Character sheets? + a few questions

[smubee]

    So I don't have my OD&D set yet, it's in the mail on its way to my house, and it is the WOTC reprint (not sure how frowned upon that is among these parts), and I'm planning a campaign right now despite not having any of the rules in front of me. So what I've gathered from reading countless articles and reviews is that this is a very "Do it yourself!" kind of system, opposed to other systems. I'm not new to D&D by any means, but the more I read up on this version, the more it seems like my ideal edition.

• Does anyone have a simple character sheet, if not what should be on the sheet that I write up and give to my players?
  
• How do attack rolls work in OD&D?
  
• Positives/Negatives of using the "All weapons roll d6 Damage" rule?
  

[bestialwarlust]

Some short answers

How do attack rolls work in OD&D? -- they work the same d20 attack roll. The AC goes from 9 to 2.

Positives/Negatives of using the "All weapons roll d6 Damage" rule? I like it but my players have needed some adjusting. Most of us come from a B/X, 1e/2e background. I found it gives less focus on players looking at numbers and more picking a weapon that fits with a concept. I had to remind them the in D&D pre WoTc especially OD&D that combat is abstract and to treat it as such. Some still grumble a bit.

Here is some suggested downloads

Philtolomy's Musings

I've uploaded a Character Sheet

Attachments:

odd_cs3.pdf (27.51 KB)

[tetramorph]

Yes to what bestialwarlust said. And, no, don't worry, I think most folks on this board are pretty happy that WotC put out a reprint. We just want PDFs available again too.

Here is a fun character sheet, based upon an old TSR one, that austinjimm put together:

files.meetup.com/286932/ODandD-charactersheet.pdf

And if you you google search the site (put in google "site:" then the url of this board and then "character sheets") you will find a bunch of sheets other folks have offered.

Yes, it is "descending armor class." So 9 is "worst," 2 is "best."

One d6 keeps combat abstract. You pick a pole arm for its reach, a short sword because you want to squeeze through tight places and still have a weapon, etc.

[idrahil]

Hey smubee,

I just wanted to chime in and say that the WOTC reprints include Greyhawk which includes variable weapon damage (as well as effectiveness). So you will get a chance to study that and judge if you want to include it. I also second Philotomys musings...great reading

[kesher]

Amen for Brother Philotomy!

And yeah, the Links and Resources page has a character sheet thread (maybe pinned?) that has a ton of options.

...'course, in a pinch, you can always use an index card.

[Deleted]

The only proper character sheet for OD&D is a piece of paper torn from a spiral notebook, with the ragged edge still intact.

[coffee]

Jul 9, 2015 13:32:01 GMT -6 bestialwarlust said:

I've uploaded a Character Sheet

That's a nice one! If we still had exalts round here, I'd give you one for that.

[smubee]

Thank you guys for the help!

I have one more question that I haven't heard anyone really talk about in any of the reviews or writings on the game. In other versions of D&D, let's say your character is walking and then the floor caves out underneath you, you have to make a Dexterity check VS a difficulty (let's say 15 in this case) to see if you survive..

Does this still apply in OD&D?

[bestialwarlust]

Jul 10, 2015 8:09:04 GMT -6 smubee said:

Thank you guys for the help!

I have one more question that I haven't heard anyone really talk about in any of the reviews or writings on the game. In other versions of D&D, let's say your character is walking and then the floor caves out underneath you, you have to make a Dexterity check VS a difficulty (let's say 15 in this case) to see if you survive..

Does this still apply in OD&D?

That's the best thing with OD&D you can use that mechanic if you want. You could just make it a saving throw. In my games I tend to use a d6 for most resolution tasks as that is a precendent in the rules. Take for example this sentence on traps that seems to have been lost in later editions:

"Traps are usually sprung by a roll or a 1 or a 2 when any character passes over or by them. Pits will open in the same manner."

From Underworld and wilderness pg 9

You could rule that the floor only gives way on a 2 in 6 or if it does give way any character with a Dex of 9+ only has a 2 in 6 chance of falling in, you could have a character roll 3d6 under his score or 4d6. The flexibility is the strength of the original version. Find something you prefer as a DM and use that.

[tetramorph]

smubee, I want to tag along behind bestialwarlust and add my two cents:

I am glad he quoted U&WA p. 9. So I have the party hand me their marching order. When they come upon a trap, I start rolling a d6. First for the 10 foot pole. Then for each rank. When I roll a 1 or a 2, the trap is triggered and it affects whomever in the marching order is currently over it / nearest to it. So the 10' pole helps, but is not foolproof. There is only a ⅓ chance it is going to trigger a trap left undetected before they start walking over it. This encourages players to tell me, frequently, that they aren't just using a 10' pole, but also that they are looking for traps and how. I try to always have something that makes a trap visible or noticeable in some way, expect perhaps at very low dungeon levels. You know, a leaver, a different flagstone, a trip wire. Things they would miss unless they were looking for them. The best way to avoid a trap is to role-play well!

If a trap is triggered by a rank of PCs, I usually have them save against death / poison. I try not to make my traps "instant kills." I would do a d6 of dmg per 10', say, another dmg die for spikes, another for poison and, if poison, then they would need to save against that as well. Making the first save halves the damage they take. Save against poison nullifies the affect of the poison. If they fail they lose a d6 per some time unit until they can find a cure, etc.

Some folks like ability checks and really swear by them. Some folks really hate them and say, like skills and feats, that they get in the way of role play. I get that and I have experienced both good and bad uses of ability checks.

So an ability check is when you pick a certain number of d6 to roll against a given ability score. The goal is to match the number OR GO UNDER (this makes sense, because, of course, "high" ability scores are "good," so you want to "stay within" that range. If you roll over, the thing you are attempting is beyond your ability level. Does that make sense?). So, easy = 2d6, medium = 3d6, hard = 4d6.

Others have you roll a d20 against your ability score, again, matching or lower. This is because you cannot break an 18 on 3d6 and you always want some chance of failure. I get that. I like it. But when I use ability checks as a ref, I always use #d6 (usually I just keep it to 3d6) because I just really like bell curves!

To keep the use of ability checks from killing role play, I've developed a rule of thumb. I only use them when I, as the ref, feel like my decision would otherwise be arbitrary (arbitrarily bad for the character, or good, it doesn't matter, I just don't like being arbitrary). So, if they describe something so well that it would be obvious to me that this character could pull it off, then the character does. No roll. If they don't describe it very well, well then, really, I ask for more description. But even after the player has described in detail what his character is attempting I still sometimes feel like the action is chancy in some way and I want to "simulate" that there is "another world" that is "real" with which we are interacting. I will sometimes talk it out with the player. What do you think the chances are he could pull this off? I offer my own low-ball to the player's inevitable high ball and we wind up agreeing on a fair to middling kind of ratio. Usually the old 3d6 against a relevant ability.

Sometimes I skip all that and just say, "I think your character could pull this off on a 1 on a d6." "Oh, man, come on, I would say at least 50/50!" "Okay, 1-2 on a d6. Fair enough?" "Fair enough." "6, no dice. Cool?" "Yeah, okay."

And there you go. The dice never lie!

[smubee]

You guys are all so helpful.. Thank you!

[Red Baron]

[Falconer]

There’s a sticky thread at the top of the Links & Resources forum for Character Sheets. I do recommend the one I posted, there. Lots of wide open space for you to do what you will — draw pictures, take notes, whatever. But having just a basic structure serves two great purposes, IMO. First, it is way less work for you to coach new players through filling out a sheet. Second, you as referee may at any point say “give me that!” and grab a player’s sheet to see what’s written, and having a somewhat standard format will help you find the information you’re looking for. (When using blank sheets of paper, I have sometimes grabbed a player’s sheet and been like WTF?? Where is all the information??)

For how combat works, Gary Gygax wrote a “FAQ” for the very early The Strategic Review magazine. You can read it here. It gives a very good sense of how Gary ran the game.

[geoffrey]

Jul 9, 2015 23:26:57 GMT -6 @gronanofsimmerya said:

The only proper character sheet for OD&D is a piece of paper torn from a spiral notebook, with the ragged edge still intact.

That's how I feel. I don't mind making characters as long as I have a blank piece of paper. But give me a pre-printed character sheet, and suddenly making a character feels like filling out tax-forms.

[Finarvyn]

Jul 9, 2015 23:26:57 GMT -6 @gronanofsimmerya said:

The only proper character sheet for OD&D is a piece of paper torn from a spiral notebook, with the ragged edge still intact.

I was always a 3x5 notecard guy myself, but I've certainly had my share of spiral notebook characters.

[Finarvyn]

Welcome to the boards, smubee!

To address your initial post, I think that most folks here have no problem with the WotC reprints. In my case, I have my original set from the 1970's and later bought an expensive copy from e-bay that I could use at the table to keep my original ones nicer, so I had a hard time justifying spending the cost for a WotC reprint. However, everything I've heard about the reprint is that they were done first class and I hope to buy one someday.

Jul 10, 2015 8:09:04 GMT -6 smubee said:

I have one more question that I haven't heard anyone really talk about in any of the reviews or writings on the game. In other versions of D&D, let's say your character is walking and then the floor caves out underneath you, you have to make a Dexterity check VS a difficulty (let's say 15 in this case) to see if you survive..

Does this still apply in OD&D?

As others have noted, the strength of OD&D is that it forms a skeleton on which you can build your own campaign and supplement with your own rules. I happen to favor a loose "grab a die and roll it and I'll tell you what happens" approach, but pleanty of others here like a tighter mechanic such as the one you describe. Feel free to snag any rules you like from AD&D/2E/3E/4E/5E or Pathfinder or RuneQuest or wherever ... you sort of "build" your own game as you play OD&D.

Try to keep in mind that OD&D is a philosophy or an attitude a lot more than just a rules set. OD&D is usually about fewer rules and more freedom than later editions.

[smubee]

I've only had the chance to briefly read through Men & Magic, but I can already tell that it is more of a philosophy and more of a "Here is how we would do it, but you can make up however you want to do it."

I can't wait to finish reading the rest.

[smubee]

Another quick question :

Say the group acquires some hirelings.. do I as the DM roll up full character sheets for the hirelings (race/class, etc)? Do they have a certain amount of hit points?

[bestialwarlust]

Jul 23, 2015 12:27:33 GMT -6 smubee said:

Another quick question :

Say the group acquires some hirelings.. do I as the DM roll up full character sheets for the hirelings (race/class, etc)? Do they have a certain amount of hit points?

Depends are they torched bearers? caring for horses? etc... any non combat I wouldn't bother. On the other hand if they will participate in combat you just need AC and HP unless an ability is exceptionally high there's no need to track it beyond bonus experience for advancement. If you want them fleshed out a bit more then go ahead and roll them up.

[smubee]

Okay, that makes a lot of sense! I know that in the AD&D DMG its listed the different jobs of what hirelings can do, but is there something equivalent in OD&D, or did I somehow miss that list?

[bestialwarlust]

Jul 23, 2015 13:37:08 GMT -6 smubee said:

Okay, that makes a lot of sense! I know that in the AD&D DMG its listed the different jobs of what hirelings can do, but is there something equivalent in OD&D, or did I somehow miss that list?

No in the OD&D books there's no list you get some info in M&M vol 1 page 12 under Non player characters you have

Only the lowest level of character types can be hired. The player wishing to hire a non-player character “advertises” by posting notices at inns and taverns, frequents public places seeking the desired hireling, or sends messengers to what- ever place the desired character type would be found (elf-land, dwarf-land, etc)...........

In U&W page Vol 3 page 22 you have some more. Specifically:

Assassin: The role of this hireling is self-evident.....

You can use the DMG as a supplement, but generally I just make up what I need.

[smubee]

Awesome! Thanks for the help

[Red Baron]

Jul 23, 2015 13:37:08 GMT -6 smubee said:

Okay, that makes a lot of sense! I know that in the AD&D DMG its listed the different jobs of what hirelings can do, but is there something equivalent in OD&D, or did I somehow miss that list?

Henchmen should have character sheets similar to a player characters with an additional ability score - loyalty (or ego, as magic sword and henchman checks originated from the same rule).

Standard Hirelings can be stat'ed as monsters:

Torchbearer [HD 1; HTK 2; AC 9 unarmored; MV 12”; D 1d6 dagger]

Thug [HD 1; HTK 3; AC 9 unarmored; MV 12”; D 1d6 club]

Soldier [HD 1; HTK 4; AC 4 chainmail, helmet, shield; MV 9”; D 1d6 sword, mace, spear]

Archer [HD 1; HTK 4; AC 6 gambeson, helmet, pavaise; MV 12”; D 1d6 crossbow, axe, dagger]

[smubee]

Has anyone ever used the Combat Shield from the D&D Basic/Expert set as a DM Screen for OD&D?

I've just glanced at it to see if it would be compatible, and so far all of the Saving Throws are the exact same.

[Sean Michael Kelly]

Jul 31, 2015 23:51:42 GMT -6 smubee said:

Has anyone ever used the Combat Shield from the D&D Basic/Expert set as a DM Screen for OD&D?

I've just glanced at it to see if it would be compatible, and so far all of the Saving Throws are the exact same.

I usually just use my Reference Sheets from the whitebox.

[Finarvyn]

Jul 31, 2015 23:51:42 GMT -6 smubee said:

Has anyone ever used the Combat Shield from the D&D Basic/Expert set as a DM Screen for OD&D?

I've just glanced at it to see if it would be compatible, and so far all of the Saving Throws are the exact same.

There are some variations between one "flavor" of early D&D and another, but all of them can be intermixed without much problem. The key is that you want to decide for certain which rule from which edition is yours and stick with it. For example, combat charts may be slightly different and you probably don't want to bounce around from one to the next at random. At the same time, I'll mix monsters from one edition to the next in a given campaign (but not in a given encounter) so that sometimes they are stronger or weaker than at other times. In some later editions this may cause players stress, but in OD&D it seems to work well.

I'm not sure if I have the B/X Combat Shield so I'm not sure what's on it, but I'm guessing that it should be fine.

[peterlind]

Weapon Damage: When Greyhawk was out, most DMs and players moved to variable weapon damage. Actually, I do not remember anyone who didn't back then.

Ability Rolls: Most commonly, I saw ability rolls rolled on a 1d20 against the ability score. The DM might have mentally assigned a bonus or penalty based on the difficulty of the situation without telling the player, or announce to the player to make a roll at a certain penalty, such as make a Dex roll at -10, or whatever.

Combat Screen: I think the Combat Screen will have the level tables for the B/X classes . . . Before AD&D, the GM screen I saw most commonly was the Judge's Shield which was published by Judge's Guild:

www.acaeum.com/jg/Item0028.html

.

[smubee]

Just outta curiosity, and maybe I missed it, but are there no bonuses or penalties for having High or Low ability scores?

(Strictly using the original 3 Booklets, no greyhawk or blackmoor)

[coffee]

Aug 11, 2015 0:04:47 GMT -6 smubee said:

Just outta curiosity, and maybe I missed it, but are there no bonuses or penalties for having High or Low ability scores?

(Strictly using the original 3 Booklets, no greyhawk or blackmoor)

Bottom half of volume 1, page 11.

[Red Baron]

Prime Requisite experience adjustment, additional languages, Missile Fire adjustment, HD adjustment, Loyalty and Reaction tables