66
No rat-like race appears in any "Letters," "Forum," "D-Mail," or "Questions of the Month (Forum)" column appearing in Dragon #153 (January, 1990) through #266 (December, 1999).
During the last seven months I have slowly chipped away and re-read (and read for the first time, in some cases) all Letters and Forum columns--later renamed D-Mail and Questions of ...
54
I believe it is a matter of story, and less a matter of mechanics. Mechanically, any monster, any NPC, any curse, any trap, anything the players encounter will have a solution, a stat to beat, and you as the GM would have calculated their chances and deemed it possible for them to defeat (speaking in generalities)
The way to make the Undead scary is not to ...
47
I played many years of 2e and have read the 5e PHB, Basic set, and Hoard of the Dragon Queen, so I think I can give some good points of comparison. (I'm excluding the Skills & Powers stuff in late 2e from this discussion, that was less like 2e than many other versions of D&D...)
There are definitely similarities between 2e and 5e — mostly conceptual ...
answered Sep 6 '14 at 2:47
mxyzplk says reinstate Monica
163k25 gold badges400 silver badges628 bronze badges
44
What you're looking for is the definition of the Casting Time entry in a spell's description, on page 129 of the Player's Handbook. (Segments are from AD&D 1st edition and aren't relevant if you're playing AD&D 2nd edition.) The relevant part on that page is:
If only a number is given, the casting time is added to the caster's initiative die rolls....
37
Tasting isn't quaffing.
Chances are he didn't gargle the potion to get a feel for what was in it, he got a bit on the tip of his finger and then rubbed it on his tongue. He would be able to tell from just a bit of a taste that no this is not a potion ow why is my tongue burning.
If he explicitly states that he sucks the potions down like a vacuum cleaner ...
35
The second edition books have recently (mid 2015) become digitally available on dmsguild.com:
Player's Handbook
Monstrous Manual
Dungeon Master's Guide
30
Because they are silly and ridiculous in a game setting where players generally try to take the fictional world seriously. It was part of an unfortunate trend at the time to put things that were generally considered "silly" into otherwise coherent milieus - the greater outrage was a year earlier when WG7 Castle Greyhawk turned out to be a huge megamodule ...
answered Jun 17 '12 at 14:57
mxyzplk says reinstate Monica
163k25 gold badges400 silver badges628 bronze badges
28
Major Differences
the list of classes
the presumption of Non-Weapon Proficiencies
Advancement of Thief Skills
nature of Bards
Kits
Specialist Mages
Clerics
THAC0
Psionics
The list of Classes
AD&D 1E Core: Assassin, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Illusionist, Paladin, Ranger, Thief, Wizard. Bard is special, see below.
AD&D 1E+ UA: Assassin, Barbarian, ...
25
#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". It has Armor Class 7, and is Level 0. It has 6 hit points, attacks once per round (#AT 1), and does 2-8 points of damage (i.e. 2d4) on a successful hit. It ...
24
A More Gradual Power Curve
In 2e (and 1e and Basic), though it's still a thing (by design) that fighter types are more powerful early in the game and wizards more powerful late in the game, it's less of a dramatic gap between the two because the power curves are more gradual in general. Similarly, the difference between levels isn't as extreme (a level 7 ...
answered May 7 '15 at 12:02
mxyzplk says reinstate Monica
163k25 gold badges400 silver badges628 bronze badges
24
If he explicitly swallows "a gulp" of draconic acid (presumably analogous to Black Dragon breath) then yes, he's very very dead. That falls into the "inescapable death" situations described in the core books (trapped in a pit with the roof descending to crush you, drowning in an acid pool etc.).
Human stomach acid has got nothing on the kind of magical-...
22
Maps are fun. Make maps when you want to. You don't have to map anything, ever. But you'll want to, because maps are fun.
Maps are just another tool that you have as DM to convey information to the players. When you want to convey something that is best done spatially, a map is useful.
Personally, I find I often sketch very rough maps all the time during ...
22
I emailed Eliezer Yudkowsky, the author of HPMOR -- this was his response:
I didn't have three exact items in mind. The well-knownness of the
Candle of Invocation hack using only one item dates to after Harry's
time.
So I think that's going to be as good as we can get. Now let us give thanks to Eliezer for taking the time to respond to such a ...
22
AD&D took an interesting approach to this—the classes don't advance in levels at the same pace. It is still likely a level N wizard will be more powerful than a level N fighter, but if a fighter and a wizard have the same amount of XP, then the wizard will be of a lower level than the fighter.
This is most evident when comparing the Wizard and the ...
22
There is no explicit rule about an encounter being "too easy."
The DMG has an entire chapter devoted to experience points (chapter 8), which is far too much to summarize here. The overall gist is 'the DM should use XP in a largely-discretionary way to achieve diverse goals.' In their words, "the job is difficult because there are only a few rules (and lots ...
22
In general, the best advice on statting up gods is "Don't." The primary lesson learned from the publication of Deities & Demigods (later re-released in 1985 as Legends & Lore) for 1eAD&D was that, if you give Odin a HP total, then many players will try to kill him, and some will succeed. Unless you're specifically intending to make it possible ...
20
Planescape: Torment is based on Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Second Edition from the 1990s. THAC0, for example, only exists in that edition and a couple contemporary D&D editions (very late AD&D 1e and Basic supplements) - it's not a term found in other games. Armor Class doesn't work the same across D&D editions, let alone other tabletop RPGs....
answered Feb 9 '14 at 1:58
mxyzplk says reinstate Monica
163k25 gold badges400 silver badges628 bronze badges
20
Stats for purchased dogs
The dog available for purchase from a kennel, as listed in the equipment chapter, has the statistics of a war dog in the Monster Manual or Monstrous Manual under Dog, and is a little bit beefier than a wild dog. The difference between the three is in what they are trained to be able to do, not in their statistics.
Dogs don't gain ...
20
Chapter 6 on Weapons on Weapon Size says that
A character can always wield a weapon equal to his own size or less. Normally this requires only one hand, except for some missile weapons.... A character can also use a weapon one size greater than himself, although it must be gripped with two hands. (Player's Handbook (1995) 96)
Thus, for example, a Medium ...
18
Outside of Combat
If the characters have different skill-sets (i.e., there's one mage, one cleric, one thief, and one fighter in the group), then you can tailor your non-combat encounters to scale to the skills that are in play. Somebody brought a master thief? Then the locks and traps are suddenly masterwork. Only a first-level thief? Then the locks and ...
18
Resolve the Dramatic Conflict
Whether this will work for you depends entirely on your GM and how he sees the Ravenloft setting.
One interpretation is that people are drawn through the mists to take part in a mystery play that shows them and the Lord the consequences of that Lord's evil. The only way out of a domain in this case is to finish the play.
A ...
18
As you say, this is how Green Slime is presented in the DMG (3.5e p77, 3.0 p117). Note that Green Slime is considered a hazard, much like a flow of lava, raging river, or 40' pit would be a hazard.
Green slime is green slime. Does the module say the slime is invisible? That the players can't see it? Is there an illusory wall or darkness spell concealing ...
18
At very high levels spellcasters do become significantly more powerful than noncasters. However, compared to 3rd edition there are some important differences.
For one thing, there is no Concentration skill and no 5 foot step. Also you have to announce your intention to cast a spell at the begining of the round. If anything hits you before it is your turn, ...
18
The Dungeon Master's Guide covers starting wizard spells
To determine what spells are in beginning wizard's spellbook, see the Dungeon Master's Guide (1989) on Initial Wizard Spells (41).
In short, the DM picks a method to use, but a new wizard's spellbook usually contains detect magic, read magic, and about 4 other spells either that the player picks and ...
17
From this archived forum post.
It using the 3.5 D&D rules.
The Infinite Wish Loop!
Buy a Candle of Invocation for 8,400 gold.
Summon an Efreeti using the Candle of Invocation, you get three Wishes.*
Use the two first Wishes for whatever you like
Use the last of the three to ask for a Candle of Invocation
Per Gate spell you going to have to have be ...
17
You're asking the wrong question, "maximum level" is irrelevant. It assumes a max level 2e character is calibrated with a max level Pathfinder character, which they're not, and that there is a maximum level, which there's not - see 2e DMG Chapter 3, "Above 20th Level," there is no cap in 2e.
Your real question is "What level Pathfinder PCs are appropriately ...
answered Apr 26 '14 at 6:04
mxyzplk says reinstate Monica
163k25 gold badges400 silver badges628 bronze badges
17
Charging
Last one first: you can't “charge” someone's back when they're facing you, because charging has to be a relatively straight, well, charge at the intended target. It's definitionally not charging if you're not running straight at them. A charge can't involve stopping to turn around.
(If you're coming to AD&D 2e from D&D 3.5e, this may seem ...
17
Officially THAK-oh or THAKE-oh is acceptable
This D&D FAQ on the Wizards of the Coast Web site has a section entitled How Do You Pronounce...? that says
Here are some commonly mispronounced words and their dictionary pronunciations where they are available and common-practice pronunciations or TSR rulings where they not. For more general ...
17
By the Text of the Spell
This spell holds 1d4 humans, demihumans, or humanoid creatures rigidly immobile for five or more rounds.
and
Held beings cannot move or speak, but they remain aware of events around them and can use abilities not requiring motion or speech.
AD&D is famously open to DM interpretation, but I don't see how you could ...
16
1. Do Characters in 2e regenerate hit points for extremely high constitutions: Yes.
According to the AD&D Player's Handbook on Page 15, starting at a constitution of 20, you regenerate health every 1/6 turns. Increasing to 1/5 at 21, 1/4 at 22, and so on until every turn at 25.
2. Is this present in 4e / 5e: No
Regenerating hit points every round is ...
Only top voted, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
