tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post5599093530251546194..comments2024-03-28T00:41:13.514-07:00Comments on B/X BLACKRAZOR: Boots & Blood HawksJBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-44455184006653288092021-02-15T09:03:46.515-08:002021-02-15T09:03:46.515-08:00The best AD&D podcast these days is "Grog...The best AD&D podcast these days is "Grogtalk" (check YouTube)...they really plumb the depths of 1E, and they've had some great interviews. The Blue Bard (thebluebard.com) is an excellent source for 1E thoughts, especially on how to run a game...I've found links from the various commentators/forum readers through that site. I link to a lot of folks via my blog, and while there aren't many 1E aficionados in the list, many of THEM have links to 1E enthusiasts (though the specific sites don't come to mind at the moment...sorry).JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-87541232962188553072021-02-10T03:04:50.184-08:002021-02-10T03:04:50.184-08:00You mentioned you've been reading done other b...You mentioned you've been reading done other blogs... Any chance of some links?<br />I've just discovered yours and I have to praise you on the interesting and thought provoking content. I too am just running an AD&D game with my son as the only player (one hopes his friends will be interested when the pandemic is over) he's had two NPCs die but his two main characters have survived this far. Keep it up. Andromhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11676842057897482010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-44949632488393230382020-12-17T16:09:06.891-08:002020-12-17T16:09:06.891-08:00I was always high and hard, too. Would probably ha...I was always high and hard, too. Would probably have preferred hobnail, though.<br />; )JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-39300594215573870322020-12-17T08:56:07.329-08:002020-12-17T08:56:07.329-08:00Unfortunately I have not been able to convince any...Unfortunately I have not been able to convince anyone to play a long campaign of B/X so I can't comment on the long game.<br /><br />But I agree at low level PC are fragile. Elves also lag behind in level with the big XP hurdle. So may be on lower levels of the dungeon while still 1st level.<br /><br />I was curious so I looked it up. 1st level random monster chart in Basic has three posion save or die creatures out of 20. 1E DMG none. <br /><br />As for boots I always went for high and hard. Even without a game mechanic I figured I might need to argue my way out of damage from posion thorns or something. Same reason I always wore gloves. Heck I would have bought saftey glasses if they were on the equipment list. sevenbastardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11961009160456478009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-5173043475900618372020-12-17T06:58:57.167-08:002020-12-17T06:58:57.167-08:00I've been using Alexis Smolensk's system o...I've been using Alexis Smolensk's system of awarding combat x.p. (based on damage inflicted and damage taken) rather than the standard tables. It has the advantage of awarding x.p. even when fights aren't finished (i.e. when one group runs away) and doesn't encourage battles to the death. Works exceptionally well and isn't that tough to get used to in practice.JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-33446946350769359602020-12-17T04:26:44.091-08:002020-12-17T04:26:44.091-08:00AD&D monster-fighting XP is bigger but the ter...AD&D monster-fighting XP is bigger but the terms are more generous in B-X. AD&D only awards XP for kills, by the book, but in B-X you get XP for any monster defeated by wits or fighting.<br /><br />In a recent game, our players encountered a 3rd level MU and 6 gnolls. They wound up killing two of the gnolls early on with what was essentially a wand of burning hands and the remainder failed a morale check and fled. In a later encounter a larger group of gnolls was convinced to depart without a fight after a convincing show of force by the party.<br /><br />It was a Sine Nomine game so I was on my own for XP rewards and decided to run the numbers in both AD&D and BX for guidance. Despite the numbers being higher for each individual foe in AD&D, the gnolls AD&D didn't grant XP for pushed the BX total higher in the end.frijoles juniorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01423720423119688947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-81370801315669841102020-12-16T13:13:58.467-08:002020-12-16T13:13:58.467-08:00Don't forget XP for magical items.Don't forget XP for magical items.JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-2000398747193180082020-12-16T12:55:30.418-08:002020-12-16T12:55:30.418-08:00I'm glad someone else has articulated what I&#...I'm glad someone else has articulated what I've thought for a long time - that AD&D is easier than BX if you're a fighter, thief or cleric. Another feature is that the XP gained from fighting in AD&D is greater for each monster slain than it is in BX.<br /><br />The only area BTB that BX is more forgiving than AD&D is in the cost of plate armour.Jacob72https://www.blogger.com/profile/17268402292420473229noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-22899869861206950382020-12-16T10:11:48.602-08:002020-12-16T10:11:48.602-08:00Interesting. But I'm not really comparing AD&a...Interesting. But I'm not really comparing AD&D to 5E (or even 2E)...I'm comparing it to B/X and OD&D. <br /><br />Especially in B/X it is VERY easy to die at 1st level, even from a lowly spear attack. A zombie (with its 1d8 damage) can be a real killer on a solid hit despite being sloooow. Spell casters and poisonous creatures aren't necessary to garner a TPK in "basic" D&D!<br /><br />In my past (B/X) games, elves had the lowest life expectancy of any class. Why? Because they only roll 1d6 for hit points, they're expected to be active (i.e. fighting in melee, using attack spells), and most all monsters hate them. But my boy's elf is friggin' juggernaut...which I'll discuss in my next post.<br />; )JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-5594372804585519332020-12-16T09:29:45.205-08:002020-12-16T09:29:45.205-08:00If you are not using a lot of save or die mosters ...If you are not using a lot of save or die mosters and not a lot of enemy spell casters with high damage spells 1e is fairly survivable if charachters know when to flee. <br /><br />I ran a 1e campaign for 50 some sessions and some henchmen died, but the main full level PC were in danger but all survived. In part because the campaign was ran in a way to be less brutal and more RP. <br /><br />In a 2e campaign of 50 some sessions we had a lot more death, but I played my enemies smarter and meaner (Hold persons then throat slits) and the campaign was a sandbox.<br /><br />But my 5e campaign has been probably the most deadly. 5e has swingy damage a ill timed critical from the right monster can drop even a high level PC. Again a sandbox campaign.<br /><br />I guess in conclusion DM style in the last three campaigns I ran determined more about deaths than system.<br /><br />sevenbastardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11961009160456478009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-20799699782648896732020-12-16T07:08:01.242-08:002020-12-16T07:08:01.242-08:00Gygax also tried his hand at being a cobbler, no? ...Gygax also tried his hand at being a cobbler, no? He might have had some ideas about the hows and whys of footwear.JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-78107421046880738572020-12-16T07:06:37.912-08:002020-12-16T07:06:37.912-08:00Ah, healing! I forgot to mention that (probably be...Ah, healing! I forgot to mention that (probably because, for a long time) the party did not include a cleric of any stripe.<br /><br />The potential to have a first level cleric with THREE "cure light wounds" spells is an amazing boost to survivability, considering that other early editions (OD&D, Holmes, B/X, BECMI) provide absolutely NOTHING.<br /><br />But "excessive early deaths?" I suppose excessive is in the eye of the beholder. Both my kids started at first level and have made it to 5th without a swingy die roll killing them. But maybe the low-level adventure modules I've been using are "easy" (not sure I'd qualify them as such)...they're not facing a lot of creatures with death dealing special effects. Maybe that will change as we start hitting intermediate level stuff, we'll see. They're saving throws are still pretty bad.JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-28935701342080150372020-12-16T05:22:58.651-08:002020-12-16T05:22:58.651-08:00Entirely disagree on the lethality issue. I alter...Entirely disagree on the lethality issue. I alternated between B/X and AD&D for well over a decade and they were both comparable in terms of (high) PC mortality. A few swingy die rolls and a low level party was dead, dead, dead in either, and even at higher levels the plethora of save or die effects kept you vulnerable. AD&D might have had a very slight edge in terms of available healing at the lower levels simply because of differences in class rules, but it certainly wasn't safer - especially without adding rules like starting at max HP.<br /><br />d20 formalized a lot of the optional/house rules people had been using to prevent excessive early deaths, but you were still pretty fragile at low levels there. 4E was a completely different animal, with extremely durable PCs at all levels, but some of that was due to errors in monster design math that didn't get remedied until late in teh edition's lifecycle - monsters from Essentials and Nentir Vale were vastly more dangerous than earlier ones, for ex, and players had to be a lot smarter about how they played. 5th is somewhere between d20 and 4E in terms of deadliness IME, shading toward the "forgiving" end of things by a bit.<br /><br />Me, I've rediscovered the joys of The Fantasy Trip and have largely moved on from modern D&D. OSR stuff is still interesting, but mostly as an idea mine for TFT hacks.Dick McGeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14521293874696659063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-71252616414582293572020-12-16T00:40:52.863-08:002020-12-16T00:40:52.863-08:00I think subconsciously, I've always considered...I think subconsciously, I've always considered AD&D more "survivable" than B/X, but I never analyzed the math. As far as AD&D equipment lists and "boots" go, I'm not so sure there was a thought process there. Any runner or hiker knows, footwear is essential, and that may be the crux of it. What Gygax probably couldn't see is how the expansion possibilities of these options would lead to the "avatar" conundrum you identify.<br />I gravitated more to the useful new gear, especially those that aided thieves (caltrops, marbles, oilpaper/diamond, etc). Gear without a purpose is "character building", or raw accounting.Sir Robilarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00007504465124076115noreply@blogger.com