2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary - Day Ninety-Two

Celebrating 2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary of Blackmoor and of Role-Playing!

Today is Part 37 of my series of looks at OD&D starting with Monsters & Treasure Volume 2.

**For those coming in, in the middle of this series I am giving you my take on OD&D during my first exposure starting in Sept of 1975. For this first part it is just the first three books of the original woodgrain box set and prior to obtaining the Greyhawk, Blackmoor and later Supplements.**

Today we continue on with our look at the original D&D monsters starting with Gnomes:

GNOMES: Slightly smaller than Dwarves, and with longer beards, these creatures usually inhabit the hills and lowland burrows as opposed to the mountainous homes which Dwarves choose. They are more reclusive than their cousins, but in all other respects resemble Dwarves.

IMC Gnomes do not resemble Dwarves. Dwarves are very stocky the body with thick muscular arms and legs. Gnomes are slightly shorter on average than Dwarves and the average Gnome weighs about 40% of what the average Dwarf weighs. Gnomes are very lean and muscular with very little body fat. Gnomes have very long beards of which they are very proud. By the end of adolescent Gnomes have white beards and bald heads, causing most other peoples to assume that only very old Gnomes deal with the outside world and while this is partially true Gnomes from early adulthood at 50 until the end of their lives around 800 or so tend to all look the same age.

As I noted earlier in a previous post: Gnomes were changed to be only Lawful as in extreme Lawful. They are the  bean counters of the world, the dot every i and cross every t, adhere to every line of a contract type of folk. They are by nature incapable of changing Alignment just as Undead are unbreakably Chaotic. Gnomes I play as touchy and very concerned about the exact letter of a contract and very hard to deal with. They have strong magical powers and inclined to be isolated.

Gnomes do not care that you broke the contract because you were taken captive and barely escaped with your life and have only just made it back to civilization, they only care that you broke your contract with them and they want satisfaction.

Of course Gnomes have the same benefit facing large great creatures that Dwarves do.

DWARVES: Because of their relatively small size, clumsy monsters like Ogres, Giants and the like will have a difficult time hitting Dwarves, so score only one-half the usual hit points when a hit is scored. Any body of Dwarves will have one above average fighter for every 40 in the group, and to determine the level simply roll a six-sided die, the number of pips equalling the level of fighting of the dwarf. If in their lair the score will be adjusted so that 1 or 2 equals 3rd level, 3 or 4 equals 4th level and 5 or 6 equals 5th and 6th levels respectively. For every level of fighting ability there will be a 10% chance that the dwarf will have a magic shield, magic armor, or a magic sword (die 1–4) or hammer (die 5, 6). Unintelligent beasts may sometimes be used by Dwarves to form a part of their defenses (domesticated bears, wolves, or whatever, at the referee’s option). They are otherwise as outlined in CHAINMAIL.

Here is something that most people never noticed or knew. Dwarves (and Gnomes and Hobbits) take half damage from attacks by monsters like Ogres, Giants and the like. (Some may have noticed that I say "and the like" or something similar a lot, blame Gygax)

I made this change: Parties of Dwarves of 10 or less will include at least one 2nd level Fighter, parties of 11-20 at least one 2nd level and one 3rd level Fighter, parties of 21-30,  at least two 2nd level and one 3rd level Fighter, parties of 31-39 at least three 2nd level and one 3rd level Fighter, and parties of 40 and over have additional above average Fighters as follows: for every additional 10 there will be one 2nd level Fighter, for every additional 20 there will be one 3rd level Fighter, for every additional 30 there will be one 4th level Fighter, for every additional 40 there will be one 5th Level Fighter. These additions for over 40 are cumulative. Parties of 80 or more will always have one 6th level Fighter and every additional 80 will add one additional 6th level Fighter.

Dwarves are the makers of the premium mundane and magical weapons and armor with only the exception of Elven Chainmail, Elven Swords, and Elven Bows which have their own special magic. Even mundane Dwarven weapons gain non-magical +1 to hit  and a +1 to damage due to their extraordinary quality. The great Dwarven Armor and Weaponsmiths wield powerful and secret magic to create their magical wares. While they freely sell their mundane items, the magical items - especially the weapons - are sold for a King's ransom and then only when the purchaser - who must be the user - takes a blood oath to never use that weapon against a Dwarf, unless he has been banished by the Dwarves and bears the mark of banishment.

I will also note here that Hobbits were left out of this volume of OD&D and no additional information is provided. 

I previously in an earlier posted noted that I added: Hobbits, Elves, and Dwarves could be any of the three alignments the same as Men. I specified which was the most common and least common extrapolated from the original specifications.

I also as I noted previously added: If you look at Chainmail, you see that they can fire a stone as far as an archer shoots. So  I did not allow hobbits to use bows, but they could use slings. As for the deadly accuracy part I did not spend a lot of time trying to parse what that meant and how to implement that. I just eyeballed it and gave hobbits a +3 to hit with sling stones and have never changed it. 

ELVES: Elves are of two general sorts, those who make their homes in woodlands and those who seek the remote meadowlands. For every 50 Elves encountered there will be one of above-normal capabilities. Roll a four-sided die for level of fighting and a six-sided die for level of magical ability, treating any 1’s rolled as 2’s and 6’s (magical level), as 5’s. For every 100 encountered there will be a Hero/Warlock. One-half of the Elves in any given party will be bow armed, the other half will bear spears, and all will have swords in addition. Elves have the ability of moving silently and are nearly invisible in their gray-green cloaks. Elves armed with magical weapons will add one pip to dice rolled to determine damage, i.e. when a hit is scored the possible number of damage points will be 2–7 per die. Elves on foot may split-move and fire. Mounted Elves may not split-move and fire, for they are not naturally adapted to horseback.

I added that there were multiple sorts of Elves that were adapted to any terrain type, from deserts, to mountains, to swamps, to coastal Sea Elves and so on for all terrain types. For groups of Elves of less than 50 there will always be at least one 2nd level Fighter/3rd level Magic-User. If a single Elf is encountered this is what he will be. The color and appearance of Elven Cloaks changes with the habitat.

All Elves carry a bow and all carry a sword, half also carry a spear. Elves are deadly with bows having two shots per melee round, increasing to three shots at 4th level.

ENTS: These tree-like creatures are encountered only in forests and woodlands. They have the ability to command plants like themselves, so if they are within 6” of a tree they may cause it to move 3” per turn, each commanding up to two trees in this manner. Although Lawful in nature, Ents are not prone to involve themselves in affairs which do not directly concern them.

IMC there are Ent-Wives, they are lovely and willowy creatures very different from the craggy appearance of the Ents. And let us just say that seeds that grow into Entlings are lovingly planted and cared for until they are able to walk. Woe betide anyone or anything that harms an Entling.

PEGASI: Winged horses are wild and shy, being most difficult to capture. They will serve only Lawful characters, and once captured Pegasi are the equal to any horse in battle, for they fight as heavy horses.

These are highly prized as mounts almost as much as Griffons.

HIPPOGRIFFS: Although the name would imply a cross between the horse and the Griffon, the Hippogriff is another kind of beast entirely. They are fierce fighters, attacking with both their hooves and with their sharp beaks. They are otherwise similar to Pegasi in nature, although the two creatures do not herd together and will normally fight each other.

The name does not imply a cross between the horse and the Griffin, it does imply a cross between a miniature hippopotamus and a Griffin (do not ask), which is in fact the case. Once tamed they will typically ignore other mounts, even Pegasi.

ROCS: This term has been used to encompass large and fierce birds; the Roc of mythology preys upon elephants! Therefore, the data given for Rocs is understood to be that for the small variety, and that for the largest Rocs should be doubled or even trebled. All Rocs nest high in the most inaccessible mountains, and if an encounter is made when Rocs are in their lair, which is their nest, there is a 50% chance there will be from 1–6 young therein (eggs, chicks, or fledglings). Young Rocs can be tamed and taught to serve as steeds. Adults are always hostile if there are young in the nest. Otherwise they will be positively hostile only to Chaos and Neutrality, ignoring (80%) or being friendly (20%) to Lawful characters who do not attempt to approach too close.

Also a prized mount especially when traveling into the mountains.

GRIFFONS: These creatures are the most prized of steeds, for they are swift, loyal, and fierce. However, they are fond of horse flesh above all other foods, so the two creatures cannot be mixed or even brought within 36” of each other. In their wild state Griffons will attack anyone nearby with little provocation, particularly if their lair is nearby.

Griffons, like Rocs, can only be trained when they are very young and can be imprinted on their owner. A wild adult can never be tamed. It is said that trained Griffons can sometimes be taught not to attack horses, but usually they must also be charmed to accomplish that if it is needed.

Tomorrow we will continue on.