Post by Falconer on Feb 8, 2008 1:21:15 GMT -6
I ran OD&D (3 Volumes only) for some friends yesterday. It was their first time ever with an RPG. They weren’t sure they would enjoy it, but they had fun. I am so glad I chose OD&D, for several reasons.
First was the simplicity of setting up the character sheet. 3d6 are rolled for 7 times (six abilities and gold), and 1d6[+1] for HP. Race/class is selected, and the character is named. We had no Magic-Users other than an Elf who elected to adventure as a Fighter, so there was no allocation of spells (though if there were it would be no biggie); there was a Cleric (“Ranger”) but of course as an Acolyte (“Runner”) he would have no spells. They will never have to write down their saving throws; they roll the die and I tell them whether they passed. I like to do a little RP at the town gates and the tavern, and not have them shop for equipment until the next morning on their way out to the dungeon. They will never have to record AC as a number (they just tell me “Chainmail and Shield” or whatever); I will tell them whether they get hit. Certainly there is no such thing as THACØ; they roll the die and I tell them whether they hit.
It was also neat that the only dice they ever needed to use were the d20 and the d6 (lots of these). Higher rolls were always better. It was also neat that, aside from the equipment list, none of the players ever had any need to reference the rulebooks. It might not hurt to print that page off separately. Spells would be the other thing—although, even there, it might be best if they got all their information through me and copied it onto their sheets. The simple descriptions in OD&D make that possible.
The next thing that really struck me was when one of them was flipping through M&M and got to the page listing monsters by alignment. He recognized them—almost all are from Tolkien or from Greek Mythology. As I explained to him, you can play D&D in Middle-earth or in Ancient Greece, or anything else you can imagine, but those are the examples that they gave us. Such a stark illustration of the literary roots of the game made it very appealing and much less foreign to him right off the bat, compared to if, say, the list were full of unfamiliar names. I don’t know how to articulate it, but somehow this was the very most important thing.
These players, being intelligent folks, were able to adventure with a very clever and tactical approach right from the very beginning. Things like marching formation, looking back, looking up, use of light, looking for secret doors and traps, listening at and opening doors with care and with a plan, binding and interrogating captives, retreating... all these things were a delight to referee. The players were immersed in the adventure, not worrying about how to apply game mechanics. Truly, as far as they were concerned, there were none!
Speaking of which, it probably helps that I now have a solid grounding in both AD&D and Holmes, but in terms of finding things in the OD&D books, I didn’t have any trouble at all. They seemed complete and well-organized. Granted, it’s a 1st-level adventure with low magic, so there weren’t any complicated situations. And when I can’t find a rule, it just seems so easy and natural to make something up. But I *could* find pretty much everything.
Anyway, just some musings. Regards.
First was the simplicity of setting up the character sheet. 3d6 are rolled for 7 times (six abilities and gold), and 1d6[+1] for HP. Race/class is selected, and the character is named. We had no Magic-Users other than an Elf who elected to adventure as a Fighter, so there was no allocation of spells (though if there were it would be no biggie); there was a Cleric (“Ranger”) but of course as an Acolyte (“Runner”) he would have no spells. They will never have to write down their saving throws; they roll the die and I tell them whether they passed. I like to do a little RP at the town gates and the tavern, and not have them shop for equipment until the next morning on their way out to the dungeon. They will never have to record AC as a number (they just tell me “Chainmail and Shield” or whatever); I will tell them whether they get hit. Certainly there is no such thing as THACØ; they roll the die and I tell them whether they hit.
It was also neat that the only dice they ever needed to use were the d20 and the d6 (lots of these). Higher rolls were always better. It was also neat that, aside from the equipment list, none of the players ever had any need to reference the rulebooks. It might not hurt to print that page off separately. Spells would be the other thing—although, even there, it might be best if they got all their information through me and copied it onto their sheets. The simple descriptions in OD&D make that possible.
The next thing that really struck me was when one of them was flipping through M&M and got to the page listing monsters by alignment. He recognized them—almost all are from Tolkien or from Greek Mythology. As I explained to him, you can play D&D in Middle-earth or in Ancient Greece, or anything else you can imagine, but those are the examples that they gave us. Such a stark illustration of the literary roots of the game made it very appealing and much less foreign to him right off the bat, compared to if, say, the list were full of unfamiliar names. I don’t know how to articulate it, but somehow this was the very most important thing.
These players, being intelligent folks, were able to adventure with a very clever and tactical approach right from the very beginning. Things like marching formation, looking back, looking up, use of light, looking for secret doors and traps, listening at and opening doors with care and with a plan, binding and interrogating captives, retreating... all these things were a delight to referee. The players were immersed in the adventure, not worrying about how to apply game mechanics. Truly, as far as they were concerned, there were none!
Speaking of which, it probably helps that I now have a solid grounding in both AD&D and Holmes, but in terms of finding things in the OD&D books, I didn’t have any trouble at all. They seemed complete and well-organized. Granted, it’s a 1st-level adventure with low magic, so there weren’t any complicated situations. And when I can’t find a rule, it just seems so easy and natural to make something up. But I *could* find pretty much everything.
Anyway, just some musings. Regards.
