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OD&D Spell Duration - How long is a turn?

The word “turn” does seem to be used interchangeably throughout the OD&D rule books to mean different things at different times, i.e. a turn of movement in a dungeon, a turn of combat and even a turn of movement in the wilderness. This doesn’t pose much of a problem in most cases, but one example of when it does is in determining a spells duration. Many of the spells listed in Men & Magic provide a duration in turns that the effects of the spell are supposed to last, but there is no clear indication of whether each of these turns represents a 10 minute turn or so many rounds/turns of combat. OD&D Spell Duration - How Long is a Turn? To help unravel this problem I think it’s necessary to look at what Gary Gygax says about time in both OD&D, AD&D and CHAINMAIL so we have a basis for comparison as all three works are detailed under the same author and contain several of the same spells. I think Gary expresses it quite clearly in the AD&D Player’s Handbook. “In adve...
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Searching a Dungeon Room in a Solo D&D Game

Typically in old school Dungeons & Dragons games it takes a full turn (usually 10 minutes of game time) to search a 10' by 10' space. The player will tell the Dungeon Master which area they want to search and the Dungeon Master will describe (if anything) what has been found. This is straight forward enough, but who could this possibly work in a solo game of D&D in which everything is randomly generated? Searching a Dungeon Room in a Solo D&D Game The Judges Guild handled this problem quite well with their searching method described in the 1978 Ready Reference Sheets. This method handles the problem by allowing a roll on a table which may result in treasure, a trap, a secret passage, a wandering monster, a sound, a clue, a combination of any of these or nothing at all. The table may also result in what is called a "finding roll" which at the Dungeon Master's discretion can allow a roll on a sub table to see what mundane item is found. When rolling on t...
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Things to Spend Money on in an OD&D Campaign - Part 3

I've recently started experimenting with some simple rules in my OD&D solo campaign "The Castle of the Quest". I'm trying to create an interesting mechanic regarding management of excess treasure. The intention is to contribute towards keeping the motivation of characters high in terms of seeking out additional adventures and also attempt to create a more realistic economy that reflects the middle-ages. Things to Spend Money on in an OD&D Campaign - Part 3 I came up with the following rules for "Treasure Tallage" and "Squanderage" All characters must pay a tallage to the local ruler of the parties home base for any treasure acquired at a rate of 10-30% of the overall hoard. Once this has been paid, rangers, paladins and monks must donate all excess treasure from their share to a worthy cause, holding back no more than 250 encumbrance worth. Clerics must tithe 10% of treasure from their share.   After each adventure when tallage, donations a...
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UK OD&D Campaigns Discussed in White Dwarf #1

I came across another interesting D&D article while pilfering old copies of White Dwarf magazine. This article appeared in the very first issue of White Dwarf. So we are travelling back to the summer of 1977, just 3 years after D&D came out and already its popularity is rising in the UK. The article in question is titled "D&D Campaigns" and was written by Lewis Pulsipher. What I found interesting about it is that it illuminates the state of play at that time in the UK and the challenges of the ambiguity of the original rules. It's also interest to imagine what differences there were in the UK approach having most likely been introduced to the game at a time when all the supplements were available. UK OD&D Campaigns Discussed in White Dwarf #1 In summary the article introduces a three-part series on running Dungeons & Dragons campaigns, aimed at aspiring or novice referees (Dungeon Masters). It provides insights into campaign philosophy, mechanics, and ...
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Roger Moores'’ "Solo Dungeon Mapping" from White Dwarf #3

It's no secret to most avid solo roleplay (or "roll" play) enthusiasts that enjoy old school that random dungeon generation has been around since at least the spring of 1975 and can be attributed to the co-creator of D&D, Gary Gygax himself. If you're familiar with any of my content then you'll know that from time to time I mention Gary's method as it appeared in the TSR newsletter known as Strategic Review (the first issue to be exact). What is perhaps less known is another method introduced in the Autumn of 1977. This method of generating random dungeons on the fly was published in the third ever issue of UK's White Dwarf magazine. Famous these days for focusing solely on Warhammer products, but interestingly enough at its inception it was focused primarily on Dungeons & Dragons. Roger Moores'’ "Solo Dungeon Mapping" from White Dwarf #3 Roger Moores'’ "Solo Dungeon Mapping" from White Dwarf #3 (November 1977) presents ...
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Implied, Supposed & Suggested OD&D Pantheons

There are many examples of “gods, demi-gods and heroes” listen in the final OD&D supplement written by Rob Kuntz and James Ward, but throughout the previous OD&D books there are also various clues pointing to some implied or supposed deities, belief systems, and mythologies that might be expanded upon also. It’s evident that many of these “snippets” of information will have later been fleshed out in AD&D and the official material pertaining to the world of Greyhawk. However, it’s interesting to see what was mentioned prior to 1979 and think about how these various scraps of information might have fuelled the imaginations of the early adopters of D&D. Implied, Supposed & Suggested OD&D Pantheons It’s a given that D&D was heavily inspired by various works of pulp fantasy and science fiction. We are all familiar with Appendix N, but there was actually an earlier list in Dungeon Magazine #4: “Anderson, Poul (Three Hearts and Three Lions) Blackwood, Algernon Brac...
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Morale Ratings for an OD&D Post Melee Morale System

I've recently been experimenting with 1:20 scale combat in my own solo OD&D campaign. This experiment was prompted by a few lines of text in the 1973 OD&D draft which states that when normal-types are fighting fantastic types, "It is suggested that the 1:20 Combat Tables be used." but such an approach is not so straight forward in practice due to the Post Melee Morale system that should technically apply to any melee conducted in this manner. The Post Melee Morale system is used to test whether one side of the melee will move back, rout, retreat or surrender. The problem with the Post Melee Morale system in an OD&D context is that it relies on specific Morale Ratings for individual types of creatures, i.e. normal troops (light foot, heavy foot, armoured foot, cavalry and so on), fantasy creatures such as elves, dwarves, goblins and of course the stronger monsters. The Morale Ratings in CHAINMAIL do not cover all the monsters and super-normal (character types) ...
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