Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Aug 22, 2004 19:25:36	I know it's not free under the OGL, so it's nearly impossible to gather information. What I've found out through rigorous use of Google isn't much. I know about the original box and the five basic supplements, I know about the copyright trouble with Lovecraft, Moorcock, and Tolkien. What I'm mainly interested is not so much the battle mechanics and such, which I know have improved since then, but the character options. I've gathered that the races were: Dwarves Elves Half-Elves (I heard this was added later, I'm not sure in what supplement) Hobbits (changed to Halflings) and Humans I know Half-Orcs were reintroduced in third edition, but when did they make their debut? AD&D1E? I gathered that the original classes were: Clerics Fighting-Men (changed to Fighters) Magic-Users (I don't know if these became Mages or Wizards in any of the supplements) And the classes added later were: Assassins Druids Monks Paladins Thieves If I missed anything at all, please correct me. By "supplements" I'm refering to: Greyhawk; Blackmoor; Eldritch Wizardry; Gods, Demi-gods, & Heroes; and Spells & Swords. Thanks in advance for any info you can offer.
#2 Kamelion Aug 23, 2004 4:48:27	The official debut of the half-orc was in the 1e PHB, iirc, but an article in Dragon #3 had some notes on playing one (birth table and ability score ranges but little else). There were only the four player races you mention in the White Box, though (hobbits had become halflings by then - you have to go back to the earlier woodgrain box printings to find references to hobbits and ents).
#3 Elendur Aug 23, 2004 13:41:35	What were the level limits, both in terms of characters and in terms of spells?
#4 zombiegleemax Aug 23, 2004 14:57:38	The original classes were fighting-man, cleric, and magic-user. The original races were human, elf, dwarf, and hobbit (changed to halfling after the Tolkien estate threatened suit). The Greyhawk Supplement added the paladin, thief, and half-elf. The Blackmoor Supplement added the monk and assassin. The Eldritch Wizardry Supplement added the druid. Around the same time that the Greyhawk and Blackmoor Supplements came out, The Strategic Review (the predecessor of Dragon magazine) introduced the Ranger, Illusionist, and Bard. These were considered official and referenced in the latter Supplements. Gnomes and Half-orcs didn't show up until AD&D. Dwarves and halflings were restricted to fighter and thief. Elves were restricted to fighter/mage, f/m/t, and thief. There were no level limits on thieves. If I recall, halflings were restricted to 4th level fighter, dwarves to 6th, and elves to 5th. Don't recall half-elf limits/class restrictions if any. There was no real limit on the advancement of pc's in general, although 15th to 18th level would have been considered "high". Of course, there were always stories about players taking their characters to "80th level" or whatever. I'll just say that I don't believe these characters reached those levels legitimately. Spells went up to 9th level for m-u's and 7th level for everyone else. A great resource for learning about the "old days" of OD&D is the Dragon Magazine CD-ROM archive, which is still widely available at many of those sites referenced in the sticky at the top of this forum, and contains the issues of The Strategic Review mentioned above. And, of course, the living, breathing encyclopedia of all things OD&D is Diaglo, who frequents this site, among others. I'm sure he'll pop in on this very thread and set me straight on everything I just wrote above. R.A.
#5 zombiegleemax Aug 23, 2004 18:17:17	Originally posted by rogueattorney The original classes were fighting-man, cleric, and magic-user. The original races were human, elf, dwarf, and hobbit (changed to halfling after the Tolkien estate threatened suit). The Greyhawk Supplement added the paladin, thief, and half-elf. The Blackmoor Supplement added the monk and assassin. The Eldritch Wizardry Supplement added the druid. Around the same time that the Greyhawk and Blackmoor Supplements came out, The Strategic Review (the predecessor of Dragon magazine) introduced the Ranger, Illusionist, and Bard. These were considered official and referenced in the latter Supplements. Gnomes and Half-orcs didn't show up until AD&D. Dwarves and halflings were restricted to fighter and thief. Elves were restricted to fighter/mage, f/m/t, and thief. There were no level limits on thieves. If I recall, halflings were restricted to 4th level fighter, dwarves to 6th, and elves to 5th. Don't recall half-elf limits/class restrictions if any. There was no real limit on the advancement of pc's in general, although 15th to 18th level would have been considered "high". Of course, there were always stories about players taking their characters to "80th level" or whatever. I'll just say that I don't believe these characters reached those levels legitimately. Spells went up to 9th level for m-u's and 7th level for everyone else. A great resource for learning about the "old days" of OD&D is the Dragon Magazine CD-ROM archive, which is still widely available at many of those sites referenced in the sticky at the top of this forum, and contains the issues of The Strategic Review mentioned above. And, of course, the living, breathing encyclopedia of all things OD&D is Diaglo, who frequents this site, among others. I'm sure he'll pop in on this very thread and set me straight on everything I just wrote above. R.A. I'd half to go dig mine out but looks about !:D
#6 greylord Aug 23, 2004 20:18:03	I'll have to go book hunting, but I could have sworn they had the Bard class in Eldritch Wizardry as well. Perhaps I'm mixing up the Supplement with articles, but I could have sworn the bard was there...perhaps old age is kicking in.
#7 Kamelion Aug 24, 2004 3:29:49	I thought so initially too but figured it had been in the Review...
#8 zombiegleemax Aug 24, 2004 7:34:38	Originally posted by GreyLord I'll have to go book hunting, but I could have sworn they had the Bard class in Eldritch Wizardry as well. Perhaps I'm mixing up the Supplement with articles, but I could have sworn the bard was there...perhaps old age is kicking in. I'll pull my White Box out and blow the dust off and check today on the Bard for ya!;)
#9 zombiegleemax Aug 24, 2004 10:35:10	Originally posted by GreyLord I'll have to go book hunting, but I could have sworn they had the Bard class in Eldritch Wizardry as well. Perhaps I'm mixing up the Supplement with articles, but I could have sworn the bard was there...perhaps old age is kicking in. Nope. It's not in there. It's only appearance in the rules prior to 1e was in The Strategic Review. It was also very different from the oft criticized 1e bard. It was a unified class more like the bard in 2e, but used m-u spells instead of druid spells (probably because the druid hadn't been invented yet...). R.A.
#10 zombiegleemax Aug 31, 2004 13:35:05	Nope. It's not in there. It's only appearance in the rules prior to 1e was in The Strategic Review. It was also very different from the oft criticized 1e bard. It was a unified class more like the bard in 2e, but used m-u spells instead of druid spells (probably because the druid hadn't been invented yet...). R.A. druid was around. it was an NPC class in Greyhawk. and became a PC class in Eldritch Wizardry. but you are right. the bard was in The Strategic Review first.