D&D B1 In Search of the Unknown - NPCs/Pregens

The 1st set of pregens/NPCs for Basic D&D - what do they offer?
#rpg #oldschool #dnd #ttrpg
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[@hallacar]

I don't know if I every really paid much attention to the NPC/Pre-Gen characters in this module. That being said, the pyromaniac magic user in my current campaign is named Trebulus the Boy Magician. I think I see now the inspiration for his name.

[@davidleonard8547]

Love the advice: Tough! No truer word is said to the wise. It is in keeping with B/X and AD&D.

[@coachlarry6773]

My favorite pre-gen characters are from B2 The Keep on the Borderlands. Reason being when my boys were super young to kinda get the feel for the game us as a family played and I gave them all one of these characters. They named them but they didn’t have to roll up any stats. Later on they did and we played quite a bit but when they were 4-5 years old we used these.

[@coachlarry6773]

This is a great idea. Thanks for posting.

[@waynesworldofsci-tech]

My first module.

[@GeneM-ht4ne]

Maybe we need to bring some of these into the OSE game series..

[@iainmcdonald9764]

Interesting that the NPC magic users roll on spell tables A and B and can potentially get AD&D spells that don't appear in Moldvay Basic or BECMI D&D. Were spells like Dancing Lights, Enlargement, Ray of Enfeeblement or Pyrotechnics in the Holmes Basic Rules and they got cut out of Basic and BECMI? Or was the DM of 1977 expected to purchase the AD&D Players Handbook so they knew what those spells did?

[@biffstrong1079]

Basic D&D the thieves were restricted in not being able to use bows. We House ruled that away early on. Limited in armour, though they could wear metal armour just couldn't "thieve" with it on. Sort of thought they couldn't use the two handed weapons. But again that might have just been another home rule. Don't think Thieves could use shields, which again seemed ridiculous. Oh didn't know the percentile strength was used this early.

[@yeoldegeek71]

It was AD&D that didn't allow Thieves to use bows. In Basic D&D they could use any weapon. Percentile strength wasn't in Basic D&D, that was AD&D again.

[@biffstrong1079]

@@yeoldegeek71 Tough to Sort all the systems. We definitely started basic with An Elf and Dwarf class. We must have retained the use of Bows from what we originally played. But we still limited the Thieves weapons as that gave fighters a bit of a buff.

[@grandadmiralahab9085]

No combat penalties from low strength? Only if you don't use encumbrance rules. And you should use encumbrance rules, at least a VERY basic form of them. Make sure they know they can't walk more than an hour, or fight more than three rounds in plate mail with a four pound mace and five pound shield in either hand... and a strength of 6. In fact, with such a low strength score, they most likely lagged so far behind the rest of their company, they missed the battle entirely, which was probably fortunate for the character with a strength of 6 anyway. He can barely lift his four pound mace, let alone his shield. But hey, he's got his armor, am I right? Though I do not think there are exhaustion rules in basic, add them. Just remember: balance does not equal complexity. All it takes is a bit of common sense and the ability to think beyond one point. Otherwise Smaug's hoard only takes one trip to get it back to Laketown, and Laketown isn't big enough to store it all. Also, maybe re-role that 6 strength, or allow scores to be swapped with an appropriate number. No one trains a soldier that can't carry their kit. EVER. And no one wants a member of their company that can't carry their own share. It just wouldn't happen. EVER. But in the same breath, I will never allow a character to have a strength equal to an ogre without magic being involved. In my game, physics can only be defeated by magic, and only for a short time.

[@yeoldegeek71]

This was written for the 1977 Basic edition (Holmes Basic) - this version of D&D has no strength modifiers to encumbrance.

[@grandadmiralahab9085]

Yes, but it did have weight you can carry and strength scores. The two are directly relatable without the designers having to specify that they are. I did it as a kid with the basic set. Just simple stuff like bellow average strength just can't lift their own weight above their knees, and there are VERY few people through out history that can lift their own weight above their heads (and fewer that can hold it there for any length of time). Carried weight breaks down into similar ratios to weight of the person, which is directly related to strength in most cases. Common sense from there. 1000gp = 100 pounds. The math was easy if you control the numbers, and nothing needs to be that exact anyway. What's 100gp over the limit just to be a nice guy? No one wants the penalties anyway so they just take a load they can carry in the end. Once the weight they can comfortably carry (over their armor, gear and stuff) is figured out, it's all easy from there and everybody is kind of happy.

[@yeoldegeek71]

I like the players to take ownership of a character's strengths and weaknesses and bring them to the game. One of the clerics in our saturday OSE game has 4 str, 4 int, 7 dex, and the player portrays him as a dim, bumbling buffoon, but well meaning. He doesn't even attempts feats of strength, and reading? hahahaha. You are right, the game does not need specific mechanics for this - just player and DM buy it to make it feel authentic.