Celebrating D&D

Back in 1980, a reporter who asked if D&D was only a passing fad learned that “Gygax and Blume think not. D&D, they say, will last fifty years or more.” As unlikely as it was in the 1970s that this esoteric offshoot of the wargaming hobby might become a pop-culture phenomenon, it is just as unlikely that in 2021 the game would be more popular than ever. As a new generation grows up playing the game, it may be that the true impact of Dungeons & Dragons has yet to be felt.

—Jon Peterson, Game Wizards

This year we celebrate the 50th anniversary of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS. In 1974, it was a new kind of game, created at the intersection of wargames and fantasy and science-fiction literature. It came to be called a role-playing game, enjoyed by millions over these five decades.

So this year, we celebrate the game and the millions of fellow players with whom we share the common experience: fantastic adventure in make-believe worlds. We celebrate friends found and friendships made firmer. We celebrate a simple connection to a diverse array of people from all around the world. A stranger is not so strange when we both know what it’s like to explore a dank dungeon, torch in hand, avoiding traps, solving puzzles, and fighting monsters.

We also celebrate D&D’s several editions over the years as well as the hundreds—thousands—of other role-playing games that followed it. One of its strong points is that D&D is a toolbox. With it, we can have an adventure, make a string of adventures into a campaign, and create an imaginary world full of adventures. We are given license to change the rules as desired, and in so doing, perhaps, make a new game altogether. It is so malleable.

We celebrate the game’s cultural impact. From a niche 1970s game that broke out of its intended wargamer audience by the end of the first print run to a game played by thousands who hardly understood the rules and condemned by thousands more as devil worship in the ’80s, D&D in the 21st century has grown into a pop-culture phenomenon. As a teenager, when I said I played D&D, I had to follow with “It’s a game of imagination, without a board. Players take the roles of…” Today I just say I play D&D and know that most folks are familiar with it, even if some may still misunderstand the game. The curious ask, a conversation starts.

We also celebrate the use, in recent years, of D&D and other RPGs in education, psychotherapy, spiritual growth, and team-building and leadership development. Just playing an RPG for fun is good for us in countless ways. More than that though, the game’s innate means of personal growth applied, with intent, to overcome individual and collective challenges increases the game’s impact manifold.

It’s there in applied RPGs that, in the next 50 years, we may see an important impact of D&D in the world. Maybe its most important—its true impact.

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, Lake Geneva, WI: Tactical Studies Rules, 1974. Box cover image from the Acaeum: Dungeons & Dragons Knowledge Compendium, Original D&D Set.

Blue Flame, Tiny Stars on DriveThruRPG

Cover of Blue Flame, Tiny Stars

“Stephen’s delightful memoir makes you want to travel upstream to your own formative D&D headwaters, dig out your old graph-paper maps and worn dice, and rediscover the gateway to what the author calls ‘the fantastic path.’”
—Ethan Gilsdorf, author of Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms

“A celebration of dice, maps, friendship, and, above all, imagination—the very stuff from which the hobby of role-playing is made.”
—James Maliszewski, author of Grognardia: Musings and Memories from a Lifetime of Roleplaying

Warning: Reading this book will make you want to play D&D!

Now Available on DriveThruRPG in Paperback, EPUB, and PDF

A Curious Assortment of Rules

This is the 32nd in a continuing series of articles, which reedits house rules for Holmes Basic D&D from 40-year-old game club newsletters. Mentions of house rules are in bold text and followed by a [bracketed category designator].

For rules category descriptions and more about the newsletters, see “About the Reedition of Phenster’s.” For an index of articles, see Coming Up in “Pandemonium Society House Rules.”

Phenster’s Pandemonium Society House Rules is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, events, incidents, and newsletters are either products of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is pure coincidence.

Phenster’s “Dungeoneering” article (L’avant garde #74, August 1985) begins with typical subterranean obstacles before diverging into magic items, other equipment, and monsters, in addition to “the Boomtown Rule.” The ring of plate mail, salt’s effect on zombies, and the (non-intelligent) enormous spider come from the first edition (1st through 3rd printings) of Basic D&D (1977), as does the dwarven war hammer.1 This diverse collection of rules is all over the book. I arrange them in Bluebook order.

I find no improvements to make in Phenster’s text describing the monsters. I, therefore, leave the descriptions of the cargolith and the enormous spider as is. I add only a category to each: Cargolith [C] and Enormous Spider [E].

Seeing in the Dark

Phenster doesn’t go into details about Dark Sight [E]. I add that light interferes, as in Holmes, and that a dark-sighted character cannot read in the dark.

Holmes doesn’t specify the later. If we wanted to allow it, we could justify reading in the dark by a different physical process or some innate magic. The advantages of an all dwarf/elf party who could read and see clues in frescoes and wall markings without light, however, might be too tempting and, so, upset any balance of character choices.

With that in mind, many intelligent dungeon dwellers, though they can see in the dark, may still have want of light.

Dark Sight [E]

Monsters, including dwarves and elves but not humans or halflings, can see up to 60 feet in the dark. Any light source interferes with this dark sight. Dark-sighted creatures cannot read without light.

Finding Traps

Regarding traps, Holmes only states that a character springs a trap on a d6 roll of 1 or 2 (10), and a table gives a thief’s chance to remove it beforehand (12). Phenster describes how the Pandemonium Society finds traps without tripping over them.

Find Traps [E]

Players may find a trap by describing how and where the character searches. No dice roll is required. Concealed traps may be discovered only by thieves, who have the same chance to find a trap as they have to remove it.

Force Doors [E]

With a roll of 1 or 2 on a d6, a character may force a stuck or locked door on the first attempt. Strength modifiers are subtracted from the dice roll. A 6 result indicates the door remains intact. Only a character with a higher strength score can open it on a successful roll. On any other result, the door still blocks sight but may be opened without any further dice roll.

Using this rule, we avoid the tedious series of dice rolls and get more impact out of a single throw. Keeping the 6-result failure in combination with the strength modifier allows for more serious consequences for characters of average strength and below.

Normal Weapons

War Hammer [E]

A war hammer does d6 damage (as an ordinary weapon in the Damage Dice by Weapon Class Table) and may be thrown up to 30 feet (as a hand-hurled axe [Holmes, 20]).

Hand-and-a-Half Battle Axe [E]

A battle axe may be wielded in one or two hands. With one hand, it deals d6+1 damage and is treated as a normal weapon with regards to initiative order.2 Two-handed, a battle axe deals d6+2 damage and is treated as a two-handed weapon, that is, it goes last in the round.3 (See the Attack Priority by Weapon Quality Table in “Weapon Damage and Attack Priority.”)

Caltrops [E]

A creature moving through strewn caltrops must slow to half speed to avoid stepping on one. Moving at normal speed, a creature has a 50% chance of taking 1 point of damage. A creature who steps on a caltrop moves at half speed until the damage is healed. One bag of caltrops, costing 1 gp, covers a 100-square-foot area, e.g. 10' × 10'.

Salt [P]

A handful of salt does d8 damage to zombies. To hit, treat the missile weapon as an oil flask (Holmes, 19) with a maximum range of 10 feet. One bag of salt containing 12 handfuls costs 1 gp.

Magic Items

Magic Swords

“Weapons with a plus after them are magical and the user adds the plus to his die roll for a hit… Magical weapons other than swords always add their bonus to both hit probability and to the points of damage scored” (emphasis mine, Holmes, 37).

Holmes carries the magic sword rule forward from OD&D, which states:

“The swords all receive bonuses as far as the probability of hitting an opponent is concerned, but some also gain a damage bonus when they do hit. These swords are those with a +2 or +3 against specific creatures, but not those with a general bonus of +2 or +3” (Monsters & Treasure, 30).

The Pandemonium Society, like most of us at the time, gives swords the same bonus to damage as to hit. The society also uses the glowing sword rule, possibly borrowed from AD&D, wherein “Most swords (and all daggers) of magical nature shed light when drawn from their scabbard” (DMG, 165; see also PHB, 102). Wondering why only 20% of swords would have this property, I add that these swords are made in a certain era or perhaps in a certain land. Thus the [C] Campaign designation.

Magic Sword Bonus Damage [E]

A magic sword gives its magic bonus to the damage roll as well as the attack roll.

Glowing Magic Swords [C]

One out of five magic swords sheds light in a 10-foot diameter when drawn. With rare exceptions, glowing swords were enchanted during the time of the Old Empire.

Dwarven War Hammer [E]

For any character, this is a +3 magic weapon. A dwarf can throw it up to double normal range (60 feet) without a range penalty. If it misses its target, the hammer comes back into the dwarf’s hand. A hit scores an additional d6 damage or 2d6+3. If the target is a giant, the damage is 3d6+3.

Rings of Armor [E]

These magic rings of plate mail, chain mail, and leather armor confer the respective armor’s AC to the wearer with an additional bonus equal to the ring’s magic bonus, +1, +2, or +3. The magic bonus is also applied to saving throws. A character wearing equal or better armor gets only the bonus to saves.

The Boomtown Rule [P]

As adventuring parties haul wealth out of the dungeon and into base town, the local economy suffers from inflation. To model the situation in a simple way, double prices for all goods and services when the player party reaches 4th level of experience. Double all prices again at 8th and 12th levels, and so forth.

This rule should only be used—if at all—in a campaign where most of the found treasure comes into a single town.


1 Zenopus Archives provides an exhaustive list of changes between Holmes’ first and third editions. Note that we have, within the “Holmes edition” of D&D, three editions of the blue booklet, each edition having a number of printings.

2 I take the idea for a one-handed battle axe from Paul Siegel, who suggests fixing a broken concept in B/X by removing the asterisk (which designates a two-handed weapon) from the battle axe. Siegel credits another for the idea in an episode of Wandering DMs. I regret that I can’t find the episode with the mention.

3 Retaining the two-handed battle axe and increasing the damage is my own idea.

OD&D’s Magic Bonus for Miscellaneous Weapons

MISCELLANEOUS WEAPONS: Those with bonuses of +1, +2 or +3 gain a bonus of equal merit on damage scored, except as noted below” (Monsters & Treasure, 31).

Like most of us, I have read the above line maybe a hundred times. Every time, I have interpreted “of equal merit” to mean equal to the hit bonus. Reading it today, though, I see no obvious reason to believe that to be the case. “Of equal merit” might refer rather to the aforementioned “bonuses of +1, +2 or +3.” The text “noted below” does not further elucidate the issue. Meaning that the magic bonus of miscellaneous weapons (except magic bows and arrows) is applied only to damage, not to the attack roll.

Am I missing something? I’m sure I’m missing something. What are your interpretations or other clarifying text in OD&D?

Dungeoneering

In his “Dispatch from the Campaign Desk” in L’avant garde #74 (August 1985), editor Dave writes: “From the Pandemonium Society, we get some new twists on old rules and an armored personnel carrier for your fantasy wargame campaigns!”

Dungeoneering

These are some rules we've been using for a long time, but we haven't bothered to write them down yet. Plus a couple monsters from Tombs' campaign.

Seeing in the Dungeon

Hazard doesn't go in for infravision. He says dwarves and elves and most underground dwellers can just see 60 feet in the dark. I like the logic of heat-seeing vision and so does Tombs. I think it's just too complicated though. Tombs uses it in his campaign, but he usually isn't real strict about it.

Forcing Doors Open

We used to play it where, if you didn't force a door open on the first try, you had to roll again and again to get it open or just give up. That was boring and pointless. Now we play it where, if you fail with less than a 6, it means the door is still between you and whatever is in the room. You can get it open pretty easily (without having to roll again), but you can't see what's on the other side, and anything there, in fact anything within earshot, knows someone's at the door and trying to get through. If you get a 6 (after adjustment for high strength), then the door doesn't budge. It's still stuck and you just can't open it, but somebody stronger than you can try. Or you could use an axe.

Finding Traps

Anyone can search for signs of a trap. We have to be specific about where we're looking. But if there's a trap that isn't concealed somehow, we find it without rolling for it. We have to be careful not to set off the trap while we're looking for it. Some traps, like a poison needle in a lock, we just can't see. A thief can detect traps like that with the same chance as he can remove it.

Magic Items

Magic swords get a bonus to the ATTACK roll AND they do bonus magic DAMAGE, same as the attack bonus, just like other magic weapons. Some (20%) magic swords give off light in a 10-foot radius.

War hammers do d6 damage. You can throw one up to 30' (same ranges as a hand-hurled axe). A Dwarven War Hammer is a +3 magic weapon. Dwarves can throw one twice as far with no penalty for long range, and it will boomerang back to the dwarf if it misses. If it hits, it does an extra dice of damage. If a dwarf hits a giant with a thrown Dwarven War Hammer, it gets two extra dice, 3d6+3 damage.

You can use a battle axe with only one hand and do d6+1 damage. If you use both hands, you get d6+2.

Rings of Armor: These rings (of plate mail, chain mail, and leather) give the wearer an armor class equal to their armor type with a magic bonus. So a ring of plate mail +1 gives AC 2, chain mail +2 gives AC 3. The magic bonus is also added to saving throws. If you're already wearing better armor, your AC isn't improved, but you still get the bonus to saves.

Equipment

Caltrops: You can throw caltrops on the floor of the dungeon to make monsters think twice about following you. One bag of caltrops will cover a 10-foot-square area. When a monster (or anyone really) walks through the caltrops, they have to slow down to half their exploring move rate or half combat speed (in combat). Any faster than that they might step on a caltrop (50% chance): take 1 point of damage and stop running immediately, moving at half speed until the damage is healed. You can toss caltrops up to 10', but the chance of stepping on one goes down to 30%. A bag of caltrops costs 1 g.p.

Salt: Throwing salt on zombies makes them dry up and wither. When we hit with a handful of salt, it does 1-8 damage. One bag of salt with a dozen handfuls costs 1 g.p.

Dungeon Boomtowns

We usually come out of the dungeon with some treasure. Sometimes we don't find anything, and sometimes we get a LOT of treasure! There are other adventurers bringing up treasure too, and all that money goes into the local economy and causes inflation, which means the price of stuff goes up.

The Boomtown rule says that the price of stuff goes up when a lot of treasure comes out of the dungeon and into the town. It's like a gold rush, but this is all kinds of treasure--not just gold--and it pours into base town like a river.

It sounds complicated, but Hazard makes it easy by tying inflation to the level of our PCs, because most of our XP comes from treasure. The price of everything doubles when the highest level PC gets to 4th level. It doubles again at 8th, 12th, etc. Everything means everything: from ale at the tavern to guild fees and hireling rates.

Monsters from KING OF WANDS

Cargolith: Move 60 feet/turn, Hit Dice 8-16, Armor Class 2, Treasure Type A (10%), Alignment Neutral, Attacks 1, Damage 3-36 (stomp). When resting, this creature looks like a small rocky hill, sometimes with a low natural wall surrounding the top. It can rest a long time, so grass or small trees might grow out of cracks. If disturbed, by walking on it, say, or taking a break inside the walls, the cargolith will stand on eight feet and start going in a random direction. There is a 50% chance that a ceiling of porous rock will form over the walls to close in whatever (and whoever) is within the walls.

Cargoliths have animal intelligence and can be trained to carry personnel, equipment and treasure. They can carry 1 man or 2,000 coins weight per HD. Enough air comes through the ceiling rock for breathing creatures.

Cargoliths consume small rocks and prefer river pebbles, so they are difficult to control within 100 yards of a river. They come from the elemental plane of earth. They are too big to go into most dungeons.

Enormous Spider: Move 90 feet/turn, Hit Dice 6+6, Armor Class 2, Treasure Type E, Alignment Lawful Evil, Attacks 1, Damage 4-16 (bite with strong poison, -1 to save vs. poison). These spiders are not web users, but they use sticky spider silk to build elaborate nests that look like fortresses from anything they can carry. Enormous spiders are intelligent. We know of at least one that can cast spells!

Movement, Encumbrance, Carrying Capacities, and Resting

Another curiosity in Holmes is the player character move rates. The Movement Table (9) shows that an “unencumbered, unarmored man” explores the dungeon at 240 feet per ten-minute turn, a fully armored man at 120. This corresponds to OD&D, wherein “Two moves constitute a [ten-minute] turn” and, so, a fully armored character moves 120 feet in a turn (The Underworld and Wilderness Adventures, 8).

A discrepancy arises, though, when we consider monster move rates. Man-sized creatures move from 60 feet to 120 feet per turn. An orc, for example, has an armor class of 7 (leather armor) and moves at 90 feet per turn. Inserting a line between unarmored and fully armored characters for “half armor” on Holmes’s table (as does Phenster), a leather-armored character would move at 180 feet per turn or twice as fast as the orc.

As written, the rules leave no room for ambiguity. Each monster entry is explicit: “Move: 90 feet/turn,” to use the orc example.

Another Charming Solution

In “Weapon Damage and Attack Priority,” concerning the dagger problem, I note:

By far the simplest solution is to ignore Holmes’s varying number of attacks per round by weapon. Thus, every weapon strikes once per round and does d6 damage. Weapon choice then becomes purely aesthetic.

Here again is an opportunity to modify the rules with a light hand. Though it veers away from later editions, by doubling Holmes’s monster move rates, we align Bluebook Basic with OD&D.

In “Movement and Encumbrance” (L’avant garde #63), Phenster gives weight-allowance ranges then admits to estimating encumbrance. I give Movement Rates [H] to align character move rates with those of monsters, which includes estimated encumbrance, and Encumbrance [E] as the more detailed option. Further, I separate extra and super heavy loads into another rule in the [P] Pandemonium category. Phenster adds carrying capacities for haversacks and pouches, which I put in the [E] Extra category.

On resting, Holmes stipulates that “one turn every hour should be spent motionless” (9), as does OD&D (The Underworld and Wilderness Adventures, 8), without exacting any penalties should the players ignore the requirement, which we often did. Phenster adds consequences. Resting [E] is informed by Chainmail (11).

Movement Rates [H]

A character’s movement rate is limited by armor worn and treasure carried according to the table below. The movement type depends on the situation, explained after the table. Units are feet per turn unless otherwise shown in the header. The max weight column is given for use with Encumbrance [E].

Note: “Normal” rate refers to the normal move speed in the dungeon (see table).

DungeonOutdoors
CategoryArmorMax Weight (cn)Combat (round)ExploringNormalTown* (yards)Wilderness* (yards)Journey (miles/day)
UnencumberedNone3002012024040024024
Half armorLeather600159018030018018
Full armorChain, plate900106012020012012
Heavy load**180053060100606
* Assumes good lighting; halve the rate in poor lighting.
** Cannot run.

    Dungeon

    Normal: Moving in cramped, dim spaces is hazardous even without the threat of monster attack or unseen pitfalls. Characters may move at normal rate over familiar terrain. Still, they are surprised on a 1 to 3 and may not notice any changes since their last passage. Other move rates are derived from the normal speed.

    Exploring: Wary of lurking monsters and on the lookout for hidden treasure, a character moves at half normal rate while exploring.

    Combat: In a 10-second combat round, a creature can move and normally defend itself while moving 16 the distance it can explore in one turn.

    Faster Movement

    Phenster shows a running rate of twice normal speed for dungeon environments and adds the option to run during combat outside melee. I add running outdoors up to three times the move rate. I also add forced march for long-distance overland travel.

    At any movement rate, except exploring and journey, creatures can double or treble their speed within limits defined below. In the dungeon, running is twice or thrice normal move rate (not the exploring rate). Moving faster than the given rate, a creature is surprised on a roll of 1 to 4.

    Double time: An unencumbered character can double-time for 3 turns. A half-armored character for 2 turns. Fully-armored 1 turn. A character burdened with a heavy load cannot run.

    Sprint: Sprinting is three times the current rate. Flank attacks on a sprinting character are made as if to the rear (see Flank and Rear Attacks [E]), gaining a +2 bonus on the attack roll. After sprinting one round, fully-armored characters cannot run (sprint or double-time) the next round.

    Forced march: Traveling overland, characters may move half again their journey rate for one day. They must rest the next day or be fatigued (see Resting [E], below).

    Notes on Running

    1. According to my reading, Phenster inflicts no penalty to a double-timing character in combat. Assuming one hustles in such a dire situation, we are aligned with combat move rates in B/X.
    2. A charge is executed at sprint speed (see Charge [E]). Therefore, a charging character is likewise more vulnerable to flank attacks.

    Outdoors

    Wilderness and journey rates are considered the base move, which is further modified by terrain type. We’ll get to that later.

    Town: Characters can move through non-threatening, well-lit, open spaces ten times faster than in dungeons, assuming they are not making a map either. In poor lighting conditions, the rate is halved.

    Wilderness: Exploring a dangerous but open environment, characters move at three times the normal dungeon rate. The wilderness rate is expressed in yards per turn. Again, halve the rate in poor lighting conditions.

    Journey: Overland travel is 11 times faster than the normal move rate in the dungeon. The journey rate can be derived from the normal dungeon move rate divided by 10 in miles per day.

    Heavy Loads [P]

    Phenster’s table breaks heavy loads into three weight ranges. Characters so encumbered cannot run, and those with extra and super heavy loads take penalties in combat and cannot travel long distances. All that adds a certain realism but is over complex for the Holmes spirit, so I separate this rule from Movement Rates [H].

    DungeonOutdoors
    CategoryArmorMax Weight (cn)Combat (round)ExploringNormalTown* (yards)Wilderness* (yards)Journey (miles/day)
    UnencumberedNone3002012024040024024
    Half armorLeather600159018030018018
    Full armorChain, plate900106012020012012
    Heavy load**120053060100606
    Extra-heavy**†1500320406040
    Super-heavy**‡1800110203020
    * Assumes good lighting; halve the rate in poor lighting.
    ** Cannot run.
    † −2 penalty on attack rolls, +2 penalty to AC.
    ‡ −4 attack rolls, +4 AC.

    Encumbrance [E]

    Encumbrance is measured by an item’s category according to the following table. Only armor, weapons, and treasure are considered. All other items are counted in the standard allowance, which is 100 coins. Weapons by weight are given in the Damage Dice by Weapon Class Table in “Weapon Damage and Attack Priority.”

    EquipmentEncumbrance
    (in coins)
    Leather armor300
    Chain, plate armor600
    Shield100
    Light weapons20
    Normal weapons50
    Heavy weapons100
    Extra-heavy weapons150
    Coin, gem, scroll, ring1
    Jewelry, potion, scroll w/case10
    Wand, staff, rod30
    Standard allowance100

    Strength adjustment: A character can carry 200 additional coins for every +1 bonus for strength or 100 fewer coins for every −1. (See “Ability Score Modifiers in the Great Halls of Pandemonium.”)

    Carrying Capacities [E]

    These are the carrying capacities of common containers.

    ContainerCapacity (in coins)
    Large sack600
    Backpack300
    Small sack300
    Haversack200
    Pouch100/50/25*
    * Large/medium/small

    Resting [E]

    Characters must rest for one turn after exploring for five turns, running, or combat. The number of turns a character can run without resting depends on their encumbrance (above).

    Characters who do not rest suffer a −1 penalty on attack and damage rolls and move at the next slower category. Hirelings check morale at −1 on the dice (see Morale [E]). For every five more turns exploring or any running or combat, the penalties increase by 1 and the move rate goes down another step. Unencumbered characters moving slower than their move rate don’t need to rest.

    This is the 30th in a continuing series of articles, which reedits house rules for Holmes Basic D&D from 40-year-old game club newsletters. Mentions of house rules are in bold text and followed by a [bracketed category designator].

    For rules category descriptions and more about the newsletters, see “About the Reedition of Phenster’s.” For an index of articles, see Coming Up in “Pandemonium Society House Rules.”

    Phenster’s Pandemonium Society House Rules is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, events, incidents, and newsletters are either products of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is pure coincidence.

    “Bluebook” D&D.
    The 1977 edition of Gygax and Arneson’s DUNGEONS & DRAGONS is also known as “Holmes Basic” after editor Dr. J. Eric Holmes.

    Movement and Encumbrance

    The following article appeared in L’avant garde #63 (May 1984).

    Movement and Encumbrance

    It's true that our first adventures weren't very sophisticated. It was just Hazard and me and Beowulf back then. Jinx joined us early on. I remember that we carried a ton of equipment and fought a slew of monsters. I don't remember how many times we died. Whenever we all got killed, we erased the treasure we found before that and kept going. There didn't seem to be any point to rolling up a new character.

    We didn't pay much attention to how much gold we had to start either. We just picked stuff from the equipment list. I think I had about everything in my backpack: rations, water skins, 100s of feet of rope, torches, oil, iron spikes, a silver mirror. . . . I even took a holy symbol and wooden stakes w/mallet, garlic, and a few holy waters. Somehow I was sure we would run into a vampire, even if we were only second level. All that went in the backpack, and I strapped a bandoleer of daggers across my chest. With the lantern and a 10' pole in my hands and a scroll with three spells up my sleeve, I was ready for adventure!

    Beowulf wore plate mail armor, a shield, and the whole armory of weapons. We didn't even know what half of them were, but Beowulf wanted one of each. Jinx stuck 10 daggers and a bunch of other equipment on a bandoleer. He could draw a flint-and-steel and a torch as quick as a throwing dagger and still have time to light the torch and throw it at a monster while I threw oil on it. But then we read the rules and figured out there's no way in Pandemonium we could have afforded all that stuff, much less carry it all around with us.

    Encumbrance

    Hazard made up this simple list of the encumbrance for armor, weapons, and treasure. A helmet counts as part of whatever armor you're wearing. For all the other equipment, like rope and spikes and stuff, he gives us the standard allowance, as long as we don't go overboard.


    Equipment
    Encumbrance
    (in coins)
    --------------------
    Leather armor300
    Chain, plate armor600
    Helmet---
    Shield100
    Light weapons20
    Normal weapons50
    Heavy weapons100
    Extra-heavy weapons150
    Coin, gem, scroll, ring1
    Jewelry, potion, scroll w/case10
    Wand, staff, rod30
    Standard allowance100

    Move Rates

    You find your move rate by the kind of armor you're wearing. You can wear armor and carry up to 300 coins without going over into the next slower category, but every 300 coins after that slows you down more and more.

    Exploring speed is half your normal rate. Going at normal rate in the dungeon, you're more likely to walk into a monster nest or not notice a trap or some important clue. Running (double time) is twice the normal rate. Combat speed is 1/12th normal rate, but it's per round. (You can also run while combat is going on but not while fighting in melee.) Outdoors, with good light and no mapping (mostly in towns), you move 5 times faster than normal rate. Half that in bad light. For long-distance travel, we use journey rates. You move at normal speed divided by 10 in mi./day.

    You can't run with a heavy load. Full armor can only run for 1 turn. Half armor can run 2 turns, and unencumbered can run 3 turns. Extra heavy and super heavy loads can't run or move long distances, and you can hardly take a step. Fighting isn't a good idea either, because you take a -2 on attacks and a +2 AC with an extra heavy load, and super heavy takes double the penalties.


    Category
    Armor
    type
    Max
    coins

    Comb.

    Expl.

    Norm.

    Run

    Jour.
    -----------------------------------------
    UnencumberedNONE3002012024048024
    Half armorLeather600159018036018
    Full armorChain,
    plate

    900

    10

    60

    120

    240

    12
    Heavy load12005306006
    Extra heavy15003204000
    Super heavy18001102000

    Every +1 bonus for strength gives you 200 extra coins you can carry without going over to the next category. (-1 for strength gives you 100 less coins.)

    It's kind of hard to keep track of it all, and we usually forget to add up all the treasure we're carrying after a while. Even Cypher says it's too tedious. But basically, your weapons and equipment usually turn out to be within the 300 additional coins you can carry at the start of the adventure. So, just go with your armor category. Then, when you get a good treasure haul, you'll probably go down to the next slower category, unless you've got a high strength.

    Coin Carrying Capacities

    Large sack600
    Backpack300
    Small sack300
    Haversack200
    Pouch100/50/25*
    * Large/medium/small

    A haversack is like a small sack with a strap so you can carry it over a shoulder. It's called a haversack because it's just big enough to put everything in it. I like to say "I either HAVE it ER I don't!" And I can get stuff out of it easy. Even during combat, it only takes one round. I can't be under attack, of course, but when the melee is going on all around me, I can still reach in and grab a potion or a bag of caltrops. If it's in a backpack, you have to take it off and rummage. Rummaging during melee is a good way to get yourself a new character.

    Resting

    Exploring the dungeon is exhausting. We have to rest for 1 turn after 5 turns exploring or after running or after combat. Combat happens so fast that we say we just rest for the rest of that turn. If we don't (or can't) rest, then we take a -1 penalty on attack and damage rolls, and we move at the next slower category. Plus, hirelings take a -1 penalty on their morale rolls. If we still don't rest after 5 more turns (or running or another combat), the penalty is -2 and we go down another move category. It goes on like that until we can't move at all. When we rest for 1 turn, we're good as new after. If you're unencumbered and moving at a slower rate, you don't need to rest at all.

    Nowadays I like to travel unencumbered. I carry a haversack with all my gear in it, including scrolls and potions. I wear a girdle around my waist to hold a pouch with 20 g.p. and a dagger to protect my skin. Beowulf wears plate mail, a helmet, and carries his two-handed sword. He has a backpack for gear and a short sword for fighting in tight spots. Because he's so strong, he can still carry a sack full of gold without slowing down. Jinx wears leather armor with a skullcap, a backpack, a sword, only 5 daggers on a bandoleer, and he carries the lantern and the 10' pole.

    We did eventually encounter a vampire. We were 3rd level. We had just found a good haul of treasure and decided to do one more room before we quit for the day. We thought it was just a giant bat at first, so I threw a web spell on it. It turned into a cloud of gas, and my web fell on the ground. Then it became a vampire! I presented the symbol with verve and threw holy water at it, while Beowulf and Jinx fought it. But we all died anyway.

    Phenster’s Pandemonium Society House Rules is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, events, incidents, and newsletters are either products of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is pure coincidence.

    Raised on DnD

    Interviewed for the Raised on DnD podcast, I talk with Nick Cardarelli about old-school editions of D&D, a little about how they differ from newer editions, but mostly about how I love all the editions and how D&D is good for us.

    Raised on DnD S8E10 on Spotify
    Click the image to listen on Spotify.

    Raised on DnD podcast helps enrich your family’s gaming experience by bringing you interviews with parents, educators, game designers, and influencers. Join us as we delve into the many ways tabletop role-playing games inspire creativity, develop communication skills, and create lasting bonds among players.

    Read more about the article The Giant Kingdom: Another Holmes Uniquity
    FOREWORD FROM THE ORIGINAL EDITION (Basic D&D, 1977).

    The Giant Kingdom: Another Holmes Uniquity

    From the map of the “land” of the “Great Kingdom” and environs — the territory of the C & C Society — Dave located a nice bog wherein to nest the weird enclave of “Blackmoor”, a spot between the “Giant Kingdom” and the fearsome “Egg of Coot”.

    —Gary Gygax, from the FOREWORD FROM THE ORIGINAL EDITION, Basic D&D, 1977.

    The Giant Kingdom

    The words conjure a rugged land. Humans traverse with difficulty. Its inhabitants live in clan groups, each giant kind—stone, frost, storm, etc.—in its proper niche. Clans are led by chieftains. Several clans are ruled by jarls, whose power may reach far along mountain ranges. From floating castles high above, cloud and storm giants vie for the Giant Crown.

    Another Holmes Uniquity

    Compare the original “Forward” to D&D in Men & Magic (below) to the FOREWORD FROM THE ORIGINAL EDITION in Holmes Basic D&D (above). In the original, the Great Kingdom serves as the territory of the C&C Society as well as a border of Blackmoor, opposite the Egg of Coot. In Holmes, it is the Giant Kingdom that borders Blackmoor.

    Photo of page of text titled Forward.
    The “Forward” to DUNGEONS & DRAGONS by E. Gary Gygax (Men & Magic, 1974).
    Read more about the article 50th Anniversary of the “Forward” to D&D
    The “Forward” to DUNGEONS & DRAGONS by E. Gary Gygax, dated November 1, 1973 (Men & Magic, 1974).

    50th Anniversary of the “Forward” to D&D

    In the FOREWORD FROM THE ORIGINAL EDITION, I read a mysterious fairy tale. It began with “ONCE UPON A TIME, long, long ago . . .” and turned quickly esoteric. There were castles, crusades, and societies. There was a character named Dave Arneson and a map of a “Great Kingdom” and its “environs.” There was a bog and, in it, a “weird enclave” called “Blackmoor” in “a spot between the ‘Giant Kingdom’ and the fearsome ‘Egg of Coot.’” There were medieval fantasy “campaigns,” which were more than just a game. Blackmoor was one, another was Greyhawk.

    The place names were unfamiliar, as were many of the words. They all came together in my mind like pieces of an insolvable jigsaw puzzle. . . .

    —Excerpt from Blue Flame, Tiny Stars

    The last Sunday in January. That’s when D&D historian Jon Peterson marks the anniversary of the game’s release: January, from a 1975 fanzine article by Gary Gygax; late in the month, from the co-creator’s recollection in the 1999 Silver Anniversary edition, and Sunday, because that’s the day “Gary invited the world to drop by his house, at 1:30 PM, to have a first experience of Dungeons & Dragons.” According to Peterson’s reckoning, on January 28, 2024, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of D&D.

    Another date must have been an important milestone to Gary Gygax. The foreword is often written last. When it’s done, the author’s work is complete. The manuscript now goes to typesetting, layout, proofreading, and, finally, to the printer. As he punched out “1 November 1973” on typewriter keys, Gygax must have felt, at the same time, great satisfaction in having completed the game and hopeful trepidation about its reception by the wargaming community. These emotions may have clouded his vision such that he didn’t catch an error in the title.

    The milestone is also important to many fans, who, like myself, found so much wonder in that single half-size page. In the opening citation, I describe my fascination when I first encountered the text in the 1977 Holmes Basic edition. By now I’ve read it countless times. It is with the same fascination, the same wonder, that I read it again today—and maybe once more.

    If the last Sunday in January is the anniversary of its birth, November 1 marks the advent of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS.

    In the years since, I learned all the place names from the mysterious fairy tale and all the words, too. I learned about the Castle & Crusade Society and their Chainmail fantasy wargame rules. I learned that Dave Arneson and the FOREWORD’s author, Gary Gygax, invented the game, of which the “original edition” was published in the previous decade. I have adventured in Greyhawk and Blackmoor and set scenarios for my own medieval fantasy campaigns in those worlds. And although now I know its origin and character, in my mind, the Egg of Coot remains fearsome.

    Blue Flame, Tiny Stars

    Models for Languages in Make-Believe Worlds

    Languages reveal culture. Their use in an RPG campaign adds verisimilitude. Riffing off Phenster’s examples, we can introduce languages to a simple D&D campaign without much effort. Or we can use the examples as a starting point and, with some effort, develop the ideas further.

    Like hirelings and henchmen, the use of languages in the campaign is more a model or template than a strict rule, so I categorize the following rules, derived from “MYSTERIORUM LIBRI,” in [C] Campaign.

    Learning Extra Languages [C]

    A character can learn languages in addition to languages known at character creation (see “Ability Score Modifiers in the Great Halls of Pandemonium”). A teacher must be found, and the fee negotiated. The suggested minimum is 100 g.p. per month.

    The time required to learn a language is 6 + d6 months. Complex languages take 6 + 3d6 months. Reduce the number of months by one month per language already known, not counting Common and the alignment language. Dialects of known languages require half the number of months.

    Learning may be interrupted for up to one month without consequence. An interruption of more than a month adds an additional month to the learning time, i.e. after a month or more without learning, one month of previous study is lost.

    Reducing Monster Languages

    “All other creatures and monsters which can speak have their own language” (Men & Magic, 12).

    In OD&D, the monster list doubles for the language list. Holmes reproduces the text (9), adding that all languages are selected at character creation. Moldvay suggests human dialects and 19 languages spoken by monsters from the Basic (1981) rulebook. Cook and Marsh give no further guidance concerning which Expert monsters might speak their own language. The AD&D Dungeon Master’s Guide (1979) lists more than 50 languages (102), including one for each color and metal of dragon plus six giant types.

    If language selection is to be meaningful, the player should have a certain assurance to encounter speakers or script written in the language. Choosing the language of bronze dragons would be a rare gamble. Of course, when a player selects the language, the clever DM finds a way to include the speech of a bronze dragon in the game. Clever DMs aside, a language not chosen by players is of little use in the campaign.

    Instead of a language for every monster, Hazard groups monsters by themes, loosely cultural. For example, gnomes and kobolds speak dialects of dwarvish.1 All fairy creatures speak the same language, as do goblinoids and wargs.

    Hazard also groups mythical creatures, who speak one of an undefined number of unnamed ancient human, or “Mythic,” languages. As a good many monsters from contemporary sources (OD&D, Holmes, AD&D Monster Manual, B/X) are drawn from mythology, this greatly reduces the language list. Furthermore, because the Mythics are from ancient (presumably human) cultures, they are doubly useful.

    Monster Languages by Culture [C]

    These are monster languages according to Hazard’s system. The DM is free to modify and invent. Alternative names are in parentheses. See Phenster’s description of each monster language.

    Monster Languages
    Dwarvish/Gnomish/Kobold+
    Elvish (Fairy)*
    Goblinish
    Orcish+
    Gnoll*
    Ogrish++
    Draconic (Wyrm Utterances, Wyrmspeak)*
    Entish**
    Doppleganger*
    + Dialects of the same language.
    ++ Dialect of Common.
    * Complex language.
    ** Complex language, requires years, not months, to learn.

    Surrogate Languages

    “[Hazard] uses other real languages (usually old ones) for other old languages in the Heptarchy.”

    —from “MYSTERIORUM LIBRI

    The first I encountered the idea was in Ray Winninger’s Dungeoncraft, where the author applies foreign languages to character names (Dragon #259, 18-20). Hazard goes further. He uses real-world languages as stand-ins for any representation of imaginary languages in the campaign. In “MYSTERIORUM LIBRI,” Phenster notes Hazard’s choice of surrogate language for each human language in parentheses at the end of the description.

    Human Language Categories [C]

    Like the “Common” language, used throughout D&D editions and ubiquitous in D&D campaigns for going on five decades, Hazard’s “Old Common” is not otherwise named. Phenster’s DM doesn’t go out of his way to name the language used throughout the dominant culture of the ancient world, either, calling it “O.E.,” which must stand for Old Empire.

    Though perhaps obvious, I outline these categories and subcategories as a simple way for the DM to consider languages in the campaign setting.

    The Common Languages

    In addition to the Common language currently in use throughout the campaign setting, a number of other languages once served a similar purpose. These, if not still spoken, have extant written samples. Phenster’s examples are old and ancient common and numerous mythic languages.

    Old: This was the common language hundreds of years before the contemporary Common, which may or may not be an offshoot of the older. If English is our real-world Common, Old English or French are examples of Old Common.

    Ancient: At least one step removed from Common, this language was in widespread use a thousand years or more before the present. In the real-world example, the Romans spread Latin throughout the known world.

    Mythic: The many and diverse mythic languages were first used in times long past and places near and far. Greek, Old Norse, Egyptian, Ugarit, and Mayan are a few examples from our world.

    Uncommon Languages

    Phenster mentions Caerlon, an indigenous language. I add the local and foreign categories.

    Indigenous: Spoken by people native to the area, indigenous languages are spoken and may be written, depending on the culture’s technological level.

    Local: In some areas, usually outside the setting’s cultural center, the Common language may be foreign. The locals speak Common as a second language. Player characters from the region would speak the local language as well as Common.

    Foreign: Merchants, immigrants, and invaders bring their languages to the campaign area.

    Linguae Francae

    Phenster tells us O.E. is “the lingua franca of the Church,” as is Ecclesiastical Latin in our world. The historical Lingua Franca is a mix of a few languages, including French, once used in trading ports around the Mediterranean. In D&D worlds, Common is usually considered the mercantile language, but a setting might use another (or others). Other possibilities for linguae francae are a court language, a language used between sages (possibly secret) or a multi-cultural military group, druidic, and the cant of thieves.

    The Rare Languages

    The example is Runic, which is lost, magical, and secret. The Forty-Eight Keys are another possible example, but Phenster doesn’t make it clear whether the language is lost or magical or both. Though I break down the constituent categories, combining at least two of these makes the player’s choice less rare. In any case, player characters usually cannot learn a rare language at the beginning of their careers.

    Lost: A lost language is unknown or heard of only in legends at campaign start. A lost language usually falls into another category or categories, e.g., a lost mythic language.

    Magic: Assuming the usual D&D campaign setting where magic-users must cast a spell to read magic, any additional magical language should be, at least, difficult to use or limited, perhaps by rarity. It may also allow the use of a different kind of magic.

    Secret: A secret language is used by a small group, widely dispersed. A missive may be intercepted, but its contents are indecipherable to outsiders without the proper magic.

    Alignment Languages

    A system of only two opposing alignment languages places a greater emphasis on the opposition between them. It suits a campaign that, like Hazard’s Great Halls of Pandemonium, embraces Law and Chaos as opposing sides, wherein scenarios focus on the ongoing battle between them. Alignment Languages: Law and Chaos [C] can be used whether using three, five, or nine alignments. These house rules assume five.

    Alignment Languages: Law and Chaos [C]

    Whether good or evil, lawful and chaotic characters know their respective alignment language, either Law or Chaos. Neutral characters know neither.

    Written Alignment Languages [C]

    Alignment languages are usually spoken. Individual words or short phrases (up to three words suggested) may be inscribed on a durable medium, e.g. stone, precious metals.

    Four or Five Alignment Languages

    Another idea is to break the alignment languages into four or five: Law, Chaos, Good, Evil, and maybe Neutral. Creatures speak two, one, or, if only four languages, none, depending on their alignment. Chaotic good characters speaking with like-aligned would use a mix of Chaos and Good, depending on the topic. Lawful good and chaotic good would use Good. Although such a system would create a certain ambiance, it might get a little nuts. I don’t propose it as a house rule.


    1 In Holmes, “Gnomes are similar to dwarves,” and kobolds are “dwarf-like,” though they “behave much like goblins” (28, 29).

    This is the 28th in a continuing series of articles, which reedits house rules for Holmes Basic D&D from 40-year-old game club newsletters. Mentions of house rules are in bold text and followed by a [bracketed category designator].

    For rules category descriptions and more about the newsletters, see “About the Reedition of Phenster’s.” For an index of articles, see Coming Up in “Pandemonium Society House Rules.”

    Phenster’s Pandemonium Society House Rules is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, events, incidents, and newsletters are either products of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is pure coincidence.

    “Bluebook” D&D.
    The 1977 edition of Gygax and Arneson’s DUNGEONS & DRAGONS is also known as “Holmes Basic” after editor Dr. J. Eric Holmes.