D&D Premises: Heroes vs. Villagers

 I find that most D&D players are firmly entrenched in two different camps when it comes to adventurers: you either believe that adventurers are epic heroes following a path to glory and start out as above-average; or you believe that anyone could be an adventurer and that you start with what you've got and make the best of it. I am a follower of the latter camp, but I can see the reason why others would want to be members of the former camp.

D&D is an adventure game. Some prefer to call it a hobby; others refer to it as a role-playing game. But at its heart it is just a game we play to have fun. Fun is different things to different people. Some people enjoy being the best character they can be, racking up accolades and experience points by overcoming each and every encounter without a scratch or loss of consumables or daily-use powers. Some folks just like sitting around a table with friends and spending an evening chatting in character with NPCs or developing intricate backstories for their beloved alter egos. Others prefer tracking numerous statistics on detailed character sheets or expertly mapping mega-dungeons and drawing up plans for castles or wizard towers. The game can be this, and much more, for those who choose to play.

The Dungeon Master has to cater his campaign world to entertain his players. In order to do that, the DM has to KNOW his players. Creating a new campaign for almost complete strangers is hard to do, especially if you get the formula wrong and put in things that only you enjoy. If you are a heroic gamer who loved lots of combat, you will be bored out of your mind if the first adventure is nothing more than a murder mystery or exploration romp through a local abandoned keep. Again, the DM has to have some sort of indication from the players as to what they enjoy. The easiest way to determine the tone of the campaign is to ask them if they prefer to play heroes from the start, or if they prefer to play common folk who become heroes in the course of play. This simple question can affect the method of rolling ability scores and saves you from causing a total-party-kill (TPK) that might turn some people off from playing the game at all.

I've mentioned my own thoughts on this topic in my article entitled Hopeless Characters. I prefer letting the dice determine what I CAN be, instead of starting with a preconceived notion of what I WANT to be. I also prefer having fewer choices presented in order to keep the character creation process to a minimum. If it takes longer than an hour to roll up a character, the system may be intricate but what happens if your character dies? Do you then leave the group to begin work on a new character? If you have a simpler system where choices are eliminated by random rolls, then you can get back in the game quicker!

D&D writers have seemingly swung to both extremes on this topic. Gygax originally had all players roll 3d6 in order for ability scores - you could play whatever you wanted, but if your prime requisite was low, you suffered an XP penalty which slowed your advancement in your chosen class. You could play a weak fighter, a moronic magic-user, a foolish cleric, or a clumsy thief. However, ability scores meant much less in play in the early days of D&D. In AD&D 1E, Gygax stipulated that player characters were a cut above the common men and women in the campaign world - they could advance in level while everyone else was stuck at 0-level. Even in the DMG (under Henchmen), he stated that:

"Human and half-orc characters suitable for level advancement are found at a ratio of 1 in 100. Other races have an incidence of 1 in 50. However, as most of these characters will be other than low level adventurers and already in a situation they are satisfied with - and humans more so than other races, unless the development of the area is primarily other than human - about 1 in 1,000 population will be interested in offers of employment as a henchman, NOTE: This figure must be adjusted by the DM according to the locale, for if it is an active adventuring area, the incidence of prospective henchmen might be as great as 1 in 200, while if it is a settled and staid area, incidence might be as low as 1 in 5,000."

OK, so that quote is talking about henchmen, not player characters. But if you take a look at the world in which you will be running a campaign, not everyone in the local village has a character class. In fact, they should NOT have a character class if the above means much at all. If we assume to have a party of 8 player characters, and they are all from the same starting area, then they are likely the ONLY characters of level-advancing ability from that community. Which means, that everyone else they meet in that community are 0-level humans without any class abilities whatsoever. How about the ruler of the community? How about the king? What prevents the PCs from taking over every community they enter simply because they have abilities that everyone else does not have?

These are the kinds of questions you have to ask yourself before coming up with a campaign world. These premises are not well explained in the various rules sets that have been released in the past. In fact, based on the quote above, one would assume that the local baron who inherited his position is likely to be a 0-level human, as is the local town guard captain, or the local cleric in the temple. However, if one looks at D&D modules from the beginning, this is not so. In fact, so many of the NPCs have character classes that it's hard to separate NPCs from PCs or henchmen in these adventures. Later edition adventures give EVERYONE a character class of one type or another and allow advancement for everyone! So how special are those PC adventurers then?

My belief is that D&D characters are meant to be common villagers and everyday people who obtain training and power from their conversion into 1st level characters. Their decisions and goals are the same as those who might begin the game as noble warriors and mighty wizards, but it is the journey to the goal that is where the fun lies, not the actual achievement of fame and fortune without effort. From a DM perspective, you want to keep the players hungry for more, looking to empower their characters to better survive the rigors of a perilous journey or despicable dungeon. If they begin capable of taking on all comers and emerge without a scratch, the game becomes rote and boring to the players and they seek thrills elsewhere. There are some players who just crave human interaction and don't care much about what happens to the characters in any case, but these are happily few and far between.

Loss is an important part of character growth as well. Losing a battle, a powerful magic item, or even a portion of the character's body is possible in the game. If the player cannot deal with the loss and emerge better for the experience, then they miss out on an aspect of "character development." Heroic players see losing as just that, and many deal poorly with it. "Commoner" players see losing as  development of the personality of their character - one can learn more from a loss about who they are and the nature of their character.

OK, all this being said, I noticed that almost all the NPCs in modules have character classes and are NOT simply 0-level humans. Remember, the premise behind original D&D was that rulers of communities were once 1st level PCs who achieved greatness in adventures and are now Name Level rulers of dominions, temples, towers, or hide-outs. The goal of OD&D was to become one of these leaders to then wage wars against other name level leaders and acquire lands and political power in the region of the campaign world. That is NOT the current goal of the game, since those rules were essentially removed in 3rd edition D&D and beyond. Now, only increasing power is the goal typical among players these days.

But again, how did all those common shop owners, temple acolytes, and common bandits the PCs encountered in early adventures become classed-characters? If only 1 in 100 characters in a region are suitable for character advancement, then how do you explain a village like Hommlet with over a dozen high-level classed NPCs all living in a community of about 250 people? The answer is simple - to deter the Heroic players from overtaking the village simply by having abilities and powers not common to the normal humans therein. If a heroic player sees there is little chance of success, they will not attempt an action. The "Commoner" players will not even attempt this since they see all characters as essentially equals, only with different motivations and abilities. Some NPCs in modules are so powerful, one wonders why THEY don't perform the mission that they get the players to do, since it would be child's play for them to do it. Again, this is a game... Some suspension of disbelief has to be used in order to advance the story or get the players into the adventure. Besides, not all NPCs wear a placard around their neck announcing their level, class, and hit points. Like alignment, not everything about an NPC is obvious from casual observation or conversation. Only by interaction can one deem the worth or power of an adversary or ally. Here is where the Heroic player gets into trouble by bragging or mouthing off, whereas the "Commoner" player seeks to engage the NPC as an equal, respecting the artificial rules of engagement when dealing with anyone outside their knowledge.

Besides, if PCs were actually all Heroic characters, then it would take much more effort to train for next level since anyone of high-level would be few and far between. There would be a much smaller percentage of the adventuring classes that are name-level, given attrition and death rates. In this case, the demi-humans would likely be the most powerful and highest levels, since their abilities allow them to survive better than humans. However, if humans are really just common characters with heroic outlooks on life, then they all have the same ability to advance and in this case the faster-breeding humans would dominate higher levels simply due to probabilities and superior numbers.

This is starting to ramble a bit, and I apologize. I've just been reading over modules from the 80s through 3rd edition and it seems to me that this issue has never really been addressed before. While Gygax kept telling us that PCs were a cut-above the common man, all his villagers were classed NPCs of one sort or another, and all guards seemed to be members of the Fighter class. Why couldn't a common man just wear armor and wield a sword once he was shown how? Sure, he wouldn't be as skilled as a 1st level fighter PC, but that's how it goes. Why does the jeweler have to be a 3rd level thief? Why make the bartender a 2nd level fighter? Why do all lords and ladies need to be name level character classes? If all of these NPCs in the world exist with class levels, then doesn't that imply that ANYONE can be a classed character? Doesn't that mean that PCs are NOT the cut above the rest, but are instead just another commoner taught to swing a sword or cast a spell?

D&D Basic: Entering Hommlet

 

Well, it has been a while since I've published anything on this blog. To be honest, I've been dabbling in D&D 5e and trying to get a feel for how the system works. It's not terrible, but I'm feeling like the balance is way off. Characters are too powerful at low levels, but the monsters are somewhat neutered in power, and treasure is next to meaningless to the party as a whole.

In order to feel better about running such a campaign, I've been decompressing by randomly rolling Basic D&D characters and doing some solo play in B2: Keep on the Borderlands. However, since I've been running the 5e campaign in Greyhawk, and using T1: The Village of Hommlet as the starting point, I've decided to convert the characters backwards into D&D Basic stats. The characters in the 5e campaign are: Brother Brassid, a human cleric of St. Cuthbert; Giaeya Larenhael, an elven druid with a spy background; Bru Goldenaxe, a dwarven fighter with an acolyte background and worshipper of Ulaa; and Oblaho Gorung, a half-orc monk follower of Rao, the Lord of Peace. Converting some of the characters was somewhat challenging, except for the cleric and the dwarf.

A few notes here - druids in Moldvay Basic do not exist. I don't like using Mentzer Basic because of the changes made to the original versions to make everything level evenly. I make druids be a choice for clerics of Neutral alignment only. Such "druids" adhere to religious rules, not game rules. If these rules are flaunted or broken, then they have angered their patron deity and suffer the penalties listed in the Expert rules. The strange part of this is that these "druids" can turn undead; but this isn't as strange as expected since undead are basically the antithesis of life, which is important to druids. The druidic religion abhors metal, so they are limited to using wooden or stone weapons like spears, clubs, stone maces, staves, slings, stone axes, and stone knives. They also wear only leather armor and must use wooden shields. Lastly, their spell selections must deal with the natural world. Since most of the Moldvay cleric spells are nature-related, this is not very limiting at all. I also like the idea of adding certain spells to the cleric lists from the World of Greyhawk Campaign setting. Despite the fact that this was written for AD&D 1st Edition, it can still work just fine in Basic/Expert D&D, so long as the characters abide by the spirit of the rules.

Alright, so the elven druid and the half-orc monk have no direct translations. I took the elf as is as the Elf class, eliminating her druid class, but making her a follower of Ehlonna of the Forest. She had only a few spells as a druid, so I opted to grant her the magic missile spell as her Elf class spell for 1st level. She was an archer in 5e so I made sure she had a bow as an elf. I kept the leather armor to make her movement faster than the others in the party. She was LG in 5e, so she is Lawful in Basic D&D. Elves are not sneaky in Basic, so her concept as a spy suffers a bit here. The good news is that she is not limited in her weapon and armor selections, so she can take sword as her melee weapon.

The half-orc race does not exist in Basic D&D. The closest I can come is a homely human. The monk class also does not exist in Basic D&D, however unarmed combat is a thing (see Expert Rulebook) and it could be that this is just another religious type class. However, I didn't see Oblaho as a cleric during play. He was much more of a physical monk, so I decided to make him a Fighter. Due to his religious upbringing in a monastery, he cherishes Rao, the Lord of Peace. Since he is a warrior-type, he was politely asked to leave the monastery after being trained in how to make unarmed attacks. His 18 Strength helps him immensely with this, since unarmed attack damage is a base 1-2 points + strength adjustments. Therefore, Oblaho can cause 4-5 points per strike. Unlike the monk class, fighters in B/X only get one attack per round. In keeping with his monk-like upbringing, he does not like to wear armor, but being a human Fighter he can wear leather armor and not be too slowed. His original weapon was a staff in 5e, making 2 attacks each round and doing a lot of damage. In Basic/Expert, a staff causes only 1d4 base damage, so I decided that he would use a pole arm instead, causing 1d10+3 points of damage per hit, but striking last in a round. There are no throwing stars in this version of D&D, so I gave him 3 normal daggers he can throw. Lastly, I gave him a sling as a missile weapon. His stats are very good, so he ends up with AC 6, 6 hit points, and MV 90' (30'). He may not have all the special abilities of a half-orc monk, but he is only 1st level and wouldn't have too many abilities anyways.

The party, having been converted, is outfitted with what I can remember from the first couple of sessions. We actually ran an overland travel adventure from Narwell to Hommlet (since the original adventure says that the characters came up from the Wild Coast), but I decided to simply start them in Hommlet for the Basic run. Having gone through the first three chapters of the D&D Basic rules covering the basics, character creation, and spells, we're now at the Adventure chapter. Having read the intro to the characters, they have organized the party and realize that they are too few to take on an adventure since average party sizes are 6-8 characters. They decide to enter the village and look for rumors, retainers to hire, and directions to where these bandits might be found.

After spending a few days wandering around the village and speaking to folks in the Inn and various shops, the characters have learned that the village was oppressed by the Temple of Elemental Evil in the past and the bandits in recent times seems to indicate that the Temple is rebounding from their defeat. The village was dominated by an agent of Chaos in a nearby moat house about a league along an old path off the High Road. They decide to organize and head out to explore the ruins. The cleric is voted as the Caller for the group. The Mapper is decided to be Oblaho. Metal miniatures are used to indicate marching order, but since the party is so small they decide that Oblaho and Bru will be up front, followed by Brother Brassid and Giaeya. The party moves at 60' because of the metal armored dwarf and cleric (Encumbrance rules are being used). Oblaho and Brassid have torches since Bru and Giaeya have infravision. While in the village they hired on Spugnoir as the least offensive of the options available. He is so feeble at 2nd level that he is in the middle of the party and has his detect magic and sleep spells prepared for the day.

Since this is Basic D&D, and the focus is on the dungeon at this level, no random encounters are rolled on the way to the moat house. The party has to clear the path to the moat house since it is overgrown. The distance to the moat house is 1 league (or 3 miles). Overland travel in D&D is calculated by taking the normal speed of the party (60'/turn) and dividing by 5 to get miles per day of travel afoot. This results in 12 miles. Since the party is only going 3 miles, this should only take 1/4 of a day. Assuming that the travel day is 10 hours long with breaks, this should take the party 2½ hours. However, since the path is overgrown and they must clear it as they go, it will actually take twice as long or 5 hours. Essentially, the party arrives at the moat house by midday. 

Brother Brassid, Cleric of St. Cuthbert: AC 3 (chainmail & shield, Dex), 1st level Cleric, hp 4, MV 60' (20'), #AT 1 weapon (+1 to hit), D by mace or club (+1 str bonus), SA turn undead; Str 14, Int 13, Wis 17, Dex 13, Con 12, Cha 8.

Bru Goldenaxe: AC 5 (chainmail), 1st level Dwarf, hp 6, MV 60' (20'), #AT 1 weapon (+1 to hit), D by battle axe (+1 str bonus) or crossbow, SA infravision, dwarven detection; Str 15, Int 9, Wis 12, Dex 12, Con 15, Cha 9.

Oblaho Gorung: AC 6 (leather, Dex), 1st level Fighter, hp 6, MV 90' (30'), #AT 1 weapon or unarmed (+3 to hit), D by pole arm, dagger, sling or unarmed (+3 str bonus), Str 18, Int 12, Wis 15, Dex 14, Con 15, Cha 10.

Giaeya Larenhael: AC 5 (leather & shield, Dex), 1st level Elf, hp 5, MV 90' (30'), #AT 1 weapon (+1 to hit), D by sword or longbow (+1 str bonus), SA infravision, find secret doors 2 in 6, spell (magic missile); Str 15, Int 15, Wis 12, Dex 15, Con 13, Cha 13.

Spugnoir (NPC): AC 8 (Dex), 1st level Magic-user, hp 4, MV 120' (40'), #AT 1 weapon or spell, D by dagger or spell, SA spells (detect magic, sleep); Str 11, Int 15, Wis 11, Dex 15, Con 14, Cha 7. 

Upon the party's approach to the ruins they note the collapsed sections of the walls and towers and the fact that the drawbridge is down. They hear loud croaking in the marsh grass nearby and swarms of flying insects fly around their heads and bite exposed flesh. They organize into their marching order and one torch is lit and handed to Spugnoir in the center of the party. Despite the fact that it is midday, they want to explore inside the ruins and don't want any surprises if there are deep shadows in the courtyard of the structure.

That's about all for this session. Next time we'll begin with Chapter 5: the Encounter!

B2: Of Monsters and Gygaxian Wisdom

I know it's been a while since I've posted anything on this blog, and I apologize. The last six months have been a whirlwind of activity for me. My job still consumes many hours of my day, and my age is preventing me from remaining awake as often as I'd like. Throw in a new World of Warcraft expansion and the fact that I've been DMing again for the first time in 2 years, and you can see where all my time has gone.

However, as it is the holiday season, I find myself bereft of players and with some time off. So, naturally, I have been waxing nostalgic on my favorite game of all time: the Moldvay version of Dungeons & Dragons (c. 1980). Nothing, and I do mean nothing, inspires me more to be a DM than a read-through of any of the classic modules and rulebooks. There is an evocative essence of danger and intrigue in the illustrations and rules used for this game that simply gets me in the mood and reinvigorates my passion for this hobby.

Last night, while watching YouTube videos on Old School Gaming, I started pulling out the old modules from my youth. Chief among these adventures is B2: The Keep on the Borderlands. Penned by Gygax himself as an introductory adventure, this 28-page module contains a wealth of advice, wisdom, and  information that one did not even begin to understand until the third reading or more. I remember being puzzled by how I was to run the game - my 10-year-old self was used to boardgames with dice, but nothing so free-form as a D&D adventure! It wasn't until the age of 13 that I began to understand; it would take many more years before I truly appreciated the history of this work. And even now, I marvel at the minutia contained within these pages.

Whole campaigns have begun within the Lawful Keep, poised on a border with encroaching Chaos. The lawless lands surrounding the Keep and the obvious antithesis of the orderly Keep, the Caves of Chaos, display the main themes of the Basic D&D game. These same divisions were carried over into AD&D from its inception as the "new model of gaming." However, Gygax let some elements of AD&D slip into his creation that did not truly exist in the basic version of the game. If Basic D&D was to become the doorway into Advanced D&D, the rulebooks did not particularly show this. But the products released all had similar rule structures and in essence were the same game. What I did not know at the time was that Basic/Expert D&D was nothing more than a cleaned up version of the original D&D game first published 6 years earlier in 1974 but play-tested some time before that! As such, some nuances peculiar to the development of the AD&D game crept into the Basic version and were used to describe monsters and situations in the Keep on the Borderlands module.

Take the cover image above, for example. This beautiful but simple illustration by Jim Roslof epitomized what the D&D game was all about - Lawful or Neutral characters struggling against Chaotic monsters. What I find peculiar is that the action is taking place outdoors, when D&D Basic rules were written for Dungeon adventures. It is obvious that this encounter is taking place outside the Caves of Chaos, perhaps a random encounter on the slopes or the PCs were forced to retreat after losing a numbers of their fellows within and then pursued by the hobgoblins depicted. How do I know they are hobgoblins? By their relative size, reddish faces with blue noses, and martial prowess with arms and armor. But hobgoblin appearance is not explained in OD&D, B/X D&D, or even Holmes Basic rules! The first description we have of these humanoids comes from the AD&D Monster Manual written 3 years earlier in 1977. In fact, the description of the hobgoblins is followed precisely and matches the illustration within the Monster Manual down to the armor worn, facial expression, and the emblem on the helmets! Apparently all hobgoblins have helmets with two winged blades emerging from atop the visor... So what is going on here?

Gygax had cleaned up and embellished the monsters of the game in the Monster Manual in an effort to create a uniform entry for each. By doing so he began the re-write of the game to make it more playable and give the players all the options they had developed up to that point. All the monsters from the original rulebooks and the supplements were included as well as a few new ones dreamed up for publication in the Strategic Review and early DRAGON Magazine. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons had been developed in the remaining two years before the Basic Rules were revamped, so AD&D was fresh in the mind of Gary Gygax when he penned this adventure. Having started several campaigns of his own and doubtless played in others run by his colleagues, he was uniquely qualified to give advice on how to start a new campaign. His introductory explanations of how to run the game were concise, helpful, and inspiring. But you could tell that AD&D had reshaped his thinking of how to construct adventures. No longer was the dungeon the sole focus of the adventure. Now, communities with NPC interaction were part of each adventure he wrote. The Keep is as well defined as it is (even though no names and only sketchy details are provided), because he didn't want anyone running HIS version of the game; he wanted all new DMs to be running THEIR OWN version of the game. Sure, some details had to be provided, but Gygax wanted to hear how others took his bare bones structure and breathed life into it. I'm certain that many campaigns never really got past the first total party wipe in the Caves. But I'm also certain that many campaigns grew out of this humble adventure, giving many players a common ground and a sense of mythic origin that they could all relate to with little explanation.

The cover to the module depicts three adventurers (there could have been a larger group lost during an excursion into the Caves, or perhaps these three adventurers represent the remainder that has leveled and become stronger, returning to the Caves after resting and gaining in strength). This small party seems to consist of a Dwarf (lower left, with sword and shield and studded leather armor kilt), a Fighter (middle background with golden breastplate, mailed legs, and helm armed with spear and shield), and an Elf (right foreground, armed with longbow and sword). These adventurers are being attacked by hobgoblins who appear to be either charging to the attack or pursuing the characters who must now stop to fight. The flowering purple tree off the right edge of the picture gives a striking element that contrasts the dull brown hills in the background. At various locations in the hills one can make out cave-like openings; another dark opening seems to exists just below the straddled legs of the elven archer. Perhaps the adventurers sought to come at the hobgoblin lair from above but were attacked by a returning band of raiders! The hobgoblins, as previously noted, are exactly armed and armored as their species is depicted in the Monster Manual. No description of these humanoids exist in the Basic rulebook except as directly relates to size and combat ability, particularly for the leaders. It is noted, however, that hobgoblins are related to goblins (although bigger and meaner) and that they do not suffer penalties to attack rolls in daylight. This could be why these hobgoblins were selected for this sunny cover image, in contrast to the shadowed ravine below. Only hobgoblins, who were not deterred by bright daylight, could have pursued the characters to the top of this ridge! It is curious to note that the armor types depicted were not present in Basic D&D rules. Basic D&D had only Leather, Chain Mail, and Plate Mail armors. The dwarf is obviously dressed in some form of studded leather kilt with a war harness on his upper body. The elf appears to be dressed in black leather armor with metal bracers and helmet. The fighter appears to be wearing metallic armor, but the type is unusual, perhaps Plate Mail of a sort? The hobgoblins are definitely dressed in scale mail and shield, a type of armor that does not exist in the game, but which perfectly describes their Armor Class of 5 as written in the original rules and carried over into the Monster Manual (which specifically depicts them wearing this armor). As stated before, the hobgoblins are all wearing helms with decorative "horns" or "wing blades" attached above the visor. This could be a militaristic designation of rank, but ALL hobgoblins are depicted with this helm style (which resembles Eastern Asian designs, similar to a samurai helm).

It's pretty obvious from all this information that Gygax saw goblins as Eastern Asian monsters, invaders from a distant land. Later depictions of goblins showed that they were more Mongolian in nature with worgs replacing horses as mounts, while hobgoblins appeared more Japanese. Oriental Ogres (or Ogre Magi, or Oni) were also added to the mix, so there apparently existed some form of Eastern Asian culture in the original game. In contrast, orcs were portrayed as barbaric savages wearing piecemeal armor, hides, and furs. Their pig-like snouts and greenish skin were, by now, so ingrained in the description of the species that they became a bestial representation of humans. Gnolls were also depicted as barbaric savages, but more along the Norse Viking traditions with huge two-handed swords and battle axes along with long bows and pole arms. Although poorly described in early versions of the game, gnolls became hyena-like when the Monster Manual finally described them and this was carried over into the Basic rulebooks of Holmes and Moldvay. Their dubious origin as a magical cross between a gnome and troll is disturbing to say the least. In the Monster Manual their relationship to trolls is evidenced by their lair association and languages known.

Now, this can all be a bit confusing to a young adult trying to learn Basic D&D for the first time. The depictions of the monsters, although wonderfully produced and accurate to a fault, don't really apply to the Basic D&D game. However, as I have pointed out in numerous posts in the past, the Monster Manual was meant to be used with not only the Advanced version of the game, but also represented a cleaner version of the Original D&D monsters, updated and/or revised for current games. Since the AD&D and D&D products were to be produced side-by-side instead of simply upgrading to a new system, this tome was meant to be a resource for BOTH systems. This is clear from the Monster Manual's lack of certain alignments for the monsters and the sheer numbers meant to be used for wargaming encounters. Even the damage listings are overly simplified, allowing one to use a generic damage rating for a monster, or a more specific rating depending on the type of  monster involved (those using natural weapons remained the same, while those using weapons could be treated as wargame stats or damage by weapon type as desired).

But monsters and their abilities and representations were not the only thing that Gygax adjusted for D&D, he also used his now 8 years of experience with role-playing to explain the finer points of running a game to a novice DM. First, he had to explain what a DM was and what was expected of one. No other game produced at the time took one player out of the mix and elevated them as master of the environment. The DM was the senses for the players, the disembodied and disinterested voice of description, who was also the voice of all other characters in the game, and the final arbiter of any actions made in the game. Imagine a game of make believe on the playground where one person keeps the game moving forward, coming up with new antagonists and situations to pit the players against, and who settled all arguments by the role of a die. This is what the DM is meant to be: part storyteller, judge, actor, rules lawyer, and narrator all rolled into one. No one understood what that meant at the time; the game was too new and not mainstream enough. If only Gygax had turned to television and/or radio to promote the game by example, the outcome would have been better and there would have been less "Satanic Panic" in the 1980s.

The dark themes of the game are what drew me in initially. Fearsome monsters, magical spells, a medieval setting - these were the things that spurred my imagination as a child. I grew up on a diet of old movies, horror films, and sword & sorcery from a young age. Add to the mix the burgeoning comic book market and science-fiction movie industry and you can guess that D&D was the game for me! There are, of course, heroic elements to the game as well. It's basically a "get rich quick" scheme, but with alignment restrictions. If the game were simply about murdering and pillaging, then classes like the cleric and paladin would never have been created. It was first and foremost an ADVENTURE game, where player characters risked their lives to defeat monsters and win fantastic lost treasures. It is akin to knights questing for the Holy Grail, or archaeologists of a martial bent exploring forgotten ruins to bring back lost artifacts to civilization. Still, there were some whose gaming style led more to the "murder-hobo" method of play, but it was obvious that Gygax preferred the former over the latter. Some new players of the game were emotionally immature (I know I was at the age of 12-13), and it wasn't until reaching emotionally maturity that one could truly run a D&D game the way it is meant to be played. There is no definite age when this occurs - some find that maturity does not always equal emotional maturity. I've seen 15-year-olds run a game like a seasoned veteran of 55, and some adults throw temper tantrums when they don't get what they want or the situation doesn't come out as they like.

The rules themselves were completely new to gaming enthusiasts. This is why the game underwent several revisions in the beginning. But the OD&D game version survived well into the next decade and beyond, and in fact became the basis for the restructuring of the 3rd edition (which dropped the "Advanced" in front of the name). I prefer the original version of the game, but spent most of my time in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons as it was considered more "sophisticated" and followed darker themes involving powerful evil forces controlling the adversaries of the world (demons and devils, to be precise). The gods and forces of evil in the multiverse are not defined in Basic/Expert D&D. The choice to include or exclude such things from the game is up to the DM and his or her players. Removing these things, however, leaves a void that tends to simplify the game too much in my opinion. Then again, the openness of the rules and generic qualities of the game are what make it so strong! One can add as much detail as desired to make the system as rich and complicated as AD&D but without all the confusing issues that system uses. Gygax was able to sum up in just a few paragraphs on page 4 of module B2 "How to be an Effective Dungeon Master." Note, he uses the term "Effective" - not the best or greatest. It is enough to be mediocre and still run a game that players will remember for decades! He stresses that the DM is the information link to the players. He or she must be FAIR above all else, but the players should also be wise and cunning, not lazy and arrogant. The DM must balance the adventure to be a challenge without becoming too difficult to discourage further play. The DM must keep secrets from the players until such time as they have figured it out on their own - the overwhelming desire of the DM for the characters to find the hidden treasures or secret doors in his dungeon must be fought. This can sometimes be harder on the DM than it sounds. A good DM never reveals his secrets, but tempts the players to find their own solutions by their own merit. Here is where a DM really shines, by providing enough information to promote character action without giving anything away. This can backfire, like characters ignoring rooms that the DM meticulously describes or spending hours looking for secret doors where none exist. A good DM nudges the players into the right course of action. If the characters are wasting time on fruitless ventures, wandering monsters might appear or rival NPC parties looking to score an easy haul from a weakened group of adventurers. If the party is stuck, a course of action can be suggested, but should be given as friendly advice from an NPC in town or perhaps a rescued captive in a dungeon or wilderness lair. Neophyte players will make mistakes - some fatal - but these are lessons learned and how one learns to play such games. Repeating the same mistakes over and over will quickly end up with a stable of dead characters who never progress beyond 1st level. Only after some loss will it become evident that a player has learned enough to level his or her character.

Gygax also uses the first few pages of the adventure to explain how to track time in the campaign and why this is important. The division of treasure and computing of experience are also explained, along with good examples of how to do it. Unlike AD&D, Basic/Expert rules give no experience award for magic items - such items assist the characters in the furthering of their adventure and thus are either used up or possibly lost or damaged in the course of play. Thus only non-magical treasures secured in one's possession are considered for experience. Also explained is how retainers (or henchmen) are treated when splitting treasure and awarding XP. Lastly, advice on how to prepare for the use of the module is given - something that is glossed over in later editions of the game. Gygax wanted the DMs to be conversant with the adventure - so reading once through, then giving a 2nd and possibly 3rd reading to fully understand important plot points, methods of attack and defense, and how treasures are hidden/guarded was of vital importance. A suggestion to map out frequently visited buildings was made to give the players a feeling of stability and verisimilitude in the Keep.

Once the DM is familiar with the module he reads the players the Background of the adventure before or after they create their characters. This is a vital concept, since it allows the players to see what they are in for and allows them to prepare among themselves the type of characters they will need for success. If the party is to cross wilderness, they will want to have resources that allow them to do so. They might, therefore, pool some money and purchase a mule to haul supplies and treasures back and forth, perhaps also taking on retainers and outfitting them as well. Knowing that they are facing the forces of Chaos might dissuade some from taking that alignment. Obviously, clerics will not have healing in the beginning, but if they survive long enough, might be able to cure the wounds of their party members! Magic-users are weak and will need to be protected. The number of players might dictate the types of characters to go on the adventure - a party of thieves and magic-users will not do well, while a party with a number of fighters, dwarves, elves, and clerics will do better. It is best to balance abilities and make sure that the party can handle anything thrown their way. The sample characters in the rear of the module can also be used to supplement the PCs as NPC adventurers, or used by the players if they lose their initial characters. There are 20 characters provided - 35% are fighters, 15% are thieves, 15% are clerics, 5% magic-users, and 10% each are elves, dwarves, and halflings. Thus, out of a list of 20, only 1 is a magic-user! The stats show the randomness of 3d6 used for ability scores, and the random personality traits are fine for NPCs but are not for use by PCs.

A section on "Tips to the Players" in the back of the module stresses that the players should be organized and cooperative. This is vital for new players to understand the game and how it is played. It is hard enough to learn a new way of playing a game without having to deal with belligerent players and divisive characters. Players should know their characters' abilities and be able to find the information needed quickly when asked. For this reason, character sheets were developed to keep all the information in similar locations, preventing having to search through scribbled notes on looseleaf in the middle of a tense round of combat. Again, arguments between characters of different outlooks, alignments, and classes will cause delays in the game, attract wandering monsters, and often results in the death of some or all of the members of a party. More importantly, cooperation should also be extended to the DM who is graciously running this adventure for all involved. Decisions made by the DM are final; disagreements should be heard, but once a decision is made, move on and calmly accept the decision. Planning is also important - player characters should be well-equipped, with minimal duplication of items unless necessary. No characters should be over-burdened or under-equipped. This may mean sharing the costs of some items vital for the party's success. Planning also involves deciding where to explore next and what spells should be prepared to face such opponents. Caution should be followed as part of planning - rushing in to the unknown is a recipe for disaster. Danger should be expected around every corner, and sometimes from within the party itself! Lying and trickery are not unknown, and some monsters excel at subterfuge and misdirection. Caution allows many tricks and traps to be avoided and may save a character's life. Too much caution is as dangerous as too little, so stay moderately cautious to keep the characters safe and the game on track. Players must think for themselves during an adventure - this is part of the excitement and fun of tackling problems in the dungeon. What is more satisfying - rolling a die to solve a puzzle, or figuring out the solution as a group and then putting thoughts into action?

The meat of the adventure is more than what I wanted to get into with this article. Suffice to say that Gygax's vision of sword & sorcery adventuring is precisely what drew me to the game initially, and what keeps me coming back time and time again. His descriptions, especially of the Chapel of Evil Chaos, show that his views of the game as being not so different from AD&D were justified (there is no chaotic evil alignment or demons in the game, but he uses these nonetheless to describe what is happening here). The open ended nature, lack of names, and lack of historical reference means that the Keep and the Caves can be located in any campaign setting using traditional environments and rules. One could find this place in Greyhawk, the Forgotten Realms, Blackmoor, the Wilderlands, or even their own home-brewed campaign setting. The details are to be created by the DM to make the campaign his or her own. This, more than anything, is what endears this module to first-time players and DMs alike!

AD&D vs. OD&D: Ability Score Adjustments

Lately I've been doing some character creation. No, I'm not currently playing in any games and have no immediate plans to do so. However, I have been creating parties of characters to perform solo campaigning for "research." I've noted some peculiarities regarding AD&D vs. Original (Basic/Expert) D&D that I think should be noted.

While creating characters, I've noticed that there are some interesting methods in place for creating starting characters (not applicable to characters necessarily created at higher level or for one-shot tournament adventures). Everyone knows that the original D&D method of character creation involved rolling 3d6 for each ability score, and placing them in order: Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma. This basically meant that you would be forced to play whatever character classes your scores allowed you to choose. This is not to say that you couldn't choose a class for which you were ill-suited, but there might be a penalty to earned experience if the prime requisite was below the threshold of 9 minimum (for most classes). The demi-humans all needed minimum scores to be selected (Dwarves needed a Constitution of 9, Elves needed an Intelligence of 9, and Halflings needed a 9 in both Dexterity and Constitution). However, the prime requisites of the demi-human classes were Strength for Dwarves, Strength and Intelligence for Elves, and Strength and Dexterity for Halflings. Therefore, if you decided to play a dwarf, your Strength score could be below 9 and you could still play the character, but you would be losing experience points until you could bring that prime requisite up. Lowering one score to raise another was done away with in AD&D - most methods allowed one to arrange their scores however they wanted so this mechanic was no longer necessary.

In OD&D, beginning characters were able to adjust scores in their prime requisites in order to raise their ability scores for XP bonuses or to avoid penalties. The character had to choose their class first in order to determine what their prime requisite(s) would be. Then points could be taken from others stats on a 2 for 1 basis to raise their prime requisite. One could not, however, reduce a score below 9 in order to raise a prime requisite. And remember, this was only to raise a prime requisite, not get a bonus in an ability score outside one's prime requisite. Therefore, a halfling could not raise Wisdom by lowering Intelligence, since Wisdom is not a prime requisite for that class. However, an elf could raise Intelligence or Strength since these are both prime requisites for this class. Also, there were rules as to which classes could reduce certain abilities. Strength could be lowered by magic-users and clerics only. Intelligence could be lowered by any class except magic-user or elf. Wisdom could be lowered by any class except cleric. Dexterity could not be lowered, but could be raised if a prime requisite (thus only thieves and halflings could raise their Dex in this manner). Constitution and Charisma could not be raised or lowered - the roll stood for these stats. Most players would end up lowering a score they did not need in order to gain an XP bonus in their prime requisite.

The same could not be said for Advanced D&D. But the method of rolling ability scores varied from campaign to campaign, and there were other ability score adjustments that few considered or were even aware of in the DMG. Most DMs I know used Method I from the DMG - 4d6, drop the lowest, arrange as desired. This is the most popular method and still used in modern games of D&D. The extra die acted as a buffer against lower rolls and tended to get scores in the 13-15 range easier than the 3d6 method. This is beneficial to the PCs since most ability score bonuses started in the 15+ range. This is different in Basic/Expert D&D where bonuses start in the 13-15 range. However, penalties in Original D&D started at 8 or lower, while in AD&D penalties usually started in the 6 or lower range. Having a 7 Strength in OD&D was detrimental, but not as bad in AD&D.

AD&D was stated to encourage at least 2 scores of 15 or greater for survival (PHB, page 9). Of course, this depended on class and which two scores were selected. Having a 15+ in Intelligence and Charisma is not really all that beneficial to characters, whereas a 15+ in Dexterity and Constitution is vital for survival, allowing reduced chances of being hit and surviving blows due to increased hit points. OD&D had degrees of bonus experience points for prime requisite scores. Generally speaking, a prime requisite of 13-15 gained +5% to earned experience, while a score of 16-18 gained +10% (Elves and Halflings tended to be different since they had 2 prime requisites). The increased number of experience points gained allowed the characters to increase in level faster, thus removing them from the delicate state of being low level with minimal hit points. AD&D did away with the +5% and only gave the XP bonus to those with scores of 16+ in their principal attribute. However, demi-humans were required to sometimes have higher scores and minimums in order to become certain classes. For example, human and multi-classed half-orc clerics only needed a 9 minimum in Wisdom, whereas multi-classed half-elves needed a 13 to be a cleric. AD&D was also the first time that minimums were required for the base classes of cleric, fighter, magic-user, and thief, and the first time that minimum scores in other abilities would dictate what class a character could be. For example, if a character was unlucky enough to have a score of 4 in Dexterity, that character could only be a cleric. If they did not qualify to be a cleric, then they would have to reroll the character (or assign scores differently) depending on the DM and what rolling methods were used.

Additionally, the section on character age in the AD&D DMG allowed for the adjustment of one's ability scores at the start of the game. A random roll allowed the DM to assign starting ages to the characters. Under the heading of AGING, it states, "When age category is established, modify ability scores accordingly, making each change progressively from young adulthood, all additions and subtractions being cumulative." What does this mean? Well, if your character is in the young adult category, you start the game with -1 Wisdom and +1 Constitution. This sucks for clerics, but is great for added survivability. If you rolled an age in the mature category, you would first subtract 1 from Wisdom and add 1 to Constitution, then add 1 point to Strength and 1 point to Wisdom. I believe that the oldest a human can be as a starting characters is 40 years old (magic-user with the highest roll), which is still considered mature. However, 1 game year later, that magic-user becomes middle-aged and has to subtract 1 point of Strength and Constitution, but adds 1 point of Intelligence and Wisdom. Human fighters begin the game at age 16-20 and are the youngest of the characters other than half-orc fighters who begin at age 14-17. Note that adjustments cannot raise abilities beyond racial maximums (or 18 for humans).

The other strange concept added to AD&D was ability score minimums and maximums for demi-humans and different genders of all races. In OD&D you could be a female dwarf with an 18 Str; in AD&D you could have no higher than a 17 Str. Halflings now had 4 ability score minimums that they had to be aware of (Str, Int, Dex, Con), other than the two listed in OD&D (Str and Dex). Some of these were quite demanding - 13 minimum Con to be a half-orc, for example. On the flip side, some character races allowed ability scores to raise above 18, something that never occurred in OD&D. Dwarves, halflings and half-orcs could achieve 19 in Constitution, and Elves could achieve 19 in Dexterity. So what if the character had a score lower than the minimum required based on race and gender? Then they could not be a demi-human character and had to select human. Racial adjustments could only modify the score after the minimums were met. And one cannot forget the racial adjustments for dwarves, elves, half-orcs and halflings on page 14 of the PHB.

So, although AD&D had more modifiers to the ability scores, and allowed greater choice when it came to arranging scores to be the class the player preferred, there were still other factors that contributed to limiting the choices one could play. OD&D was a bit more forgiving by giving out bonuses for lower scores and allowing classes to be played without many ability requirements, but there were only 4 human classes and 3 demi-humans to select from. AD&D mixed race and age into the ability score determination for a starting character. OD&D allowed for some adjustment of scores based on prime requisite and class, but rolls were based on 3d6 so scores were generally lower, with more in the single digit range that was detrimental to character survivability (especially with lower hit dice being used for the classes).

B2: Keep on the Borderlands - Time and Travel

 I do so love the older D&D modules. There's a sense that the entire game functions as a well-oiled machine when you find rules actually reiterated in the pages of the original adventures. I'm especially a fan of those adventures written by E. Gary Gygax himself! But there are a few reasons why this is so. First and foremost, the creator of one of the best games I have ever played was consistent (at least in the earlier days) when it came to instructing new DMs on how to run the game. He also tried to tie rules into the narrative, to give the adventure a verisimilitude in how a D&D campaign works. When a DM and his players are all on the same page, so to speak, and seem to all understand exactly how the game works, it's pure magic!

Now, I know it's very hard to remain consistent all the time; and good editors keep most of the glaring mistakes out of the text. But eventually, every writer and game designer fails to keep his or her facts straight or misreads a rule somewhere. And I can't fault anyone for their mistakes - they happen to us all at some time or another. However, that being said, I find module B2: Keep on the Borderlands to be one of the best written modules of its time. It is clear and concise, instructional and informative, and has remained a powerful DMing tool for hundreds, if not thousands, of DMs, from neophytes to grizzled veterans. Just reading through the pages inspires me to run something in Basic D&D once more!

My only quibble with the module, and it is very minor, is that there is so much happening in a mere 3 by 2 mile area. The map scale for the Wilderness Map is strange, set at 100 yards per square. First off, we were taught that wilderness was usually mapped in hexes, not squares. It says so in the Expert D&D rulebook! Of course, it says that wilderness could be mapped using graph paper, but that hexes make it easier to figure movement (ah, those pesky diagonals). Gygax's use of graph paper for his Wilderness Map is peculiar. Also, his scale used is even more curious, but makes more sense when you realize that he is trying to explain how outdoor adventures work without making reference to the Expert set rules! As long time fans of Basic/Expert D&D know, distance outdoors is measured in yards, not feet. Therefore, a character who moves 90'/turn indoors will move 90 yards/turn outdoors. Since each square is 100 yards, that's almost equivalent to what a Man can move in 1 turn if wearing light armor or is lightly encumbered. Why he didn't simply make 1 square = 90 yards is unknown. In any case, the scale is strange because 17.6 squares is 1 mile (1760 yards/mile), and if you are going by normal outdoor movement (and assuming that the party contains slow/moving members at 60' movement rate), then they can cover a distance of (60/5 = ) 12 miles per day (see page X19 in the Cook version of the D&D Expert rulebook). If that's the case, and there are roughly 50 squares of travel along the road from the keep to the Caves of Chaos, then the distance traveled by the characters is only about 5000 yards or 2.84 miles. So, the time it takes to get to and from the Caves of Chaos is roughly 1/4 of a day's travel. Assuming that one must travel there and back to the Keep, that's half a day blown on travel.

But that's not the same rate as listed in the B2 module! In this case, Gygax states that normal movement rate is 1 square per HOUR searching, or 3 squares per HOUR walking. Walking in the fens is equivalent to searching (1 square/hour). Walking in the forest is 2 squares per HOUR. He then states parenthetically that wilderness adventures are more completely explained in the D&D Expert set rulebook. Hmm, so according to the D&D Expert Set, the total distance from the Keep to the Caves should take no more than 1/4 day (assuming a 10 hour travel period, that would be about 2½ hours). Yet according to Gygax's bizarre scale movement, 2½ hours would only get me about 8 squares from the Keep! Something here doesn't add up.

I wonder if the map was originally to a different scale? Assuming a 60' movement rate for armored and/or encumbered characters who will not likely be able to afford horses for a while, they should be able to move at 60 yards per turn or 360 yards per hour. I think I see some disconnect here. The miles per day rate is assumed to be on a road, not mapping just traveling, and definitely not expecting to be attacked or being on alert for danger. Given that rate, the party could travel 3 miles in 2½ hours or 1.2 mph. Given the map scale of 2.25 miles east to west and just under 3 miles north to south, the party would be long gone off the map before they had to make camp. It states on page X19 that ten minute turns are rarely used in outdoor play - one either uses rounds during combats, or uses miles/day to determine how far they progress.

The hourly movement proposed by Gygax would have the characters traveling for almost 17 hours to reach the Caves of Chaos using walking movement speed (and that's actually if they have already located the place and know where they are going). The sandbox nature of the module, however, does not give hints on where the Caves are located on the map - the characters have to adventure and explore the area in order to locate them. Although this is great for a campaign setting, it's not so great for a one-shot adventure (not that the module should or could be finished in a single play session, unless the players are in for one marathon session lasting through the night and into the next day). Also, given the numbers of creatures involved in the Caves, attrition is likely to kill off the party long before they complete it. Using the hourly rate for movement doesn't make much sense. The calculation for daily movement in D&D Expert is movement rate divided by 5 equals the number of miles traveled per day. Therefore, an unencumbered Man moving at 120'/turn can travel (120/5 =) 24 miles per day. This would be the equivalent of moving 10.6 map widths in a day (since the map is only 2.25 miles wide! So something is very wrong with the scale of movement here!

So how does one rectify the glaring discrepancy in the travel rates in B2? Remember that the characters should not have to travel all day to reach the Caves once they are located! In fact, according to the movement rates in the Expert Set, they should be able to reach their destination by mid-morning. If however, you do use the hourly movement rate, you should take something into consideration: Is that movement rate for someone moving at normal (unencumbered) speed, or it is assumed that everyone will be moving at the metal-armored (encumbered) speed? To say that 300 yards per hour is slow is really understating things. It's even slower than breaking speed down to turn movement! However, it is somewhat accurate. Assuming the movement rate really IS 360 yards per hour for a slow moving party, then that would be 3.6 squares per hour. How many hours of travel are there in a day? That's not stated anywhere. It could be 8 hours, 10 hours, or 12 hours depending on the time of year. I typically use 10 hours for travel. Assuming a party rises at dawn (roughly 6 am discounting seasonal variation), spend 1 hour in the morning preparing for travel, then spend 5 hours traveling, stop at noon for lunch (1 hour break), and then continue walking until 1 hour before dinner, then eat dinner at 6 pm and make plans and set camp, feed and care for horse, etc. By the time they bed down it would be close to 8 pm losing the light fast. Assuming then that watches begin at 8 pm and continue to 6 am, that's 10 hours of watch time or thereabouts. This is really a bit more in depth than typical D&D adventures get, but one has to know total times for most activities.

Assuming a 10 hour travel day, the party moving at hourly speed will be able to cover 36 squares in a day's travel. That means that the party will have traveled 3600 yards in total, or a little over 2 miles distance for the day. I used to walk 1.5 miles to school every morning with a heavy backpack filled with books and it only took me 1 hour to do that. If the 10 hour day is used, and the Expert Set movement rates per day are used, then we end up with a 1.2 miles/hour speed (2112 yds/hour), almost 6 times faster than the hourly movement rate, but jives better with real life movement!

So what factors could exist to justify this slow movement rate? Again, I think the map scale was changed at some point, or maybe someone made a conversion mistake when trying to figure out how far the Caves should be from the Keep. Note that terrain factors have not really been taken into consideration yet. However, the bulk of the journey from the Keep to the Caves is on the road and, according to page X20 in the Expert Rulebook, movement along a road is at 1.5 times the normal rate! With that assumption in place (but never mentioned in B2), travel along the road should be at 5.4 squares per hour. With this movement rate, the party should be able to make it to the Caves of Chaos by nightfall. This is still much slower than the daily rate of movement, however, and I wonder why that should be so. If the daily movement rate of 12 miles/day is modified by the 1.5 x movement rate, then the party can travel 18 miles/day on the road and it should only take about 1/6 day (about 1½ hours) to reach the Caves once they have been located. Keep in mind that forest movement is at 2/3 normal rate, and swamp (fen) movement is 1/2 normal rate. The fen is not all that large and it shouldn't take several days to slog through it to locate the lair located therein. Using the 1.2 miles per hour rate, the characters would travel 21 squares per hour walking in clear terrain, 31.5 squares per hour on the road, 14 squares per hour in the forest, and 10.5 squares per hour while searching or moving through the fen.

Daily movement and turn movement are not the same and should not be equated. How these values are determined are two completely different methods that have no mathematical equivalency. Also, the hourly rates in the B2 module should be ignored and the Expert Set movement rules used instead, unless the DM decides to make module B2 into a much longer campaign. It's hard to justify moving at the listed search speed of 1 square per hour. That would be the equivalent of taking an hour to cross a football field - preposterous to say the least! Given the size of a typical D&D party, unless they were all looking for a lost copper piece in heavy brush and light forest, there's no way they would have to move that slowly to search an area of wilderness.

AD&D: Psionics

An inordinate number of pages in both the Players Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide are associated with the "optional" game mechanic known as psionics. It's unusual to find such abilities existing side-by-side with a magic system in a fantasy RPG, mostly because psionics are more of a science-fiction nod to supernatural abilities possessed by an individual. However, since Gygax enjoyed mixing genres, it's only natural that such an add-on to the game would be included. Psionics were first introduced near the end of the Original D&D era in Eldritch Wizardry, and then included in the Advanced D&D rules in 1978 as an official add-on. However, the rules themselves are poorly explained and, if properly played, would almost never belong to player characters in any event. However, the Monster Manual was liberally sprinkled with all sorts of monsters capable of utilizing psionics powers - from extraplanar creatures like demons, devils, couatl, and shedu, to the exclusively psionic thought eater, mind flayer, and intellect devourer. Most early campaigns dabbled in psionics in one form or another, but it seemed unbalancing in the long run. One of the characters in my second ever campaign in the Temple of Elemental Evil had psionics, a magic-user of questionably Lawful Good alignment. After battling with a psionic creature, however, he lost the ability to use his psionic abilities permanently (and I was surely glad of that). DRAGON Magazine offered the Psionicist NPC class, but no one ever used these as NPCs, and instead used them as new character classes to be exploited in the game. After 2nd Edition came along, no one paid much heed to the psionics rules and it all but disappeared after 3rd edition D&D (even though it was finally formalized into a character class all its own).

The AD&D rules on psionics were confusing and hard to work into a campaign. The rarity of such characters with psionics made any character with this ability immediately suspect unless the roll was performed in front of the group. No DM I ever spoke to allowed such abilities in their games - and after experiencing them, I too agreed. It was unfair that a PC could gain such abilities simply due to the luck of a random roll. However, Gygax also tried to limit these abilities to non-spellcasting characters or those without too many special abilities or multi-classing options (humans, dwarves, and halflings only). Also, the ability was only open to those with high scores in non-combat stats: Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. Finally, psionic attack modes were downplayed so that they only worked on similarly endowed psionic creatures. The only attack that would work on non-psionic creatures was Psionic Blast (attack mode A) and it had limited uses. So, unless a demon had attack mode A, one rarely had to worry about psionic attacks being made upon them (most of the sciences and devotions had uses other than attacking).

The most confusing aspect of psionics was how to use them in combat if one DID face a psionically capable creature. There were a number of charts in the DMG relating to psionic combat, but it all seemed to exist outside the normal combat system of round structure and initiative. In fact, each psionic exchange took but 1 segment of time and it was suggested that "a good DM will usually just stop everything else until it is taken care of." That was another reason to not like psionic combats, since most of the other players would be sitting around until the one possessing psionics was finished having fun. Exclusionary parts of the game are frowned upon, especially when one character gets to do something while everyone else sits around waiting to find out what happened. And, let's face it, no more than one character per gaming group is ever going to be lucky enough to have psionics - it's just statistically rare, especially if you don't have the stats for it. Given the usual number of elves and half-elves in any game, it's just not likely that a character will be psionically gifted. Also, most DMs don't want to bother to learn a new combat system when they have enough to worry about in the game.

There are a lot of monsters in the game that have psionics and can use them to help or hurt the characters. A surprising number of "good" creatures in the game are psionic, and most extra-planar creatures are psionic as well. In fact, most creatures that can enter the ethereal plane or astral plane at will are psionic to some degree. Since the astral plane is considered a "plane of the mind," this makes sense (especially in the "psychic 70s" that focused on supernatural and psychic phenomena). I suppose that, like the addition of "kung-fu" monks and "mafia-style" assassins, it's no wonder that psychedelic powers were added to a game written in the 1970s.

Monsters with psionic powers from the Monster Manual include: brain moles, cerebral parasites**, couatls, most demons and devils, dwarves*, gray oozes*, halflings*, intellect devourers, ki-rin, liches*, men*, mind flayers, yellow mold*, shedu, su-monsters, thought eaters**, titans, and tritons*. Fiend Folio creatures with psionics include: algoids, Lolth, styx devil, elemental princes of evil, dark elves (?), enveloper, githyanki, githzerai, skeleton warriors*, most slaads, sussuri (?), and trillochs (?). Creatures marked with one asterisk are not inherently psionic, but indicate that there do exist creatures of these sorts with psionic abilities. In the cast of the thought eater and cerebral parasite (two asterisks), these creatures have no psionic powers but sustain themselves on draining the psionic powers of others. Creatures marked with a question mark indicate that it is unknown if these creatures have psionic capability. So it seems that Gygax made it very difficult to engage psionic creatures on their own terms (most listed are 5+ HD), but also made it hard for psionic characters to exist and fight off those seeking to capitalize on their windfall. Curiously, although devil and demon are given psionics, the Mezzodaemon and Nycadaemon were not. It seems that only high level daemons and daemon lords had access to psionics. Demodands and devas have no psionics except for the astral deva and solar.

The powers one gets for being a psionic character may be great or just so-so depending on random rolls. Also, determining your abilities for psionics takes a bit of advanced math. The average D&D character rolled using the 3d6 method will probably never get psionics because a 00 needs to be rolled on d% to get the abilities. Of course, if the character has Intelligence, Wisdom, and/or Charisma above 16, then this increases their chances of obtaining such powers. It's more likely to roll such high abilities using a different ability rolling method from the DMG or one of the alternate methods from Unearthed Arcana. Even with "4d6 drop the lowest" a character can get one or two scores in the range needed. However, statistics show that psionics are rare (as they should be) and thus will more than likely never enter a campaign at all. But what if they do? What does a DM have to prepare for in order to allow psionics to enter their new (or ongoing) campaign?

First off, a DM should be aware of psionics and how they are perceived and used in his campaign. I have always stated that monks are semi-psionic in nature; they perfect the body, mind, and soul and thus gain powers beyond the ability of normal humans. Their high ability requirement in Wisdom show that these powers are derived from insight and meditation, also useful to psionically endowed individuals. And, like monks, psionic characters should be exceedingly rare in a campaign given the requirements. Assume a typical character is rolled, and no excessively high scores are obtained (no higher than 15 in any score); the character is not very likely to be psionic, but the chance still exists (albeit very small, at 1%). The DM still needs to consider how psionics fits into the scheme of his or her campaign, because at some point it may happen that a character, replacement character, or even a henchman, could show up with psionic abilities. It's thus better to think this out ahead of time, than have to cram a new development into an evolved campaign that may not have such abilities considered. Although the number of psionic abilities is dependent on random rolls, the types are determined by choice. Having monks (a rare human-only class) be the keepers of psionic knowledge makes some sense here. Psionics could thus be better explained to the psionic individual if they journey to a remote monastery and speak to a Grandmaster in order to get better insight on their "condition." Such a monk may also be able to better explain the dangers of using psionic abilities, and some of the pitfalls to avoid. Having an in-game method of explaining the ins and outs of psionics is key to establishing these mental abilities in the game. PCs are typically rare among humans; this is not obvious given the number of NPCs who have character classes! According to the section on Henchmen in the DMG, "human and half-orc characters suitable for level advancement are found at a ratio of 1 in 100." So, going by that assumption, a population of 25,000 humans has 250 potential PCs, and of those, only 2.5 will have psionic abilities. Thus, the possibility of finding a psionic individual is 1 in 10,000. If a PC is rolled from that community, there are at best 1 or 2 other individuals with similar psionic potentials, be they PCs or NPCs. This is just going by straight statistics. It's possible that these individuals may not even be aware of their abilities since they have never been exposed to a catalyst or experience that would cause them to emerge. This is strictly from an in-game perspective; if I had the ability to read thoughts, or control minds you bet I would have kept that secret for as long as possible and used it to my advantage over the years!

But what about the rest of the campaign world? How would other races who are non-psionic deal with psionic creatures? Would they fear and despise them? How would magic-users approach them? With reverence and respect or revulsion and threats since psionics can easily do what it took magic-users years to perfect? One has to consider that most psionic characters would keep their powers secret, perhaps only identifying each other psychically (if they had the proper devotions to do so). Otherwise, they might masquerade as a dual or multi-class caster (harder to accomplish if dwarven or halfling). How would the demi-human races treat a psionic character? Would they be outcast as "dark dwarves" or witch-kin? And how would populations at large treat psionic entities they may encounter? Surely, magic is accepted in the AD&D multiverse as real and useful; but what would the populace think about mental powers that cannot be detected by magic spells or abilities that may enhance greatly the powers of the normal character classes? I see this being treated as if the characters where mutants in the Marvel Universe - people with inborn abilities that most humans could never have are treated with fear and mistrust. So it would be with psionic individuals who flaunt their powers. Worse, those who keep their powers secret are forced to use them only when they can keep them from others, breeding even more distrust and suspicion in a gaming group or community. Some players like that extra flavor in their campaigns, but those who roll the ability without even expecting it (or wanting it) might find it debilitating, especially if there are other players who wanted psionics and didn't qualify or blew their roll. The DM must take all this information into consideration before even allowing psionics into his game. A clear indication of whether psionics is even permitted should be explained before the game begins; some background explanation as to the ramifications should also be explained, should the characters want to roll. But a DM should only give away general information about how society treats such individuals, without spoiling the surprises that come from in-game knowledge gathering.

At some point, PCs will leave their mortal plane and adventure beyond the Astral Sea. They will find that psionics is much more prevalent in the Outer Planes among the servants of the gods than the Inner Planes or Material Plane. And it is that prevalence that defines the split between extraplanar creatures and mortal monsters. Psionics endow these creatures with more abilities than PCs will ever possess and leads them to being the truly powerful opponents that PCs need to face at higher levels. If the PCs have the same powers, they are elevated to the same level as these opponents and should be judged accordingly as being more of a threat (and hence, more of a target) by those creatures. At some point, the PCs will likely find a threat that causes the psionically endowed character more problems than the other PCs, turning his or her strength into a liability (consider that most greater demons have Psychic Crush which can kill with a single attack, but only works on psionically gifted targets).

AD&D Magic Items: Wands

One of the more common magic items of middling power, wands are typically wielded by magic-users seeking to hold off on depleting their own magical resources or keep from being disrupted when stuck in melee range. But wands are not solely for magic-users - many of the lesser wands are usable by just about any class. Wands are a great source of experience points (if they can be used by the PCs) or wealth (if they are useless to the party and sold in towns or cities). Prices for a fully-charged wand range from 7,500 to 50,000 gold pieces! Unlike other items, however, price varies with the amount of charges in the wand, so most wands are sold at a certain percentage of full price.

Wands are lumped together with rods and staves, and are found in random hoards a mere 5% of the time. Of that 5%, wands are found 67% of the time, with the most rare of the wands being the wand of conjuration, and the most common being the wand of magic detection. There are 16 wands listed on the table in the DUNGEON MASTERS GUIDE. Of these wands, half can be used by any class, the remainder require a magic-user to use (with the wand of fear being the sole exception, also usable by clerics). Oddly enough, the wand of magic missiles, which seems as if it should be usable only by magic-users, is actually usable by any character (so long as they are permitted to use wands at all). Illusionists are more limited in the types of wands they are permitted to use as they are not fully magic-users - they may only use wands of enemy detection, fear, illusion, magic detection, metal & mineral detection, secret door & trap detection, and wonder. Monks are prohibited from using wands of any kind.

Physically, wands are 1¼ feet (15 inches) long and slender. They are typically made of ivory, bone, or wood and are tipped with something - metal, crystal, stone, etc. Wands are fragile and tend to break easily. Wands are usually found in cases, which could be elaborate carved wooden boxes or leather sheathes strapped to legs, arms, or hidden in another object. A wand can hold as many as 100 charges when full, but when found as treasure are likely to have 0-19 (d20-1) charges less than full. A nearly full wand is a very potent item; most wands should be found in a nearly depleted state unless of a non-combat nature. Most wands can be recharged; only the wand of negation and wand of wonder may not be recharged. The recharging process is supposed to be detailed under FABRICATION OF MAGIC ITEMS, but is only touched upon and not really described in any useful detail. It seems to require an enchant an item spell and access to the spell(s) used by the wand. The exact cost in time and materials is only hinted at, and may have to be ruled on by your Dungeon Master. A wand must still have charges remaining in order to be recharged - a depleted wand is useless and crumbles to dust as the last charge is expended. Each use of a wand's abilities uses one or more charges (refer to the individual wand type).

Any magical device that discharges some form of magic over a distance must generally have a command word spoken in order to cause the device to function. Therefore, wands have command words, and use requires speaking this word (thus magical silence prohibits the use of wands). How one learns the command word for a newly discovered wand is a matter for the individual player and DM to work out. I suggest having command words inscribed magically on the wand (thus requiring read magic to decipher the word). Simply hearing a user utter the command word may be enough to learn it as well, but that usually means one is the target of the wand's effects and must survive this to gain the wand.... Bardic knowledge or legend lore might learn the command word for a wand. An identify spell is probably too low in level to determine command words, since the spell cannot even give precise information on the number of charges remaining in the wand (only gives 25% increments). All the abilities of wands function at 6th level of ability (if level is required to determine range, duration, area of effect, etc.). One oft-overlooked feature of wands is that 1% of all wands are trapped to backfire (but this is at the DM's option).

Following is a general overview of the wands (to keep some of the mystique of these magic items). Those wands usable only by clerics or magic-users are denoted with a "C" or "M". 

Wand of Conjuration (M) is a potent item in the hands of a magic-user. It allows use of the unseen servant, monster summoning I to VI, or prismatic sphere (or wall) spells. It also allows conjuring of a curtain of utter blackness. It allows the holder to identify any cast or written magic-user conjuration or summoning spell.

Wand of Enemy Detection seems like a useless item at first. It can only detect enemies at a 6" range (60 feet indoors, 60 yards outdoors). It pulses like the ping of a submarine's sonar then points in the direction of any enemies within range. It will detect creatures that are invisible, ethereal, astral, out of phase, hidden, disguised, or in plain sight. Each use requires 1 charge and lasts 1 turn. This wand is particularly useful when dealing with shapechangers, illusionists, assassins, air elementals, or other creatures that either hide in plain sight or use magic to mask their appearance.

Wand of Fear (C, M) creates a pale amber ray that forms a cone 6" long by 2" in base diameter. Any creature touched by the cone of effect must save vs. wand or fall under the effect of a cause fear spell (1st level cleric spell, reverse of remove fear), turning and moving at fastest speed from the wand user for 6 rounds. Each use costs 1 charge and can operate just once per round.

Wand of Fire (M) has four separate functions: burning hands, pyrotechnics, fireball, and wall of fire. Only one function per round can be used and each ability replicates the spell of the same name. This wand is great for any magic-user when out of spells, or those who never learned these great combat spells.

Wand of Frost (M) is the most costly wand on the list. It has three separate functions: ice storm, wall of ice, and cone of cold. These abilities function like the spells of the same name and can only be used once per round. As cold spells are of higher level, and fire-using creatures are found with more frequency, this wand may seem to be of higher caliber. However, the spell effects it creates are hard to use in tight spaces.

Wand of Illumination has four separate functions: dancing lights, light, continual light, and sunburst. The former three function as the spells of the same name. The latter is a unique ability that greatly damages undead creatures or blinds those facing the burst.

Wand of Illusion (M) creates audible and visual illusions. It emits an invisible ray up to 14" away. The user must concentrate on the illusion in order to maintain it, but may move normally (no combat). Each portion of the illusions (visual and audible) costs 1 charge to create and 1 per round to maintain. This is a most costly wand to use, but illusions can have powerful effects if used appropriately.

Wand of Lightning (M) can cause a shock (like a shocking grasp spell and requiring a roll to hit in melee) or release a bolt of lightning (as the lightning bolt spell), but can only perform 1 function per round.

Wand of Magic Detection functions like the wand of enemy detection but only has a radius of 3". When activated it pulses and points to the strongest source of magic in range. Operation requires 1 round, and successive rounds can point to lesser sources of magic. The category of magic can be determined by expending 1 round in concentration on an aura. Starting with the second round there is a 2% cumulative chance of the wand malfunctioning (non-magical items reveal as magical or vice-versa). This prevents this item from being abused and activated all the time while exploring a new section of dungeon.

Wand of Metal and Mineral Detection is similar to the wand of magic detection, with a 3" radius of detection. When it pulses it points to the largest mass of metal within its effective area. A user can concentrate on a specific metal or mineral; if the selected type is in range it will point to any and all instances of that type, and the user will be able to determine approximate quantity as well. Each charge allows 1 turn of use, and each operation takes 1 round. While this may seem very limited, it is very good at singling out certain coin types in a large hoard, locating which chests hold treasure vs. traps or tricks. It would also be priceless for miners seeking to follow a lode of precious metals or gemstone vein in ore rock.

Wand of Magic Missiles fires missiles similar to the 1st level magic-user spell. Those wands wielded by magic-users will allow the missiles to hit unerringly; other users must roll to hit with the missiles. Each missile take 3 segments to discharge, and up to 2 may be shot in 1 round.

Wand of Negation is used to negate the functions of other wands, staves, rods, or other magic items. When the wand is pointed, a pale gray beam shoots out to touch the target - device or individual. This totally negates any wand function and make any other spell or spell-like function from a device 75% likely to be negated regardless of spell level. Operation of the wand takes 1 segment but may only function once per round. This wand cannot be recharged. This is a create defensive item; and can stop the functioning of any item with a spell-like ability (including magical swords, rings, and miscellaneous items).

Wand of Paralyzation (M) shoots out a thin ray of bluish color to a range of 6". Any creature touched by the ray must save vs. wand or become immobile for 5-20 rounds. A save indicates the ray missed. Only one creature can be affected each round; the ray stops the instant it contacts a creature.

Wand of Polymorphing (M) emits a green beam, a thin ray that extends to a range of 6". If the ray strikes a creature it must save vs. wands or be polymorphed as the polymorph other spell. The wand wielder can only turn the target into a small and inoffensive creature (like a snail, frog, insect, bunny, squirrel, chipmunk, etc.). If instead the creature is physically touched with the wand, the wielder can transform that creature into any form desired but only functions as the polymorph self spell. Only one function can be used per round.

Wand of Secret Door and Trap Location has an effective radius of 1½" for secret doors and 3" for traps. When used, the wielder has to determine what to look for (secret doors or traps), and the wand will pulse and point to the nearest phenomena. It requires 1 round to use and uses 1 charge.

Wand of Wonder is a truly chaotic wand, and generates random effects on a table that could be beneficial, detrimental, or just plain weird. The table is listed in the DMG, but can be altered by the DM to suit his or her personal campaign, or to differentiate wands of the same type. I have enjoyed these wands and laughed at their truly capricious abilities to screw over the player characters in the most innocent of ways. Only one function per round is possible with only 1 charge per use. The wand cannot be recharged.

Use of Wands

It's important to note that wands with segments of activation behave like spells in combat. In other words, if a wand takes 3 segments to activate, it's effects come at the end of the 3rd segment, regardless of the number rolled for initiative. Wands wielded as melee weapons (the shock attack of the wand of lightning or polymorph self ability of the wand of polymorphing, for example) act on the normal initiative roll. The main benefit of using a wand is that, unlike casting a spell, it's use cannot be stopped (except by the aforementioned wand of negation) or disrupted (unless the wand is broken or damaged by a failed item saving throw). Wands also allow a magic-user to use spells they might not be otherwise able to cast due to failed Chance to Know or the spells they contain were never located or written into their spell books.

Unearthed Arcana Wands

Wands received their own actual table in the UNEARTHED ARCANA. Twelve new wands were added to the mix, although some seem to be reworked versions of the fire, frost, and lightning wands. Some strange wand types were added with twisted rules. Most of these wands are usable by any class that can use wands.

Anything Wand performs like a wand of wonder, but only has 50 charges at full. It also has three other special uses: upon command it performs as if it were any other sort of known wand, but can only duplicate a single kind of wand no more than once. If commanded to perform as a single kind of wand more than once, the second or third command have no effect - and after three such commands, successful or not, the wand is drained and totally useless. The wand cannot be recharged (like the wand of wonder). I suppose this is slightly less chaotic, but other types of wand must be known to the Player Character, not the player.

Buckler Wand can be used by any class except cleric. It activates in 1 segment, the tip becoming equivalent to a +1 dagger and the rest of the shaft blossoms into a +1 buckler (small shield). The whole becomes equal to a spiked buckler +1. Because of the magic, it can be wielded by a magic-user, but no spells can be cast unless the wielder is a multi-classed fighter/magic-user. A thief using this wand cannot climb walls or perform other abilities requiring use of his/her hands while holding the device.

Wand of Defoliation is constructed only of ivory or bone (never wood). With one charge, all chlorophyll within 3" radius is destroyed, causing plants to wither into autumn colors before turning dry and brown. With two charges, all normal plant life within 3" radius withers and dies. Sentient plant creatures and non-normal plants suffer 1d6 points of damage. This can be directed into a cone-shape by the wand wielder but will cause 6-36 damage to any plant creature in the area of effect (save vs. wands for half damage).

Wand of Earth and Stone is short and topped by some sort of mineral. It can perform the following functions: dig, passwall, move earth. 50% of all wands have the following additional powers: transmute mud to rock, transmute rock to mud.

Wand of Fireballs enables the wielder to cast a fireball (and only a fireball) spell quickly (1 segment to activate, 1 segment to activate the fireball).

Wand of Flame Extinguishing has three functions: 1) when applied to normal fires of normal size no charges are expended to extinguish the flames; 2) when applied to large normal fires 1 charge is expended and continuously created flames are extinguished for 6 rounds before flaring back up; and 3) when applied to large magical fires, 2 charges are expended to extinguish the flames. Using one charge upon a creature composed of fire, the wand inflicts 6-36 points of damage.

Wand of Force (F, M) has three functions: 1) creates a shaft of force that functions as a +5 bastard sword when wielded in combat (1 charge per turn); 2) create a wall of force expending 1 charge; and 3) create a plane of force that behaves as a Bigby's Forceful Hand spell (must be a magic-user to use this function and know one of the Bigby's hand spells to use it), expending ½ charge per round of use. Fighters can use the first two functions. The wand can be recharged, but can also be recharged by contacting  a Bigby's hand spell, Mordenkainen's Sword, or wall of force. Touching any of these spell effects with the wand acts as a disintegrate spell, destroying the spell manifestation and absorbing 1 charge into the wand.

Wand of Ice Storms enables the wielder to cause an ice storm (damaging hail or slippery ice are possible). Activation time is 1 segment, 1 segment to use ice storm). This wand can be recharged.

Wand of Lightning Bolts enables the wielder to cast a lightning bolt (6-36 damage) with a saving throw for half damage. Stroke or forked bolt is possible. Wand takes 1 segment to activate, and 1 segment to discharge). The wand can be recharged.

Wand of Metal Command appears to be a wand of metal and mineral detection, but in the hands of a dwarf or gnome it reveals its special powers: 1) with one charge, the wand can transmute gold to lead, or lead to gold with a 3" range; 2) with two charges, the user can heat metal as a druid with a 3" range and only a single target; and 3) with three charges, the possessor can cast any of the following spells as an 18th level magic-user: crystalbrittle, glassee, or glassteel.

Wand of Size Alteration enables the wielder to cause any single creature of any size to enlarge or diminish in size. Either effect causes a 50% chance in size. The wand has a 1" range. A save is permitted, but creatures can choose to forego the saving throw if desired. Each use expends a charge and the wand can be recharged.

Wand of Steam and Vapor has two separate functions, each of which expends 1 charge: 1) Steam jet spouts out in a cone causing 6-36 damage; the cloud persists but reduces in damage each round; 2) Vapor billows out of the wand equal to a fog cloud, persisting for 6 rounds and remaining stationary unless moved by magical or non-magical winds.

Final Thoughts on Wands

Wands began as a means for magic-users to continue fighting magically once their spells were expended. It also allowed a magic-user who was bum-rushed into melee range to still engage in magical combat without fear of spells being interrupted. The wands listed in the DMG were either for a magic-user to use in combat, or as a utilitarian device for any other class to use in dungeon adventures (locating treasure, enemies, traps, secret doors, magic, etc.). Wands added into the game with UA were mainly for any character to use, thus allowing other classes to behave as a magic-user (and thus lessening the M-U superiority in the game) or allowing magic-users to expand on their already prodigious magical abilities.

Wand combat is typically fast and usually performed at range. Ways to foil wand usage include possession of a wand of negation, destroying the wand, or disarming the wand. Shatter spells will not function on magical items, thus they cannot affect wands. Fireballs and lightning bolts would affect a drawn wand if the wielder failed their saving throw. Again, silence spells prevent the use of a wand with a command word (most have a command word). Invisible barriers (like wall of force) could cause a wand wielder to suffer an attack from their same weapon if the range assumed is suddenly cut short. I don't ever remember seeing a wand in any published adventure with more than 25 charges or so. Holding off on using a wand because it is low on charges is a fool's ploy - wands are made to be used to depletion. There are so many other wands that could be located and used in a campaign, so burn through those wand charges and enjoy the spectacle of a magic-user in wand combat!