Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Feb 24, 2005 13:08:11	I thought I'd share the house rules I use for OD&D. They're mostly pretty straightforward, but there's one (at the end) that I want to discuss in more detail: 1. High-Level Druids and Mystics Ignore the challenge/duel requirements. If such requirements exist, they're part of a specific culture and they're needed before taking on posts, not simply gaining levels. 2. First Level Druids You can - in fact, must - become a Druid at level 1, instead of having to take a Cleric up to level 9 and then switch (which really makes no sense). 3. Viable First Level Characters At first level (only) you automatically get max hit points. After that, you have to roll. 4. Hit Points That Don't Suck When rolling hit points, reroll all 1's and 2's. 5. Rakes Are Not Inferior As written in Dawn of the Emperors, the Rake class is exactly like a Thief, but cannot backstab or pick pockets, and gets nothing to replace these abilities. That doesn't make much sense for a swashbuckling character, though, because backstab is the only thing that keeps the Thief competitive in combat. So: The Rake gets d6 hit points instead of d4. I think that's about right for the Rake. Anyone disagree?
#2 havard Mar 02, 2005 9:50:05	I thought I'd share the house rules I use for OD&D. They're mostly pretty straightforward, but there's one (at the end) that I want to discuss in more detail: 1. High-Level Druids and Mystics Ignore the challenge/duel requirements. If such requirements exist, they're part of a specific culture and they're needed before taking on posts, not simply gaining levels. I thought this was from AD&D, but I agree that it doesn't seem like a good thing to mix into game mechanics. 2. First Level Druids You can - in fact, must - become a Druid at level 1, instead of having to take a Cleric up to level 9 and then switch (which really makes no sense). I did the same thing. WotI also allows for some Clerics to gain druid spells at 1st level... 3. Viable First Level Characters At first level (only) you automatically get max hit points. After that, you have to roll. I liked this rule when I saw it in 3e. Also, since I hate randomness in character creation, I am considering giving avg hp for each level beyond 1st. I also give out fixed numbers for stats, so no rolling there either. 4. Hit Points That Don't Suck When rolling hit points, reroll all 1's and 2's. The problem with that is that this is alot better for Magic Users and Thieves than it is for Fighters... 5. Rakes Are Not Inferior The Rake gets d6 hit points instead of d4. I think that's about right for the Rake. Anyone disagree? Legions of Thyatis had a revised Rake with a dodge ability to compensate it somewhat. If you dont give it that dodge ability, Id even go as far as giving it a d8 for HP, due to the loss of the two most useful Thief abilities. Håvard
#3 zombiegleemax Mar 02, 2005 15:45:32	I thought this was from AD&D, but I agree that it doesn't seem like a good thing to mix into game mechanics. They have the same concept in both the BD&D and AD&D (1st Ed). I'm pretty sure it dates right back to OD&D. I liked this rule when I saw it in 3e. Also, since I hate randomness in character creation, I am considering giving avg hp for each level beyond 1st. I also give out fixed numbers for stats, so no rolling there either. Is that really the first place it's been officially published? I've been using it since the 80's, but I can't remember if I came up with it myself or read it as a suggestion somewhere. I think I like avg hp better, now that I think of it, although I'd probably give avg hp plus one (rounded up), so a d4 would give you 4, d6 would be 5, and d8 would be 6. Because... The problem with that is that this is alot better for Magic Users and Thieves than it is for Fighters... I think Magic-Users and Thieves (especially at low levels) are already way to fragile compared to fighters, so I don't mind giving them a slight advantage. Legions of Thyatis had a revised Rake with a dodge ability to compensate it somewhat. If you dont give it that dodge ability, Id even go as far as giving it a d8 for HP, due to the loss of the two most useful Thief abilities. Hmm, I should get a copy of that. I dunno about a d8, though - is "pick pockets" really one of the most useful Thief abilities? It rarely came up in my games.
#4 Hugin Mar 02, 2005 17:25:49	3. Viable First Level Characters At first level (only) you automatically get max hit points. After that, you have to roll. I do the same thing as well, but for everyone/everything; PCs, NPCs, and monsters. Done this for a long time now. 4. Hit Points That Don't Suck When rolling hit points, reroll all 1's and 2's. In my games I use an "upper half" rule for rolling hit points after first level. For example, if rolling a d6, only a 4, 5, or 6 will count. Again, it's something that I've done for as long as I can remember, plus the players like it. 5. Rakes Are Not Inferior Legions of Thyatis had a revised Rake with a dodge ability to compensate it somewhat. If you dont give it that dodge ability, Id even go as far as giving it a d8 for HP, due to the loss of the two most useful Thief abilities. I wish I had Legions of Thyatis. I put the party through Arena of Thyatis last year and we loved it. I had the group fight a triceratops (sp?), go through a "maze" with the party divided into 3 groups of three characters that were chained together, among other battles. As for the Rake's hp, I think a d6 is fine, but I'm curious now how the revised version looked.