Questions tagged [adnd-1e]
For questions about Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (a.k.a. "AD&D", "first edition", or "1e"), written by Gary Gygax and released in three volumes between 1977 and 1979. (For questions about AD&D 2nd edition, use the tag [adnd-2e] instead.)
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What is the purpose of old-school D&D class level limitations? [closed]
When I played 1E and 2E, racial level limits was one of the first rules we decided to ignore. We decided that it would prevent us from playing (say) an Elven fighter for as long as the party might ...
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What do jagged lines crossing a corridor mean on this old D&D map?
Looking at the map for area A and area C of I1 Dwellers of the Forbidden City, there are several markings that are not on the legend for the map. In each case, a corridor is interrupted by a zigzag ...
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How can we kill Demogorgon with a single fireball in 1st ed. AD&D?
So I saw this on Twitter this morning, apparently in reference to the TV show STRANGER THINGS:
Something that completely ruined my suspension of disbelief
(scifi.StrangerThings) submitted 14 ...
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Making the first level magic user combat fun
A fighter gets to hit something every round. An assassin can backstab someone if they are really lucky with their Hide in Shadows and Move Silently. A cleric with more than 13 wisdom gets more than ...
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What are the most important differences for a 1st Edition AD&D Dungeon Master learning to run D&D 4E?
I'm a campaign designer and DM with 20+ years of AD&D 1st edition experience. I've been "retired" from the game for over a decade, assume I don't know anything about 2nd, 3rd, or 3.5.
Now I'm co-...
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What are the major differences between AD&D 1st Edition & AD&D 2nd Edition
Supposedly on May 21st WoTC are going to release a premium limited edition reprinting of Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition in of honor of the late Gary Gygax.
I already own the AD&D 1st edition ...
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How does one play a Chaotic Evil character without disrupting the play group?
A follow-up question to How to deal with a PC trying to kill another?
As I understand the answer to that question, PCs killing one another is generally not the intended outcome of campaigns, and the ...
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What Information Can I Use If I Want To Publish My Own D&D 5e Module?
I intend to write a D&D module and publish it under the OGL (I know 5e itself isn't OGL, see note below) for use with both D&D 5e and AD&D. I know there are areas where I can't draw ...
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Can I run AD&D's Tomb of Horrors in D&D 5E?
I'm hoping to run a 5th Edition version of the original S1 Tomb of Horrors very soon for my group, as a break from our larger 4E campaign. The problem is, I only have the Basic Rules and the playtest ...
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Was the Tomb of Horrors module representative of Gygaxian DMing?
Twice today (and many times past) I have run across people begging the question that Tomb of Horrors is a typical example of the Gygaxian GMing style. It seems to be "common knowledge" that Gygax was ...
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How can I convert the AD&D "Bee" cantrip to D&D 5e?
It was recently brought to my attention that there existed a cantrip from the first edition of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons called "Bee". In the original description, it reads as follows:
Bee (...
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Good Single Word Instruction for "Command" Spell [closed]
The first level Cleric spell "Command" allows a single word verb command to be issued which will be obeyed by the target.
What commands would you recommend / have you had success with? It feels like ...
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How hostile is it appropriate to be towards a PC that upsets your character?
My character is now very upset at another character. What are strategies I can use to balance "My Guy Syndrome" with genuine disappointment?
For some backstory. In this particular game we're a bunch ...
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What does "Ninemen" mean, in the name of the Nulathoe's Ninemen spell?
Every reference to Ed Greenwood's spell Nulathoe's ninemen makes sure to note that "ninemen" is pronounced "nin-em-en" rather than "nine men," making it a unique word of ...
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What are the advantages of AD&D over D&D3?
Background: I've been playing RPGs for a long time and I've been playing AD&D for years. I enjoyed both the original D&D and D&D3/3.5/Pathfinder, other than (especially) tons of other ...
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What were the names of the colored bolt spells of old D&D?
I remember hearing from people who played old D&D about a group of spells that were effective at destroying whatever they were aimed at. I think they were called something like black bolt, green ...
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How do you calculate THAC0?
We're playing AD&D 1st edition and we have been asked by the DM to calculate our THAC0s so as to speed things up.
So, I get what THAC0 stands for (To Hit Armour Class 0) but it's not something I ...
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Who is pictured on the cover of Dragonlance Adventures?
Who are the characters depicted on the cover of the Dragonlance Adventures hardcover?
The painting was done by Jeff Easley, and I'm pretty sure it's depicting Tanis taking the crown from Emperor ...
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Can you use a Spelljammer ship to get to Krynn?
Following on from this (can-you-use-a-spelljammer-ship-to-get-to-ravenloft) question, I seem to remember that Krynn is similarly impossible to get to, mainly for plot reasons since no character on ...
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Was Original D&D an Historical Wargame?
At the dawn of roleplaying, the Castle & Crusade Society and Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association (LGTSA) focused on Medieval Britain, and produced the Chainmail tabletop wargame rules with a ...
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What does the "c." listed under weapon length mean?
In the PHB, some weapons have a length that begins with "c" and some others don't.
What does "c" mean in this context?
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Is it possible to mix different versions of AD&D?
Does anyone know if it is possible to mix different versions of AD&D? I'm hoping to mix Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 1st edition with the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd edition. What I would ...
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How does Wall of Fire react in a tunnel system?
We came across an issue in our game last night. We were ambushed in a system of tunnels and chambers, with monsters approaching from two directions.
The druid wanted to cast a Wall of Fire in a 30 ...
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What does a Troglodyte actually smell like?
In 1st Edition AD&D, the Monster Manual states that Troglodytes
...emit a secretion which smells
extremely disgusting to humans...
If I want to keep the party on their toes, I would like to ...
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Rules on Treasure Carrying
(Definition of "treasure" for the purposes of this post: primarily coins but anything which is heavy, valuable but not useful to the party beyond its cash value and therefore not something they ...
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Has the floating city on the back of the Dungeon Master Guide ever been positively and officially identified?
Please provide a reference. I'm not looking for opinions based on what or where it appears to be, nor guesses based on clues in the picture.
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How do you optimize in 1st Edition AD&D? [closed]
1st Edition Dungeons and Dragons gives its players a few strategic options during character creation, many of which are restricted by randomly generated attributes. With this in mind, what are some ...
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Infinite wish combo using 3 items
I was reading HPMOR and on chapter 3 it mentions some infinite wish combo in
"Advanced Dungeons and Dragons" using 3 items. The action being set in 1991 it can either be AD&D or AD&D 2nd ...
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Why can't a Cleric use a sling?
So by the book 1st Edition AD&D, clerics can't use a sling.
Other than game balance (it essentially means that other than the odd thrown hammer clerics have no ranged weapon ability which further ...
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Fate/Freeport as a first RPG? [closed]
I've kicked around the idea of starting some roleplaying games with my son (11) and his friends. I played AD&D when I was a kid (stopping around 1987, not sure what version that was). While I ...
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Why was damage denoted in ranges in older D&D editions?
In early editions of Dungeons and Dragons, monster damage was denoted as a range of possible outcomes, for example, if a monster dealt 3d6 of damage, it would state the monster dealt 3-18 damage. You ...
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Did AD&D players use Leomund's Tiny Hut to keep out enemies?
Brandes Stoddard has a fun article called Leomund's Tiny Problem, where he discusses ways in which Leomund's Tiny Hut is "highly exploitable" in D&D 5e, and offers suggestions on how to ...
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What does 6" mean under speed in the Monster Manual?
In the AD&D 1st edition Monster Manual, every monster's speed is represented in inches. Obviously, a big monster cannot just move 6 inches per turn, so what does the ...
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AC differences between AD&D 1E and Basic D&D?
I understand that there are differences between the way Armor Class works in AD&D (first edition) and Basic D&D (the boxed sets, Rules Cyclopedia, etc.), but I don't have the books to check it ...
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Which identical image appears in each of these editions' DMGs?
The just-for-fun prestige class conventioneer (or, if that doesn't work for you, here) that was posted on Wizards of the Coast Web site in 2001 possesses the special ability convention savvy. The ...
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How fast can sailing ships turn?
I've been rereading my 1e books for a campaign that would be set on a series of Caribbean-type islands with the potential for plentiful naval combat. Since I'm not too concerned about realism, the "...
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Which AD&D book contains the Cavalier, Acrobat, Barbarian, and other classes popularized by the cartoon?
What's the name of the AD&D book (1st Edition) that has the other character classes that were popularized in the Saturday morning cartoon?
I'm talking about the Cavalier, Acrobat, Barbarian, ...
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Can a monster cause a PC's alignment to change?
I'm DMing 1e "Village of Hommlet" and I think Lareth the Beautiful would enjoy causing the (1st level PC) lawful good cleric to become evil. Can he do this?
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How many spells can be cast per round in Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 1st Edition?
I can't find a reference within the core books that states how many spells can be cast in a round. I do see how many segments it takes per spell. Can a wizard cast multiple 1 segment spells i.e. ...
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How do I gain followers in 5e like I did in AD&D?
I just started playing D&D 5th edition at college with friends after playing AD&D for years with my family in a homebrew campaign. I just noticed that fighters don't get any followers after ...
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10-100 Troglodytes is too many!
I'm picking on troglodytes as an example. In MMI, the number of troglodytes appearing in their lair(cave system/dungeon) is 10-100. Troglodytes are a nice, not-too-tough, HD2 monster with some ...
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How to turn an AD&D thief into a con-man?
The thief character in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 1st edition is just that; a thief. Pickpocket, cut-purse, cat burglar, sneaky little blighter....
I'm thinking of running a non-combat (or ...
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How would I go about making an outdoor environment in dungeons and dragons?
How would I go about making an outdoor environment in dungeons and dragons? I would like to know what the rooms and hallways would be. I would really appreciate it if someone would help me. I'm really ...
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Does finding and removing a trap require one or two find/remove traps rolls?
Most of the question's above. I shall be running a campaign tomorrow where thieves and traps may have a higher profile than usual, and it occurred to me to wonder whether the thief skill of "find/...
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What does '#AT' mean in early versions of D&D and AD&D?
In many early D&D and AD&D modules, NPCs, monsters, and other creatures are often listed with an attribute of #AT followed by a number.
What does that mean?
For example, from the AD&D ...
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Making travel time meaningful?
The party wishes to leave the village and go to the dungeon. This will require a few hours of venturing through a forest.
How do I keep the passage of hours meaningful to the players? I want to avoid ...
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Megadungeon or modules for a weekend of play?
I've been having gaming/camping weekends with some friends and we've only played Call of Cthulhu so far, using modules. This time I plan on running an OSRIC/1e game, and would like to run the ...
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How do I acquire Holy Water as a Cleric in 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons?
I've looked through the 1st Edition Player's Handbook but cannot find any reference to acquiring Holy Water. Is this something I can create as a level 1 Acolyte or does it need to be acquired from a ...
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Concealed door vs Secret door
In AD&D 1st edition, what is the difference between a concealed door and a secret door?
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How connected are the LOTFP rules with the adventures?
I've been reading up on Raggi's Lamentations of the Flame Princess, and was considering introducing it to my players using one of the adventures but using 1e/OSRIC rules. Would this break the whole ...
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