106
votes
Accepted
What do jagged lines crossing a corridor mean on this old D&D map?
Those are "breaks" indicating that the cave keeps on going generally in the same way for X feet (' being the abbreviation for "feet"). Drawing that all out would make for scale problems on the ...
- 175k
94
votes
Accepted
How does one play a Chaotic Evil character without disrupting the play group?
Don’t play chaotic evil characters like that
It seems somewhat obvious so I was hesitant even typing this answer, but this isn’t the first time I’ve seen questions of this sort crop up so I might as ...
- 12.1k
70
votes
Making the first level magic user combat fun
While there might be some ways to make the combat fun for the mage, you are from a game design perspective trying to fit a square peg into a round hole: The magic user is not meant to have fun during ...
- 5,656
50
votes
How can we kill Demogorgon with a single fireball in 1st ed. AD&D?
So, this scene doesn't make sense in terms of 1st ed D&D. They are using some serious homebrewed rules at best but more likely the producers are just playing really fast and loose and using the ...
- 722
46
votes
Accepted
Has the floating city on the back of the Dungeon Master Guide ever been positively and officially identified?
It's the City of Brass
The Dungeon Master's Guide (1979) says
Cover: The book cover painting shows an encounter between three adventurers and an efreet on the Elemental Plane of Fire. The fabled ...
- 190k
46
votes
How does one play a Chaotic Evil character without disrupting the play group?
What is Chaotic Evil?
Chaotic evil characters are unpredictably violent, and sooner or later they are going to turn on other party members with murderous intent. - OP
This isn't what a CE character ...
- 40.1k
43
votes
Accepted
What does the "c." listed under weapon length mean?
As far as I can tell, the use of c. in the Weapon Types, General Data, and "To Hit" Adjustments table isn't defined anywhere in the Player's Handbook (1978).
However, I've always taken that c. to ...
- 190k
42
votes
Accepted
How can we kill Demogorgon with a single fireball in 1st ed. AD&D?
The only way to do it, with the rules as written, is to be about 100th level. AD&D1e theoretically allows this, since the experience tables are open-ended, although it was never something that was ...
- 16.8k
36
votes
How does one play a Chaotic Evil character without disrupting the play group?
There are some excellent answers here, but to add to them:
Evil can be a team player.
One of the most likeable characters I've played in games was a Chaotic Evil kobold who was utterly without human ...
- 401
35
votes
Making the first level magic user combat fun
A Magic User’s early combat ineffectiveness is consistent with the design goals of AD&D 1e
(And the easiest way to make combat more action-packed for a low-level Magic User is to play a newer ...
- 25.6k
34
votes
What were the names of the colored bolt spells of old D&D?
The most likely origin of these is a mangled account of the Prismatic Spray spell. That creates a long narrow fan of seven shifting beams of colour, red through violet. You roll a d8 to find out which ...
- 16.8k
32
votes
What do jagged lines crossing a corridor mean on this old D&D map?
That means the passageway is actually longer than the map shows. The distance mark indicates how much longer.
Note that the passageways on both sides of the mark have the same basic style and ...
31
votes
Can I run AD&D's Tomb of Horrors in D&D 5E?
Yes you can: it has now been published as a D&D 5e module.
Tomb of Horrors is one of seven modules from previous editions recently released in "Tales From the yawning Portal" published by Wizards ...
- 142k
29
votes
What were the names of the colored bolt spells of old D&D?
Nuts! No bolts!
So far as I'm aware the spells black bolt, blue bolt, and green bolt don't exist under those names. I checked the Wizard's Spell Compendium (4 vols.) and the Priest's Spell Compendium ...
- 190k
29
votes
How can I convert the AD&D "Bee" cantrip to D&D 5e?
Consider using the Infestation cantrip from Xanathar's Guide to Everything
From the spell:
You cause a cloud of mites, fleas, and other parasites to appear momentarily on one creature you can see ...
- 6,455
28
votes
Accepted
How hostile is it appropriate to be towards a PC that upsets your character?
Discuss with the other player
It is important that before having hostilities between your characters, you and the other character's player both agree to this feud. You should discuss what actions ...
- 53.9k
26
votes
Accepted
Why was damage denoted in ranges in older D&D editions?
Going by the Wikipedia article on Dice Notation, the answer is simply that it hadn't been invented yet.
Quoting the article:
Miniatures wargamers began using dice in the shape of Platonic solids in ...
- 80.2k
25
votes
Accepted
What does '#AT' mean in early versions of D&D and AD&D?
#AT means Number of Attacks per combat round. Sometimes it is written in long-form as "Number of Attacks", sometimes with the abbreviation "#AT".
The example given is of a creature called a "Farmer"....
- 982
24
votes
What exactly is AD&D?
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons is from 1979*. It's not related to Dungeons & Dragons from 2014 (a.k.a D&D 5th edition), except that it's an ancestor of it. Put another way: AD&D is the ...
- 243k
23
votes
Accepted
How do I acquire Holy Water as a Cleric in 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons?
The Player's Handbook lists holy water as available for purchase for 25 gp on page 36 under Religious Items as Water, Holy, vial.
The Dungeon Master's Guide contains instructions for clerics on how ...
- 190k
22
votes
Accepted
Porting dragon subdual rules from AD&D 1e to D&D 5e?
Subduing in 1st Edition
In AD&D (1st Edition), the rules for subduing a dragon were found in the Monster Manual I, under the DRAGON entry:
Subduing a Dragon: An attack on a dragon to subdue, ...
- 5,330
20
votes
How can I convert the AD&D "Bee" cantrip to D&D 5e?
Using Infestation is definitely a good idea, but if you insist on making it a spell of its own for comedic effect, I would personally do something like this.
Summon Bee
Conjuration cantrip
Casting ...
- 5,767
20
votes
How does one play a Chaotic Evil character without disrupting the play group?
Being unpredictable and violent are not defining characteristics for the chaotic evil alignment. Characters with those traits will tend to be chaotic evil, but there are a lot of ways to play the ...
- 401
18
votes
The Enlarge spell only effects one creature or object and its wording is ambiguous. What happens to a creature's armor or clothing if it grows?
Carried items increase along with their bearer or container
The spell explicitly says that it affects only a single creature or object, so a literal reading is that when cast on a character it would ...
- 43.3k
17
votes
What does the +X on a magic weapon apply to?
Both!
The Dungeon Master's Guide (1979) for Advanced Dungeons and Dragons says that
All magic swords receive their stated bonus both for purposes of hitting (as a bonus to the "to hit" die) and ...
- 190k
17
votes
Accepted
Is there a useful guideline to convert AD&D 1e monsters to the D&D 5e system?
Wizards of the Coast Released a PDF on this topic
In the October 2015 Rules reference, WoTC released a PDF that was designed to help the conversion of older editions to 5e; both monster statistics and ...
- 26.4k
17
votes
Accepted
Did AD&D players use Leomund's Tiny Hut to keep out enemies?
Given how much of the 1E and 2E period pre-dates the Internet, I doubt there'd be much actual data to base an answer off of.
I played 2E, and personally, I never treated the rules on how many people ...
- 9,695
16
votes
How can we kill Demogorgon with a single fireball in 1st ed. AD&D?
Set it up with Time Stop
Wish is Gouda Nuff for me
Foreward
This response is presented despite the fact that I never, in all the years I played AD&D 1e and OD&D, played in a party with a ...
- 142k
16
votes
I need help with how to fill out character sheets
All of the numbers you're looking for, except the last, can be found in the AD&D Player's Handbook, rather than the Dungeon Master's Guide. The DM is expected to be familiar with the PH as well as ...
- 16.8k
16
votes
How do I use the encounter chance tables in the AD&D 1e DMG?
Either is fine.
Assuming your d20 is fair, either a 1 or a 20 will occur 5% of the time, or "1 in 20."
The DMG, one paragraph later, lays out a procedure: "when an encounter check is ...
- 101k
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