other) 'Helplessness' == All PCs use the assassination table

(I think the AD&D rules leave some room for DM interpretation on exactly what situations would fall under 'helplessness' -- normal sleep is the only one specifically named, but the note under table I.D.2. implies that others might exist.)

 

[Orius]

Wasn't Gary's game pretty much the playtest for the stuff he published for the game?