A few questions

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Post by waysoftheearth » Tue Jun 21, 2022 12:26 pm

Re: A few questions

Wow, great thread. Thanks for the great answers @acodispo and apologies @cbarchuk I'm so late to the party. I really need to check my notification alerts.

A couple more details I could add in case anyone checks back:
cbarchuk wrote:
Tue Apr 20, 2021 3:25 am
Okay I'm still going through the rules trying to understand everything. I have 2 questions and I'll just add more to this same thread if needed.

1. Can AC go below 2? I noticed that If you get magical armor or a magic shield it reduces the opponents attack against you. Is there anything wrong with simply lowering your AC instead of having to remember attack penalties?
On this one, there is no specific need for ACs to go below 2 in 3LBB OD&D (or DD). This is because AC was still then an armor class; a qualitative type of armor. As opposed to a quantitative target number as it later became. The 3LBB/DD attack matrices topped out at AC 2, so die rolls required to hit "better" ACs are technically undefined. Of course, you can extrapolate further numbers from what's given but bear in mind AD&D's attack matrices (DMG pp74-75) which imply a (mostly) hard ceiling of 20 to hit.

cbarchuk wrote:
Wed Apr 21, 2021 3:28 pm
How on earth is HD calculated for Elven Fighter/Magic-Users?
Prolly, the easiest way is to maintain HD stats for both the fighter and M-U progressions independently. Whenever you roll for hit points, you'd roll both HD independently and take the higher result.

One of the unique things about OD&D/DD "combination figures" (that was the early name for what we'd now call multiclass characters) is the ability to allocate XP to either class, adventure by adventure. This means the player has pretty fine control over how the character progresses compared to later rules.

acodispo wrote:
Fri Apr 23, 2021 2:47 pm
Now for the elf: I know that there are several ways elf levelling has been run in the play-by-post games here, all of which are fair interpretations. Here's how I would run them by-the-book (DD v4):
  • At 1st level, elfs choose a class. They obey all the rules for that class. After the adventure, any XP earned is assigned to that class.
  • In between adventures (in my campaign this is any time the elf is in a town for a night or more), the elf may switch classes if desired.
  • Once the switch happens the 1st time, the elf can use all the benefits of both classes simultaneously when adventuring, but XP per adventure is still assigned to one or the other of the classes.
  • When an elf gains a level in one class or the other, they roll the new HD for that class level, and if the total is higher than their current max HP, they take the new value.
  • For to-hit & saves they use the more favourable value.
Yep, this is exactly the way I've done it in the past.
The only nuance I'd add is that when a PC has two classes, you would roll both sets of HD for hit points each time you roll, and take the better result.
(remembering that any constitution adjustment is per die)

FWIW, there are a couple of other threads on this topic on these boards here:
https://forum.immersiveink.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=300
https://forum.immersiveink.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=436
[f=32]Golgildir the Elf Medium (MV 12", AC 9, HD 1, hp 1/1, AL N) great cloak, lantern; spells: color spray; scrolls: sleep, sleep, charm person
Hirelings: Georges; torch[/f]

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Post by ehiker133 » Tue Jun 21, 2022 2:23 pm

Re: A few questions

WOTE, the way notifications work (with this forum software, anyway) is that you'll get one email when there is new stuff. But until you visit the site to reset that validation, you won't receive any more notifications for that topic, even if there are additional replies.
[f=47]Dougal Blackfoot (MV 9", AC 6, Lvl 4, HP 10/10) [/f]
[f=59]Goldwen (Sagacious* Abbess, MV 9′′, AC 6, HD 2+1, HP 9, FC 2 men, SV C3, L][/f]

Posts: 16896
Joined: Thu Sep 05, 2013 1:15 am
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Post by waysoftheearth » Wed Jun 22, 2022 2:27 am

Re: A few questions

ehiker133 wrote:
Tue Jun 21, 2022 2:23 pm
WOTE, the way notifications work (with this forum software, anyway) is that you'll get one email when there is new stuff. But until you visit the site to reset that validation, you won't receive any more notifications for that topic, even if there are additional replies.
Thanks @ehiker.
I swear I have not seen a notification advising me of a new post for months, maybe even a whole year.
Let me look into it and not be so delinquent in the future!
[f=32]Golgildir the Elf Medium (MV 12", AC 9, HD 1, hp 1/1, AL N) great cloak, lantern; spells: color spray; scrolls: sleep, sleep, charm person
Hirelings: Georges; torch[/f]

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