How I would run AD&D 1E for the Modern Player - Ep 1

[@magnum31415]

Thanks for this. As a DM looking to run AD&D for a group that has never played, this series is going to be really helpful.

[@steambub]

I think making weapon speed an Initiative modifier is the most elegant way to integrate that to the game.

[@arielcarmona6660]

great idea!

[@Darkwullfster]

If I could only have one dnd book from any system, It would definitely be the Rules Cyclopedia, so great to have all you need to run a game in a single book.

[@arielcarmona6660]

except Rules Cyclopedia is a different system than AD&D 1e, it's the basic expert (BECMI) system which ran concurrently with AD&D. Separate rules set

[@DM_Bluddworth]

Correct, totally different system, and it just shares the shelf.

[@TheAzPackrat]

Rock on Brother.....Semper Fi from a Marine veteran who has been playing since 1979.....

[@davidcardoso3525]

I was running a 5e campaign at a local game store. I asked the players if they wished to experience 1st ed. AD&D. Over the course of a couple of years, meeting each weekend, we played through The Temple of Elemental Evil, The Slavers, and the Giant series, as well as the Desert of Desolation series. We used all books, including Wilderness & Dungeoneer's Survival Guide. I ran the game probably 95% RAW. THAC0 was a concern of mine going in, so I took from ToEE video game & ran a non-lethal, no stress combat so I could feed the combat rules to the players. Seven of eight players picked THAC0 up easily. I found the hardest concept to get across was Vancian spell-casting. When the campaign finally ground to a halt, one of the 5e players stated 1st ed. was his favorite edition. Good times. Also, as an aside, I bought a couple of extra play copies of the PHB, an extra UA, and an extra copy of the DMG for the group. Golden moments - the first death from a Save or Die Poison and the first Level Drain inflicted by an undead.

[@georgelaiacona111]

Excellent. I run AD&D 1e strictly with the core 3 books. I'm not even a fan of Monster Manual II or Fiend Folio. No expansions, only the core 3. Keeps the complexity to a minimum. Good video. Thanks for this.

[@theNwDm]

Great great video. Thanks for the tips. Im switching to OSR this year and my table and I are finding out that much of the 'distasteful' things about prior editions are essentially fabrications. Looking forward to more of these!

[@DM_Bluddworth]

@@theNwDm tonight episode 2 will be recorded and uploaded. I’ll be going over how I do character generation, with a few homebrews that I believe modern players will find appealing without sacrificing old school principles.

[@opaqued2039]

Great video and idea for a series! I'm running a D&D 5e game for my son and his friends (teenagers), and they wanted to switch over to Castles and Crusades (once the current campaign is done). Even though C&C is not quite the same as AD&D, this video series is timely for me. I think there are a lot of lessons I can take from this series.

[@RedDiceDiaries]

Great vid, looking forward to seeing the rest of the series 👍

[@ISpiers]

16:48 Well stated. I started playing AD&D in 1980. IMO, most “modern players” really don’t know what they’re missing.

[@ScottBaker_]

Happy New Year. Thank you for the video.

[@bopaintsminis]

This video hits hard on the nostalgia front. If I could get all of my old books back I might give it a shot. Thanks for the stroll down memory lane.

[@manofaction1807]

That original DM's guide is enforced with the AD&D DM's guide. You need all 5 books to make it happen. The A D&D monster manual has additional material in it.

[@Emanemoston]

Thanks for the video sir.

[@OffGridGamer2077]

Happy New Year DM Bluddworth. 1E is my favourite edition.

[@bossbullyboy195]

We NEED this series today more than we know....thank God for your work sir!

[@DM_Bluddworth]

Thank you. I’ll be showing off the character I created tomorrow and begin talking about accessing information off the character sheet. Once a new player learns to access the character sheet, then I’ll focus on how to go beyond the character sheet.

[@praetorh]

This is a great idea for a video series (for me at least :-) ) I am about to start an OSRIC campaign, with half my players coming from 5E. It will be really educational to see how you introduce players to the Old School concepts. We play via FoundryVTT and I have decided to make a "training module", sort of like what you get in video games. So we are starting at L0 in the Greyhawk Adventurers Academy. I have jotted won a few things I think needs emphases and have worked these into the module. After that it is of to Illmire. (we have already gone through a couple of DCC funnels, that worked really well to divorce them from the idea of PC back story and I have noticed there is no more running into combat at every turn. The other DM in our group is currently running us though Ravenloft using Shadow Dark. But SD still feels to close to 5E for my liking. I settled on OSRIC over OSE and C&C because the FoundryVTT module is leaps and bounds ahead.

[@tabletopgamingwithwolfphototec]

Cool. Thank you for doing this.

[@FrostSpike]

06:35 You absolutely needed the DMG 1e to play the game. It had all the rules of the game in it - even all of the combat tables and matrices. The PHB let you roll up characters and had the spells but it just sort of said, "These are the sorts of things that you can do in the game, the DM will have the rules for them." I'm paraphrasing but that's the gist of it. Games Workshop actually published the AD&D 1e DMG combat tables in White Dwarf #13 (June/July 1979) to keep people's interest up ahead of the release a few months later. The AD&D 1e Monster Manual was sort of usable with Basic D&D that existed at the time. It just needed a few tweaks so it made sense to release that first, and then let people "grow into" AD&D as it was released piecemeal.

[@DM_Bluddworth]

@@FrostSpike initially we used the rules from Holmes edition to run it. As another commenter stated, AD&D was essentially an expansion / supplement to D&D. As for the combat matrix, that was used from the DM Screen which absolutely was required to run the game. Which reminds me, I need to include that in my next video as well.

[@FrostSpike]

@@DM_Bluddworth Yes, we were players of the Holmes "Blue Book" edition too and progressed into AD&D 1e from there.

[@briansmaller7443]

I never thought weapon speed was a problem - pretty much only ever used them when initiative was tied.

[@DM_Bluddworth]

@@briansmaller7443 that makes sense.

[@elliotvernon7971]

Along with tied initiative weapon speed is also important for determining whether a spell caster gets to cast or lose a spell when a weapon user enters into melee with him or her.

[@DM_Bluddworth]

@@elliotvernon7971 when I have a tie in initiative I use DEX Mod as a tie breaker. If it has to do with spell casting, then I’d use INT or WIS modifiers to break tie. But, I’ll get into more detail with future videos on actual game play I do at my table.

[@sebbonxxsebbon6824]

@@DM_Bluddworth When there is no dex modifier on either side? Which happens a LOT in 1e.

[@DM_Bluddworth]

@ then as the DM I would make a ruling, unless the players decided among themselves who will go first. I often use either side initiative or situational initiative, making ties moot. If the party and an NPC side tie, the party goes first unless the situation makes more sense for the NPCs to go first.

[@jasonjacobson1157]

I'm a simple man. I see AD&D content & I hit "like."

[@DM_Bluddworth]

@@jasonjacobson1157 you have to be fairly complex and intelligent to play or run AD&D 1E, in my opinion. My group of friends from grades 6 (when we started playing) through grade 12 plus 2 years of college were some of the most academically intelligent students in our school. Our DM skipped two grades, and even I started college while still finishing High School (not AP classes, but actually attended college after school).

[@jasonjacobson1157]

@@DM_Bluddworth I share that experience. I like to associate with smart people. In particular, people who are smarter than me pull me up and inspire me in many ways. D&D was a hobby for smart people in the 70s, 80s, & 90s. It still is (WotC-developed RPGs are not D&D). There are many dimwits in the hobby today, but they can be avoided.

[@briansmaller7443]

I am thinking of running a new 1e game this year for 1e newbies. Probably wont use Greyhawk but my old setting from the early 80s.

[@DM_Bluddworth]

@@briansmaller7443 nice, good luck with that. I’ll be doing the next video fairly quickly, going over character generation that I use for running AD&D 1E.

[@FrostSpike]

I'd agree with most of your comments, apart from the "Only setting to use with AD&D 1e is Greyhawk" part. Greyhawk is a great setting and is obviously where most/many of the AD&D 1e modules are located, so it makes it easy to accomodate them, but I think that the main thing that's useful about it is that it shows you the sort of level of detail you need for such a world. Having a setting that many players have played in is good when groups forms and you don't have to explain it to them! However, back in those days, without the www to easily share games and play-styles, almost every person's D&D game was different in terms of play-style, houserules and setting elaborations even in a common world so certain assumptions didn't necessarily stand.

[@DM_Bluddworth]

If you use a world modern players are used to, they are very likely to ask to bring in creatures, species, and lore from those worlds. Then you’re not running AD&D 1E but something else. Example: Player “I want to play a Tiefling Bard”. DM “Sorry, there are no Tieflings in this setting”. DM: “Also, you cannot start out as a Bard. You have to level through a minimum of Fighter 5 first, then Thief 5, before you can become a Bard 1.” (Going off memory, not looking at it at this moment.)

[@FrostSpike]

@@DM_Bluddworth That's why I always create a primer for my campaigns. Amongst other things (like specific houserules) it says what races and classes will be permitted and under what conditions or constraints. If people don't like the primer contents, they don't have to play in the game - so those sorts of conversations don't arise. You don't have to pick a "known world" - I'm guessing you're thinking the Realms or Eberron? They are real "kitchen-sink" settings with anything and everything. As you're aware, you can always homebrew one to better suit the group's tastes. A couple of the best campaigns I ran with 1e rules (but later going into 2e in about 1993 - though still running with a 1e flavour) were: 1/ One based in the "Lands of Legend" *heavily* inspired by the Dragon Warriors setting of that name (Dave Morris, Corgi Books, 1985). It was a "Human PCs Only" campaign - demi-human races did exist but only as NPCs. They were only *very* rarely found in human societies. That was a "mature" fairly low-magic game and ran monthly, with *long* sessions, for 13 years (1986-1999). It would probably be called "grimdark" these days - and we did actually seriously consider switching over to WHFRP 1st Edition when it was published not long after we started up. 2/ Another more gonzo high-magic setting based on the world of "Titan" *heavily* inspired by the Fighting Fantasy setting of that name (Steve Jackson et al, Puffin 1986). That started off in 1988 for younger players (who were fans of the FF books) but most of them stuck with it, playing more or less weekly, in 2-3 hour sessions, for 8 years (1988-1996) and it evolved into something much more serious over that time as they aged into the campaign. In that game we just removed all the level caps and ability constraints so the kids could play what they wanted - you might argue that it wasn't 1e because of that, but it was fairly vanilla apart from those changes.

[@drivers99]

Your mention of Greyhawk being vital to how you run has me wondering what it is about a setting that shapes how you play it. I guess I’ve mostly been looking at rules and then not knowing what to do with the game afterward. I’ll have to read it and see what I can learn.

[@TomGriffith-k6l]

You forgot the Fiend Folio and Monster Manual II...two must=haves in my humble opinion...

[@DM_Bluddworth]

I have both, but rarely use them and typically only after several months of play into a campaign.

[@woodwwad]

WotC is trash

[@sebbonxxsebbon6824]

Exactly, the soul and history of D&D runs through Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson not WOTC.

[@danacoleman4007]

@@woodwwad correct

[@Nobleshield]

Great video, looking forward to the rest. I decided to try and pitch Castles & Crusades over AD&D 1e because it has a bit more modern "quality of life" improvements but I sometimes wish I could use 1e instead. However, I wouldn't use the Dungeoneer/Wilderness books just because I feel they add bloat that's not needed (namely non-weapon proficiencies) and were written after Gary Gygax had been forced out of TSR. The advice in them for the DM is pretty good though, just not the mechanics. I think the biggest thing for modern players to come to grips with is racial limitations in what class they can pick and what level they can achieve. Which, I do sometimes feel it wasn't great, but I do understand why it was a thing. The modern player is going to be shocked and possibly dismayed that they can't be an Elf Paladin or a Dwarf Magic-User, and probably think it's "unfair" that they can "only" hit X level.

[@manofaction1807]

K.I.S.S. You have at the most 10 hp. you can die at any time. Stupidity is rewarded with pain. The field is yours, but decisions merit consequences. There are no free lunches, you earn everything in A D and D.

[@DM_Bluddworth]

1st level Fighters / Rangers with decent CON bonus will have more than 10 HP, but I definitely make them put those HP to good use in creative ways.

[@sunsin1592]

I don't play with "modern"players so it's not an issue, but even I've mostly abandoned AD&D because of great alternatives like C&C. As for the DMG, it's also got the combat matrices and saving throw tables, which, of course, one doesn't need in Castles & Crusades. I would concur that Greyhawk is THE setting for AD&D.

[@UltimateHansford]

I wish folks would just try AD&D 1e. Read it. Actually read the rules and play it RAW. Just try it. The evidence from folks who have actually done this support that it is everything you need.

[@DM_Bluddworth]

The problem with running it RAW is that some of the game mechanics are not well thought out, and Gary Gygax actually admitted that. He said himself that the grappling system was not good, and the Monk class in the PHB should be replaced by the Monk in Oriental Adventures.

[@Nobleshield]

The issue with RAW is that not even Gary used 100% of the rules. The people pushing it are basically making up fiction and trying to pass themselves off as enlightened and everyone else needs to be lectured how to "really" run AD&D.

[@jeffmacdonald9863]

@@DM_Bluddworth It's also poorly organized and lot of the rules are poorly explained and scattered all over the place. There are reasons most groups had piles of house rules back in the day. Some of which they didn't even know were house rules, to much amusement when you played with a different group. A lot of people learned by playing with people who already knew. Players weren't supposed to read the DMG at first, but just to trust the GM.

[@DM_Bluddworth]

@ yes poorly organized but we managed even at the ages of 12 -13 when we first started playing AD&D in 1979. We were nerds, geeks, etc but everyone in my group were reading at the college level by the 8th grade. Our DM skipped 8th & 9th grade and graduated after 11th grade. One of our players became a nuclear engineer and served on a U.S. Navy submarine. Others went into business or in my case U.S. Army logistics and education (MA U.S. History) in civilian life.

[@jeffmacdonald9863]

@@DM_Bluddworth Yeah, we played it to. A few years later, but around the same age. I can promise you we didn't play it RAW though. Especially at 12-13 when it was either just instant death or monty haul depending on the GM, but even later when we were trying to be more serious. In many cases, we thought we were following the rules, but later ran into others with completely different takes.

[@gregdaley2661]

Any love for Deities & Demigods / Legends and Lore ? I like the demi-human deities (2e's Monster Mythology is useful, too). Also, though nominally Forgotten Realms, REF5 Lords of Darkness is great for undead lore.

[@DM_Bluddworth]

I use the Deities & Demigods from the setting (Greyhawk) plus the DemiHuman and Humanoid Deities from The Best of Dragon Magazine Vol 3. (which are reprinted in James Ward's Greyhawk Adventures book).

[@jasonjacobson1157]

@@DM_Bluddworth correction. They were all reprinted in Unearthed Arcana. Greyhawk Adventures has a very abbreviated deity list.

[@dvosburg1966]

I'd be surprised if you could. Given the constant squealing for ever more simple, today's player would balk at the complexity of Chutes and Ladders.

[@DM_Bluddworth]

It’s all in the prep pre playing for both DM and players. I’ll spend at least one video going over that too.

[@walterroche8192]

I'd like to see a bunch of modern audience groups play about 5-10 games in 1st edition. Just to see how they play, their attitudes before/during/after each game & the imo's after their last game. I'm kinda split on whether I'd keep the THACO system or use the modern 'to hit' system.. same for magic/spells per round..

[@jasonjacobson1157]

@walterroche8192 1e doesn't use THAC0. This is a common misconception for some reason. 1e uses combat matrices with repeating 20s to make unhittable creatures unlikely. 2e uses THAC0.

[@jeffmacdonald9863]

@@jasonjacobson1157 THAC0 is in 1e. The combat matrices are there in the DMG, but THAC0 shows up in the listing of monsters in the Appendices.

[@pccleric]

I think you would need a massive crying towel for the modern players

[@jasonjacobson1157]

​@jeffmacdonald9863 yes, but it's only there as an abbreviation to fit on that table. It does not supercede the repeating 20s on the combat matrices in 1e. 2e is the edition that tosses repeating 20s for THAC0, not 1e.

[@jeffmacdonald9863]

​@@pccleric Is that supposed to be a selling point?

[@daves6220]

Can you show or list us what the softbound books are in your AD&D collection?

[@DM_Bluddworth]

the "softbound" books on the shelf are not AD&D 1E books, but but are the D&D Basic books that share the shelf. Normally I have: Blueholme (OSR Holmes edition); D&D BECMI; The Best of Dragon Magazine 1-5; both Book of Lairs, etc. I will eventually get to the shelf tour for this shelf, which will be Shelf Tour #9. I'm currently on shelf #7, so it will be quite some time before I get to it.

[@tabletoptaproom]

If you have to clear up the "poisoning of the well" by WotC, then why not play a AD&D clone?

[@DM_Bluddworth]

@@tabletoptaproom because the poisoning is based on false, fabrications meant to elevate WotC’s 5E. 5E designers can’t stand by the quality of their own product without trying to tear down TSR era D&D. They know that if players start playing old school D&D, most will not return to WotC D&D. I have witnessed this very thing when I ran D&D BECMI from 2019 - 2021. Same goes for when 5E players break away and try various OSR and Independent game systems.

[@pccleric]

Why bend a knee to these people? This is how the problem in ttrpgs started

[@DM_Bluddworth]

It is not bending a knee, it is bringing them over into the light. It has been my experience when introducing 5E players to D&D BECMI, that only 2 out of 25 or so stated they preferred 5E. I believe the same will hold true with AD&D 1E. There is also the need for those of us old school DMs to bring a new generation to our favorite editions. We aren't getting any younger. I'd like to still be running AD&D 1E for D&D's 75th anniversary, but I'll be 83 by then. It's more likely I'll have younger players.

[@robnecronomicon1570]

Happy New Year! Good vid. It's years since I played AD&D 1e (I had it in the late 80s). I was more of a warhammer 1e guy. But I'd probably run something like Hyperborea or some OSR-type product if I wanted something like it now. I never played AD&D2e, what are the differences between the two editions? I was thinking about picking up some of the 2nd e Ravenloft material. Thanks!

[@tabletopgamingwithwolfphototec]

We ahould make this into Classic Dungeons and Dragons month ( Original Dungeons & Dragons to Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd edition ). After all Original Dungeons & Dragons was released in January.

[@jasonjacobson1157]

I'm in.

[@tabletopgamingwithwolfphototec]

@jasonjacobson1157 Awesome. I see you have a series of Live play videos in Greyhawk with AD&D 1e.

[@zwoq6779]

Very timely video. I was just brainstorming about pulling old D&D feats and skills and bolting them onto the newer streamlined OSR rules for more crunch.

[@thefiendishdm9976]

How do you run AD&D 1st and 2nd Edition for modern players? Just run the game as written. Been doing it for years now... No special introduction. No special accommodation. Just briefly explain the rules and start rolling dice! It's literally that easy.

[@DM_Bluddworth]

@@thefiendishdm9976 virtually no GM runs any TTRPG, old or new school, RAW. Even Gary Gygax didn’t run AD&D RAW. This series of videos is not a “How to”, it’s a “How I would”. As for accommodations, those are made for any group of players taking a seat at my table. I’ll go into more details in upcoming videos, the next will likely be tonight.

[@thefiendishdm9976]

@DM_Bluddworth I look forward to your videos on the subject. But as far as running things RAW, I currently do, and did run the game RAW back in the day. And I am always a bit confused when people make the claim that Gary did this or that. It doesn't matter what Gary, did or did not do. What matters is what he wrote, and what you and I do with that material.

[@_User333]

Hi Bluddworth, this is an interesting first episode & I look forward to the rest in your series. You mention the word "System" about a dozen or so times here but back in the early 1980s we never referred to AD&D as a system - there was nothing like it to compare to. Or are you trying to fix the minds of kids brought up on the inferior modern versions the first thing they think of is "what system is this?" (just kidding, no need to answer). System, Setting, and Version are all different meaning words. Secondly, Greyhawk is completely optional and probably best to avoid it or leave it out for the interim. Nebulous is a good word to describe it. The Dungeon Masters guide is very important for ALL players not just the DM. If you went back in time to the late 70's early 80's and a few friends decide to invest in AD&D, you interchange between being a player and DM. In other words, in 1980 you are not going to find someone with 30 years of experience as a DM. Yes to the Monster Manual and Players Handbook. I never really liked Fiend Folio but Monster Manual II is very good. Id omit Unearthed Arcana and the Survival Guides at the start. The first several games should be short and over in an hour or two (not years and years stuck in Greyhawk), You generate some characters but dont fall in love with any of them as they could die within first 10 minutes just send them in a hole in the ground and smash their way through (map system devised on grid paper). Miniatures of the characters and monsters are a luxury and not reqd. Finally, there was no such thing as always wanting to be goody two shoes Lawful Good - there is nothing wrong with generating Evil alignment characters. The Tracy & Laura Hickman modules are legendary but I didn't get a chance to play (m)any of them.

[@jeffmacdonald9863]

Officially back in the day, players were supposed to avoid getting or reading the DMG or MM. Only when you wanted to GM yourself were you supposed to start looking at the secret knowledge. There was no real concept of metagaming back then, so players learning things like monsters stats other than by player experience was seen as cheating.

[@_User333]

@@jeffmacdonald9863 Understood. It was much more fun for us to have a relatively quick 1 to 3 hour game then next weekend one of the PC's would be the DM. Everyone had or were saving up to get the books covered in Ep 1. New PCs ⚔🪄🛡were generated/created for each (new) game (e.g. like a football or basketball match).🏁

[@danacoleman4007]

first edition is a MESS. game design has evolved so much since it's release. i could only see playing it for nostalgia purposes.

[@DM_Bluddworth]

@@danacoleman4007 it is only a mess when you’re first trying to learn how to run it. It isn’t a mess for the player, it is actually easier to play than 5E or PF1. In fact it is so easy to play that experienced players will even know what to expect from other PCs in their party as well. This of course has been my experience.

[@DM_Bluddworth]

@@danacoleman4007 I doubt I’ll still be around in 2064 (97 years old), but I’d be curious to know if 2014 5E is still being played even for nostalgia purposes. We only have to make it to 2029 for AD&D 1E to hit its 50th Anniversary.

[@manofaction1807]

Advanced D and D is a expansion. Using it in conjunction with your basic set gives you more possibilities, and options.

[@DM_Bluddworth]

I suppose that is true.

[@pccleric]

Good call on dragonlance. It was trash and changed D&D (not for the better)