Confessions of a 1st edition AD&D house ruler

I started D&D in the late 70’s, and got into AD&D 1st ed. pretty much when it came out. I never used all the rules as-is even from the beginning, but starting sometime in the late 80’s I began leaving out huge sections, and changing rules on lots of things big and small. It has been so long and in my head for so long (few of my house rules are on paper), I forget a lot of reasons why I changed things.

I stopped being a student of what was in rulesbooks by the end of the 80’s. I DM’d mostly in a bubble as an adult. I didn’t go to cons or hang out at game stores (as a kid though I pretty much grew up at Aero Hobbies in Santa Monica). Most of my players who came along or I got into my campaigns starting in the 90’s had little to no D&D experience, so I was pretty much unchallenged on any changes I made.

After several years off I started a new group last year, and most players where seasoned D&D vets. Needless to say, I had some ‘splainen to do, Lucy. Some changes caused delight, some caused head scratching and “why’s.”

OK, I say this because after getting involved in the online community a bit, I have a desire to put a lot of stuff I changed or left out back on the active shelf. So here is a partial list of items I changed/added to my taste over the decades, and some are things I may change back to the rules. Having said that, it turns out many of these are very common house rule items.

Note: Keep in mind that I have very little experience with editions after 1st ed. (as DM or player), so any similarities here to stuff in those editions is probably an accident, or some kind of osmosis. Lately I have described my 1st ed. Games as “AD&D 1st ed. Light” and “OD&D with some AD&D tossed into the mix.”

*Hit points: you get max at 1st level. I think I have done that since around 1982.

*Weapon length/speed adjustments: Don’t use them. I just use common sense for things, like a dude using a polearm or two-handed sword in a narrow tunnel gets penalties. And of course, if a guy with a spear and a guy with a dagger are running at each other, the spear will probably get initiative.

*All things have set movement rate I give out for hex battle mat use. Most humans have 12, dwarves 10, hobbits 8, etc. On your turn you can move a full amount (in hexes or squares), or half and do something (attack, cast spell, etc.). Characters act in order of DEX.

*Combat rounds are 6 seconds, and turns are 1 minute or 10 minutes (depending on what we are talking about)

*Don’t use the extra attack rules, have my own. A fighter would get an extra attack when he hits 5th level; a cleric at 6th, a thief at 7th, etc. and yet another at a higher level (fighter at 8th, etc.).

*All spellcasters get a “spell in mind,” a permanent spell they do not need to study or pray for, and don’t usually need components for . Usually rolled randomly off first level spell list, but sometimes let player choose one from three random rolls (this will be in their head for life, after all). When used it comes back after rest.

*Don’t use psionics (for players, anyway)

*Any race can be any class (pretty much), and anybody can multiclass. I remember in the mid-80’s letting a guy with a half-orc be a fighter/cleric/magic-user/thief (although I doubt I would go so far now). I have a habit of letting any player get the character they envision (which maybe indicates that I should have gotten all Arduin before the 80’s were up).

*I usually allow some skills, and they depend on the characters background. Nothing hard and fast, but a farmer will have farming skills, son of a blacksmith some metal working knowledge, etc. This is one thing that has a lot of room for abuse. For example, a recent MU character who went to a wizard school wanted all these mythology and magical lore skills that you would probably assume an MU would know about anyway. It just seems that some players feel their characters are more fleshed out if they have some background skills. Oh, I usually have skill rolls made based on a stat (intelligence or wisdom on a D20).

*Training to go up a level: don’t make them do it. At least not pay to practice. I usually only have PC’s pay for training when they get another weapon proficiency or something like that. Often not even then.

*I am often arbitrary and lazy when it comes to giving experience. Sometimes I keep track of monsters and treasure; sometimes I put together a number based on how much they need to go up. Often I give as much or more as monster xp for role-playing and such. My players have aren’t really seasoned DM’s, so they don’t know the difference. My slacker attitude about xp is perhaps my greatest failing as a proper DM (IMO).