You'll be amazed! Early print advertising for Dungeons and Dragons:
+2 to maître d' intimidation.
What? Didn't everyone play D&D like this?
Wizards AND Superheroes? I guess I AM amazed.
More Than Usually ODD!
Gygax's house rules for Original D&D.
Also a de facto admission of some of the persistent rules problems that turned a generation of players into amateur game designers. Didn't EVERYONE ignore that training rule?
Gygax: "I run three-booklet OD&D now and again
myself, adding some house rules to make 1st level PCs a bit more viable and
allowing Clerics a spell at 1st level if their Wis is 15 or higher."
1) Only use the three OD&D books - none of the
supplements.
2) Ability scores rolled as best 3 out of 4d6.
Arrange scores to taste.
3) All PCs get 1d6 hp/level. HP rolls are rerolled
on a 1.
4) Fighters get +1 HP/die. All PCs get +1 HP/die if
Con > 14.
5) Fighters do +1 damage if Str > 14.
6) Dex doesn't affect AC. (It does affect missile
attack "to hit" rolls.)
7) PCs start at 3rd level.
8) PCs are unconscious at 0 hp. They can go as low
as level +1 before death. (e.g. a 4th level fighter can be brought as low as -5
hp and just be unconscious.) A healing potion or cure spell restores them
immediately.
9) 1d6 for surprise. 1=1 round. 2=2 rounds. 3 or
more=no surprise.
10) PCs must declare actions before initiative.
Casters must declare the specific spell being cast.
11) 1d6 for initiative. A tie means simultaneous
combat.
12) A casting caster who loses initiative will lose
his spell if hit.
13) No training necessary to gain a level.
14) To acquire new spells casters must find scrolls,
spellbooks, or a friendly higher-level caster.
15) Clerics don't need spellbooks.
16) Magic items are identified immediately. Potions must be
tasted to be identified.
G 2007 update:
18) STR > 14: +1 to hit and +1 to damage if a
Fighter
19) INT > 14: +1 1st level m-u spell
20) WIS > 14: +1 1st level cleric spell
21) DEX > 14: +1 to AC, and +1 to move silently
22) CON > 14: +1 HP per HD (same as a Fighter
class gets, +2 if a Fighter)
23) CHA > 14: +1 (positive) on reaction checks
24) When taking damage allow -1 HP per character
level (this rule was possibly not always used)
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