The Gaming Den

So, my latest PbP game finished, and while we had some good moments I think I stretched it out too long. I've been fiddling with some ideas for Return to the Crypts of Chaos, but I don't want to ruin into the same issue...but I'm kinda still jonesing to run something. So let me throw this idea out there for anyone interested.

System: AD&D 2nd edition; we start off with everything in the Player's Handbook, Monstrous Manual, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Encyclopedia Magica as fair game, players can use any published AD&D 2 material, but any book/source they use, I get to use too.

Current books in play:
Player's Handbook (Proficiencies are in effect)
Monstrous Manual
Dungeon Master's Guide
Encyclopedia Magica
Player's Option: Skills & Powers
Player's Option: Spells & Magic
The Complete Fighter's Handbook
The Complete Priest's Handbook
The Complete Book of Dwarves
The Complete Book of Elves
Monster Mythology

# of Players: 3-5 7

Level: 1st. Expect casualties. New characters brought in to replace dead ones will be awarded average XP for the group.

Concept: Quick, dirty dungeon romp. One small randomly-generated dungeon, with random monsters and random treasure. I'll add set dressing and play monsters and NPCs.

Requirements: Players and gamemaster are expected to post at least once every 24 hours. Please don't say you want in if you don't think you can accommodate that for 2-3 weeks. I'll try not to let the game run much longer than that.

So! Anyone game?

Average XP for new PCs: 1,075

Players:
Tim, N human ♂, Wizard 1 [Silent Wayfarer]
Atani of the Gladeguard, CG wood elf ♂, Fighter 1 (Myrmidon) [Dean]
Xaxus, LE human ♂, Cleric of Nerull 1 [Hicks]
Gilles Marzilear, NE Drow ♂, Thief 1/Priest 1(Prophet) of Blibdoolpoolp [Darth Rabbit]
Dorgan Metalborn, NG Dwarf ♂, Fighter 1 [Sirocco]
Flintbeard Stoneaxe, N Dwarf ♂, Fighter 1/Thief (Vermin Gnome Slayer) 1 [Ogrebattle]

Roll of the Fallen:
Guillermo, N Minotaur ♂, Fighter 1 (Swashbuckler) [Ogrebattle] (Death by owlbear)
Sir Spastis the Virtuous, LG human ♂, Paladin 1 [Sirrocco] (Death by owlbear)
Elizabeth "Betsy" Pemberton-Tambling, LG halfling ♀, Thief 1 [Sam] (Death by falling damage)
Lucas Earth-Worker, LG Half-Elf ♂, Fighter 1/Mage 1/Cleric 1 [Sam] (Death by Zombie Lord miasma.)

Sure, I'm in.

I don't think I'll be participating in this one, but AH is legitimately one of the best DM's I've ever had the pleasure of playing with.

Haven't done a proper PBP here before, I'd like to give it a go.

I'd be interested. With the release of 5E being a relatively uninteresting bomb I have been curious about how 2E would stack up to my adult eye. I haven't read an AD&D rulebook since puberty and I'd be intrigued to see how the game of my youth stands up in the modern day.

I have a couple questions though.
1: Are you set on first level? I'm curious about the builds and mechanics of the game. More levels would mean more things to delve into. Not a dealbreaker, just asking.
2: How do we generate characters? Through some dishonest method or the honest one that no one honestly used?

I'm looking forward to spectating this one. I've never seen 2E played and it'd be interesting to see how many of the legends are in fact true.

Oh man this brings back memories! I'm game.

Dean wrote: I have a couple questions though.
1: Are you set on first level? I'm curious about the builds and mechanics of the game. More levels would mean more things to delve into. Not a dealbreaker, just asking.

Yep.

2: How do we generate characters? Through some dishonest method or the honest one that no one honestly used?

Default method in 2e is roll 3d6 in order. If you hunt through the books and find a different method you want to use, you can invoke it.

What do we use to roll?

Is 4d6 best 3, arrange at will allowed?
Also, can we use a dice generator like this?

Silent Wayfarer wrote:What do we use to roll?

Dice. Or dice program.

Is 4d6 best 3, arrange at will allowed?

That's alternative dice-rolling method V in the PHB. If players want to do that, sure. Is everyone else cool with method V (roll 4d6, drop lowest, arrange at will?)

Also, can we use a dice generator like this?

Sure.

Our hero gets 9 10 17 11 8 11. Disregard the name, I had another characterin mind when rolling.

I will arrange it to Str 17 Dex 11 Con 11 Int 10 Wis 9 Cha 8.

Going with a fighter of some stripe. Half-orc, mebbe? Have to see how it shakes out.

I'll use SW's generator since I can link to the results.

15, 17, 16, 13, 14, 9

Wow, good rolls. Hmm. I was thinking about an archer build, but now I'm not so sure... Is anyone else set on a specific class?

Can you into paladin?

Alternately, I could go with a wizzard instead. Fast death = more rerolls

Hmm, I might have to join this one. Can I use crap from Complete Book of Humanoids? Also, are we using racial level limits?

@DR: AH said, whatever we use he gets to use too, so choose wisely...

@SW: Paladin. Normally I kinda dislike the holy-warrior type, but I'm willing to give it a shot. In that case, the stats would be:

CHA 17, STR 16, CON 15, WIS 14, DEX 13, INT 9, also known as Lawful Stupid (or Lawful Not-the-Sharpest-Knife-in-the-Drawer)

Actually, I think my 2e-fu is too weak for this game. So I might sit it out (although I will have a lot of fun watching even if I do)

Don't sweat it Darth, one of my fondest (let alone funniest) memories from my AD&D sessions *cough*teen years ago was of one of my characters who: got captured by pirates; was forced to act like one; got tattooed across the back against his will; and finally, after escaping, rolled a critical failure wielding a cursed vorpal sword and decapitated himself.

So, yeah, you don't need to be the all-knowing forest shaman of AD&D to have fun.

Darth Rabbitt wrote:Also, are we using racial level limits?

Yes. Also I don't see characters advancing far enough for this to become an issue.

For my own reference, 2e rules are available here.

I'll roll 3d6 in order with physical dice because it's traditional and I'm curious what will happen.

Str: 7
Dex: 10
Con: 11
Int: 11
Wis: 8
Cha: 9

Good times! Stats are too low to be a Dwarf, Fighter, or Cleric. I'm leaning towards either Elf Mage/Thief or Halfling Thief, especially with the other characters people have proposed. I'll go with a Halfling Thief because I don't feel like rolling for spells right now.

Unfortunately, that means I have to roll for blood purity. Which is an actual thing in 2e. Fuck this edition.

Anyway, little Betsy fails her roll to be a pure Stout, but succeeds the roll to be a mixed Stout/Tallfellow or Stout/Hairfoot.

Height and weight can be 32" and 60 lbs (short and stout), age early thirties.

For appearance, Betsy looks like this, minus the shadow snake:

So, Halfling effects:
-1 Str, +1 Dex
+3 to save on wands, staves, rods, spells and vs poisons (via 11 Con)
+1 to hit with thrown weapons and slings
surprise chance if separate from party (or all halfling/elf party)
30 ft infravision
75% chance to determine up/down grade of passage, 50% to determine direction
and thief skill bonuses, but I'll get to that.

Now on to the Thief class. This gives a backstab chance and knowledge of thieves’ cant. I'll sort out weapons and armor choices when I get to equipment, so all that's left is the thief skills. Here are the base values:

Pick Pockets 15%
Open Locks 10%
Find/Remove Traps 5%
Move Silently 10%
Hide in Shadows 5%
Detect Noise 15%
Climb Walls 60%
Read Languages 0%

Those are modified by being a Halfling (5/5/5/10/15/5/-15/-5), by armor (either 5/-/-/10/5/-/10/- for no armor, or -30/-10/-10/-20/-20/-10/-30/- for leather armor), and by Dexterity (-5/-/-5/-10/-/-/- for 11 Dex). Then I add 60 points total, with a maximum of 30 to any one skill. So, 30 to find/remove traps, and I suppose 30 to Climb Walls. That leaves the skills at:

no armor
Pick Pockets 20%
Open Locks 15%
Find/Remove Traps 35%
Move Silently 20%
Hide in Shadows 25%
Detect Noise 20%
Climb Walls 85%
Read Languages -

Padded/Leather armor
Pick Pockets -15%
Open Locks 5%
Find/Remove Traps 25%
Move Silently -10%
Hide in Shadows 0%
Detect Noise 10%
Climb Walls 45%
Read Languages -

Proficiencies: not sure if these are being used, or what version. I’ll leave this empty for now.

Kits: meh

Money and equipment:
2d6 x 10 gp gives 40 gp to spend. Woo. Thieves’ tools are 30 gp, and only necessary for lock picking, so forget those.

Clothes: see illustration, plus spares
Weapons: four daggers, a knife, three slings, a pouch of sling bullets and well-shaped stones. ~11 gp
Armor: Leather armor. 5 gp (AC 8)
Other equipment: Backpack, belt pouches, blanket, chalk, flint and steel, flasks of oil, hammer, pitons, small sacks, soap, waterskin, whetstone, dry rations (1 week), some bent wires and other improvised thieves’ tools. ~15 gp
Edit: and a 10' pole.

Remaining funds: none whatsoever.

Not sure if we're using encumbrance, but that's roughly a light load with armor or unencumbered without.

THAC0 is 20, but to-hit rolls get -1 for 6 Str and +1 with slings.

Saving throws (with halfling modifiers):
Paralyzation, Poison, or Death Magic 13 (+3 vs poison)
Rod, Staff, or Wand 14 (+3 vs magic)
Petrification or Polymorph 12
Breath Weapon 16
Spells 15 (+3 vs magic)

Hit Points is 1. Probably should have rolled that first, then spent less time on the character. Oh well, 2e gonna 2e.

edit: here's a condensed character sheet.

Elizabeth "Betsy" Pemberton-Tambling


Level 1 LG Halfling Rogue

Str: 6
Dex: 11
Con: 11
Int: 11
Wis: 8
Cha: 9

AC 8
HP 1

THAC0 21, or 20 with Slings and thrown weapons

Saving throws (with halfling modifiers):
Paralyzation, Poison, or Death Magic 13 (+3 vs poison)
Rod, Staff, or Wand 14 (+3 vs magic)
Petrification or Polymorph 12
Breath Weapon 16
Spells 15 (+3 vs magic)

Rogue skills:
no armor
Pick Pockets 20%
Open Locks 15%
Find/Remove Traps 35%
Move Silently 20%
Hide in Shadows 25%
Detect Noise 20%
Climb Walls 85%
Read Languages -

Padded/Leather armor
Pick Pockets -15%
Open Locks 5%
Find/Remove Traps 25%
Move Silently -10%
Hide in Shadows 0%
Detect Noise 10%
Climb Walls 45%
Read Languages -

Other abilities:
Backstab
Thieves' Cant
Halfling/Elf surprise chance
30 ft infravision
75% chance to determine up/down grade of passage, 50% to determine direction

NWPs: Ancient History, Appraising, Dancing, Etiquette.
Languages: Halfling, Common

equipment:
Clothes: see illustration, plus spares
Weapons: four daggers, a knife, three slings, a pouch of sling bullets and well-shaped stones.
Armor: Leather armor.
Other equipment: Backpack, belt pouches, blanket, chalk, flint and steel, flasks of oil, hammer, pitons, small sacks, soap, waterskin, whetstone, dry rations (1 week), some bent wires and other improvised thieves’ tools. 10' pole.

Edit: alignment disappeared somehow when I moved the character over from notepad. Neutral and Chaotic are incomprehensible in this edition, so it's either Lawful Good or Lawful Evil. Lawful Good seemed more interesting, so I went with that. It'll play into her whole "nobility and landed gentry are the natural upper classes" attitude.

I'll go look up how proficiencies work, since it seems we're using them after all.

Bonus edit: only 2 weapon profs means no short sword (which makes sense for the character). Just dagger and sling.

For NWPs, one in language to speak Halfling and Common, and the other four in Etiquette, Dancing, Appraising, and, of course, Ancient History

Would it be cheese of lightning-bolt attracting level to use the rules at the end of DMG chapter 3 to create a custom character class which cherry-picks the best abilities you want and advances ludicrously rapidly?

Fwib wrote:Would it be cheese of lightning-bolt attracting level to use the rules at the end of DMG chapter 3 to create a custom character class which cherry-picks the best abilities you want and advances ludicrously rapidly?

You mean like making a character class that requires negative XP to advance (but has the goodies of spellcasting and a minimal HD) thus allowing you to reach 100d4 or so caster levels with 0 xp?

I saw that cheese somewhere

Fwib wrote:Would it be cheese of lightning-bolt attracting level to use the rules at the end of DMG chapter 3 to create a custom character class which cherry-picks the best abilities you want and advances ludicrously rapidly?

You mean like making a character class that requires negative XP to advance (but has the goodies of spellcasting and a minimal HD) thus allowing you to reach 100d4 or so caster levels with 0 xp?

I saw that cheese somewhere

I never considered negative xp. Back in the old days, I just added in full cleric casting, and enough other stuff to balance out the negatives to a total of +1/4 for my theoretical before I got bored of it.

I figured that way you needed 7kxp to reach level 9 and 7.5k per level thereafter and called it good enough.

Silly player, those rules are for the dungeon master.

More seriously, I think there's cheese potential aplenty in the existing class/multiclass/kit options. If you absolutely have your heart set on a custom class, we can talk about it.

Sam: So, it's just Betsy, female halfling 1st-level thief?

Any other takers? Couple more slots available for brave souls.