Sunday, July 27, 2025

Filling in the OD&D Gaps: Another Take on Initiative

As I mentioned in my last post, I've scrapped the OD&D/Chainmail hybrid I was working on, and I'm filling in the OD&D gaps with my own rules.  To be honest, OD&D has most of what's needed for a simple fantasy game of dungeon and wilderness exploration.  The basic framework is there, at least.  What's missing is a basic framework for combat.  I think if I work up systems for initiative, morale, and movement, I'll be pretty much good to go, and anything else can be filled in as problems arise at the table.  I've also been looking at the spell list, going through each one and seeing what clarifications and rulings have been made in later editions.  I'll probably do the same for OD&D's monsters as well, and then I can get to the actual campaign prep. 

A few weeks ago I posted the initiative system I'd cobbled together from OD&D and Chainmail.  If you go and look at it you'll see that it's an unwieldy thing, a shambling monstrosity composed of the Turn Sequence from Chainmail mass combat, the rules for "who strikes first" from the Man-to-Man section, and OD&D's suggestion that Dexterity determine who goes first in combat.  I never got to the point of trying it out, but I can already tell it's not the direction I want to go in.

OD&D only has this to say as far as initiative goes: "Dexterity applies to both manual speed and conjuration. It will indicate the character's missile ability and speed with actions such as firing first, getting off a spell, etc."  I'm trying to use the rules and suggestions from OD&D as closely as possible, so I have to keep that in mind while I consider how I want this to work.  I should note that I very much dislike the rule in the Holmes Basic Set, where everyone acts in strict Dexterity order.

The first thing to consider is that I don't like "phases" in D&D initiative.  I'm not a fan of systems that put combat actions in a specific order: movement, then missile fire, then melee, etc.  They work perfectly well for war-games, but RPGs are much looser, with a far wider variety of actions that a character can take in any round.  If, for whatever reason, my character wants to sit down and start carving a pumpkin in the middle of combat... what phase does that go in?  Or, for a less random example, what about something as simple as drinking a potion?  I find phased systems too restricting.

Connected to that, I'm not a fan of systems where everyone has to declare their actions before the round begins.  There's a lack of immediacy there, and in increased reliance on the DM to coordinate things.  This can lead to a huge increase in the cognitive load on the DM, especially when they have a lot of creatures to control.  I much prefer it when actions take place right after they're declared... but I also dislike systems where characters run all the way across the battlefield while everyone else is standing still.

I also have a preference for systems where initiative is re-rolled at the start of each round.  The system in 3rd edition works fine, but it's a little rote when each round progresses in the same order as the ones before it.  I like the swinginess of the re-roll, which for practical purposes necessitates rolling for the whole group each round, not for individuals.  Individual initiative requires too much die rolling. 

So my requirements for an initiative system are as follows:

  • Dexterity is a factor in speed of actions 
  •  Initiative is re-rolled every round.
  • Actions don't have distinct, predictable phases 
  • Actions are not declared before the round begins
  • Characters can't run all the way across the room while everyone else is standing still

 In basic terms, what I'm thinking of is something like this:

  1. Both sides roll 1d6, winning side goes first, draws act simultaneously
  2. Winning side takes its actions.  Anything that would happen immediately (such as melee or missile fire) takes place here.  Anything that would be delayed (such as actions after movement) happen at the end of the round.
  3. Losing side takes its actions, some immediate and some delayed as above.
  4. All movement happens
  5. Winning side's delayed actions are resolved, followed by losing side's delayed actions.

It gets most of what I want.  Yes, it's phased, but the phases are less rigid, and more based on speed of action than type of action.  The split between immediate and delayed actions allows me to have the immediacy of actions happening right away, while not having to deal with the silliness of creatures standing still while others move across the battlefield.  It also lets me have spellcasting be interruptible, which is a must.

The only thing missing is that Dexterity doesn't influence this sequence at all.  The easiest solution is to simply give characters with a high Dex (13+) a +1 bonus on the initiative roll, and those with low Dex (8 or less) a -1 penalty.  Monsters can be assumed to be of average Dexterity, because I don't want to be rolling any new stats for them.  I'm keeping the modifiers low to stay in keeping with the rest of OD&D, and also to make less work for the DM.  All I have to remember is which character's are fast, and which are slow, and it won't come up for the monsters unless the party are fighting NPCs. 

Some other things to note:

  • Spellcasting begins in the immediate phase and resolves in the delayed phase
  • Attacking after movement can only happen on a charge.  In this case, longer weapons will attack first.
  • Melee attacks otherwise all happen in the immediate phase
  • If a character can fire multiple missile per round, they are split between the immediate and delayed phase 

I think I'm done!  No doubt the system will be tweaked in play, but to me it seems like something I can run at the table without too much fuss.  I can already see that the movement phase is perhaps a little too vague, but I'm resisting breaking things down into segments. Anyway, here it is in full:

INITIATIVE RULES

THE INITIATIVE ROLL

A die (1d6) is rolled to determine initiative at the beginning of each combat round.  Each side rolls, and the side with the highest score has the initiative and will act first.

 

Dexterity Modifier

Characters with a high Dexterity will react faster, and those with a low Dexterity will react slower.  For these characters, modify their initiative roll as follows.  This modifier applies to the character only.  If the modified initiative score is equal to the score of an opponent, the character and opponent will act simultaneously.

 

Dexterity

Score

Missile and Spell

Initiative Modifier

3-8

-1

9-12

0

13-18

+1

 

Tied Initiative

If initiative rolls are tied, all actions in each phase occur simultaneously.  It is thus possible for two combatants to kill each other in the same round, for example.

 

COMBAT PHASES

A combat round has three phases, the Immediate Phase, the Middle Phase and the Delayed Phase.

 

Immediate Phase

These are actions that take place immediately in a combat round, such as making a melee attack, firing a missile, or using an item that is already in hand.  Spell-casting begins in this phase.

 

Middle Phase

Few actions will take place in this phase.  This is when movement occurs, and actions that take place during movement (such as an elf's split-move and fire).

 

Delayed Phase

Some actions will take place later in the combat round.  Any action taken after moving will happen in this phase, such as attacks at the end of a charge.  All spell-casting ends in this phase.

 

TURN SEQUENCE

  1. Both sides roll 1d6.  Note the initiative score for each side.
    1. Characters with high or low Dexterity will modify their own initiative score accordingly.
  2. Immediate Phase
    1. For the character with the highest initiative score:
      1. Decide on an action
      2. If the action is immediate, resolve in this phase
      3. If the action is not immediate, resolve in the Middle or Delayed Phase
    2. Repeat 2a for characters with the next highest score, and continue for each participant in the combat
    3. Note that creatures with a tied initiative score act simultaneously
  3. Middle Phase:
    1. Movement and equivalent actions take place during this phase
    2. Any elf or mounted archer performing a split-move and fire shoots in this phase
    3. In general, movement all happens at the same time.  Creatures will stop if they come within melee range of an opponent.  Use common sense or compare movement rates if timing is important.
  4. Delayed Phase
    1. Delayed actions are resolved, from highest initiative score to lowest
    2. Note that when charging into a melee, weapons with the higher class will attack first regardless of initiative score
  5. Check Morale (see Morale for more details)

 

 

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Wavering & Waffling

I have a habit of abandoning projects, or changing my mind about them midstream.  It's a recurring pattern: I start a project, I commit to it, and once I'm partway through or near the end, my dissatisfaction with the whole thing grows and I throw in the towel.  True to form, I've reached that point with trying to reconcile OD&D and Chainmail.

I still want to run a campaign that starts with OD&D rules and progresses through to AD&D; I haven't changed my mind about that.  But the more I try to work Chainmail into the mix, the more unsatisfied I become with the results.

Here's the thing: the two really don't fit smoothly together, no matter what some people might try to tell you.  They're two different systems with very different goals, and what I've found in combining the two is that it ends up with a bunch of rules that aren't to my taste, and that don't really mesh with D&D as it will progress.  As expected, the results are very wargamey, and more than a bit clunky.  Seeing them written down, I can already tell they won't survive more than a session or two at my table.

So I'm changing plans to using straight OD&D, and filling in the gaps with my own ideas, ones that I'm more confident will work for my game.  A lot of these rules will probably look like stripped down or simplified AD&D, because if I know I'm headed in that direction I might as well lean into it early and make any rules transitions as smooth as possible.  That's my current plan, anyway...  Time will tell if I waver and change my mind again.

Thursday, July 10, 2025

Gary Gygax, World's Greatest Cobbler

 I've been reading and listening to a lot of material about Gygax and the origins of D&D lately: Playing at the World, The Game Wizards, When We Were Wizards...  It's been interesting to learn so much about him, and his creative process (in collaboration with many others, of course, Dave Arneson chief among them) and it's crystalised some thoughts I've had about the man's genius and the nature of it.

I have a tendency to throw words out there pretty lightly, and to make overblown statements without thinking them through (usually for attempted comedy).  But I actually do think Gygax is a genius.  When I think about how far-reaching and influential his work has been, in pop culture in general and video games in particular, it's hard not to come to that conclusion.  Perhaps this is just me in my particular pop-culture bubble, but I feel like I see his fingerprints everywhere I look.

I wouldn't say he's a creative genius.  Certainly he was no slouch in that area, but I think his true genius lay in synthesis, in blending the ideas of others into a workable whole.  When most people think of "fantasy" these days, it's a fair bet they are picturing something akin to a D&D world.  And yes, most of them will look more than a little like Tolkien...  But then most of them will also have monsters from various real world mythologies and folklore, a patchwork historical setting similar to Howard's Hyboria, elements from old pulp novels, from Lovecraft, from Lieber, from Vance...  That was the base, anyway, with more elements being added to the generic fantasy stew as time went on.  But that initial "kitchen sink" fantasy setting, as far as I can tell, was brought into to the world and popularised by D&D and its earliest creators.  I might be overlooking something here, but I don't think so.

I don't think the above is a big secret, or something that wasn't readily understood by most fantasy gamers.  But what's become more apparent of late is how much of a synthesis the original rules of D&D were also.  The discovery of Len Patt's "Rules for Middle Earth", with their obvious influence on Gygax's CHAINMAIL Fantasy Supplement, has thrown this into sharp relief.  The OD&D rules draw on many sources: CHAINMAIL, Len Patt's rules, the wilderness exploration from Avalon Hill's boardgame Outdoor Survival, Dave Arneson's Blackmoor notes, the aerial rules from Mike Carr's Fight in the Skies, the naval rules from Gygax and Arneson's Don't Give Up the Ship...  There are no doubt other things I'm overlooking, or sources that have yet to be discovered.

The takeaway is that, although a genius by my own definition, Gygax's greatest gift wasn't in creating things from whole cloth.  His real skill was in combining his own creativity with that of others, taking bits and pieces from every place and combining them into a compelling whole.  By some it could be called influence, and by others theft - I think it possibly skirts over that line in some cases, although I can't really speak as to the attitude of wargamers of the day when it came to sharing ideas.  Maybe this sort of thing was done by everyone, I have no idea.  Regardless, the results spawned an entire industry, and had far-reaching influences on all kinds of media up to the present day (for good or ill).  Before D&D blew up, Gygax was supporting his family as a shoe cobbler.  You could say that's what he was still doing as an RPG designer: cobbling rules systems and cobbling a whole genre of fantasy.  It turned out that cobbling was what he did best.

Friday, June 06, 2025

A New Thought About Alignment

 Alignment has long plagued my thoughts in the various iterations of D&D.  Specifically, it's that alignment has been used to represent different things across the editions.  In some editions, it's about what "side" you're on in whatever grand cosmic conflict is raging in your campaign.  In others, it represents your character's moral and ethical codes, and acts as a guideline for their behavior.  I've struggled at times to square that circle, but I think now that I've cracked it, at least to my own satisfaction.

Long ago in the elder days of my youth I was obsessed with gamebooks.  Fighting Fantasy, Lone Wolf, Grail Quest, you name it.  They were the perfect blend between fantasy literature and D&D, and aside from video games maybe the best way to experience a solo RPG. One of the lesser-known series' I latched onto was the Cretan Chronicles, a trilogy of books set in mythical Ancient Greece.  In it you play Altheus, the brother of Theseus, and it's your quest to avenge his death at the hands of the Minotaur (that story having gone a little south for ol' Theseus in this version).  They're very good as I recall, a bit more mature in style and theme than most of their contemporaries.  But the aspect that's relevant to today's topic is that of divine favour.

At the start of the series you pick one of the Greek gods as your patron, and it gives you a little benefit.  Ares grants a +1 in combat, that sort of thing.  During your adventure various actions on your part will earn the favour or disfavour of various gods, which can have all sorts of consequences up to and including death.  It does a very good job of modelling the fickle nature of the gods in those stories, and their meddling in human affairs.

Now, we come to D&D alignment, which is often used to define a character's morals and behavior.  But now I'm thinking about it in reverse.  It's not the alignment that defines your actions, but the actions that determine your alignment.  Or, more specifically, your actions define which powers hold you in favour.  Act in a lawful good fashion consistently, you will have the favour of the Lawful Good powers or deities, and the disfavour of those on the opposite side.  The same goes for Chaotic Evil, etc.  Neutrals are those who have managed, through actions deliberate or unknowing, to avoid the favour or disfavour of any particular powers.

Those are my quick thoughts, which I just dashed off at the end of my work shift... I'm sure it's not exactly revelatory, but it makes sense to me in a way that alignment never has before.  Now if I can just wrap my head properly around the problem of alignment languages...

Sunday, May 25, 2025

OD&D and Chainmail Combat: Movement Rates for Charging

In CHAINMAIL, different troop types are given a movement rate per round for a normal move, and a charge move.  I'll reproduce the relevant pages below:

 

 

Movement and Charge Moves for Player Characters

Most of the troop types in the initial example can be ignored for the purposes of D&D.  OD&D's "Encumberance" chapter gives us three movement categories: Light Foot, Heavy Foot, and Armored Foot.  From the above pages, we can tell the following:

  • Armored Foot movement is 6" normal, and 6" on a charge
  • Heavy Foot movement is 9" normal, and 12" on a charge
  • Light Foot movement is 12" normal, and 15" on a charge
    • What it actually says above is that Light Foot movement is the same as for Heavy Foot.  But there's enough evidence in OD&D Vol. 2 (such as the Berserkers entry) to suggest that lightly armored men have a normal move of 12" per round.  There are also a number of troop types in CHAINMAIL above with movement rates of 12", so I am going with those.

 It should be noted above that a number of creatures have no charge move at all.  Sprites and Pixies number among these, which is fair enough due to their diminutive size.  But Hobbits and Elves having no charge move is fairly significant given that they are player character races.  I'm inclined to go with this restriction, if only to nerf Elves a little.  It's a bit of a blow to Hobbit PCs, but they tend to do more sneaking than fighting in the source literature, so I'm good with it.

Elves, Dwarves, and Hobbits

I should make a note regarding movement rates for elves, dwarves and hobbits here.  The rules tend to assume that all PCs have movement rates of 12".  In Advanced D&D, Elves move faster than they should while wearing chain armour, while dwarves and hobbits move slower than they should given the armour types they wear.  There is some textual merit for giving elves a base move of 15", and giving dwarves and hobbits a base move of 9".  In OD&D, this can be handwaved a bit more, as movement rates depend more on encumbrance than on armour worn.  It's easy enough to say that elves travel light, while dwarves are loaded down.  And Hobbits in CHAINMAIL have a movement rate of 12 anyway.  I'm not entirely decided, but in the interests of simplicity I'm leaning towards giving every PC race a base move of 12.

General Trends from CHAINMAIL

Obviously, the pages above don't cover charge moves for all of the monsters in OD&D.  From the pages above, I have taken the following patterns:

  • Particularly small and light creatures (pixies, sprites, hobbits, elves, etc.) do not get a charge move
  • Humanoids (at least those up to troll/ogre size) get a +3" bonus when they charge
  • Faster creatures with four legs or more (such as horses, wolves and dragons) get a +6" bonus when they charge
  • There creatures that might be described as lumbering (ents) or slow-moving (undead wights/ghouls) that can still charge, but get no movement bonus for it

List of Monsters and Their Charge Moves in OD&D:

Using the above trends, I've extrapolated charge movement for every monster in OD&D, using CHAINMAIL and the original D&D boxed set (as well as some forward knowledge of later editions...):

  • Animal, Large or Small
    • Varies
  • Ant, Giant
    • normal 18, charge 24
  • Ape
    • normal 12, charge 18
  • Ape, White
    • normal 12, charge 15
  • Balrog
    • normal 6, charge 9
  •  Basilisk
    • normal 6, charge 12
  • Bat
    • normal 24, charge n/a
  • Bear
    • normal 9, charge 12
  • Bear, Cave
    • normal 9, charge 12
  • Beetle, Giant
    • normal 6, charge 12
  • Black (or Gray) Pudding
    • normal 6, charge n/a
  • Caveman
    • normal 12, charge 15
  • Centaur
    • normal 18, charge 24
  • Centipede
    • normal 15, charge n/a
  • Centipede, Giant
    • normal 15, charge 21
  • Chimera
    • normal 12, charge 18
  • Cockatrice
    • normal 9, charge 12
  • Crab, Giant
    • normal 6, charge 9
  • Crocodile
    • normal 9, charge 9
  • Crocodile, Giant
    • normal 9, charge 9
  • Dinosaur, Brontosaurus
    • normal 9, charge 9
  • Dinosaur, Pterodactyl
    • normal 3, charge n/a
  • Dinosaur, Stegosaurus
    • normal 6, charge 9
  • Dinosaur, Triceratops
    • normal 9, charge 15
  • Dinosaur, Tyrannosaurus Rex
    • normal 15, charge 21
  • Djinni
    • normal 9, charge 12
  • Doppleganger
    • normal 9, charge 12
  • Dragons (all)
    • normal 9, charge 15
  • Dragon Turtle
    • normal 3, charge n/a
  • Dryad
    • normal 12, charge n/a
  • Dwarf
    • normal 6, charge 9
  • Efreet
    • normal 9, charge 12
  • Elemental, Air
    • normal n/a, charge n/a, fly 36"
  • Elemental, Earth
    • normal 6, charge 6
  • Elemental, Fire
    • normal 12, charge 15
  • Elemental, Water
    • normal 6 (18 in water), charge 6 or 18
  • Elf
    • normal 12, charge n/a
  • Ent
    • normal 6, charge 6
  • Fish
    • normal n/a, charge n/a, swim 30
  • Fish, Giant
    • normal n/a, charge n/a, swim 30-50
  • Gargoyle
    • normal 9, charge 12
  • Geletinous Cube
    • normal 6, charge n/a
  • Ghoul
    • normal 9, charge 9
  • Giants (all, inc. Cyclops)
    • normal 12, charge 18
  • Giant, Titan
    • normal 15, charge 21
  •  Gnoll
    • normal 9, charge 12
  • Gnome
    • normal 6, charge 9
  • Goblin
    • normal 6, charge 9
  • Gorgon
    • normal 12, charge 15
  • Gray Ooze
    • normal 1, charge n/a
  • Green Slime
    • normal n/a, charge n/a
  • Griffon
    • normal 12, charge 18
  • Hippogriff
    • normal 18, charge 24
  • Hobbit
    • normal 12, charge n/a
  • Hobgoblin
    • normal 9, charge 12
  • Hog (or Boar), Giant
    • normal 12, charge 18
  • Horse, Draft
    • normal 12, charge 18
  • Horse, Light
    • normal 24, charge 30
  • Horse, Heavy
    • normal 12, charge 18
  • Horse, Medium
    • normal 18, charge 24
  • Horse, Mule
    • normal 12, charge 15
  • Hydra
    • normal 12, charge 12
  • Insect, Large or Small
    • varies
  • Invisible Stalker
    • normal 12, charge n/a
  • Juggernaut
    • normal 6, charge n/a
  • Kobold
    • normal 6, charge 9
  • Leech, Giant
    • normal 6, charge 6
  • Lion
    • normal 12, charge 18
  • Lion, Spotted
    • normal 12, charge 18
  • Living Statue or Golem
    • normal 9, charge n/a
  • Lizard, Giant
    • normal 15, charge 21
  • Lycanthrope, Werebear
    • normal 9, charge 12
  • Lycanthrope, Wereboar
    • normal 12, charge 15
  • Lycanthrope, Weretiger
    • normal 12, charge 15
  • Lycanthrope, Werewolf
    • normal 15, charge 18
  • Mammoth
    • normal 12, charge 15
  • Manticore
    • normal 12, charge 18
  • Mastodon
    • normal 15, charge 18
  • Medusa
    • normal 9, charge 12
  • Merman
    • normal 12, charge 15, swim 15
  • Minotaur
    • normal 12, charge 15
  • Mummy
    • normal 6, charge 6
  • Nixie
    • normal 12, charge n/a
  • Ochre Jelly
    • normal 3, charge n/a
  • Octopus, Giant
    • normal n/a, charge n/a, swim 9
  • Ogre
    • normal 9, charge 12
  • Orc
    • normal 9, charge 12
  • Pegasus
    • normal 24, charge 30, fly 48
  • Pixie (and Sprite)
    • normal 9, charge n/a, fly 18
  • Purple Worm
    • normal 6, charge 6
  • Rat
    • normal 15, charge n/a
  • Rat, Giant
    • normal 12, charge 18
  •  Rhinoceros, Wooly
    • normal 12, charge 15
  • Robot, Android or Cyborg
    • varies
  • Roc
    • normal 6, charge n/a, fly 48
  • Salamander
    • normal 9, charge 12
  • Scorpion, Giant
    • normal 15, charge 21
  • Sea Monster
    • normal n/a, charge n/a, swim 12
  • Shadow
    • normal 12, charge 12
  • Skeleton
    • normal 6, charge 6
  • Snake, Giant
    • normal 9, charge 15
  • Snake, Giant Sea
    • normal n/a, charge n/a, swim 20
  • Spectre
    • normal 15, charge 15, fly 30
  • Spider
    • normal 6, charge n/a
  • Spider, Giant
    • normal 12, charge 18
  • Squid, Giant
    • normal n/a, charge n/a, swim 12
  • Tiger
    • normal 12, charge 18
  • Tiger, Sabre-Tooth
    • normal 12, charge 18
  • Titanothere
    • normal 12, charge 15
  • Toad, Giant
    • normal 6, charge n/a (but can hop)
  • Troll
    • normal 12, charge 15
  • Unicorn
    • normal 24, charge 30
  • Vampire
    • normal 12, charge 15
  • Weasel, Giant
    • normal 15, charge 21
  • Wight
    • normal 9, charge 9
  • Wolf
    • normal 18, charge 24
  • Wolf, Dire
    • normal 18, charge 24
  • Wraith
    • normal 12, charge 12, mounted 24, mounted charge 30, fly 24
  • Wyvern
    • normal 9, charge 15, fly 24
  • Yellow Mold
    • normal n/a, charge n/a
  • Zombie
    • normal 6, charge 6