Celebrating 2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary of Blackmoor and of Role-Playing!
Today is Part 13 of my series of looks at OD&D starting with Men & Magic - Volume 1.
So today we are going to move on to Saving Throws. The main thing that I would do if I were going to reformat the Saving Throw Table, is I would group each class together so that it would be even quicker to read. First here is the table:
Remember in the Attack Matrix how Fighting-Men advanced 1-3, 4-6 etc and Clerics advanced 1-4, 5-8 and Magic-Users advanced 1-5, 6-10? That progression is also used in the Saving Throw Matrix. So the Fighting-Man Saving Throw Target Number changes more frequently, it does not mean that they end up with the best saves in each and every category. The average save at best for Fighting-Men is 5.4, for Clerics it is 6.0 and for Magic-Users it is 5.4. So if I were going to redo the table, I might tweak the numbers a little to benefit the Cleric. This table is simple to use, you just go to the table and read the number, quick and easy with generally no adjustments.
Some of these are success or failure, save or die, save or turn to stone, etc. Others are full damage or half damage. Some do not like the way this works, I like it and have no real problem with it.
Now we will briefly look at the Spells Table. For Magic-Users in OD&D there are Spell Levels 1 through 6 and for Clerics there are Spell Levels 1 through 5. More spells and more spell levels would be added later. For Magic-Users oddly enough there were only eight 1st Level Spells, the least of any level. For instance 3rd level and 5th level spells had 14 spells each. With 2nd level having 10 spells, while 4th and 6th level have 12 spells each.
Clerics on the other hand had only four each 2nd and 3rd level spells and six each 1st, 4th and 5th level spells.
We will come back to these tables tomorrow, because before the spell descriptions are presented we next find the Clerics versus Undead Monsters table.
Here the rolls are made with two six-sided dice (2d6). As you can see there are three possible results. It is not stated, but implied that you roll two six-sided dice (2d6) to find out how many are effected. Later other undead were added and we revised the table to include them and we extended the table from an 8th level Cleric up to a 10th level Cleric.
The next statement is looking back at the above table and ahead toward the spell descriptions:
Tomorrow we will start looking at the spell descriptions.
Today is Part 13 of my series of looks at OD&D starting with Men & Magic - Volume 1.
So today we are going to move on to Saving Throws. The main thing that I would do if I were going to reformat the Saving Throw Table, is I would group each class together so that it would be even quicker to read. First here is the table:
Remember in the Attack Matrix how Fighting-Men advanced 1-3, 4-6 etc and Clerics advanced 1-4, 5-8 and Magic-Users advanced 1-5, 6-10? That progression is also used in the Saving Throw Matrix. So the Fighting-Man Saving Throw Target Number changes more frequently, it does not mean that they end up with the best saves in each and every category. The average save at best for Fighting-Men is 5.4, for Clerics it is 6.0 and for Magic-Users it is 5.4. So if I were going to redo the table, I might tweak the numbers a little to benefit the Cleric. This table is simple to use, you just go to the table and read the number, quick and easy with generally no adjustments.
Some of these are success or failure, save or die, save or turn to stone, etc. Others are full damage or half damage. Some do not like the way this works, I like it and have no real problem with it.
Now we will briefly look at the Spells Table. For Magic-Users in OD&D there are Spell Levels 1 through 6 and for Clerics there are Spell Levels 1 through 5. More spells and more spell levels would be added later. For Magic-Users oddly enough there were only eight 1st Level Spells, the least of any level. For instance 3rd level and 5th level spells had 14 spells each. With 2nd level having 10 spells, while 4th and 6th level have 12 spells each.
Clerics on the other hand had only four each 2nd and 3rd level spells and six each 1st, 4th and 5th level spells.
We will come back to these tables tomorrow, because before the spell descriptions are presented we next find the Clerics versus Undead Monsters table.
Here the rolls are made with two six-sided dice (2d6). As you can see there are three possible results. It is not stated, but implied that you roll two six-sided dice (2d6) to find out how many are effected. Later other undead were added and we revised the table to include them and we extended the table from an 8th level Cleric up to a 10th level Cleric.
The next statement is looking back at the above table and ahead toward the spell descriptions:
A full explanation of each spell follows. Note that underlined Clerical spells are reversed by evil Clerics. Also, note the Clerics versus Undead Monsters table, indicating the strong effect of the various clerical levels upon the undead; however, evil Clerics do not have this effect, the entire effect being lost.So it is noted that evil Clerics, cannot turn or dispel/dissolve undead. I created a referee table for evil Clerics who could, depending on their level and the undead, control undead up to two dice in number or no effect. An Evil High Priest which I made equivalent to a 10th Level Cleric could create undead of the same types that the 10th Level Cleric could dispel or dissolve. The Evil High Priest could dispel or dissolve with the same roll and then up to two dice in number. I did not give any evil Cleric the create Undead power, just the Evil High Priest.
Tomorrow we will start looking at the spell descriptions.
I love how the categories like Turn Undead tables and Save categories inform players somewhat about the world of OD&D, even if they've never played. The genre and the rules are tied up strongly together in that regard. You roll up a character, and record the vital information on a piece of notebook paper or index card, and you know you live in a world where, say, Death Rays and Wraiths exist. That's something to fear right out the gate. Neither of those things sounds particularly hopeful or welcoming, and both are there to reduce your HP to zero and ensure you don't retire rich.
ReplyDeleteIt's thematic and it's simple, but it manages to tell a story even before you actually play. It gets players' imaginations turning before they ever go down into their first dungeon. I feel that, as a person who has also played more modern versions of the game, this thematic feeling of foreboding is sadly lacking in those and rarely so strongly presented as in 3lbb D&D, which is one good reason why it remains number 1 in my book.