Alright, buckle up buttercups, because we're about to dive headfirst into the wonderfully weird world of AD&D combat! Forget your fancy modern games with their sleek, unified "roll high and be happy" nonsense. Back in the day, we had THAC0, which sounds less like a game mechanic and more like the noise your cat makes when it coughs up a hairball. "Thaaac-0... yep, that's about right." Now, the name itself, "To Hit Armor Class Zero," is where the confusion often starts. It's like naming your pet goldfish "Land Shark." Technically accurate if you have a really weird aquarium setup, but mostly just baffling. You see, Armor Class (AC) in AD&D was backwards! Lower was better. So, THAC0 was all about figuring out what you needed to roll on your trusty d20 to smack someone wearing full plate armor. From there, things only got… well, more AD&D. And speaking of "more AD&D," let's not forget that this beautiful beast of a game couldn't even decide if success was about rolling high or rolling low! THAC0 wanted you to roll over a certain number to hit, but then you'd be trying to roll under your saving throw to avoid turning into a toad. It was like the game had a multiple personality disorder when it came to dice rolls! At its most boiled-down, brain-tickling core, the THAC0 magic worked like this: you took your THAC0, subtracted the poor monster's Armor Class, and that was the number you had to roll on your d20 or higher to introduce your weapon to their squishy bits. Simple, right? Riiiight.

Now, hold onto your +1 cloaks of elvenkind, because here's where the mental gymnastics really begin. The Dungeon Master, in their infinite wisdom (and occasional sadism), would be the arbiter of all things affecting your target's AC – maybe they're behind cover, maybe they're slippery from slime, maybe they've got some fancy magical protection (thank the sweet merciful deities for that!). But YOU, my friend, YOU were responsible for figuring out your own attack modifiers. And get this – are you sitting down for this bombshell? Your shiny, much-coveted +2 magic sword? That beauty didn't add to your attack roll like some sane system would… oh no. It subtracted two from your THAC0! Yes, you read that correctly. A better weapon made your THAC0 lower, which meant you needed to roll a lower number to hit that AC 0 gnome. It's like the game was actively trying to give you a headache. (Actually, if you can't quite wrap your brain around the THAC0 subtraction, no worries! Think of that +2 sword as adding a glorious +2 to the number you roll on the d20. Sometimes a little mental re-framing is all it takes to survive the beautiful absurdity of AD&D.)

And now, if you happen to be prancing around in some fancy +2 armor... well... uh... it makes your AC... uh... lower? Which is good? So... the number you need to hit you is... higher? Or lower? I... I think I need a nap. And possibly a flowchart. Maybe just more dice. Yeah, definitely more dice.

I'd always just assumed. Mind blown!

My party has been playing 2e for four sessions now, and we're far preferring to to 5e, but we're still parsing through which of the Players' Option rules we like. As the campaign is currently set up, goblins are the primary enemy on our island, and these goblins multiply significantly quicker than average, while being a bit more dangerous per goblin as well (I believe they have better AC and possible more hit points than normal, not certain because I'm a player, and don't have access to that).

So far, our encounter balance has been a bit in question, in large part because the goblins are good enough that, with numerical superiority, our three man party doesn't have much of a margin of error, especially as we aren't using the bleed out rules.

As a potential solution, I've suggested to the DM that we use the Knockdown and Critical Hits rules. Currently we do critical hits and fails in combat on 20 and 1 respectively, and the odds of doing this are the same for all characters and weapons unless otherwise specified. The Critical Hits rules in the Players' Option book, however, lists a system that would give greater emphasis to the character with the better THAC0, rather than being an equal chance. The Knockdown rules as well, disadvantage smaller enemies while giving more weight to both heavier weapons and larger characters.

That said, we're still experimenting, and I don't want to push too much for a rule that might not actually work well in practice, so I'm asking here to see if anyone has a good perspective on it.

EDIT: Essentially resolved, but if anyone still wants to discuss how it actually plays out, more perspective for potentially tweaking the system is welcome.

“Tell me Wraithking, what is the oldest existing undead in the cosmos?”

Nicademous spit the words down the length of the seven-foot katana he now pointed at the seated creature.

It did not respond.

“Do you really believe you will exist in this state for all eternity? You are not a God. You were mortal once. Powerful!… indeed. But death came for you and you bargained for your soul. You sit upon that throne and call yourself a king. You are but a slave that has not yet served.”

The cold creature shifted almost imperceptibly. How dare his servant speak to him this way!

“When this existence ends you will serve the Power you bargained with until the end of time.”

Nicademous paused only momentarily.

“You came to me for my services. Do not make the mistake of believing I serve you for I am the right hand of Death. I am the one you escaped. But that was only a reprieve. You simply changed your destination and delayed the meeting. One day you will feel my embrace…”

The wraithking had endured enough. Faster than most mortals could comprehend, the tower of frozen iron and hate stood before Nicademous, massive hand around his throat. Nicademous was bent over backwards, words locked inside. The magical cold emanating from the most powerful of undead rapidly causing frostbite on the assassin’s face.

Nicademous dropped his katana, grasping the wraithking’s forearm with both hands in attempt free himself from the iron grip.

“You pathetic fool.” The wraithking smiled to himself. Not that it could be seen. The only visible part of his face was the beautiful blue fire that danced in the sockets of his skull behind the great helm he wore.

“Before I am done this whole world will bow to me and I will be a God myself. It’s time you learned your place.”

The wraithking enacted one of his most powerful abilities, the power to drain life by sight. Nicademous Blackheart, for the first time in his long life showed signs of fear as he felt pieces of his soul being drained. The wraithking squeezed harder and drove the assassin down to his knees as he drained this insulant creature. He debated whether to drain him completely. His skills were great. He would make a great general if he could be controlled. His pondering did not last long.

Nicademous smiled. Then laughed. Then a reverse of draining.

The wraithking had given half his soul eons ago in his dark bargain for eternal life. Now it was he who felt fear. Not only had the life he just drained returned to its owner but his own immortal half-soul was being sucked out. He tried to recoil but could not. His grip was locked. He had no control of his limbs. The assassin stood. Still laughing. The soulless pits that were Blackheart’s eyes melted away and were replaced by a red fire as equally bright and dark as the wraithking’s were blue. He calmly reached up and grabbed both of the wraithking’s wrists. Slowly he pushed the undead back. Twisting his wrist downward, he forced the wraithking to his knees, the same position he was in moments ago. His face melted away revealing a gleaming pure white skull that seemed to be surrounded by the deepest black. The assassin laughed mockingly as the wraithking screamed.

“Soon, my child. You shall pay in full for the gifts I’ve given you. Continue with “your” plans, as they are mine as well. You will be a God. You will rule this world. But not as you think. In the meantime, try not to anger me.”

Nicademous shoved hard, pushing the wraithking back several feet where he slid on his arse on the cold stone floor. The wraithking closed his eyes and tried not to think of his childhood nightmares over a millennium old. He felt his unlife returning along with his strength and control of his body. When he looked up at the assassin, he looked the same as he had only minutes before.

Blackheart simply stood there, hands crossed in front of him, a calm smirk on his now normal face.

“Who would you have me kill next?” said the assassin.

The wraithking struggled for only a moment.

“Jamarell of Waterdeep has a book of blood red leather. I want it.”

Nicademous did not respond. Only slightly nodded as he turned and walked out of the Ice Palace.

The wraithking pulled himself to his feet and returned to his throne. He pondered what had just transpired. Over and over, he ran it through his mind. Days past and he could think of nothing else. No matter which path his thoughts travelled, they all came to one conclusion: Nicademous Blackheart, master of all assassins, held the power of Myrkul, Lord of Bones. A supposedly dead God.

single class fighters can have more than 1 weapon specialization , can paladins, rangers and multi-class fighters get multiple weapon expertise ?

I downloaded all the files for the game from Archive.org but I have no idea how to run them. Can anyone help?

I'm on a Mac and using DosBox.

I found some vintage coloring pages from an adnd book a few days go (don’t worry this is a print copy I got online) and I thought you guys might enjoy it! The book is called Advanced Dungeons & Dragons character coloring book. I tried to do something more interesting than just the obvious colors. Hope you guys like. :)

Hello.

While reading an encounter in an AD&D 2e supplement, I noticed the following excerpt ->

If the PCs assist the unicorn, it is grateful. Any injuries suffered are healed by its horn, although it does heal its mate first.

I thought "Oh, that makes sense; unicorns are known to have restorative powers because of their purity or some such legend.". However, after reading its entry in both the Monstrous Compendium and Monstrous Manual, I could locate no mention of the horn healing...by touch, a magical ray or otherwise. The horn itself - once separated - can be used to create quite a few Potions of Healing, but that isn't the same as experiencing the equivalent of Cure Light Wounds, Heal, a Paladin's laying of hands, et cetera, from one of these living mystical steeds. I also checked the 1e Monster Manual and the BECMI Rules Cyclopedia. No luck. Even Dragon Magazine #190 proved fruitless.

Have I missed something? Did the writer assigned to that product mess up?

The above mentioned spell - Imbue with Spell Ability has a restriction "Only priest spells of an informational or defensive nature or a cure light wounds spell can be transferred".

A player has asked about the spell 2nd level spell "Draw Upon Holy Might" from the Tome of Magic (pg 58). It allows the caster to raise one stat (Str/Dex/Con) +1/3 levels.

The player is "arguing" that an increase in Dex/Con IS defensive (and I kind of agree), but there is the Str. That is NOT defensive in my mind.

Would you just say that spell does NOT qualify for transfer using Imbue with Spell Ability OR that it can't be used to raise Str?

How would you or HAVE you ruled this one

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As most of you know, Dragon Magazine used to publish articles on new Character and NPC classes back in the day. DragonsFoot put together an excellent list:

https://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=24436

Did any of you DMs or Players ever use these, or any of the Classes they included in the Best of Dragon collections? I allowed the Anti-Paladin and the Archer in a couple of games, and they worked out pretty well. Just wondering what others' experiences were.

As an aside, I'm gonna start running an AD&D campaign with a great deal of piracy, and was thinking about making the Mariner class from Dragon 107 a thing. They look a little overly complicated, however, a little awkward. Did any DM ever use them?

This is a generic question I am unsure if there is a mega thread I can't find or something but let me know and I will write this again.

I have played a bit of 2e and I LOVE the Psionics Handbook. But, I have a group that's interested in Ad&d. I was thinking about playing it but the setting we'd want to do I would want Psyonics.

Where can I find Psyonics for AD&D? Or maybe I should try and use the 2e book and adapt it?

A month later, they finally came in. Is they were the monster manual and handbook. The dmg is definitely a solid read.

Hi! On my road to better understanding AD&D 1st edition I have some new questions and discussions:

• I finally understand segments, but what about movement? Let’s suppose team A will act on segment 3 and team B will act on segment 4. Does this means that team A can just move the equivalent to 2 segments?

Example: a fighter with 60ft of movement per round could move 6 feet per segment (is this case, 12 feet) and engage, or charge and move 24 feet and attack.

• paladin protect from evil at will ability seems very strong. How does that work exactly? Does it means that any planar creature cant get near the paladin forever (Except for magical resistance)? Would removing missile weapons from paladin be reasonable to balance this?

• weapon proficiency makes sense. However do you consider it an essential rule? Or do you avoid/change it?

Broom of Cleaning

This magical broom will sweep the floor when the command word is spoken.  The broom must be held with two hands to function, and the effect ceases immediately if one or both hands are removed from the broom.

Eyes of Minute Seeing

Appearing much the same as any other magical lenses, these odd spectacles allow the wearer to see the passage of time in real-time.  So long as they are worn, a small timer (which only the wearer can see in their peripheral vision) continually counts up from 1 to 59, after which it resets and starts the process anew.

Javelin of Lightening (F)

 This magical javelin is crafted from balsa wood and tin.  When used in combat, any successful strike causes normal javelin damage (1d6) but also reduces the weight of the target by an equal amount (in pounds).  Note that no mass is actually lost by the target, just weight.  This effect is cumulative with multiple strikes, but the effect is not permanent, and any lost weight will return after 4d6 hours.  Useable only by fighters.

Ring of Father Failing

When worn, this ring confers a -50% Reaction Adjustment penalty when interacting with the wearer's father (adopted, biological, step-, etc.); this is in addition to any modifiers gained from a high/low Charisma score.  Once donned, the ring may not be removed until the wearer is able to undertake a quest (determined by the DM) that will regain their father's approval.  Note: this ring will have no effect if the wearer's father is deceased, but it might interfere with certain spells (such as Speak with Dead) at the DMs option.

(The ring was inspired by poor handwriting on my character sheet, and the DM asked me where I got such a ring, and I had to look at it myself before correcting him that it actually said ‘Ring of Feather Falling’ but the joke was born in that moment after a good laugh.)

The final deity for the project as it stands right now is the Nixie Queen, Sarula Iliene, a minor elven and faerie deity of fresh water. She is worshipped by both nixies and those elves who live in or near lakes and rivers and other fresh water sources.

As this is the final deity for now, I thought this would be a good time to talk about what my future plans are. I have no intention on stopping writing, but I do want to go through the deities complete and give them some editing passes. I do plan to compile them as well, with some additional material similar to what’s found in the Faiths & Avatars trilogy of books, and at a minimum they will be made available on my Patreon. I also have some deity and non-deity material that I will be submitting to the Wildspace Fanzine as well. In terms of what deities I plan to work on next, I’d like to start creating and expanding pantheons for races who should have full and vibrant pantheons of their own (such as loxoth, hurwaeti, grommams, dohwar, etc.) and work on some human pantheons (Greek, Mesopotamian, Egyptian, etc.). I’m not sure yet what I will focus on though. Anyway, stay tuned as I think about what’s coming next!

Sarula Iliene the Nixie Queen: https://blog.aulddragon.com/2025/04/sarula-iliene-the-nixie-queen/

Full list of entries in the Monster Mythology Update Project: http://blog.aulddragon.com/monster-mythology-update/

If you’ve been enjoying these entries, please consider supporting the project on Patreon or Ko-Fi (links on the blog). Thanks!

Looking at the Wilderness Map of Keep on the Borderlands, I measure about 50 squares of travel to reach the Caves of Chaos by road. Scale is given as 1 square = 100 yards, so that's about three miles.

In the Adventures Outside the Keep section, it says:

The normal movement rate is 1 square per hour searching, 3 [squares per hour] walking. Walking in the fens is at the rate of 1 square per hour. Walking is done in the forest at 2 squares per hour.

So, a one-way trip to the caves is almost 17 hours, to hike three miles? I guess roads might not be in perfect condition, and the PCs are probably going to be carrying a bit, but that seems ridiculous to me.

Yes I understand it's up to me as DM, but I'd like it to make sense. Is there a better interpretation?

Also, do most players end up hiring cart/wagon from the stable at some point?

I'm a gear junkie in game, everything needs to have multiple uses or be light enough not to matter. So i couldn't believe when i read that sling stones and bullets weighed 1/2 lb each, can you imagine swinging around an 8oz stone. My suggestion: use roman style sling bullets they weighed between 1 1/2-2 1/2 oz so you'd get 8-10/lb , stones are not as uniform so 6-8/lb . Just my 2 cents . Hope you all have great fun adventuring.

I'm learning 2e as a mostly 5e player. I'm really liking it.

However my biggest hurdle thus far is how NWPs work. Mainly the fact that it's assumed that unless they have the proficiency, they just can't attempt whatever skill check it is.

Especially since how limited your slots are, how infrequently you get more, & how specific they all are. It already feels like there's enough road blocks on them.

It's led to a few moments of frustration/disappointment. We prefer how in newer systems, you still can attempt a check you arnt good at but it can be harder than if you were, especially for more common skills.

I like the difficulty spike of the old school games but this aspect just feels less fun.

Has anyone home brewed around this? Or is this just truly as good as it gets?

As part of my ongoing (and foolhardy) quest to run Keep on the Borderlands as a sandbox mini-campaign for my group, I have been running the numbers on the Keep. Fleshing out the Keep and figuring out how it operates is a key component to hopefully making it feel like a lived-in place. I've also looked at a couple of random NPC generators as a way to flesh out a lot of the rank-and-file residents, but at this point I'm just looking at it from a top-down numbers perspective.

The Keep is essentially somewhere between a Crusaders' Castle and a Roman Fort. It's the first in a line of defenses that will stretch back into civilized and fortified lands. It functions as a sentinel against incursions from barbarians (human or otherwise) that would attempt to raid and pillage, as well as a place of respite for those traders and explorers who make their living beyond the Pale. The Keep is not a new construction but rather a fortification that has been built and rebuilt many times as kingdoms and empires have arose and fallen. As such, all of its secrets may not be known to its current inhabitants.

The inhabitants of the Keep are split into two factions, The Militia and the Civilian Population. The Keep is first a military stronghold, and so the Militia are the larger of the two groups. It is comprised of approximately 220-230 soldiers at any one time. This includes a small cadre of leveled NPC's who run the place, 175 Men-at-Arms (0 Lvl), and 30 Cavalry. The Civilian Population numbers around 68 and include a handful of tradespeople who are attempting to make their living catering to the small amount of trade that passes through the outpost.

The Command Structure of the Keep:

The Castellan (F6) is the commanding officer of the Keep. He is attended to by a Scribe (Clr2) and an Advisor (F3/MU3 Elf) who are functionaries of his office but do not strictly speaking hold military rank. The forces of the Keep are split into The Watch and The Guard. The Watch is responsible for Keep itself, The Guard is the military unit responsible for the security of the surrounding lands.

The Captain of the Guard (F3) is the officer in charge of The Guard. He reports directly to the Castellan. He is reported to by The Sergeant of the Guard (F2), who has two Corporals of the Guard (F1) in his command. The Guard is comprised of 115 0-lvl Men-at-Arms and 30 Cavalry (12 Heavy, 18 Medium) and are split into two cohorts under these Corporals.

The Captain of the Watch (F3) is the officer in charge of the Watch, who reports directly to the Castellan. He is reported to by the Bailiff who functions as the "town sheriff" and a Corporal of the Watch who is in charge of the day-to-day duties. The Watch is comprised of 60 0-lvl Men-at-Arms. Since unrest and other disturbances are unusual within the Keep, the Bailiff does not have a dedicated brute squad under his command, but rather is in charge of whichever members of the Watch are assigned to the Bailey and Town.

In addition to the Guard and the Watch, there is also The Curate (Clr 3) and his three Acolytes (Clr 1) who are the ecclesiastical arm of the Keep. The Curate works closely with the Castellan to provide whatever spiritual resources is needed by the Guard and the Watch. The priests are ultimately under the authority of the Castellan but not a part of the formal command structure of the Keep, however they may be attached to units of the Guard or Watch in times of dire need.

The Civilians:

The Civilians who call the Keep home are a ragtag bunch. No one makes their living on the knife's edge between civilization and barbarism unless they can't otherwise cut it somewhere else. It is assumed that a certain number of traders, mercenaries, explorers and adventurers are passing through the Keep at any given time, however the numbers of the civilian population just count the permanent residents. There are about 60-70 of these residents, a little more than half of whom are detailed in the module. (The families that reside in various apartments are not specified and I'm not sure if they are meant to be NPC's detailed in other areas, however there are 7 of these apartments, so if each is an "average" size family of four, we're looking at 28 or so more NPC's). Most of these are 0-lvl human laborers (lackeys, innkeeps, smiths, etc), however there are some leveled guards and other notable NPC's knocking about. In times of dire need when the Keep is under direct threat, these civilians can be formed into a town militia to aid in its defense. This is unusual and hasn't happened in years.

Using these numbers provided by the module as a basis, I'll be looking at the logistics of the Keep in a later post.