Recaps & Roundups part 9: Chainmail 3rd edition

After Guidon Games folded in 1973, TSR were able to acquire the rights to Chainmail. In early 1975 they republished the game, making some minor updates to the rules for its 3rd edition. There's not a lot to discuss, but I'll quickly go over the additions that were made.

• Hobgoblins are added at the end of the Goblin entry, but nothing is said about them except that they are stronger in battle than regular goblins.
• Rangers are mentioned for the first time in a D&D-related product, in a single sentence at the end of the entry for Heroes. They are simply Heroes with a +1 bonus. No other description is given, so one has to assume that the reference here is to Tolkien.
• Seers are added as the lowest level of Wizard, below Sorcerers, Warlocks and Magicians.
• Eight new spells are added: Levitate, Slowness, Haste, Polymorph, Confusion, Hallucinatory Terrain, Cloudkill, and Anti-Magic Shell. All of these are based on spells in the D&D boxed set, and any differences in implementation can be chalked up to specialist battle magic.
• An optional rule is added for spell complexity. Spells are given a complexity between 1 and 6, which corresponds to the spell's level in D&D. Now when a spell is cast, 2d6 must be rolled to determine if the spell will be cast immediately, delayed, or ineffective. The introduction of this rule will be explained by the destructive nature of battle magic; with it being used frequently, reality has become strained and the spells are harder to cast.
• An entry is added for Giant Wolves, which includes Wargs and Dire Wolves. They are said to be able to carry Goblins into combat.
• Zombies are added at the end of the Wight entry.

I'm not sure if that's comprehensive, but it should cover most of the changes to the Fantasy Supplement. I didn't go through the medieval rules, but they're of less relevance to this project. Most of these additions I will introduce to any mass battles at around the same time as I bring in the material from Supplement I: Greyhawk (which is the next post.)

Recaps & Roundups part 8: Early D&D Articles by Gary Gygax

In addition to recapping the various D&D products that I've covered so far, I wanted to use this series to slot in some other products and related articles in their proper chronological place. Well, I was bound to miss something. Early D&D is nothing if not disparate, and Gary Gygax's writings about it were printed in a lot of different sources. I'll try here to cover all of the articles that would have seen publication before Supplement I: Greyhawk.

"Battle for the Brown Hills", from Wargamer's Newsletter (March 1971, just as Chainmail was being first published)

This article is a play report from an early Chainmail scenario that Gary moderated. The forces of Chaos have invaded the Meadowlands of the Great Kingdom, and the forces of Law have rode out from Great Keep to meet them in the field. The battle was won by the forces of Chaos, but not decisively enough for them to take the field; the end result was that both forces retreated to lick their wounds and gather reinforcements, with another battle soon to come. The whole account can be read here.

This article is perhaps one of the most detailed descriptions we have of Gygax's original campaign setting. I'm just going to reproduce the opening here in full:

"East of the Desert of Sorrow stretches the nearly unbroken barrier of forbidding mountains. Furthest south, dipping into the place where the Gnyxyg Sea meets The Ocean, they are called Mountains of Bitter Cold. At the place where the Broken Land joins them they become known as the Home of Dragons, and it is somewhere within their vast area that is hidden the Cave of Shifting Runes. Furthest north they are known as the Giant Mountains, due not to the stature of their peaks - albeit this is undiminished, but rather for the creatures who inhabit the labyrinthine caverns therein. A spur of the chain first turns eastward, then circles north again, to enclose the hidden and unwholesome valley of Lake Iuz. The lesser peaks of the spur are the Dwarfrealm.

On the coast north of the Giant Mountains are the lands called Drearshore, and the peninsula of Lands End. It was from here that Chaos armed its host, swarmed into the Valley of Iuz, and began to harry the Dwarves, causing them to flee southwards into the Brown Hills and bringing news of the massing evil to the men of the Old Kingdom. From the town of Yon to the city of Hither the news travelled, and the paladins at Great Keep were called forth by the Count of Aerll. All of Law was to meet in solemn council at the hamlet of Lea. In a short time the men of the Meadowlands were joined by a band of the warlike elves from the wood near the Cairnstones, as well as a large band of horsemen from beyond the Silent Forest, the eastern border of all the land.

The encampment of the Count was made in the Cloverfields, between Lea and the Brown Hills. It was here that intelligence reached them that the Horde of Chaos had debouched from the pass at the headwaters of the Darkling River, skirted the Marshes of Oozing Slime, and now were only a few days from him. Despite the fact that only three-quarters of his forces had been marshalled, the Count marched at once due west across the narrow waist of hills, and took up strong position to await the enemy."

That is a lot to take in, and as with much of Gygax's writing it's not the most straightforward. Looking ahead somewhat, I can see that it doesn't match up with the published World of Greyhawk maps, although there are some familiar names in there. Dave Megarry, inventor of the boardgame Dungeon!, has made available a map of Gary's original world from circa 1971. It's hard to say if it matches that either, because we don't have a lot of geographical detail to go on.

For the moment, I'm content to say that the above map represents the World of Greyhawk as it was, and that some cataclysm or event will reshape the land into its configuration as seen in official TSR products. As such, it looks like the Battle of the Brown Hills will be one that was fought in the ancient past. The article mentions the forces of Chaos invading the "remains of the Old Kingdom", so it's possible this might be set after the fall of the Great Kingdom.

The forces of Chaos were led by the Warlock Huldor ap Kree, and the Giant King Verdurmir. They were also comprised of Ogres of Iuz, human troops from Lands End and Drearshore, and a number of Orc tribes. The tribes given are the Orcs of the Mountain, Orcs of the Vile Rune, and Orcs of the Longspear. The first was one of the example tribes given in Chainmail,

The forces of Law were led by Count Aerll (a super-hero), and the Magician of the Cairn. In addition there were knights and other men from the Meadowlands, horsemen from the lands to the east, and elves. Both Count Aerll and the Magician of the Cairn were slain in battle, the latter by a randomly passing dragon. The count's magic sword was lost on the field of battle, and it's fate is unrevealed.

A map of the battlefield is below:

"The Giant's Bag", from Great Plains Game Players Newsletter #7 (April 1974, a few months after D&D is first published)

This article relates a wilderness adventure that was being DMed by Rob Kuntz, with Ernie and Gary Gygax as players. In this adventure, the sorcerer Nestre (played by Ernie, I assume, given the anagrammatical name) and some fighter henchmen were following a map to some treasure hidden in the wilderness southeast of the walled city of Greyhawk. They encountered a giant, who accompanied them through the greenwood and along a turgid river, to a bank infested with giant crabs. The giant helped them smash the crabs, and retrieve a treasure chest from the river bed.

Following that there are some hi-jinks where the giant inadvertently tricks the players into diving into the river to retrieve some "round things" (actually worthless rocks), and claims most of the treasure himself. The greedy Nestre tries to get a look inside the giant's bag, and in doing so loses a crystal ball and two valuable gems, only to find that the bag is full of worthless junk.

It's a mildly amusing tale, with perhaps a few anachronisms too many for my taste. It's greatest value is the insight that it gives into the tone of the original Greyhawk campaign. I'll keep this giant around as an NPC perhaps, and have Nestre as one of the previous generation of adventurers in and around Greyhawk, with these events as just one of the tales about him.

Addendum: I see that Gary asked Jeff Talanian to include a Hill Giant of similar temperament to this in Castle Zagyg: The Upper Works. I might make it the same giant.

"Swords & Sorcery in Wargaming" from Wargamer's Digest #7 (May 1974, a few months after D&D is first published)

This article begins (which can be read here) with a very brief over-view of fantasy wargaming, before launching into an account of a D&D session played by Gygax (and presumably run by Rob Kuntz). It follows Mordenkainen (said to be a 13th level wizard) and his one-time apprentice Bigby (11th level), as they explore the 4th level of a dungeon. In a previous adventure they had descended some dozen levels, and found a key and some lines of verse; after some research and divination, they were now searching level 4 for the door that the key would unlock.

Somewhere north and east of the entrance to the level, past a portcullis that crashed behind them, they found a room with four chests and a disembodied voice telling them to "choose from the four chests before you". One chest held a hydra (which they polymorphed into a slug), and the other granted them a wish of limited power. They used the wish to get directions to the door, which was past some iron portals to the east, and then north to the gates to the Great Hall.

There they found three granite thrones, upon which were seated three iron statues. One held a dagger, and one held a broadsword, but the central one was an iron golem wielding a poisonous sword and a whip of cockatrice feathers, and possessed of a fiery breath. It defeated an efreeti that the wizards summoned, and turned Mordenkainen to stone with its whip, forcing Bigby to retreat to Mordenkainen's stronghold.

Bigby quickly returned with Lords Yrag and Felnorith, as well as the Bishop Raunalf. After restoring Mordenkainen to flesh, they looted the weapons from the two statues and used them to destroy the golem. Unfortunately, Bigby was now turned to stone, and Yrag was killed by its poisoned sword, but the others were able to loot the statues, which were hollow and full of gems, and also to find a tiny coral miniature of the surrounding dungeon. Presumably the two felled characters were later restored.

This golem was mentioned in D&D Vol. 3: The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures, and the adventure recounted above was from Kuntz's El Raja Key dungeon. It appears in altered form in dungeon WG5 Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure, in what is now Castle Maure. In order to make both adventures viable, I might have it that Castle Maure is one of those dungeon that periodically changes its layout, much like Castle Greyhawk.

*

That brings me up to date with roughly March of 1975, which sees the approximate publication dates of Supplement I: Greyhawk and Chainmail 3rd edition. I have a number of other early D&D articles by Gygax, and I'll intersperse them with the regular posts in the series

Recaps & Roundups part 7: The Strategic Review #1

In early 1975, TSR launched its first magazine, The Strategic Review. It was intended not only to support Dungeons & Dragons and TSR's other game lines, but also to cover the wargaming hobby in general. The first issue is only six pages in length, so it shouldn't take too long to cover. I'll tackle it article by article, ignoring those that have no relevance to D&D.

TSR News: It's noted that TSR has just acquired the rights to Don't Give Up the Ship, Tractics and (most importantly to this blog) Chainmail. A third edition of Chainmail is said to be arriving soon.

Supplements for D&D are also said to be a high priority, and the first will be arriving some time before GenCon (held in August). Supplement I: Greyhawk is believed to have been first printed in March, so they made the date handily.

Creature Feature: The Mind Flayer makes its first appearance.

Castle & Crusade by Gary Gygax: Gary defends to ineffectiveness of the spear in Chainmail with some historical context. He also promises a more detailed breakdown of polearms.

Solo Dungeon Adventures by Gary Gygax (with special thanks to George Lord): This is a series of random tables for creating solo dungeon adventures. I may use this in the Ultimate Sandbox as a dungeon that is always random, or perhaps a cursed demi-plane that is one huge, ever-shifting labyrinth.

Recaps & Roundups part 6: D&D Correction Sheet

The second printing of the original Dungeons & Dragons set - released in January of 1975 - included a sheet with some corrections to the rules. It was also present in the third printing, released in April 1975. Mostly it clears up some typos, but it also makes some rules changes and clarifications that I thought I'd note.

• In the first printing, the sleep spell affected 1d6 creatures of 4 Hit Dice. It's changed here so that it now only affects a single 4 HD creature.
• The Hit Dice for skeletons and zombies were unclear in the first printing. They were shown as having HD 1/2, which could have meant two things: either both creatures had half a Hit Die, or skeletons had 1 and zombies had 2. It's changed here so that skeletons get half a Hit Die and zombies get 1.
• Balrogs in the first printing did just 2d6 damage with their flaming bodies. It's corrected here so that they can now do 3d6 or 4d6 depending on size.
• It wasn't mentioned in the first printing that gargoyles can only be damaged by magic weapons, but that rule is added here.
• Similarly, a rule is added here so that lycanthropes can only be damaged by silver or magic weapons.
• Elementals are changed here so that only magic weapons can damage them as well.
• In the first printing, all spell scrolls are for magic-users. This sheet changes the rule so that a quarter of scrolls will feature clerical spells.
• In the first edition, the potion of heroism was quite literal, in that it transformed a normal man into a Hero (a 4th level fighter). This sheet adds some lines so that the potion is useful for characters of levels 5+.
• This sheet clarifies that a spell written on a scroll can only be used once before it disappears, something that wasn't mentioned in the first printing.

I usually try to rationalise these kinds of rule changes for this project, but in this case I'm going to treat them as exactly what they are: errata. These are all things that should have been in the rules in the first place, so I feel no need to explain them.

Recaps & Roundups part 5: D&D Vol. III - The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures

Another entry in my recaps of the D&D products I've covered thus far. For this post it's the third booklet of the original Dungeons & Dragons boxed set, The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures. In the most basic terms, this book is the equivalent of what would eventually become the Dungeon Master's Guide.

New Rules Introduced

• Random determination of dungeon room contents (monsters, traps, treasure)
• Movement in the underworld
• Detection of secret passages
• Forcing doors
• Listening at doors
• Surprise
• Wandering monsters
• Avoiding monsters in the underworld
• Monster reactions
• Random determination of castle inhabitants
• Wilderness movement
• Encounters and pursuit in the wilderness
• Getting lost in the wilderness
• Wilderness wandering monsters
• Construction of castles and strongholds
• Hiring of specialists and men-at-arms
• PC upkeep and support
• Baronies
• Aerial combat
• Naval combat
• Swimming
• Healing

Monsters that get stats for the first time

• Dragon Turtles
• Giant Leeches
• Crocodiles and Giant Crocodiles
• Giant Snakes (aquatic variety)
• Giant Octopi
• Giant Squids
• Giant Crabs
• Giant Fish

Monsters mentioned that didn't get stats in Vol. II or III

• Giant rats
• Giant Centipedes
• Giant Spiders
• Giant Lizards
• Giant Toads
• Giant Hogs
• Giant Ants
• Giant Weasels
• Giant Beetles
• Giant Scorpions
• White Apes (from Barsoom)
• Pterodactyls
• Cyborgs
• Robots
• Androids
• Shadows
• Dopplegangers
• Red Martians (from Barsoom)
• Tharks (from Barsoom)
• Black Martians (from Barsoom)
• Yellow Martians (from Barsoom)
• White Martians (from Barsoom)
• Lions
• Bears
• Tyrannosaurus Rex
• Triceratops
• Brontosaurus
• Stegosaurus
• Apts (from Barsoom)
• Banths (from Barsoom)
• Thoats (from Barsoom)
• Calots (from Barsoom)
• Orluks (from Barsoom)
• Sith (from Barsoom)
• Darseen (from Barsoom)
• Cave Bears
• Dire Wolves
• Sabretooth Tigers
• Mastodons
• Spotted Lions
• Wooly Rhinos
• Titanotheres

NPC Specialists introduced

• Alchemists
• Armorers
• Assassins
• Animal Trainers
• Engineers
• Sages
• Seamen
• Ship Captains
• Smiths
• Spies

Details and conjecture relevant to the Ultimate Sandbox

• The book begins with a sample cross-section of a dungeon, as shown below. I plan on placing this dungeon somewhere not far from the City of Greyhawk.

• Later on a sample level is included. It's more of a way to demonstrate various tricks and traps than a genuine level, but I'm going to include it as part of one of the dungeon above. The level in question needs a chute and a slanting passage, which doesn't match anything in the sample, so it'll have to be one of the levels below 6th (the cavern). The map for this area is below:

• There's a sample of play that features some adventurers (including an elf and a magic-user who can cast hold portal) exploring a dungeon and fighting some gnolls. I've mapped out the dungeon described as shown below. These adventurers will be dead bodies deeper into the dungeon, and found with them will be their gnoll treasure: 2,000 copper pieces, an onyx case worth 1,000 gp, a jeweled necklace worth 5,000 gp, and a pair of elven boots.

• It's noted that Greyhawk Castle has "over a dozen levels in succession downwards, and more than that branching from these, and not less than two new levels under construction at any given time. These levels contain such things as a museum from another age, an underground lake, a series of caverns filled with giant fungi, a bowling alley for 20' high giants, an arena of evil, crypts, and so on".
• There are some rules that I plan to apply only as special circumstances for "megadungeons": doors are usually stuck for PCs, but will always open for monsters; the dungeon layout may change between visits; monsters all have infravision, but will not benefit from it if serving a PC. Mythic megadungeons such as Blackmoor or Castle Greyhawk are actively hostile towards the PCs.
• Blackmoor is described as "a village of small size (a one-horse town)".
• The City of Greyhawk (written as "Grayhawk" here, but we all know better) is a large city. It's said to have bazaars, inns, taverns, shops, temples, and a risky Thieves' Quarter.
• The board from Outdoor Survival was used in the original Greyhawk campaign for wilderness exploration.  I'll be using it in the Ultimate Sandbox as a nearby wilderness area. Here it is below:

• There must be a lot of unclaimed wilderness around Greyhawk, as PCs are free to clear areas out and build their own strongholds. The region is also dotted with small castles ruled by fickle NPCs. The Outdoor Survival map is about 215 miles (43 hexes) x 210 miles (42 hexes), and it contains (I think) 18 different castles. Anyone in charge of a castle is considered to have their own barony, and can start collecting taxes, but they also seem to be pretty autonomous. I guess that there is a ruling authority around Greyhawk that governs these things and hands out baronies, but that they're fairly hands off unless someone starts causing them too much trouble.
• Based on the wilderness wandering monster tables, there must be somewhere in the campaign setting a "lost world" swamp or jungle that's full of dinosaurs, and a mountain range inhabited by prehistoric mammals.
• There are many references to Barsoom, the setting of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter novels, so there should be some way of getting there in the campaign.
• Sages won't work for clerics or magic-users, which I'm going to chalk up to some sort of guild rivalry or professional jealousy.
• Vikings are mentioned. I won't have actual Vikings in the campaign, but there should be some sort of equivalent.
• Apparently orcs are readily available to be hired as men-at-arms by chaotic character.
• It's noted that ships might sail off the edge of the world. Is the World of Greyhawk flat? I'm not altogether opposed to the idea.

Recaps & Roundups part 4: D&D Vol. II - Monsters & Treasure

This post continues my quick round-up of what's in every Dungeons & Dragons product I've covered so far, and my ideas for incorporating it all into a single campaign.  Today I'm covering the second booklet of the original D&D boxed set, Monsters & Treasure.

This book lists all of the monsters and magic items in the original game. Obviously, everything listed here is appearing in D&D for the first time. I'll make a note of the things that were already included in Chainmail.

Monsters That Get Stats For the First Time

• Man, Bandit
• Man, Berserker
• Man, Brigand
• Man, Dervish
• Man, Nomad
• Man, Buccaneer
• Man, Pirate
• Man, Caveman
• Man, Merman
• Goblin (in Chainmail)
• Kobold (in Chainmail)
• Orc (in Chainmail)
• Hobgoblin
• Gnoll
• Ogre (in Chainmail)
• Troll (in Chainmail)
• Hill Giant
• Stone Giant (There is a giant in Chainmail, and it fits the Stone Giant better than the others)
• Frost Giant
• Fire Giant
• Cloud Giant
• Skeleton
• Zombie
• Ghoul (in Chainmail)
• Wight (in Chainmail)
• Wraith (in Chainmail)
• Mummy
• Spectre
• Vampire
• Cockatrice (in Chainmail)
• Basilisk (in Chainmail)
• Medusa
• Gorgon
• Manticora
• Hydra
• Chimera (in Chainmail as a general category rather than a specific monster)
• Wyvern (in Chainmail)
• White Dragon (in Chainmail)
• Black Dragon (in Chainmail)
• Green Dragon (in Chainmail)
• Blue Dragon (in Chainmail)
• Red Dragon (in Chainmail)
• Golden Dragon
• Balrog (in Chainmail)
• Gargoyle
• Lycanthrope, Werewolf (in Chainmail)
• Lycanthrope, Wereboar
• Lycanthrope, Weretiger
• Lycanthrope, Werebear (in Chainmail)
• Purple Worm (in Chainmail)
• Sea Monster (doesn't really get stats, but does get its own description)
• Minotaur
• Centaur
• Unicorn
• Nixie
• Pixie (in Chainmail)
• Dryad
• Gnome (in Chainmail)
• Dwarf (in Chainmail)
• Elf (in Chainmail)
• Ent (in Chainmail)
• Pegasus
• Hippogriff (in Chainmail)
• Roc (in Chainmail)
• Griffon (in Chainmail)
• Invisible Stalker
• Air Elemental (in Chainmail)
• Earth Elemental (in Chainmail)
• Fire Elemental (in Chainmail)
• Water Elemental (in Chainmail)
• Djinn (in Chainmail)
• Efreet (in Chainmail)
• Ochre Jelly
• Black (or Grey) Pudding
• Green Slime
• Grey Ooze
• Yellow Mold
• Light Horse
• Medium Horse
• Heavy Horse
• Draft Horse
• Mule
• Insects or Small Animals (a general category)
• Large Insects or Animals (another general category)

Monsters That Get Mentioned But Don't Get Stats

• Wolf
• Centipede
• Snake
• Spider
• Giant Ant
• Tyrannosaurus Rex
• Apt (from Barsoom, setting of the John Carter novels)
• Banth (from Barsoom)
• Thoat (from Barsoom)
• Titan
• Cyclops
• Juggernaut
• Living Statue
• Salamander
• Gelatinous Cube
• Robot
• Golem
• Android
• Dragon Turtle (shown in an illustration)

Magic Swords

Magic swords were in Chainmail, with bonuses ranging from +1 to +3.

• Swords +1 to +3
• Sword +1, +2 vs. Lycanthropes
• Sword +1, +2 vs. Magic-Users and Enchanted Monsters
• Sword +1, Locating Objects Ability
• Sword +1, +3 vs. Trolls
• Sword +1, +3 vs. Clerics
• Sword, Flaming
• Sword +1, Wishes Included
• Sword +1, +3 vs. Dragons
• Sword +2, Charm Person Ability
• Sword, One Life Energy Draining Ability (catchy name)
• Cursed Sword -2

Magic Armor

• Shields +1 to +3
• Armor +1 to +3 (+1 armor was in Chainmail)

Miscellaneous Magic Weapons

• Magic Arrows (in Chainmail)
• Dagger +1 vs. Man-Sized Opponents, +2 vs. Goblins and Kobolds
• Dagger +2 vs. Man-Sized Opponents, +3 vs. Orcs, Goblins and Kobolds
• Magic Bow
• Axe +1
• Mace +2
• War Hammer +1 to +3 (+3 will return if thrown)
• Spear +1 to +3

Potions

• Growth
• Dimenuation (eventually becomes Diminution)
• Giant Strength
• Invisibility
• Gaseous Form
• Polymorph Self
• Speed
• Levitation
• Flying
• ESP
• Delusion
• Healing
• Longevity
• Clairvoyance
• Clairaudience
• Animal Control
• Undead Control
• Plant Control
• Human Control
• Giant Control
• Dragon Control
• Poison
• Invulnerability
• Fire Resistance
• Treasure Finding
• Heroism

Scrolls

• Scrolls with 1-3 spells, or with 7
• Cursed Scroll
• Protection from Lycanthropes
• Protection from Undead
• Protection from Elementals
• Protection from Magic

Rings

• Invisibility
• Mammal Control
• Human Control
• Weakness
• Protection
• Three Wishes
• Delusion
• Water Walking
• Fire Resistance
• Protection, 5' radius
• Regeneration
• Djinn Summoning
• Telekinesis
• X-Ray Vision
• Spell Turning
• Spell Storing
• Many Wishes (4-24)

Wands

• Metal Detection
• Enemy Detection
• Magic Detection
• Secret Door and Trap Detection
• Illusion
• Fear
• Cold
• Paralyzation
• Fire Balls
• Lightning Bolts
• Polymorph
• Negation

Staves

• Healing
• Commanding
• Snake Staff
• Striking
• Withering
• Power
• Wizardry

Miscellaneous Magic

• Crystal Ball
• Crystal Ball with Clairaudience
• Crystal Ball with ESP
• Amulet vs. Crystal Balls and ESP
• Scarab of Protection from Evil High Priests
• Bag of Holding
• Censor of Controlling Air Elementals
• Stone of Controlling Earth Elementals
• Brazier of Commanding Fire Elementals
• Bowl of Commanding Water Elementals
• Efreet Bottle
• Displacer Cloak
• Elven Cloak and Boots
• Boots of Speed
• Boots of Levitation
• Boots of Traveling and Leaping
• Broom of Flying
• Helm of Reading Magic and Languages
• Helm of Telepathy
• Helm of Teleportation
• Helm of Chaos (or Helm of Law)
• Flying Carpet
• Drums of Panic
• Horn of Blasting
• Gauntlets of Ogre Power
• Girdle of Giant Strength
• Mirror of Life Trapping

Artifacts

• Teleportation Machine
• Fighter's Crown, Orb and Sceptre
• Magic-User's Crown, Orb and Sceptre
• Cleric's Crown, Orb and Sceptre
• Stone Crystalization Projector

Rules Introduced

• Saving throws for the destruction of magic items

Details and conjecture relevant to the Ultimate Sandbox

• The rules state that all men and monsters in the dungeon can see in the dark, except for the PCs. This makes little sense as a general rule, so I'm narrowing it down to mythic "megadungeons" such as Castles Greyhawk and Blackmoor. It's possible those dungeons have sentience or magic working against the PCs.
• If the monster lineup is anything to go by, there are a lot of lawless bands roaming around the default D&D campaign setting: bandits, brigands, pirates, etc.
• Berserkers roam around in bands up to 300 strong, and so are probably a people or a culture rather than a "character class".
• Dervishes are nomadic residents of the desert or steppes, and a are fanatical religious zealots.
• Nomads are raiders that also hail from the desert or the steppes.
• The presence of cavemen implies that evolution has worked similarly in the D&D world to the way it did in our world (although there are other possible explanations, of course).
• Goblins hate dwarves, as noted in Chainmail.
• Orcs are split into tribes that all hate each other, although no specific tribes are given. I'll be using those from Chainmail.
• Goblins, kobolds, hobgoblins, and gnolls when in their lairs are ruled over by a "king". Pretty much every leader of a goblinoid tribe, no matter how minor, considers itself a king.
• Gnolls are said to be a hybrid of gnomes and trolls. This is a strange fit with the hyena-headed gnolls of later editions.
• Ghouls are subject to damage from normal missiles, whereas they were immune in Chainmail. Perhaps those in Chainmail are deliberately created by dark magic, rather than whatever creates the ghouls that roam dungeons, and are thus a little stronger.
• The existence of mummies as a widespread monster implies the existence of an ancient, widespread civilisation that practiced embalming.
• Crosses affect Vampires, and are thus a powerful symbol of Law. They might even represent a specific god.
• The Nazgul are now said to be spectres, whereas in Chainmail they were said to be wraiths.
• The chimera is now a specific monster, rather than a category including a whole range of monsters as it was in Chainmail. In the game world I'll say that scholars used the term as a category, but the name eventually stuck to the specific monster until the former meaning fell out of use.
• Dragon's age really quickly in this version of D&D compared to later editions. This suggests that dragons have waned in recent years. But perhaps the greater dragons still slumber, and will eventually reawaken...
• It's specifically said that purple worms lurk everywhere, just beneath the surface. It's a sobering thought.
• Lycanthropy can be passed on via being clawed or bitten, but lycanthropes also travel around in family packs with two adults and a number of children. I figure the "disease" is also passed on to offspring, which has resulted in these lycanthropes becoming distinct species.
• Elves are said to have the ability to move silently, and are also "nearly invisible in their grey-green cloaks". This suggests to me that pretty much all elves are equipped with elven boots and cloaks. I'm fine with this, though I'm reluctant to let PC elves begin with them at 1st level - I figure that these cloaks and boots are for those elves operating out of the elven homeland, and that wandering adventurer types generally don't get issued them. Could they possibly be part of a military uniform?
• Elves are split into two types, those that live in the woods and those that live in remote meadows. There are also the "fairies" of Chainmail, which were lumped into the elf category.
• Elves get a bonus when using magic weapons, which to me suggests that the making of magic weapons was originally an elvish craft.
• Hippogriffs hate pegasi.
• The City of Brass is the fabled home of the efreet.
• Barsoom is referenced, the setting of the John Carter novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The original Greyhawk campaign featured adventures in this setting, so I should make it somehow accessible.
• Mention is made of a living statue that was made of iron, impervious to all weapons save two special ones he guarded, had a fiery breath, a poison sword, and a whip of cockatrice feathers that turned victims to stone. This is a reference to the iron golem of Castle Maure, which I believe is a part of the module Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure.
• The majority of the human-types encountered will have slaves, so there should be a roaring slave trade going.
• All magic swords are intelligent. Eventually this will become a rarity, which needs an explanation. I'm going with the idea that these swords were forged in antiquity, and are losing their sentience and power over time.
• The artifacts named are given no abilities, and no background. I'll have to keep an eye out to see if they pop up again, otherwise I'll need to make some things up.
• Electrum is said to be optionally either half or double the value of gold. I'll go with it being a rarer coin, with there being some dispute as to its actual value.

Recaps & Roundups part 3: D&D Vol. I - Men & Magic

Chainmail may not have set the world alight (although it did perform respectably for Guidon Games), but it did well enough to reach Minneapolis, and the hands of a gamer named Dave Arneson.  Arneson was inspired by Chainmail's Fantasy Supplement to create a game where players would each control a single adventurer, braving the dangers of an underground labyrinth beneath Castle Blackmoor.  (Actually, it's not clear whether the supplement inspired Arneson's game, or if he was playing the game already and just adapted some rules; I'm pretty sure I've seen both accounts.)

In the fall of 1972, Arneson showed his Blackmoor game to Gary Gygax, who was enamored with it and asked to see Arneson's notes.  He was soon running his own version, set in the ruins of Castle Greyhawk.  The two collaborated on the game, with Gygax writing the final version of the rules and manuscript.  The name Dungeons & Dragons was coined, apparently chosen from a number of alternatives by Gygax's two-year-old daughter Cindy.

Gygax and Arneson were unable to find a publisher for D&D, so in October 1973 Gygax decided to form a company with friend Don Kaye, which they called Tactical Studies Rules.  Brian Blume, a fellow gamer whose father was willing to finance the company, was brought in as an equal partner in December.  In January 1974, the first Dungeons & Dragons boxed sets were published.

The original set was contained in a woodgrain box, with the cover art pasted on the front.  The rules were contained in three booklets: Men & Magic, Monsters & Treasure and The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures.  It also included a booklet of reference sheets, and the 2nd and 3rd prints (available in January and April 1975, respectively) had a corrections sheet.

Today I'll be covering D&D Vol I: Men & Magic, which mostly covers everything relevant to player characters.

New Character Types

• Fighting-Men, or Fighters (previously included in Chainmail as Heroes, Super-heroes and Anti-heroes).
• Magic-Users (previously included in Chainmail as Wizards, Sorcerers, Warlocks and Magicians).
• Clerics and Anti-Clerics
• Dwarves (included in Chainmail)
• Elves (included in Chainmail)
• Hobbits (included in Chainmail)

Monsters Mentioned

Those previously included in the Chainmail 1st or 2nd edition rules marked with an asterisk

• Man*
• Hobbit*
• Ent*
• Unicorn
• Pegasus
• Hippogriff*
• Elf*
• Lycanthrope*
• Roc*
• Dwarf*
• Gnome*
• Centaur
• Nixie
• Pixie*
• Dryad
• Orc*
• Ogre*
• Dragon*
• Wyvern*
• Hydra
• Purple Worm* (called purple or mottled dragon in Chainmail)
• Sea Monster
• Chimera* (not a specific monster in Chainmail, but a category)
• Minotaur
• Giant*
• Balrog*
• Goblin*
• Kobold*
• Hobgoblin
• Gnoll
• Troll*
• Wight*
• Wraith*
• Mummy
• Spectre
• Vampire
• Medusa
• Manticore
• Gargoyle
• Gorgon
• Witch
• Mule
• Draft Horse
• Light Horse*
• Medium Warhorse*
• Heavy Warhorse*
• Invisible Stalker
• Air Elemental*
• Earth Elemental*
• Fire Elemental*
• Water Elemental*

Weapons and Armor Introduced

All of these can be assumed to have shown up in Chainmail, but here they're appearing in D&D proper for the first time.  These are the arms and armor most commonly available in and around the City of Greyhawk.

• Dagger
• Hand Axe
• Mace
• Sword
• Battle Axe
• Morning Star
• Flail
• Spear
• Pole Arm
• Halberd
• Two-Handed Sword
• Lance
• Pike
• Short Bow
• Long Bow
• Composite Bow
• Light Crossbow
• Heavy Crossbow
• Arrows
• Quarrels
• Silver Arrow
• Leather Armor
• Chain-type Mail
• Plate Mail
• Helmet
• Shield
• Barding

Other Equipment Introduced

• Saddle
• Saddle Bags
• Cart
• Wagon
• Raft
• Small Boat
• Small Merchant Ship
• Large Merchant Ship
• Small Galley
• Large Galley
• Rope
• 10' Pole
• Iron Spikes
• Small Sack
• Large Sack
• Backpack
• Waterskin/wineskin
• Torch
• Lantern
• Flask of Oil
• Mallet and Stakes
• Steel Mirror
• Silver Mirror
• Wooden Cross
• Silver Cross
• Holy Water
• Wolvesbane
• Belladonna
• Garlic
• Wine
• Iron Rations
• Standard Rations

Rules Introduced

• Race and class
• Alignment (Law, Neutrality and Chaos)
• Forms of multi-classing and dual-classing are present
• Ability scores (Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Constitution, Dexterity, Charisma), ranging from 3 to 18.
• Languages
• NPCs, and the influencing and hiring thereof
• The ability to bequeath wealth and items to a relative
• Buying equipment
• Encumbrance
• Experience points, and levels
• Hit Dice and hit points
• Armor Class
• The attack roll (using 1d20 and a chart)
• Saving Throws
• Magic and spellcasting for magic-users and clerics
• Turning Undead

Spells Introduced

Magic-User level 1

• Detect Magic (included in Chainmail as part of the Detection spell)
• Hold Portal
• Read Magic
• Read Languages
• Protection from Evil (included in Chainmail 2nd edition)
• Light (included in Chainmail as Wizard Light)
• Charm Person
• Sleep

Magic-User level 2

• Detect Invisible (included in Chainmail as part of the Detection spell)
• Levitate
• Phantasmal Forces (included in Chainmail)
• Locate Object
• Invisibility (included in Chainmail as an innate Wizard ability)
• Wizard Lock
• Detect Evil
• ESP
• Continual Light
• Knock

Magic-User level 3

• Fly
• Hold Person
• Dispell Magic (possibly used in Chainmail as the Wizard's counter-spell ability)
• Clairvoyance
• Clairaudience
• Fire Ball (included in Chainmail)
• Lightning Bolt (included in Chainmail)
• Protection from Evil, 10' Radius
• Invisibility, 10' Radius (possibly represented in Chainmail as the Concealment spell)
• Infravision (included in Chainmail as an innate Wizard ability)
• Slow Spell
• Haste Spell
• Protection from Normal Missiles (included in Chainmail as an innate Wizard ability)
• Water Breathing

Magic-User level 4

• Polymorph Self
• Polymorph Others
• Remove Curse
• Wall of Fire
• Wall of Ice
• Confusion
• Charm Monster
• Growth of Plants
• Dimension Door
• Wizard Eye
• Massmorph
• Hallucinatory Terrain

Magic-User level 5

• Teleport
• Hold Monster
• Conjure Elemental (included in Chainmail)
• Telekenesis
• Transmute Rock to Mud
• Wall of Stone
• Wall of Iron
• Animate Dead
• Magic Jar
• Contact Higher Plane
• Pass-Wall
• Cloudkill
• Feeblemind
• Growth of Animals

Magic-User level 6

• Stone to Flesh
• Reincarnation
• Invisible Stalker
• Lower Water
• Part Water
• Projected Image
• Anti-Magic Shell
• Death Spell
• Geas
• Disintegrate
• Move Earth (included in Chainmail 2nd edition as Moving Terrain)
• Control Weather

Cleric level 1

• Cure Light Wounds/Cause Light Wounds
• Purify Food & Water/Putrefy Food & Water
• Detect Magic
• Detect Evil/Detect Good
• Protection from Evil/Protection from Good
• Light/Darkness

Cleric level 2

• Find Traps
• Hold Person
• Bless/Curse
• Speak with Animals

Cleric level 3

• Remove Curse
• Cure Disease/Cause Disease
• Locate Object
• Continual Light/Continual Darkness

Cleric level 4

• Neutralize Poison
• Cure Serious Wounds/Cause Serious Wounds
• Protection from Evil, 10' Radius/Protection from Good, 10' Radius
• Turn Sticks to Snakes
• Speak with Plants
• Create Water

Cleric level 5

• Dispell Evil/Dispell Good
• Raise Dead/Finger of Death
• Commune
• Quest
• Insect Plague
• Create Food

Cleric spells after the / are for Chaotic clerics only, but aren't specifically named in this product, except for the Finger of Death.

Details and conjecture relevant to the Ultimate Sandbox

• The Great Kingdom is mentioned, as follows: 'From the map of the "land" of the "Great Kingdom" and environs - the territory of the C&C Society - Dave (Arneson) located a nice bog wherein to nest the weird enclave of "Blackmoor", a spot between the "Great Kingdom" and the fearsome "Egg of Coot".'
• The following are mentioned as inspirations: Burroughs' Martian adventures, Howard's Conan saga, the de Camp and Pratt fantasies, and Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.
• An archetypal D&D dungeon is described in the introduction as follows: 'the dungeons beneath the "huge ruined pile, a vast castle built by generations of mad wizards and insane geniuses"'.  This could more or less describe Castle Greyhawk.
• The possibility for PCs to claim land, build castles and become barons would indicate that there's a decent amount of unclaimed wilderness in the areas surrounding the campaign area (which will probably be the City of Greyhawk).
• High-level clerics are dedicated to either Law or Chaos, indicating that this allegiance is at this point more important and common than the worship of singular deities, at least as far as clerics are concerned.
• Demi-human level limits could indicate that demi-humans simply lack human potential, or that in the areas ruled over by humans there's a prejudice against them that stops higher-level NPCs from training them above a certain level.
• Xylarthen the magic-user is given as a sample character, and will be present as an adventurer in Greyhawk when my campaign begins.
• There is a "common" tongue spoken by most humans in the campaign world.  Each race has its own language, and about 20% can speak common as well.
• Each of the alignments has its own special language, probably handed down from the gods or another powerful force at the dawn of time.
• Based on languages known, dwarves would be friendly with gnomes and antagonistic towards goblins and kobolds.
• Elves speak the orc, hobgoblin and gnoll languages, and so have probably been at war with those races.
• Along humans, the places that dwarves and elves hail from are called 'Dwarf-land' and 'Elf-land'.
• Every character class has a different title for each level; these titles are accepted ranks and marks of skill, and their use is widespread.
• The spell Contact Higher Plane allows a magic-user to seek advice and knowledge from creatures inhabiting a higher plane of existence.  These planes are numbered 3rd through 12th, and contacting them brings a chance of being driven insane.  (I've pegged this as the Abyss, as it's the only one of the Outer Planes with enough levels, but it's not clear.  Even AD&D doesn't codify which planes are being contacted.)
• The spell Invisible Stalker mentions that the creature is 'extra-dimensional', but doesn't specify what the dimension is like.
• The Raise Dead spell specifically only works on men, elves and dwarves.  This creates two contradictions with later editions: it doesn't work on hobbits, but it does work on elves, and both of these are the opposite in AD&D.  My rationale for hobbits is that their souls go to a realm that is currently beyond arcane knowledge, and that by AD&D that's changed. With elves it's harder.  I'm tying it to the Tolkienian idea of elves as a race on the wane, and as they grow weaker in life, they are drawn more strongly to the realm they reside in after death.
• Using the Commune spell, clerics can ask for help from some unspecified 'powers above'.
• Based on the illustrations, somewhere in the world there are amazons who go into battle wearing very little.

• Also based on the illustrations, elves can grow beards.  This fits with Tolkien, or at least his description of Cirdan the Shipwright, the most ancient elf to appear in The Lord of the Rings.

Recaps & Roundups part 2: Chainmail 2nd edition

Cover still by Don Lowry

The first edition of Chainmail was Guidon Games' biggest hit, selling about 100 copies a month.  In July 1972, about a year-and-a-half after its publication, a 2nd edition saw print.  It was revised and expanded, with a number of additions to the rules.  (Most of these new rules first saw print in the January 1972 issue of International Wargamer, but I don't have a copy.)

From this point forward I'm working with PDFs or physical copies of the material, so any information given should be accurate.

New Character Types

• Wizards now incorporate three weaker sub-classes: Sorcerers, Warlocks, and Magicians (given here in order from strongest to weakest).  These match fairly well with the magic-user levels in D&D.  (The term "magic-user" is specifically used.)  The number of spells a caster can use per game is based on these levels, as is the range of those spells.  The former of these rules fits well with D&D, but the second doesn't and will have to be chalked up to battle magic being a little different (my catch-all explanation for all magical discrepancies between Chainmail and D&D).

New Spells

• Moving Terrain
• Protection from Evil

That's it for today. Just a short post, as there really wasn't much added to 2nd edition Chainmail as far as I'm aware. Next week's post, covering Men & Magic will be much longer.

Recaps & Roundups part 1: Chainmail 1st edition

Well, it's been a while.  I haven't posted since June of last year, in fact, mostly due to a commute that ate up about 30% of my day and 100% of my mental energy.  Now that's changed, and I have no commute, and my mental energy is... eeeeehhhhh let's just say it's middling.  I have enough to do some blogging every now and then so here I am.

I'm not going to jump right back into the Ultimate Sandbox though.  I figured that, with such a lengthy break, it would be a good time to quickly recap what I've covered so far, hit up some semi-official products that I've missed, and consolidate the various campaign details as they would stand as of the release of the Players Handbook (the last product I covered).  And so, onward, with a look at the 1st edition of Chainmail.

Cover by Don Lowry

Chainmail is not the first D&D product, but it's such an important foundational work that it needs to be covered.  It began as four pages of medieval wargame rules by Jeff Perren, a member of the Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association (LGTSA).  He introduced the rules to fellow member Gary Gygax, who modified the rules for publication in the fanzine Panzerfaust (vol. 5 no. 1).  Gygax further modified and expanded the rules for publication in the newsletter of his own Castle & Crusade Society, Domesday Book (no. 5).  These rules also saw near-simultaneous publication in Spartan International Monthly.  There's an argument to be made that these three publications might be the true foundational beginning of D&D, and a better place for me to start this recap, but A) I'll probably never be able to get my hands on any of them, and B) none of them contain the all-important Fantasy Supplement.

All of this brought Gygax to the attention of Guidon Games, and they hired him to develop a medieval miniatures wargame for publication in March 1971.  During the process of rewriting the rules as Chainmail, Gygax added the Fantasy Supplement as an addendum, and Dungeons & Dragons was partway conceived.

At this point I'm going to run through the various fantasy elements that Chainmail introduces that were brought forward into D&D.  It should be noted here that I don't have any access to a copy of the 1st edition; I'm working purely on knowledge gleaned through research, so if anything here is incorrect or misleading, please let me know.

New Monsters and Races

• Hobbits (although it's noted that they have little place in a wargame)
• Sprites
• Pixies (identical to sprites)
• Dwarves
• Gnomes (equated with dwarves, although they have a special hatred for kobolds rather than goblins)
• Goblins
• Kobolds (equated with goblins, but with a hatred for gnomes rather than dwarves)
• Elves
• Fairies (equated with elves)
• Orcs
• Wraiths (Nazgul are included as a specific example)
• Werebears
• Werewolves
• Trolls
• Ogres
• Balrogs
• Giants
• Ents
• Dragons (red dragons are covered in detail, while white, black, blue and green are all mentioned as possibilities)
• Purple Worms (mentioned in passing as purple or mottled dragons, but the description fits the purple worm exactly)
• Rocs (said to be equal to the eagles of Tolkien)
• Wyverns (equated to Rocs)
• Griffons (equated to Rocs)
• Elementals (Air, Earth, Fire and Water)
• Djinn (equated to air elementals)
• Efreet (equated to fire elementals)
• Basilisks
• Cockatrices (equated to Basilisks; both creatures are recommended only under specific circumstances)
• Chimerea (not the specific monster, but a catch-all for similar types such as griffons, wyverns, hippogriffs, etc.)
• Hippogriffs (mentioned in passing under Chimerea)
• Giant Spiders and Insects
• Wights
• Ghouls (equated to wights)

New Character Types

• Heroes and Anti-Heroes (presented here as being equal to "four figures" in battle)
• Super Heroes (twice as powerful as heroes)
• Wizards
• Combination hero-wizards are mentioned as a possibility, with Elric of Melnibone given as an example.

New Spells

• Invisibility (extrapolated from the wizard's special ability to become invisible)
• Infravision (extrapolated from the wizard's ability to see in the dark)
• Protection from Normal Missiles (extrapolated from the wizard's immunity to non-magical missile fire)
• Dispel Magic (extrapolated from the wizard's counter-spell ability; it's not a perfect fit, bit it's the best option from early D&D)
• Fire Ball
• Lightning Bolt
• Phantasmal Forces
• Darkness
• Wizard Light (probably becomes Light, but at this point it only dispells darkness)
• Detection (a mash-up of Detect Invisibility and Detect Magic)
• Concealment
• Conjuration of an Elemental

New Magic Items

• Magic Swords
• Enchanted Arrows
• Magic Armor

Other Rule Elements

• The Law-Neutral-Chaos alignment axis is established, though only as a guide for which creature types fight for which side

Rules that could fill gaps in D&D

• Turn sequence/initiative
• Terrain effects on movement
• Movement in different types of armour
• Fatigue
• Missile fire rules
• Catapults
• Morale
• Weather
• Mass combat in general
• Sieges
• Jousting
• Parrying
• Multiple attacks when fighting with a much faster weapon than your opponent

Details and conjecture relevant to the Ultimate Sandbox

• Mass combat as a whole implies that there are wars being fought, and that PCs might get involved in them.
• The list of monsters and troop types are those most commonly found on D&D battlefields (though hobbits, basilisks and cockatrices are called out as being unusual).
• Wizards can use magic weapons (with swords and arrows given as the only examples), and their spell-casting doesn't line up exactly with D&D magic-users, so I've posited the existence of specialist battle-mages to cover those differences.
• Dwarves and goblins have a mutual hatred.
• Gnomes and kobolds have a mutual hatred.
• Elves have an invisibility power and are said to be armed with magic swords, so I'm going to say that elven hosts arrayed for war will always be wearing elven cloaks and wielding magic swords.
• Orcs are said to be over-grown goblins, so there's some relation there.
• Five clans of orcs are given here: Orcs of the Red Eye, Orcs of Mordor, Orcs of the Mountains, Orcs of the White Hand, and Isengarders.  These all have enmity with each other.  This is all very Tolkien, and I'm extrapolating from that to say that Middle Earth was in the distant past, and those were the five ancient clans that all orcs sprang from.
• Wraiths and wights paralyze rather than level drain, so I'm saying that they're a little weaker on battlefields than in dungeons and other places of evil power.
• The red dragon is classified in Latin as Draco Conflagratio or Draco Horribilis, so I'm positing the existence of a similar language of antiquity that was used to classify monsters.
• Dragons in Chainmail can refresh their breath weapons more often than their D&D counterparts, so they are probably more vital than their dungeon-dwelling, treasure-hoarding brethren.
• Purple worms being classified as dragons could be chalked up to a sage's error, or it could be the result of a dragon who has no treasure to sleep on.
• Werewolves and werebears generally don't fight alongside animals of their were-type in D&D, but it could be that the Chainmail variety are of a more ancient and powerful breed, or that it's due to the environment.  It's only possible in Chainmail when there are woods present, after all.
• Odin's spear and Thor's hammer are mentioned under magic weapons, pointing to the existence of at least the Norse pantheon
• Excalibur is also mentioned, which is perhaps trickier to incorporate.
• Magic weapons are listed as exclusive to the side of Law, which suggests that they're only available in large quantities to that side, probably via the elves.

I thought that post would be shorter, to be honest, but once I get going it's hard to stop me.  I'll be back shortly with another Recap & Roundup, this time for Chainmail 2nd edition.

AD&D Players Handbook part 59: Appendix IV - The Known Planes of Existence & Appendix V - Suggested Agreements for Division of Treasure

APPENDIX IV - THE KNOWN PLANES OF EXISTENCE

The final stretch of the Players Handbook brings me to the penultimate Appendix, which gives the most detailed description of the D&D cosmology yet seen.  The various planes are separated into the Inner and Outer Planes, as I'll get into.

Inner Planes
This basically covers the Prime Material Plane, as well as the other planes that directly connect to it: the Positive and Negative Material Planes; the Elemental Planes of Air, Earth, Fire and Water; and the Ethereal Plane.  Of particular note is the repeated mention of "parallel" universes, all contained within the Prime Material Plane: it's a fairly clever way of including the multitude of home campaigns in existence and tying them into the cosmology as a whole.
  The Positive Plane is described as being a place of energy and light, the "source of much that is vital and active", and the "power supply for good".  The Negative Plane, conversely, is home to anti-matter, and powers the undead and evil energies.  It's all fairly abstract stuff, and neither of these planes seems like a place you can visit and adventure within.
  The Elemental Planes aren't described in any depth beyond their names, which is a bit odd.  Perhaps Gary thinks they're self-explanatory, but a little more detail wouldn't go astray.
  The Ethereal Plane surrounds and touches all of the Inner Planes, and any creature that can become ethereal can use this plane to quickly travel between these planes quickly.

Outer Planes
The Outer Planes are described as the homes of powerful beings and deities, and the source of the alignments.  The Astral Plane is described as a "non-space where endless vortices spiral to the parallel Prime Material Planes and to the Outer Planes as well", and can be used to travel from the Prime to the Outer Planes.  It's noted that, where a particular Outer Plane has multiple levels, the Astral Plane only connects to the topmost layer.
  Rather than keeping it simple and having a Plane for each of the alignments, Gary complicates things by including the intermediary steps as well.  So not only is there a plane for Chaotic Good and a plane for Chaotic Neutral, but there's one in between for "Chaotic Good Neutrals".  Notes that there's no plane for true Neutral.  This gives 16 Planes in all, with very little in the way of description:

• The Seven Heavens (LG)
• The Twin Paradises (NLG)
• Elysium (NG)
• The Happy Hunting Grounds (CNG)
• Olympus (CG)
• Gladsheim, which apparently includes Asgard, Valhalla and Vanaheim (NCG)
• Limbo (CN, where Chaos is defined as entropy)
• Pandemonium (NCE)
• The 666 Layers of the Abyss (CE)
• Tarterus (NCE)
• The "Three Glooms" of Hades (NE)
• The furnaces of Gehenna (NLE)
• The Nine Hells (LE)
• The nether planes of Acheron (NLE)
• Nirvana (LN)
• Arcadia (NLG)

It's an eclectic mix, with bits pulled from Christian, Greek, Roman, Norse, and Buddhist religions and mythologies, as well as bits of Milton and Dante.  I'm probably missing some of the other influences.  There's a diagram that shows how all of it ties together (and also seems to show how many levels each of the Outer Planes has):

In its basic outline, this stuff is broadly similar to how Gary outlined it in its early stages in The Dragon #8.  This is the diagram provide with that article:

I'd originally thought that these were identical, but further exploration shows that the arrangement of the Outer Planes has been a little but shuffled around.  More specifically, Planes 11 to 14 in The Dragon went in this order: Happy Hunting Grounds, Twin Paradises, Olympus, Elysium.  In AD&D, that's been changed to the following: Twin Paradises, Elysium, Happy Hunting Grounds, Olympus.  The rest are the same, but even something as small as four planes being shuffled around is a pretty major difference when it comes to the primary make-up of reality.  The only reason I can think of that doesn't involve major reality alteration is simply that the research of scholars in the OD&D era was faulty.  They believed it was one way, but later on found out the truth.  I just hope that it remains consistent going forward from here.

Ethereal Travel
This section briefly describes where you can go to via the Ethereal Plane, and some of the dangers that might be encountered therein.  There are monsters (and we already know that most of those with petrification abilities exist partially within the Ethereal) and also the Ether Cyclone, which can blow a creature into another plane, or cause them to become lost for many days.  Ethereal creatures travel fast, and require no food, drink or rest.  The specifics are left for the Dungeon Masters Guide.

Astral Travel
Likewise,  Astral travel to the Outer Planes is given a brief overview.  The Astral equivalent of the Ether Cyclone is the Psychic Wind, which can similarly buffet travellers about or kill them by snapping their "silver cord" (the connection to their physical forms).  Astral travellers also require no food, drink or rest.

Ethereal and Astral Combat
It's mentioned that, when Astral or Ethereal, it is generally only possible to attack and cast spells on creatures who are also within the same plane.  Some spells can be cast from the Ethereal to the Prime, but not from the Astral to the Prime.
  The concept of magic weapons not functioning on certain planes is brought up (it was detailed more specifically in The Dragon #8, and will presumably be explored even further in the DMG).
  Astral forms can be destroyed by most creatures, causing the consciousness to return to the physical body via the silver cord.  Only very powerful creatures can snap the silver cord and kill the traveller outright: demon princes, arch-devils, gods, godlings, etc.).  Ethereal damage is said to be real damage, so presumably a character killed there is actually dead.

APPENDIX V - SUGGESTED AGREEMENTS FOR DIVISION OF TREASURE

Here Gary gives some ideas for how to fairly split treasure among the party.  There are three basic methods that he gives.  The first is to split the treasure equally, which is pretty obvious and workable.

  The second is to split it based on character level, with the more powerful characters getting more.  Again, this is pretty easy to work out, but I'm not sure about how fair it is.  It's fine assuming that the higher-level characters do the lion's share of the work, but that's not always the case.  It also creates something of an imbalance, where the stronger characters get more treasure and thus advance faster.  In practice it's probably fine, because of the large amounts of XP required to advance at high level, but it could lead to situations where lower-level characters are  perpetually outpaced.

  The third method uses equal shares, with bonuses for leadership and outstanding play.  This is the one with real potential for trouble, I feel, unless you have very easy-going players.   The decision as to who gets the extra shares could be a heated one, and objectively speaking it can often be the same players who are giving the most outstanding performances.

  Some modifiers are given, whereby NPC henchmen only get half shares, and dead characters only get treasure from before they were killed.  It's suggested that PCs whose actions are detrimental to the party (such as leading to a character death, or outright attacking one of the party) be stripped of shares.  Again, it's a recipe for dissension, although you're better off not playing with those kinds of people anyway I guess.

  Magic items are addressed, with the suggested methods boiling down to the players rolling dice and the highest getting first pick.  The suggestion that higher-level characters get to roll more dice and pick the highest is again one I'm not super-keen on.

  The thing to remember here, I feel, is that these are suggestions.  The most important thing is not the exact method chosen, but that the method is agreed upon and followed by all players.

THE END

And that, aside from some of the charts being grouped together, is the end of the Players Handbook.  I started going through it back in September 2015, and it's a relief to be done with it.  Now that I've finished, the main thing that strikes me about the PHB is what's not in it: the combat rules, most prominently.  I'm more accustomed to 2nd edition and beyond, where the PHB is the place you go to for the core rules of the game, so for me the 1e version feels a little bit lightweight.  I can understand Gary's idea that the game should be kept somewhat mysterious for the players, but personally I feel like everyone should know how the core rules work.  In real life I know roughly how likely I am to be able to accomplish a physical task, and D&D characters should be the same.  Anyway, I'm perhaps being a bit harsh.  Like the Monster Manual before it, this is an indispensable collation of the scattered bits of OD&D that came before, and I can't imagine how wonderful it must have been at the time to have all of this stuff in one great-looking hardcover.

  So what next?  The ostensible task of this blog is to go through every D&D product and stitch the lot together into one huge sandbox campaign.  With that in mind, my next stop ought to be The Dragon #15.  First, though, this feels like a good time to go back over everything and consolidate my work.  I was going to wait until I had the framework given by the introduction of Greyhawk as a setting, but that's a long way off.  The Players Handbook is as good a milestone as any.

  After that, I keep asking myself whether I should go forward, or move backward.  I keep wishing that I had used the blog as a sort of product-by-product history of the game, including the many semi-official non-TSR product lines.  So I might double back and look into some products like the Wee Warriors modules, Judges Guild, the early issues of White Dwarf, etc.  As usual, it's me making more work for myself when I really don't have the time.  This one's still up in the air.