Celebrating 2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary of Blackmoor and of Role-Playing!
Today is Part 49 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 will start by looking at Magic Scrolls.
First, I will remind you that the footnote below the table saying there is a a 25% chance that any scroll is usable by clerics was first added in the 5th printing of OD&D. (2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary - Day One Hundred) It did not appear in the first four printings of OD&D, so when I started playing the rules said all scrolls were Magic-User Scrolls. But IMC we had Scrolls for Cleric too. I used a much higher percentage (40%) of Scrolls were for Clerics.
Also were it says "by any character who is able to read," I changed it to "Read Magic." IMC there are no Magic Scrolls written in Common, Alignment or Racial Languages.
Scrolls are usable only once, so you need to choose whether you use that one use to cast or to write in your spell book. Since all Scroll Spells are of 6th Level as a minimum, I took that to mean a Magic-User had to be at least 6th Level in order to create a Scroll.
Straight forward way to do it. For the Magic-Users Spells. I did it a little different for Clerical Spells. If the Scroll had more than one (1) Spell I did this 3 Spells - one roll of the three was on a *Special Table, 5 Spells - two rolls on the *Special Table and 7 Spells - three rolls on the *Special Table.
All Lycanthropes are treated the same for this Spell.
Undead are a special case you see.
The more powerful the Undead the fewer are affected by this spell.
Each Spell use only affects one Elemental. Two Elemental, you need two Spells.
The Anti-Magic Shell is a very tricky spell and it has to be used judiciously, for it can easily turn against the user, because it prevents a squishy Magic-User from using Magic for 8 turns and unlike many other spells it cannot be dispelled. If this spell is used the rest of the party cannot allow anything to reach melee with the Magic-User.
Note four types of Protection Spells, this of course led to additional types of Protection Spells, although for the most part not the first year.
*As noted above I added a Special Table for Clerical Spells and that consisted of the following Spells. This was to increase the occurrence of these Spells on Scrolls.
Cure Light Wounds: During the course of one full turn this spell will remove hits from a wounded character (including elves, dwarves, etc.). A die is rolled, one pip added, and the resultant total subtracted from the hit points the character has taken. Thus from 2–7 hit points of damage can be removed.
Cure Moderate Wounds: This spell is like a Cure Light Wounds spell, but the effects are doubled, so two dice are rolled and one pip is added to each die. Therefore, from 4 to 14 hit points will be healed by this spell.
Cure Serious Wounds: This spell is like a Cure Light Wounds spell, but the effects are tripled, so three dice are rolled and one pip is added to each die. Therefore, from 6 to 21 hit points will be healed by this spell.
Remove Curse: A spell to remove any one curse or evil sending. Note that using this spell on a “cursed sword,” for example, would make the weapon an ordinary sword, not some form of enchanted blade. Range: Adjacent to the object.
Cure Disease: A spell which cures any form of disease. The spell is the only
method to rid a character of a disease from a curse, for example.
Cure Major Disease: This spell functions the same as the Cure Disease spell, except instead of affecting one creature it affects 10-25 creatures per casting. Three six-sided dice +7.
Raise Dead: The Cleric simply points his finger, utters the incantation, and the dead person is raised. This spell works with men, elves, and dwarves only. For each level the Cleric has progressed beyond the 8th, the time limit for resurrection extends another four days. Thus, an 8th-level Cleric can raise a body dead up to four days, a 9th-level Cleric can raise a body dead up to eight days, and so on. Naturally, if the character’s Constitution was weak, the spell will not bring him back to life. In any event raised characters must spend two game weeks’ time recuperating from the ordeal.
Tomorrow we move on to rings.
Please note that I updated this post: 2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary - Day One Hundred and Four (Updated)
Today is Part 49 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 will start by looking at Magic Scrolls.
First, I will remind you that the footnote below the table saying there is a a 25% chance that any scroll is usable by clerics was first added in the 5th printing of OD&D. (2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary - Day One Hundred) It did not appear in the first four printings of OD&D, so when I started playing the rules said all scrolls were Magic-User Scrolls. But IMC we had Scrolls for Cleric too. I used a much higher percentage (40%) of Scrolls were for Clerics.
Also were it says "by any character who is able to read," I changed it to "Read Magic." IMC there are no Magic Scrolls written in Common, Alignment or Racial Languages.
Scrolls are usable only once, so you need to choose whether you use that one use to cast or to write in your spell book. Since all Scroll Spells are of 6th Level as a minimum, I took that to mean a Magic-User had to be at least 6th Level in order to create a Scroll.
Straight forward way to do it. For the Magic-Users Spells. I did it a little different for Clerical Spells. If the Scroll had more than one (1) Spell I did this 3 Spells - one roll of the three was on a *Special Table, 5 Spells - two rolls on the *Special Table and 7 Spells - three rolls on the *Special Table.
All Lycanthropes are treated the same for this Spell.
Undead are a special case you see.
The more powerful the Undead the fewer are affected by this spell.
Each Spell use only affects one Elemental. Two Elemental, you need two Spells.
The Anti-Magic Shell is a very tricky spell and it has to be used judiciously, for it can easily turn against the user, because it prevents a squishy Magic-User from using Magic for 8 turns and unlike many other spells it cannot be dispelled. If this spell is used the rest of the party cannot allow anything to reach melee with the Magic-User.
Note four types of Protection Spells, this of course led to additional types of Protection Spells, although for the most part not the first year.
*As noted above I added a Special Table for Clerical Spells and that consisted of the following Spells. This was to increase the occurrence of these Spells on Scrolls.
Cure Light Wounds: During the course of one full turn this spell will remove hits from a wounded character (including elves, dwarves, etc.). A die is rolled, one pip added, and the resultant total subtracted from the hit points the character has taken. Thus from 2–7 hit points of damage can be removed.
Cure Moderate Wounds: This spell is like a Cure Light Wounds spell, but the effects are doubled, so two dice are rolled and one pip is added to each die. Therefore, from 4 to 14 hit points will be healed by this spell.
Cure Serious Wounds: This spell is like a Cure Light Wounds spell, but the effects are tripled, so three dice are rolled and one pip is added to each die. Therefore, from 6 to 21 hit points will be healed by this spell.
Remove Curse: A spell to remove any one curse or evil sending. Note that using this spell on a “cursed sword,” for example, would make the weapon an ordinary sword, not some form of enchanted blade. Range: Adjacent to the object.
Cure Disease: A spell which cures any form of disease. The spell is the only
method to rid a character of a disease from a curse, for example.
Cure Major Disease: This spell functions the same as the Cure Disease spell, except instead of affecting one creature it affects 10-25 creatures per casting. Three six-sided dice +7.
Raise Dead: The Cleric simply points his finger, utters the incantation, and the dead person is raised. This spell works with men, elves, and dwarves only. For each level the Cleric has progressed beyond the 8th, the time limit for resurrection extends another four days. Thus, an 8th-level Cleric can raise a body dead up to four days, a 9th-level Cleric can raise a body dead up to eight days, and so on. Naturally, if the character’s Constitution was weak, the spell will not bring him back to life. In any event raised characters must spend two game weeks’ time recuperating from the ordeal.
Tomorrow we move on to rings.
Please note that I updated this post: 2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary - Day One Hundred and Four (Updated)
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