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Author Topic: AD&D 1e  (Read 13824 times)

Bison

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on: November 12, 2020, 10:58:35 PM
Just finished reading through the AD&D 1e Player's Handbook and am a good 1/3 of the way through the Dungeon Masters Guide. It had been years since I read them cover to cover. I truly love Gygax's writing style.

The kids and I sat down at the kitchen table and talked through the 1e Player's Handbook. I outlined the major differences between 1e and 5e. I thought the loss of all the different races, classes, and various restrictions would temper their excitement. However, they actually liked most of the rules and limitations of character development.

We are making characters and starting a 1e campaign this weekend. We will mostly play with rules as written.

Current House Rules:
The armor class adjustment table for weapons is out. I like the concept. It makes weapon choices more relevant but it's hard to explain, i.e. a crossbow has better odds of penetrating plate mail and doing damage than a short bow or thrown dagger. The bonus is versus an armor's base value, not an armor class, and does not really apply to a monster's natural armor. All it ends up doing is bogging down combat and requires a lot of adjudication to make work for little payoff.
« Last Edit: November 12, 2020, 11:00:49 PM by Bison »



bayonetbrant

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Reply #1 on: November 12, 2020, 11:07:26 PM
Sounds like fun!

How old are they now? Oldest one is a teenager, right?

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Bison

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Reply #2 on: November 12, 2020, 11:49:22 PM
Ah yes...we have entered the teenage years...




bob48

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Reply #3 on: November 13, 2020, 07:00:25 AM
 :bigthumb:

“O Lord God, let me not be disgraced in my old days.”

'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers'


Bison

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Reply #4 on: November 20, 2020, 09:03:47 AM
Thanks to Brant's generosity a few years back, the start point for the house campaign is Against the Cult of the Reptile God. I had played the module years and years ago so it will be good to replay. Mostly using it as a starting base to get the campaign off the ground and introduce the 1e mechanics.



bayonetbrant

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Reply #5 on: November 20, 2020, 09:26:45 AM
I hope you guys have a good time w/ it!

Games are for playing!

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Bison

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Reply #6 on: December 05, 2020, 05:18:17 PM
I have spent the last several weeks re-reading back issues of Dragon, Dungeon, Polyhedron, Imagine, and Strategic Review. First, I am very sad to no longer have most of my physical copies of Dragon and Dungeon. They are truly one of the few periodicals for me that hold up years later for an enjoyable read and practical information. However, I am quite happy to have a complete digital archive.

It's quite striking to read the evolution of Dungeons and Dragons through its various iterations. I must admit the articles and adventures for 3e and later editions made my eyes glaze over. So much work and upkeep for the Dungeon Master to have to do to maintain a campaign. The relatively simple adjudication of earlier editions is so much more manageable and fun. I just believe there is more agency for the players and DM to create the campaign story and individual character actions.



bayonetbrant

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Reply #7 on: December 05, 2020, 07:10:18 PM
It's quite striking to read the evolution of Dungeons and Dragons through its various iterations. I must admit the articles and adventures for 3e and later editions made my eyes glaze over. So much work and upkeep for the Dungeon Master to have to do to maintain a campaign. The relatively simple adjudication of earlier editions is so much more manageable and fun. I just believe there is more agency for the players and DM to create the campaign story and individual character actions.

Yep, I find great irony in the fact that nouveau role-players complain about how wargame-y the original RPGs were (D&D, T&T, C&S, RQ, Trav) but they need 4 books and 11 charts to adjudicate a 3-step action just to determine initiative.

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Bison

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Reply #8 on: December 05, 2020, 08:28:25 PM
There are a couple of changes in the system I think work easier. Saving throws and ascending armor class are much easier to explain for example. However, the growth in skills and checks to cover everything is too much for me. It's like every action is trying to calculate unarmed combat in 1e.

I was reading through Unearthed Arcana and Oriental Adventures and the beginning of skills in D&D really starts there. However, they are nothing compared to the full sheet lists of skills in the more recent editions.



Bison

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Reply #9 on: December 07, 2020, 01:13:02 AM
I decided to order a set of POD core books plus Unearthed Arcana from dmsguild. My poor books were beaten up 40 years ago so hoping to preserve them a little and use the POD books for the regular use table copies.



Bison

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Reply #10 on: December 14, 2020, 11:38:46 PM
I received my first two POD books, the players handbook and the monster manual, today. I was allowed to glance through them but now have to wait till Xmas and for the other books to arrive. Other than the cover art, I am very happy with the print quality. I will need to perhaps order one more PHB for table use. Still have the DMG and UA coming in hardback and a paperback copy of fiend folio. I do wish all the core books were available for POD in hardback but I'll have to wait.



bayonetbrant

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Reply #11 on: December 15, 2020, 07:01:46 AM
I've been torn on whether or not I want additional copies of my old ADD1E books or not.

What's wrong with the covers?  Printing isn't as good? Or the material isn't what you wanted?

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Bison

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Reply #12 on: December 15, 2020, 08:52:27 AM
The covers are a perfectly functional scanned copy of the 2013 reprint (I still kick myself in the backside I didn't just get all reprints). The cover art is a bit blurry which fortunately is not the case with the art and text inside. Anyway, I guess it would be nice if WotC offered an option to select cover options.

I ordered the higher grade paper quality on the hardbacks and the Fiend Folio is standard paper and softcover. I am looking forward to seeing the quality difference. I also have a set of 2e paperback core rulebooks coming. Unfortunately, WotC is a bit hit and miss on what they offer on PoD and hard or soft back cover options. I really, really want to order a copy of the various B/X editions but only the Rules Cyclopedia is an option.



bayonetbrant

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Reply #13 on: December 15, 2020, 09:44:27 AM
The Rules Cyclopedia is a superior version of those rules, anyway, since it cleans up a lot of the verbiage from earlier books, to make sure there's no inconsistencies remaining from earlier versions (like unarmed combat).

If you don't like the Mystic (essentially the 1ed monk reborn) then just ignore it and play on.

If you're wanting the earlier books for the nostalgia factor, then I totally get it.  But if you're wanting a set of rules to just play with, the RC is going to cover all your bases for you.

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Bison

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Reply #14 on: December 15, 2020, 03:04:08 PM
I have a copy of the Rules Cyclopedia and another table copy would be nice.

However, I think Mentzer’s box sets in particular the red and blue boxes are one of if not the best products ever made to teach D&D. The limited choices initially in the red box for spells, equipment, monsters and simple “optional” rules are great for new or younger gamers.

Also I’m a D&D nerd and I like having all the various rules and books for reading and idea generation.