Am I Pretty? Comeliness
Being Pretty in AD&D
It comes in handy and until Unearthed Arcana being attractive was just tucked into Charisma.
Previously we looked at Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution, Charisma and now it’s time to go a step further – Comeliness.
Comeliness comes from the Unearthed Arcana and was added after AD&D had been out for some time and numerous Dragon Magazine articles had circulated.
The Secret to People Liking You – Charisma
Charisma
Possibly one of the more wide ranging stats that AD&D uses, but the one with the least misuse. It still may harbor a surprise or two, so let’s take a closer look.
Previously we looked at Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution, and now it’s time for the “dump stat” or is it a dump stat?
What did we Learn from Constitution?
How to screw it up in Classic Fail Squad Games style while playing AD&D!
Previously we took a look at Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, and today we dig into Constitution to see how the Fail Squad Gamers might have used, abused or glazed over the rules in the books.
The Secret of Dexterity
Think there’s no way to screw up the rules for Dexterity? You must misunderstand the FAIL in Fail Squad Games!
Previously we took a look at Strength, Intelligence and Wisdom. Now it’s time to look into Dexterity and how the Fail Squad Gamers have often misused it, house ruled it or glazed over it.
For this we look to the AD&D Players Handbook (1e Easley Cover) page 11& 12.
What is Dexterity?
Our Friend Gary Gygax described the core of Dexterity this way:
Dexterity encompasses a number of physical attributes including hand-eye coordination, agility, reflexes, precision, balance, and speed of movement
The text further goes on to acknowledge that a character may be good at ONE of those things and terrible at others, but the the score is a general reflection of all the abilities summed up in one place.
This all seems pretty standard, thieves are granted a 10% XP bonus for high dexterity as it is their main attribute. Very good, stuff we all know and incorporate into our games!
Dexterity Table I
What follows the description is the Dexterity Table I that has some interesting bits.
- At 5 or lower the character can ONLY be a Cleric.
I can accept this as all the other classes don’t work well with bumbling and fumbling to excessive degrees.
- 6 is the minimum for half-elves and mages.
Also makes sense. While 6 is not graceful, the elves would be less likely to be bumbling about.
- 7 minimum for an elf
- 8 Minimum for a hlafling
This one is a little surprising. Halflings are more dexterous than elves. I can only assume this is inspired by a certain Mr. Underhill and his ability to pick pockets – or hide rings in them.
- 14 is the maximum of a half-orc.
This again reinforces the bar for half-orc not being monks. I suspect Gary only liked the idea of them being warriors or barbarians.
- 16 is the minimum for illusionists
As DMs we should take note of this. This is a testament regarding the complexity of illusionist spells and component use. An illusionist should really be put to the test when casting upper level spells.
- 17 is the maximum for Dwarves
Where we Failed
We would go through the table, look at our bonuses or penalties and apply them to our adjustments on the character sheet. Reaction / attacking we assumed for surprise and to-hit with missile weapons, the defensive was an armor class bonus or penalty.
The piece that follows the chart is the part where we diverted from, or glazed over the rules. There is a section below the table titled: Notes Regarding Dexterity Table I
The reaction adjustment ALSO applies to saving throws against certain attacks. Fireballs, lightning bolts and other spells that conjure something you might dodge should be taking into account your dexterity adjustments when making a saving throw!
Dexterity Table II
This table is pretty straight-forward without surprises. This illustrates the bonuses applied to thief abilities as they relate to dexterity. I would have liked to see this under the “thief” section as well so when you create a character you didn’t need to bounce all over the book to get your ability numbers. That is a layout gripe though, and not a rules misinterpretation.
So polish up your notes – and note that Dexterity bonuses apply to some of those saving throws. Would this have saved any of your characters who didn’t save vs fireball?
Also see the articles on Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma.
What’s to know about Wisdom?
In AD&D Wisdom seems pretty straight forward with little room for confusion – or IS there?
It might be time to take a closer look.
Previously we have taken a closer look at Strength and Intelligence, now it’s time to look into Wisdom and how the Fail Squad Gamers have often misused it, house ruled it or glazed over it.
For this we look to the AD&D Players Handbook (1e Easley Cover) page 11. The general description of Wisdom is pretty straight forward.
It’s a composite term for the character’s enlightenment, judgement, wile, will power, and (to a certain extent) intuitiveness.
That’s pretty plain. Clerics with a 16 or higher get a 10% XP bonus – well we all know that.
Wisdom Table I
Things get a little interesting on Wisdom Table I though, and I never stopped to consider the implications of the limits that are set in place by this table. (click image for full size view)
- At 5 or lower wisdom a character can ONLY be a thief.
This means no completely oblivious wizards or warriors. However, I don’t understand this ruling other than it must have a game mechanic effect elsewhere. In my mind, a thief would need a bit of intuition to know when someone is watching, when it’s safe to sneak through the alley, or if you might get caught picking a pocket. I would like to have debated this with Gary Gygax a little.
- At 14 we reach the maximum wisdom possible for a Half-Orc character. It is also the Minimum wisdom required for a Ranger.
This means it’s an extremely rare half-orc that makes the lower cut for the worst of the Rangers.
- At 15 we reach Minimum wisdom required for a Monk
Here we have a game limit, that there can be no half-orc monk player characters.
- 17 is the Maximum wisdom for a halfling, and the minimum required to cast 6th level clerical spells.
Saving Throw Adjustments
Here is where our group went COMPLETELY off the tracks with wisdom and did a terrible disservice to this rule for a very long time. With a Wisdom of 8 or less you have a penalty and 15 or more you have bonuses to saving throws for all characters. We would simply pop in the bonus on our saves and move on. That is NOT how this was supposed to work!
Below the table is an asterisked note that details the bonuses and penalties ONLY apply to mental attack forms involving will force. Beguiling, charm, fear, hypnosis, illusion, magic jar, possession, telepathic attack etc. It is not an open bonus or penalty to all saving throws!
Wisdom Table II
This table we did use more appropriately but we didn’t spend a lot of time considering the lower wisdom clerics and their penchant for botching spells. Below a 12 wisdom, there is a real chance for spells failing. Something I never took into account as a DM when the nutty Kobold Shaman came around. At a 9 wisdom, there is a 20% chance that spells will fail and do nothing at all.
Bonus spells
This is the part players always were focused on, and it is exactly as we dreamed, bonus spells that stack up with higher wisdoms.
Does this unbalance the game? I think no. Clerics have the burden of being the “Healing battery” of the party. without these bonus spells, playing a cleric would be a drudgery of just casting Cure Light wounds and turning undead with little else to do. These bonus spells give the cleric a chance to heal their comrades a little AND cast the more interesting spells.
A house rule that worked
Clerics and this problem of always having to be the healing battery was always at the forefront of one of our problems with the game. No one wanted to be the cleric, but we all knew we needed one. Most of this was due to the constant doling out of cure spells, which ate up spells prayed for for the day.
Pretty quickly, we ruled that a cleric could swap out any spell for a Cure Light Wounds spell at any time. We tinkered with variations on this to make clerics more appealing to players at the table. We eventually came to a system of casting spells as they seemed appropriate at the time without praying ahead.
Then when 5E released, I nearly cheered with joy when I saw Spell slots! This was what we had been working toward all this time. Spell slots may even get plopped into our 1E mash-up game. I daresay it is the BEST thing about 5E rules!
How have you dealt with Wisdom? Were you failing at it as terribly as we were?
Also see the articles on Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma.
Do you make these mistakes with Intelligence?
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1E) approaches intelligence and spell use in a way that often gets house-ruled and glazed over. Previously we took a look at Strength, now we take a closer look at Intelligence.
Intelligence and IQ
In the PLayer’s Handbook 1E (Easley cover) Page 10, Intelligence is likened to modern IQ with a few caveats. It allows for an aptitude as much as a handling of words and numbers.
For the most part, it usually is assumed an intelligence score x 10 is about where a character lands on the IQ scale. This is the core of the stat, and where we all happily hop on board the intellect train in AD&D. Where things get house-ruled and a bit more glazed over is the small table that follows (intelligence table II) and how it relates to spell casters.
Wizards, Spells and Intelligence
One of the places our group glazed over constantly was the limitations on spells as they relate to intelligence. Spells let a player nearly ‘break the game’ in that, spell use allows things normally not possible to happen. Gygax had a tighter leash on spells than we realized, or wanted to admit.
A Magic User with an intelligence of 10 cannot cast spells above fifth level. 12 cannot cast over sixth, 14 not over 7th, 16 not over 8th, and 9th requires a minimum of 18.
What about table II?
Here is where my group used to really toss the rules out or glaze over the rules to expedite things. In doing so, we may have been missing out on an important element of the game – making wizards as rare as Merlin or Gandalf.
It is intended for Table II to function as follows (paraphrased heavily and summed up):
The chart begins with ability scores and the column next to it is a “chance to know spell”, after that comes Minimum number of spells / level, then Maximum number of spells / level.
When a character reaches a level where they have access to the next level of spells, they may go through the list and roll a % for each they wish to attempt to learn Rolling below the % for their intelligence determines whether or not they can learn the spell. This is only done ONCE for the life of the character. Unless after rolling through the spells for the level they did not obtain the minimum number of spells, then they may go through the ENTIRE list again rolling percentages until the minimum number is reached.
Once a player rolls on the spell list for a level, they may never revisit those rolls again. The opposite is true for maximum spells per level.
But wait, there’s more
This rolling once per spell level seems to get wobbly when a character’s intelligence score changes. This requires a new set of rolls to determine spells known per level. This only happens if the change is, or seems to be, permanent.
A new % roll may be made for each new spell the character comes across to determine if they can learn it… if they have not reached the maximum spells per level.
Confusing?
Yes and no. There are some muddy waters around this spell acquisition and it’s no wonder it got house-ruled so much. However, it’s not bad considering it had never been done before Gygax, Arneson and Mike Carr (edits) took a swing at it.
There is a benefit to having heavy restrictions on spells and extra abilities in the game. Ever notice in the old modules how the treasure lists seemed overly rich? loaded with wands, scrolls, potions, magic rings and armor? These restrictions on spells, classes, and things allowed for the excitement of rich treasure in the game without breaking balance or play. Each class having limits created a strategy situation in almost every encounter.
In the newer versions of the game, players balk at weapon damage of 1d6. 1d6 is pretty much the standard damage in AD&D. This makes wizards edge ahead in power when they can AUTOMATICALLY hit with a single word (Magic Missile). A fireball that does 1d6 per level of the caster and hits EVERYTHING in its’ explosive area…. while flying is very powerful.
So yes, the % to know a spell, and the restrictions to learning spells might seem limiting compared to newer versions of the game where a magic user is pretty much EVERYONE and they spout magic off without limit. AD&D is made to replicate Merlin, Gandalf, and Akiro (from Conan).
How do you house-rule intelligence and learning spells?
Also see the articles on Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma.
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