Delving into AD&D, The 1st edition Player's Handbook in PDF

Yup! The PDF for the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Player's Handbook is now available at RPGNow. While it does have the reprint cover it has the remastered searchable text and the file size clocks in a 5.3 meg. I still have the version I bought off of Paizo and it was a series of scanned images at 23 meg. So the smaller size is appreciated.

While Wizards doesn't allow page extraction it does allow you to copy text and graphics out of the book.

This is absolutely fantastic. Now if they would just set it up for print on demand!

Delving into AD&D: Everything you want to know about First Edition Combat.

Gary Gygax wrote some great prose in first edition ADnD. But there were sections where things were not so clear. One of them was how initiative is supposed to work in combat. Luckily a couple of years back a guy named David Prata wrote A.D.D.C.I.T. which lays out the entire first edition combat in detail backed by footnotes.

It may not be the definitive interpretation of ADnD combat but is certainly one of the most complete. For me personally after reading it I finally got what Gygax was getting at in the 1st edition DMG.  The two key points are

• The initiative number is the segment when the OPPOSING side gets to act. So if Side A rolls a 5 and Side B rolls a 2; Side A starts their combat round on segment 2 and Side B starts their combat round on segment 5. Thus for side A any spell that takes 2 segments or less can be cast safely. Three segments spells will be simultaneous with melee combat. Any longer casting time spells run the risk of being disrupted by Side B.
• Weapon speed, and all the rules about multiple attacks with weapon speed only come into play when initiative is tied.  So when Side A and B both roll a 4 then weapon speeds are compared and it may be possible that if the weapon speed is low enough the wielder of that weapon will get multiple attacks.

Delving into AD&D: How combat is supposed work.

+Erik Tenkar blogs on casting time segments in ADnD 1st edition. For me the gold standard for figure how combat is supposed to work by the book in first edition is DM Prata's A.D.D.I.C.T essay over on Dragonsfoot.

The two main things I learned from reading ADDICT is that

• Speed Factors only come into play with a tied initiative.
• That side (or individual) starts on the segment indicated on opponent's die roll.

The second point needs some further explanation. What the convoluted explanation in the DMG boils down too is that if I rolled a 5 for initiative and you roll a 2 for initiative. This means you start on segment 5 and I start on segment 2. If I was a spell caster, that would mean that I would cast any 1 or 2 segments spells before you could act. If  I cast a 3 segment spell we would go at the same rime. Or rather we would then go to the speed factor rules to see who go first. If you have  a speed factor 2 or less weapon you would go before me because of the 3 segment casting time. If you had a speed factor 3 weapon, then the spell and the melee attack would be simultaneous.

The most important thing about ADDICT is that it reinforced the feeling I was developing about ADnD 1st Edition. That the game as a system didn't deserve to be on the pedestal I placed it on. Don't get me wrong, I think the writing and aides in the DMG are pure gold, I think the PHB reflects what most people want for their characters when playing classic DnD. The Monster Manual likewise is still a classic in my eyes. But is more of a ODnD book than a ADnD book.

With Playing at the World and Hawk and Moor documenting and explaining the genesis of Dungeons and Dragons, I fine myself respecting ODnD far more than ADnD. Why? Because it was developed as a direct result of Gygax running his campaign. Despite is poor presentation almost everything in that book was actually used at some point by Gygax. 

In contrast ADnD 1st edition feels more or less designed. I haven't read any account of Gygax actually using the combat system in the DMG, or other subsystems like Pummeling, Grappling, and Overbearing. The few accounts of I read suggest that there is a whole lot of "Well that seems like a good idea, lets put it in." and little actual playing of the content. And on top of that, TSR was being bombarded by rule questions, and having to deal with tournaments*. Which I feel had a major influence on what Gygax focused on.

I realize that Gygax did play some of ADnD but it wasn't developed the same way as DnD**. I do realize that some parts of ADnD improved on ODnD especially in terms of clarity.

However the differences in how they were developed is why I opted to build the Majestic Wilderlands on top of Swords and Wizardry instead of OSRIC. The Majestic Wilderlands is born of what I actually did in my campaigns and ODnD proved to be a better fit than ADnD.

*Organized play has been both a boon and a bane for tabletop RPGs from the beginning. in the 1970s to today.

**For modern example of a RPG designed this way, look at Goodman Games DCC RPG. +Joseph Goodman, +Harley Stroh, and their team spent countless sessions of actual play, playtesting the game before it was printed. It is my opinion is that it is best way to a good design if you have the time and resources to do it.

Delving into AD&D: Parrying and other combat options.

From Page 104 of the Player's Handbook

Participants in a melee can opt to attack, parry, fall back, or flee.

Attack can be by weapon, both hands, or grappling.

Parrying disallows any return attack that round, but the strength "to hit" bonus is then subtracted from the opponent's "to hit" dice roll(s), so the character is less likely to be hit.

Falling Back is a retrograde move facing the opponent(s) and can be used in conjunction with a parry, and opponent creatures are able to follow if
not otherwise engaged.

Fleeing means as rapid a withdrawal from combat as possible; while it exposes the character to rear attack at the time, subsequent attacks can only be made if the opponent is able to follow the fleeing character at equal or greater speed.

Even after 30 years still finding stuff I didn't know back in the day.

Delving into AD&D: Infinite Wishes

• Use a Candle of Invocation to summon a efreet
• Use a charge from the Rod of Beguiling to make him your friend (no saving throw)
• Use your first wish
• Use your second wish to recharge the Rod
• Use your third wish to create a Candle of Invocation.
• Dismiss the Efreet with your thanks.
• Repeat

Delving into AD&D: Treasure Types Part II the Monster Manual

So I looked at AD&D treasures including making a list of monsters categorized by treasure type. The big change is that many monsters have multiple treasure types. Including multiple instances of the same treasure type, for example Q (x10) meaning multiply the Q treasure type by ten.

Again the idea is not to figure out why Gygax assigned specific treasure types to individual monster but rather to understand the treasure types themselves.

List of monsters by Treasure Type

I kept the list in a word doc so you can edit it as you see fit.

A is no longer the Man Treasure Type, is not commonly used either being reserved for the Lich, Locathah, Men Bandits, Squid Giant, and Troglodytes

B to F are still pretty much like their OD&D counterpart with the same rough ascending order of value.

G is no longer just for dwarves. Elves are thrown in as well as a bunch of other creatures.

Interestingly the Roc has been removed from I but more creatures were assigned to this treasure type than OD&D. It also was used a lot with creatures with multiple treasure types, probably because of the Gem and Jewelry values.

H is still the hoard treasure for Dragons. Interesting the white dragons don't get this treasure type. Along with the Dragons the Archdevil Geryon and the Guardian Naga have this treasure type.

Now to the new types

J to N are meant to be assigned to individual monsters. When listed as part of a lair it looks to be incidental treasure. This especially clear for the various varieties of Giant Spiders.

O and P are low value coin treasure types, O is copper and silver, while P is silver and electrum

Q is a used a lot and in conjunction with other treasure types, It is the Gem treasure type.

R treasure type is similar to G but without any magic items.

S is the potion treasure type

T is the Scroll treasure type

U is a high value treasure type with Gems, Jewelry and magic items.
The elite monsters that get this are Orcus, Asmodeus, Tiamat the Chromatic Dragon, and interestingly enough Ixitxachitl Guards and Androsphinxs.

V is just magic items

W is similar to G and R but with map instead of magic items. It only used for the Men, Buccaneers.

X is miscellaneous magic items plus a potion, it been assigned to a lot of monster in conjunction with other treasure types.

Y is just gold pieces

Z is similar to H with a smaller number of magic items the monsters that get this are Men Dervishes, Men Nomads, and Will-o-the-wisp. Looks like there is a lot of wealth hidden underneath those camel sacks.

Delving into AD&D:Treasure Types Part I

While the assignment of treasure types to individual monsters was obviously an judgment call by Gary Gygax is there meaning behind the types themselves? One of the things OSRIC, and Swords & Wizardry omitted was the lettered treasure type system (need to check Labyrinth Lord to see what they do). It was omitted because it was obviously a unique creative creation by Gygax.  However there is a chance that if one compared what monsters were assigned what treasure type, a pattern will emerge to let us know what Gygax considered each treasure type to represent. Then by restating in a different manner, without letter codes,  a functional equivalent can be developed for a retro-clone.

Note Kellri of Old School Reference fame is the one who thought of using descriptions instead of letter codes first.

To start this off we go back to ODnD and look at how treasure types were assigned to the monsters in the three original booklets.

Analysis of OD&D (original booklets only) treasure types.

Looking at the Original D&D treasure we see the following

B,C,D, E, & F are in order of increasing value. Although D&E are roughly equivalent, D has less potential value but greater odds, while E has greater potential odds but lesser odds.

A, G, H, I are all all special treasure basically assigned to only one monster each.

A: Men & Centaur and is divided into Land, Desert, Water subcategories.

B:Skeletons, Zombies, Wights, Hydras, Nixies

C: Ogres (+1,000 GP), Gargoyles, Lycantropes, Minotaurs, Pixies, Gnomes

D:Orcs, Hobgoblins, Gnolls, Mummies, Cockatrices, Manticoras, Purple Worms, Dryads

E:Giants (+5,000 GP), Wraiths, Spectres, Gorgons, Wyverns, Elves, Griffons

F:Vampires, Basiliks, Medusae, Chimera

G:Dwarves

H:Dragons

I:Rocs

WaysoftheEarth over on the ODnD discussion forum did a numerical analysis of the different ODnD treasure types. Like noted above the D & E treasure types are the oddity in the general progression from B to F.

It will take a few more days but the next post in this series will look at the ADnD treasure types.

Delving into AD&D: Magic Item Creation

This started out when I read the description of the 8th level Permanency spell in Swords & Wizardry. I saw that unlike AD&D it has nothing to do with magic item creation. It does what the spell title suggestions, makes a duration of a spell permanent. I then went to the Greyhawk Supplement to see how the original was worded, pretty much the same.  Then I thought to check out Enchant Item as that is a 6th level Swords & Wizardry spell. And it wasn't there nor in Men & Magic or any of the supplements. I asked around the forums, Google plus and StackExchange and with the aid of helpful posters found that it not in any of the Dragons or Strategic Reviews. 


The only reference to creating Magic Items in the 1974 edition of Dungeons & Dragons is found on page 6 and 7 of Volume I (Men & Magic). In there it says 

Wizards and above may manufacture for their own use (or for sale) such items as potions, scrolls, and just about anything else magical.

Looking at the level chart on page 16 of Volume I  we see that the title "Wizard" refers to a 11th level magic user.

There it was made into a 6th level spell which can be cast by a 12th level wizard. In addition the 8th level permanency spell has been altered to make it a requirement for the creation of permanent magic items. This meant that in AD&D, compared to OD&D, the level of making permanent magic items has been increased from 11th level to 16th level.

Wow Gygax must not have liked 11th level character making magic items.

Also this means Enchant Item in Swords & Wizardry is an imported AD&Dism. I am thinking for the Book of Lost Magic of dropping this down a fifth level spell. So that 9th level wizards can create magic items. This fits better with how often magic item appear in the Majestic Wilderlands. And I will revise the minor Magic Item creation spells I introduced to the Majestic Wilderland Supplement to the following

Create Scroll 1st Level spell (unchanged)
Create Potion 2nd level spell (unchanged)
Create Charm 3rd level spell (dropped from 4th level)
Create Wand 4th level spell (dropped from 5th level)
Enchant Magic Item 5th level spell  (dropped from 6th level)
Create Teleport Circle (dropped from 6th level)

Delving into AD&D: Bag of Holding

 In my recent post about how my players handled the Demi-Lich of the Tomb of Horrors several people mention how did the dispel cause the demi-lich to be lost. My ruling came from the description of the Bag of Holding in ADnD's DMG on page 138.

If overloaded, or sharp objects are placed within so as to pierce it, the bag will rupture and be ruined, and the contents will be lost forever in the vortices of nilspace.

I ruled that the only way of causing the contents to be lost forever from OUTSIDE the bag was to dispel it. The party leaped on this as an effective way of dealing with whatever evil was in.

Re-reading this also reminded me of why I ruled the Bag of Holding as an effective prison for the Demi-Lich. Even if the Demi-Lich had the power to force it way out of the bag, the bag would have ruptured and it would have been lost.

Delving into AD&D: Ghouls

Ghoul Paralyzation in the original three books doesn't have a duration. Unless the referee is feeling merciful looks like the only way to remove it is through magic (spell or item). Luckily for Boog, my half-orc fighter character, Tim of Gothridge Manor was feeling merciful.

Delving into AD&D:How often you charge.

AD&D DM Guide is legendary in that you could read it today and still find something new that you missed the previous 99 times you read. I been running into this while particpating in Tim of Gothride Manor AD&D Campaign. I decided to collect these periodically into a series labeled Delving into AD&D. 

Page 66 DMG
You can only charge once a turn
If you set a polearm with a point or a spear  against a charging opponent and hit you do double damage.

More specifically once you charge you can't charge for 9 more rounds.