1e AD&D Race, Class and Stats

I've compiled the several race and class combinations permitted by the 1e AD&D PHB, excluding the Bard and adding the Hobbit Druid from UA, which I think makes a lot of thematic sense. 

Here is the .docx file I'm using right now for a game I'm in with OSE rules. (The DM allows way more classes and combinations than this but I'm gonna mostly stick to what Gary wrote up.)

I've thought a lot about what these specific combinations of race, class and level cap imply. I may blog them all, either in short bursts or all at once. There's a lot of implied setting here that people overlook because it's so subtle. 

In my game CROWN & VALOR I did my best to explain the reasons why the several character classes are the way they are. I'll probably give it a go for these combinations too. 

The Elf Issue

 When I first learned about the multiclassing rules for elf and half-elf fighter/mages, I was really bummed out. Not only do they take a significant cut in their number of hit points (half d10 and half d4,) but they can’t wear armor when they cast spells. 

Lol what? 

What kind of a fighter can’t wear armor?!

I imagined that the elf would have his magic plate mail in his backpack. Once he blew through his offensive spells, he would cast his defensive magic, put on his armor, and pick up a sword. 

This seemed stupid to me, especially with fewer hit points. 

I never played one. I did have one half-elf fighter/mage/thief but that was a short-lived experiment for some reason. 

I much preferred the Arensonian Elf class, where the elf was a fighter all the time and a wizard all the time. I got that. Even though they need hilariously high XP to level 2 (and then trail by at least one,) the idea of a sword and armor AND spells made sense. 

This clearly illustrates my fighter-bias, and even my specific melee-bias. Yes, I’m well biased towards melee types. Crown & Valor makes an effort to swing the power balance back in favor of melee toons. 

Later on, I realized the world building implications of the elf casting without armor; the cold-iron-and-faerie-dust aspect of it all, and so now, I can appreciate that for what it is and what it says about that multiverse. 

I might even try one the next time there’s a 1e game to be had. 

OSR Class - Gygaxian Monk

While I have presented the Holmes-style Monk that I use in Crown & Valor, I think there is room for the traditional 1e-style monk as well. In order to differentiate it from the former kind, I call this one the Ascetic, the Hermit, the Dervish or the Shaolin, depending on their culture. The mechanics are the same. 

Here is the .doc file for the Ascetic class.

The Ascetic

Ascetics are hermits, dervishes, and monks who trade civilization for the wastelands and lock themselves away from others in the Realm of Men. Rather than a monastic life, an ascetic leads a solitary life, where he prays, fasts, studies and fights evil spirits and the restless dead with his bare hands.

         Having traded away worldliness for holiness has its benefits. The ascetic is empowered by God with the abilities necessary to live such a lonesome and militant life.

          Ascetics never retain wealth, being limited to that which they can lift off the ground while at full health. They may never own more than six magic items.

                Their godly life demands that they are always Lawful. If an ascetic loses his Lawful alignment for any reason, he loses all granted powers until he regains it.

          Solitary creatures, Ascetics will never take on more than a single Retainer regardless of their CHA score, and will never marry.

The Ascetic’s Class Abilities:

Arms and Armor: An ascetic never wears armor nor uses a shield, although he may wear a helmet. He may use the following weapons: the staff, club, crossbow, dagger, hatchet, spear and pole arm. 

Attack and Save: Ascetics attack and save as Clerics of the same level.

 

Armor of Michael: Ascetics gain a natural +1 to their AC at first level and then +1 per level.

 

Touch of Jacob: Ascetics may strike any target with their bare hands and feet for 1d6 +STR modifier damage (minimum 1.) They may use these bare attacks or any weapon they hold to deal damage to any target, including intangible targets such as ghosts and gaseous-form vampires.

 

Special Immunity: Ascetics have the same immunities to touch attacks as Elves do.

 

Metabolic Mastery: Normally, a figure will begin to die after three weeks without food, three days without water, and three minutes without air. Ascetics can bear an additional time period before beginning to die at first level and then one more at each odd level (5 at level 3, 4 at level 5, 5 and level 7 and so forth.) In the case of food and water, they are unaffected until these extra periods have expired.

 

Keen Senses: Ascetics hear noise on 1-2 on d6 like demi-men do, instead of the normal 1 on d6.

 

Silent Step: Ascetics hide and sneak at an additional +1 range (up to 1-4 on d6) while wearing no armor.

Spell-Like Abilities:  The following abilities are granted by their steadfast loyalty to God. They are automatic but are suppressed by any ability which suppresses magic, and are subject to Dispel Magic counterspelling.

• At second level, he can reveal a trap in an area as the Guided Foot spell, once per day.
• At third level, he can command a lock to open, as a Knock spell, once per day.
• At fourth level, he may Save vs. Spell against any spell or spell-like ability that only targets them. This is in addition to any save afforded otherwise.
• At fifth level, the ascetic can see in the dark like a demi-man.
• At sixth level, the ascetic can turn ethereal for one Turn per day.
• At seventh level, the ascetic gains immunity to poison and gains an additional bonus Save against Poison-class attacks.

Strongholds: Ascetics do not establish abbeys like a cleric does, nor castles, nor towers. Rather, an ascetic will create a small fortification large enough only for him and a few others, in which to lock himself away from the world. At 9^th level and higher, like-minded acolytes will build their own encampments nearby (within the same hex) but will not be subjects of the ascetic.

 

Forge Lore: starting at level 9, ascetics can create wands, staves, wands and rings using the same rules as Magic-Users do. They may not create other kinds of magic items.

 

 

OSR Ranger for Crown & Valor

The OSR Ranger is not Aragorn, but neither is he not-Aragorn. I picture him more like an 18th and 19th (and 20th) century mountain man on the American frontier: self-sufficient and beset by wanderlust. 

The chassis of the class is the Hobbit class. You can see it with the hide and sneak abilities and with the ranged attack bonus. 

As a nod to the 1e Ranger, this ranger gets two hit dice at level 1. He then matches the fighting-man into Name levels, and caps out on hit dice a little sooner. 

On that I added the animal empathy and some ad hoc magic. I’m really not sure about the magic, and I’m not sure if I will ever have enough playtest experience to know whether it’s good, too strong, too weak, or off brand. Share your opinions and suggestions in the comments or via email. 

Here’s the .doc file

The Ranger

Rangers are rustics and wild men who live at the border of the Realms of Men. They are self-sufficient, and live off the fat of the land. Some prefer the forest, some the mountains, and some the desert, but the Ranger never prefers the city or the mythic Underworld. 

Oftentimes, the Ranger follows the druidic faith because of his reverence for this good earth beneath his feet and for the animals and plants which dwell upon it. 

Rangers crave solitude. Their brothers are the animals. The forest is their cathedral. Their hymns are the wind.  They are naturally suited to adventure due to their self-reliance and comfort in the Wilderlands. Sometimes, they will find a home as a scout or spy for an army or befriend some Elves.

Rangers rely on their physical, mental, and spiritual fortitude and on their wits. A character must have at least a score of 13 in both Wisdom and Constitution in order to be a Ranger. A character with a 16 or more in either score gets +20% to his XP. 

The Ranger’s Class Abilities: 

Arms & Armor: A Ranger may wear any nonmetal armor and carry a nonmetal shield. He may use the following weapons: Any sword except for those particular magic swords reserved for the fighting-man, any axe, any curved bow, dagger, oil, sling, staff and spear.

Attack and Save: The Ranger uses the same attack progression and Save tables as the fighting-man.

Keening Skill: Rangers are adept at ranged attacks. They get +1 to hit with any such attack. 

Hiding and Sneaking: Rangers are adept at camouflage and stealth. They gain a +1 to any sneaking attempt on a d6. They hide in plain sight outdoors on a 1-5 on d6 and indoors on a 1-3 on d6. Magical light, such as a Magic-User’s Light spell, will spoil these hiding attempts.

Ambush: In cloistered wood, swamp, or other suitable virgin environs, rangers can be nearly invisible and can move almost silently, surprising a known enemy on a 1-3 on d6. If he is with rangers and elves only, the ambush fgoes off on a 1-4. In a similar space, any party with a ranger will only br surprised on a 1 on d6 insead of the normal 1-2.

Swift Overland Travel: a ranger in leather armor or lighter  receives an additional movement point per day. 

Tracking: A ranger can throw a Wisdom check on d20 to track prey. A rull must be made each day, It is modified by conditions, time passed, and number of the prey.

Animal Friendship: When a ranger is first created, choose a terrain type. The ranger gets a +2 to reaction rolls with animals native to that terrain type and a +1 to reactions to unnatural animals (but not man types, giants etc.)

Forge Lore: Starting at level 5, the ranger can produce curative potions of a similar kind as the cleric, but as a cleric two levels lower. At level 9, he may make any weapon or armor he can use as well as wondrous items of a type useful in the terrain he inhabits. 

Limitations: A ranger can never own more than six magic itams. He may only own what he can lift off the ground while at full health. He may use horses or beasts of burden, but cannot retain wealth. 

In order to build a stronghold, he must Squander money along the way and then use that Squander total as if it were money for his stronghold. 

 

Holmes-Style Monk

Father Dave over on Blood of Prokopius suggested a monk, in the Medieval sense, built on the Holmes cleric. I made several attempts, and made three or four different classes with different skin and different miracle/spell lists. Here is the Monk version for your edification and enjoyment. 

Here is the .doc file.

The Monk

A Monk (or Nun)  is a holy warrior who uses his faith in God to explore the realm and to make it safe and sound for Men and their allies. Furthermore, since he owes his strength to a higher power of some kind, he must act within the Lawful alignment, or be sanctioned in some way by that higher power. This means he must work on behalf of Mankind and it’s allies whenever appropriate. On the other hand, his faith in God protects him from attacks, lowering his Armor Class while unarmored and he performs special, powerful miracles called Wonders.

These are not always priests, but rather special individuals from inside and outside the Church who receive and answer, a special calling from God. A monk is infused with God’s power in order to undertake great and necessary tasks here in the mortal realm such bringing succor to remote communities, solving mysteries, questing for holy relics, and assisting pilgrims.

The Prime Requisite of the Monk is Wisdom. He uses the Cleric’s Attack and Saving Throw charts.

Arms & Armor: The Monk may use Leather armor and carry a shield, but doing so negates his natural Armor Class bonus. He may wear a helm without penalty. He may use the following weapons: Quarterstaff, Footman’s Flail, Club and Sling.

Magic Items: The Monk may use any magic items available to the Cleric, so long as they are not kinds of magical weapons or armor they are forbidden to use. He may read and write Cleric scrolls.

The Monk’s Class Abilities:

Wonder Working: Monks have the powerful ability to perform special actions called  Wonders. As the Monk gains experience levels, he will be able to perform more kinds of Wonders.

Wonders have effects that are identical to spells cast by Clerics or Magic-Users and Elves, but they are not spells.  Rather, they are extraordinary abilities. Anti-magic and Dispel Magic do not work against these Wonders, and they cannot be disrupted by hit point damage like a spell can when it is being cast. The working of Wonders is more akin to the ability to Turn Undead. Use the appropriate spell descriptions to adjudicate these Wonders.

In order to work a Wonder, the Monk rolls 2d6. The Wonder works if this number meets or exceeds the target number for the Wonder in question (see Table 2.) More powerful Wonders are available at higher experience levels, and the ones granted become easier to use.

The Monk may attempt to work a Wonder once per Turn (10 minutes.) He may use each Wonder once per day. If the Monk attempts to work a Wonder and is unsuccessful, he may attempt to work the same Wonder later in the same day until it is successful.

Monks require some object of religious significance like a mirror, a cross or other holy symbol to use their Wonder ability; but the power to it is invested in he himself and not the object.

Uncanny Hand: A Monk may substitute his Wisdom score for his Dexterity score at any time.

 

Smite: Using an allowed weapon, the Monk may attempt to Smite. This special attack must be declared prior to rolling the attack roll. This attack gains a +4 to hit that stacks with any other bonuses and deals double damage if it hits. He may attempt this once per day at first level, twice per day at third level, and three times per day at fifth level and higher.

 

Armor of God: A Monk is a special creature, watched over by God. He has a naturally better Armor Class than other characters and that Armor Class gets better as he gains experience levels. However, if he wears armor or uses a shield, that bonus goes away.

 

Monster Hunting: Upon encountering a kind of monster for the first time, the Monk may make an Intelligence check on 1d20 to see if he has learned something about it in his catechism or travels.

 

Read Languages: The Monk has a 10% chance per experience level to read any non-magical writing. At level 8, he gains the ability to use arcane and divine scrolls.

OSR Kensei Class

Cyfandil has an Asian-heritage region. If the several players want to visit, I think there ought to be some differences besides architecture. In addition to some different monsters (mostly ghosts and demons) and magic items, I'll construct at least a couple of classes that characters can encounter or even choose for themselves. I based the Kensei class on the Fighting-Man class. I think it's probably slightly weaker overall because kensei cannot take advantage of armor, shields and helms; they also do not have the inherent unit leadership structure advantages of the fighting-man, but they do retain the bonuses to attract and retain Retainers. 

A couple of their abilities begin at level 2 instead of 4 for the fighter: demon sense (a replacement for sense invisible) and great bravery. Potentially, great bravery will be very useful at the lower levels. 

Get the .doc file here.

The Kensei 

The Kensei is an unarmored warrior from Sho lands. He is excellent with one- or two-handed weapons but does not use any armor. Instead, he trains in techniques which make him naturally harder to hit.
          When a Fighting-Man reaches at least second level, he may convert his Fighting-Man levels to Kensei levels, and foreverafter progress in the Kensei class.
          However, the Kensei candidate must have both a Wisdom and Dexterity of 14 or better in order to assume the class. Additionally, he must know the Ponta language, which is the common tongue of the lands of the Sho people.
          The Prime Requisites of the kensi class are Wisdom and Dexterity. A Kensei with a Wisdom and Dexterity of 14 or more gains a +20% adjustment to all earned XP.

The Kensei’s Class Abilities:

Arms & Armor: The Kensei uses no armor nor shield. He may use any weapon including the most powerful magic swords.
 
Unarmored Fighting: When wearing no armor, the Kensei enjoys a bonus to his armor class equal to (WIS – 10) or (DEX – 10,) whichever is better.
 
Weapon Specialization: The Kensei always gets +1 to his damage roll when he hits his opponent. This is in addition to any bonus due from other sources.
 
Mantle of Leadership: A Kensei may have one more Retainer than his CHA would normally indicate. Any henchmen he leads get a +1 on their Morale checks.
 
Cleave: When in melee with people or creatures with fewer Hit Dice than himself, the Kensei may make one attack against each adjacent figure rather than a single attack against a single figure. However, this attack is resolved on the Fighting-Man 1-3 line of the attack matrix (rather than his normal line, if different.) Opponents of 4 Hit Dice or more are immune to this special attack.
 
Critical Hit: If a Kensei attacks a foe with an attack which is able to damage the target, and the player rolls a natural 20 (before any adjustments), the target is brought immediately to 0 Hit Points. He may damage creatures that have magical immunities using normal weapons.
 
Demon Sense: The Kensei may sense unseen demons and undead. This ability works out to 30’ (3 scale inches indoors and 1 scale inch outdoors.)
 
Great Bravery: Kensei are immune to fear, including magical fear.
          In addition, strarting at Level 4, they force an immediate Morale check by their opponents when they cross within melee range (3 scale inches) with 1 HD normal-types.
 
Forge Lore: At level 9 and above, Kensei may craft weapons in their strongholds using the same rules as Magic-Users do. They may not craft other kinds of magic items.

Revised Fighting-Man Level Titles

The “boring old fighter” trope has always bothered me. It’s also spawned many combat classes with different wrinkles, as if being the best at fighting in a game that features good fighting isn’t enough. 

Awesome like this. 

I have given a lot of thought on how to — not necessarily improve the fighting-man class, but to change a player’s eye level when he looks at the class. 

I’ve decided to restrict commanding military operations to the fighting-man. The higher the level, the more troops he can command on a battlefield. I did the math and I think a 10th level Lord can command almost 27,000 men; a few directly, but most through a solid chain of command structure. 

This is why every evil wizard has a fighter in tow. This is why kings are kings: they have the loyalty of great fighting-men. 

Therefore there is a lot of implied setting here. Fighting-men are not just better at this particular thing; being a fighting-man affords political power and respect that a plain old +1 arming sword cannot. 

And from there, it is obvious I should change the level titles. Here they are:

Alt. Fighter ranks 

Veteran 1st

Sergeant 2nd

Lieutenant 3rd

• can lead 10x level men 

Captain or Hero 4th

Centurion 5th

Tribune 6th

Legate 7th

Prefect 8th

• can lead 20x level men and additionally 2 of the next lowest rank 

Lord 9th

My Ratcatcher Class

Ratcatcher has been an OSR D&D class for ten years or longer. I like it better than the Thief and the Ranger. 

At the start, I'll only offer the six core classes. But as the campaign matriculates, I'll offer this class (and some other ideas) as a way to keep things fresh. 

The Ratcatcher

A Ratcatcher is a fellow who makes his living in the dirty business of urban pest control. He is expert at bypassing underground hazards and dealing with vermin. Those who are successful at the rat-catching game will sometimes turn their talents toward the pursuit of more monstrous game and the loot they inevitably guard.

The Prime Requisite of the Ratcatcher is Dexterity. See Table 2 for adjustments due from high or low Dexterity.

The Ratcatcher’s Class abilities:

Arms & Armor: A Ratcatcher may use Leather armor and those armors which do not encumber[1], but may not use a shield. He may use the backsword, dagger, hatchet or hand axe, war hammer, staff, or spear. He may also use the light crossbow and the sling.

   

Combat Ability:  The Ratcatcher uses the Cleric’s Attack Matrix and Saving Throw charts.

 

Dungeoncraft: The Ratcatcher learns his craft where vermin are. He has a keen awareness of mischief and danger in such places.

In subterranean or dark urban environs, Ratcatchers can be nearly invisible and can move almost silently, surprising an enemy on a throw of 1-4 on a six-sided die.

When actively searching, Ratcatchers will locate secret doors with a throw of 1-4 on a six-sided die; when merely passing by they will do so with a throw of 1-2. This is the same as an Elf.

In artificial subterranean locations such as sewers, tombs and so forth, the ratcatcher will notice nonmagical traps on a roll of 1-4 rather than the normal 1-2.

Ratcatchers identify useful information from faint noises when listening with a throw of 1-2 on a six-sided die, just like demi-men do.

They will have good vision even in the feeblest light, but not true darkvision.

 

Poison Use: A Ratcatcher can lace food with wolfsbane (or hemlock) to poison vermin via affecting vermin and Lycans with as many HD as 1d4 times his level, the bait being left overnight.

 

Favored Foes: In combat, he is particularly effective at skulling and boning vermin, doubling damage dice versus animals, ooze-types and Lycans. Lycans will always attack a Ratcatcher in preference to other enemies.

 

Tracking Vermin: Ratcatchers can identify vermin by signs or marks of their activity and can track them easily. For old clues or an intelligent and evasive Lycan, he will prevail on a throw of 1-4 on a six-sided die. He can collect a bounty of 1 GP per hit die for each carcass he returns to the local authority (live vermin may fetch a higher price where baiting is practiced for sport).

 

Hunter’s Kinship: The Ratcatcher frequently handles cats, dogs, ferrets, serpents, and the like to root out and destroy vermin. He adjusts reaction checks by +2 in any dealings these types or their dire versions, but alas! the smell and appearance of him adjusts reaction checks with civilized Man-types by -1, and Lycans' reactions are adjusted by -2.

                He may keep a special cat, dog, or other small mammal as a favored pet. Such an animal is particularly intelligent, has 1+1 Hit Dice and 7 Hit Points, and indwells a Retainer slot. Should such an animal die, it will take the Ratcatcher six months to replace it.

 

Disease Immunity: Grimalkins (2nd level) and above are immune to natural diseases.

 

Sense Dangerous Vermin: Ferreters (4th level) are aware of unseen animals, ooze-types and Lycans within 3 scale inches.

 

Speak With Vermin: A Stalker (6th level) and above can speak with calm vermin in a rudimentary fashion (cf the clerical Speak with Animals spell).

 

Charm Vermin: A Piper (9th level) and above is highly sought after for his ability to charm vermin with pan pipes (or similar) for so long as he continues to play (cf magic-user Charm Animals spell). Unintelligent vermin such as slimes and oozes will be held in a quivering, immobilized state while rats and their like will follow after the Piper, mesmerized.

 

A Piper Lord (10th level) can establish an operation in any existing town, city, or stronghold that does not already have such, including any run by a non-player figure (even non-players have rat problems). This operation will attract 4d6 Mousers who will each generate 1d6 GP profit per month of normal practice. Any activities outside of "normal practice" remain in the jurisdiction of the player.

Any Ratcatcher can be ennobled and added to the household staff of a Baron or greater.  He then earns 140 SP per month and is no longer subject to taxation.

---

[1] Such as elven chain

Leveling Up

With a Bullpen of characters to play and a regular calendar of weeks and days, we can afford to expand the leveling up process beyond simply changing numbers on our sheets. Therefore we will use the following leveling up rules for our Cyfandil campaign. 

When a character meets the minimum XP requirements for attaining the next level of experience, he may seek out a mentor for training. Such training takes 1 week and 100 GP to rise to level 2, 2 weeks and 200 GP to rise to level three, and so on. The mentor so acquired must be at least the same level as the character wishes to attain. 

The time for training must be uninterrupted except for Sundays, which are a day of rest. Of course anticlerics may train on Sundays but must rest between Friday dusk and Saturday dusk.

The character may seek out an NPC or a higher-level PC, but in the latter case, all time and money must be paid and neither character may participate in other activities at the same time. 

On matching mentors to apprentices:

Fighting-men can train with dwarfs, elfs or other fighting-men. 
Clerics can only train with clerics; anticlerics with anticlerics. 
Magic-users can train with elves or magic-users. 
Dwarfs can train with dwarfs or fighting-men. 
Hobbits can train with hobbits or fighting-men. 
Elfs can train with elfs, or they can take training from both a fighting-man and a wizard. In the latter case, time and money costs apply separately to each patron, effectively doubling the character’s burden. 

PCs training lower-level characters: 

By the same token, a PC may take on an apprentice to train. The cost and time strictures are the same as above, but the master only collects a profit of half the total spent (and the attendant XP,) the rest of which goes to expenses. 

A master may only train up to two apprentices at the same time.  Clerics and anticlerics may only train one apprentice at a time.  

Note that a character does not need to use the same trainer for every level. He may switch freely from one to another for training successive levels. 

Note also that Lawful types will normally refuse to train Chaotics (but PCs can choose to do so.)

Once a character has been trained, then we can change the numbers on his sheet. The player rolls new hit dice and makes other level-based changes, such as the magic-user rolling for a new spell. 

Rolling hit dice:

At each new level, the player rolls all listed hit dice, totals them, and adds the constitution modifier for each one so rolled. 

If this amount is less than or equal to the current number of hit points, add one to that total. 

If this amount exceeds the current number of hit points, use this new total instead of the old one. 

In this way, the character will gain at least one hit point per level, and possibly many more. A high-level character will trend toward max hit points per die (but will rarely reach it.)