Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from May, 2022

Spell Casting & Spell Complexity in OD&D - An Old School D&D Tutorial

One thing that the OD&D rulebooks does not specifically state with any clarity is exactly how spell casting works in combat. There is no mention of it in the turn sequence given in Chainmail and of course, no turn sequence is provided in any of the three OD&D books so it seems to be left to the referee to decide how best to handle spell casting. The only rules provided that hold any kind of restriction over or clue regarding how spell casting works in regards to the turn sequence is on page 32 of Chainmail, which states "In order to cast and maintain any spell, a Wizard must be both stationary and undisturbed by attack upon his person." As well as Page 11 of Men & Magic, which states "Dexterity applies to both manual speed and conjuration. It will indicate the character's missile ability and speed with actions such as firing first, getting off a spell, etc." This latter rule is quite vague. Spell Casting & Spell Complexity in OD&D - An Ol

Is OD&D Melee Range 30 Feet? - An Old School D&D Tutorial

I wanted to cover a topic of discussion, which recently took place within the comments of one of my YouTube videos. The video in question was episode 5 of my Original Dungeons & Dragons Campaign . I have discussed how melee combat works in OD&D several times across that video series and have had to make several corrections on the matter because OD&D combat is quite challenging to grasp when trying to reconcile rules written in Chainmail with the three original OD&D books: 'Men & Magic', 'Monsters & Treasure' and 'Underworld & Wilderness Adventures'. I originally surmised that melee range is at 30 feet (usually written as 30'). This is quite peculiar as proceeding editions of D&D states that melee range is at 5 feet, so is it correct? OD&D Melee Range - An Old School D&D Tutorial On the surface 30' seems an incredibly long reach for attacking with any melee weapon so would immediatly appear to be an error or t