Vol. 1 - Introducing Gameplay - Revision history

Bennettj: /* Primary Edged Weapons */

2026-08-26T19:07:30Z

Primary Edged Weapons

Bennettj: /* Armour Types */

2026-08-26T15:27:25Z

Armour Types

Bennettj: /* Character Class */

2026-07-14T20:54:31Z

Character Class

Bennettj: /* Armour & Armour Class */

2026-07-07T18:44:11Z

Armour & Armour Class

Bennettj: /* Aging Adjustments */

2026-06-03T16:37:33Z

Aging Adjustments

Bennettj: /* Peoples */

2026-06-02T19:55:31Z

Peoples

Bennettj: /* Peoples */

2026-05-29T13:45:27Z

Peoples

Bennettj at 19:32, 28 May 2026

2026-05-28T19:32:09Z

Bennettj: /* Foreword */

2026-05-28T16:06:16Z

Foreword

Bennettj: /* Aging Adjustments */

2026-05-22T17:28:02Z

Aging Adjustments

@@ Line 300: / Line 300: @@
 === Primary Edged Weapons ===
-This category describes agile weapons that are at the outside only six feet long, so that the fighter must get up close and personal with the enemy. The list of weapons in this category, with the damage they cause, is as follows: bardiche (2-8), battle axe (1-8), dagger (1-4), hammer (2-5), hand axe (1-6), military pick (2-7), scimitar (1-8), bastard sword (2-8), broad sword (2-8), long sword (1-8), short sword (1-6), two-handed sword (1-10). The reader should take note: some of the details given below do not come from the source material of AD&D, but from actual knowledge about these weapons, which did exist and were used. There is much poor scholarship that mixes up and mislabels these weapons, but diligent research can reveal much more about all of them, both in this category and in others.
+This category describes agile weapons that are at the outside only six feet long, so that the fighter must get up close and personal with the enemy. The list of weapons in this category, with the damage they cause, is as follows: [[Bardiche (weapon)|bardiche]] (2-8), battle axe (1-8), dagger (1-4), hammer (2-5), hand axe (1-6), military pick (2-7), scimitar (1-8), bastard sword (2-8), broad sword (2-8), long sword (1-8), short sword (1-6), two-handed sword (1-10). The reader should take note: some of the details given below do not come from the source material of AD&D, but from actual knowledge about these weapons, which did exist and were used. There is much poor scholarship that mixes up and mislabels these weapons, but diligent research can reveal much more about all of them, both in this category and in others.
 Before clarifying the main of these weapons, a note is needed here about the "hammer," more commonly called a "war hammer" in the era that these weapons are meant to portray. AD&D professes in its rules that the hammer is a weapon that is used to bash an opponent, but this is only half true. While the hammer did incorporate a club-like head, the weapon was also composed, like a carpenter's hammer, of a bladed spike that very much did not function in the manner of "bashing" one's opponents. This matters because one of the aforementioned character classes, the cleric, is prohibited from using bladed or stabbing weapons. Therefore, while the creators of AD&D counted the hammer as a weapon a cleric could use, reality dictates it to be well within those weapons that are prohibited. The reader can decide to accept the hammer as an exception to the stabbing rule, allowing the cleric to use it, but by definition, the designers did not understand the weapon they included on their lists. No doubt, the designers were thinking of the Hollywood double-faced hammer: two symmetrical blocks of metal on a haft, swung like a club. That object is largely fictional. As a real weapon it would be impractically heavy, poorly balanced, slow to recover, and inferior to both maces and axes at doing the work it is supposed to do. No serious fighting tradition adopted it because it solves no problem efficiently.

@@ Line 434: / Line 434: @@
 '''Chain mail''' is described as padding supported by interlocking mesh armour covering the upper and lower body, where vulnerable areas have multiple thicknesses. The combat system does not permit taking advantage of these areas, so this is merely flavour text, which applies largely to the armour descriptions given; weight also falls on the shoulders and waist of the wearer. Chain as described actually exists, though of course it is more complex than this. The armour worn by itself provides an AC of 5; "chain & shield" offers AC 4.
-'''Banded mail''' is described as layered armour with padding, light chain and a series of overlapping bands of armour in vulnerable areas. Historically, it seems to refer to segmented methods, specifically laminar, which is made from horizontal bands of solid material, usually metal, laced and fastened together in overlapping rows to form a flexible shell. Worn by itself, banded gives the wearer an AC of 4; "banded & shield" equals AC 3.
+'''[[Banded Mail (armour)|Banded mail]]''' is described as layered armour with padding, light chain and a series of overlapping bands of armour in vulnerable areas. Historically, it seems to refer to segmented methods, specifically laminar, which is made from horizontal bands of solid material, usually metal, laced and fastened together in overlapping rows to form a flexible shell. Worn by itself, banded gives the wearer an AC of 4; "banded & shield" equals AC 3.
 '''Splint mail''' is described as light chain, greaves and a leather coat into which are laminated vertical pieces of plate with shoulder guards. The description is gently misleading — historically, "splinted" describes long narrow strips of metal ("splints") attached to a textile or leather backing, often on limbs, and sometimes as a torso defence. AD&D's description is a simplified hybrid, but the idea is real. Like banded mail, studded also improves AC by 6 pts., providing the same benefits.

@@ Line 80: / Line 80: @@
 Generally speaking, for the character to receive direct affordances, or "benefits," from their ability stats, the stat must be above 14 and, in the case of strength, higher than 15. In such cases, the stat is described as "high." Exceptions are included depending upon the character class. All character classes presumptively dictate that minimum numbers must be assigned to specific attributes. This is explained below.
-: '''Assassins''' are professional murderers who are assumed to be unconcerned with malevolence; their skill set tends toward criminal or subversive activities. A high dexterity is desirable, as it improves the use of missile attacks; a minimum of 12 dexterity is required. Strength is also beneficial and must be at least 12; intelligence must be at least 11. Aside from these, a high constitution is of the most benefit. Wisdom is generally ill-considered for an assassin, as a player choice. Both constitution and wisdom must be 6 or higher. Charisma can be as low as 3, with the presumption that most assassins are unlikable.
+: '''[[Assassin (class)|Assassins]]''' are professional murderers who are assumed to be unconcerned with malevolence; their skill set tends toward criminal or subversive activities. A high dexterity is desirable, as it improves the use of missile attacks; a minimum of 12 dexterity is required. Strength is also beneficial and must be at least 12; intelligence must be at least 11. Aside from these, a high constitution is of the most benefit. Wisdom is generally ill-considered for an assassin, as a player choice. Both constitution and wisdom must be 6 or higher. Charisma can be as low as 3, with the presumption that most assassins are unlikable.
 : '''Clerics''' are religious crusaders or leaders who are able to cast spells. The number of spells available to the cleric increases with wisdom — therefore the higher the wisdom, the better; but take note, the character must have a wisdom of 9 or greater. Because the cleric's spells tend to be defensive or non-combative in nature, clerics will often engage in hand-to-hand fighting, called "melee," which benefits from a high strength or constitution. Dexterity can also be a help, though clerics are limited in the use of missile weapons, which dexterity affects. Charisma is useful to a cleric should they decide to manage a church someday. All stats, with the exception of dexterity, must number 6 or more.

@@ Line 371: / Line 371: @@
 There's a little more to discuss about proficiencies, but as it has to do with modifiers and mechanics, let's leave it off for a bit to talk about armour, before enhancing what we know about strength and "attack modifiers."
-== Armour & Armour Class ==
+== [[Armour List|Armour]] & [[Armour Class|Armour Class]] ==
 Armour is what a fighter wears as they expect to be attacked, and they intend to survive it. It provides outer shell that deflects weapon blows and conserves hit points. It doesn't make a fighter untouchable, only harder to touch; and how much armour the fighter wears balances things like movement or how much physical weight it carried.
@@ Line 402: / Line 402: @@
 | padded armour || 2 || 8
 |-
-| leather armour || 2 || 8
+| [[Leather Armour|leather armour]] || 2 || 8
 |-
-| studded leather || 3 || 7
+| [[Studded Leather (armour)|studded leather]] || 3 || 7
 |-
 | ring mail || 3 || 7

@@ Line 254: / Line 254: @@
 To understand how age affects the character's state of physical and mental prowess, the lifespan of each available people is subdivided into five stages, as shown in the table. Each represents a broad period of the character's life; once the character's age is known, the player can compare that age with the table and learn at which stage the character is at.
-As a '''Young Adult''', the character has reached the peak of health, but has not yet reached the pinnacle of robustness. As such, young adults are boisterous and a bit foolish. This is to be expected from a group just starting out in life, in a time when teenagers were expected to commit themselves to an apprenticeship or even get married. Characters run by the player, of course, must do neither, as they walk a different path. This is true in every case, but it helps to know what people are doing and at what stage in life. '''Mature''' characters have gotten over their foolishness and have reached their physical peak; typically, they count themselves lucky if they own property and have a family, while a great many are "going it alone" to make a name for themselves in the world. Most characters tend to fit this ideal.
+As a '''Young Adult''', the character has reached the peak of health, but has not yet reached the pinnacle of robustness. As such, young adults are boisterous and a bit foolish. This is to be expected from a group just starting out in life, in a time when teenagers were expected to commit themselves to an [[Apprenticeship|apprenticeship]] or even get married. Characters run by the player, of course, must do neither, as they walk a different path. This is true in every case, but it helps to know what people are doing and at what stage in life. '''Mature''' characters have gotten over their foolishness and have reached their physical peak; typically, they count themselves lucky if they own property and have a family, while a great many are "going it alone" to make a name for themselves in the world. Most characters tend to fit this ideal.
 '''Middle-aged''' characters have seen a great deal and have become much wiser with regards to what things they're willing to do. They're not as strong nor as healthy as they once were, but most are well-established, recognised in the communities where they dwell and content to apply themselves to making a comfortable life rather than adventuring. '''Old''' characters have lost more of their strength and health, and are not as spry as they once were; yet they are unquestionable wiser now about a great many things. '''Venerable''' characters continue to run down with regards to their physique, but they're unquestionably wiser and in the case of many who have kept their faculties, they are sharper-minded than most everyone.

@@ Line 125: / Line 125: @@
 : '''Elves''' stand on average about 4 foot six to 5 feet in height and weigh 80 to 100 pounds; adopting an elf as a character increases the character's dexterity by 1 point, while 1 point is removed from their constitution. Elves are able to become assassins, clerics, fighters, magic-users and thieves. They receive a bonus when using a sword or a bow, which are weapons employed in the game during combat. They have a very strong resistance against magic that puts them to sleep, or which attempts to charm them. Elves also have their own language and are able to speak the languages of many other peoples, more than dwarves; they have a special gift for language, so that those with a 16 or greater intelligence can learn additional tongues. Elves also possess an unusual ability to see in the dark; they have a gift for discovering concealed or secret doors, exactly of the sort that blend so perfectly they cannot be found by others. Elves are also able to move so silently when not wearing armour that they have a high chance to "surprise" others — a game mechanic that allows additional actions before the surprised person can respond. It's quite common to wear armour in the game to protect oneself, but it can be seen that occasionally, not wearing armour provides benefits also.
-: '''Gnomes''' are smaller than dwarves and are considered a cousin of the latter. They stand about 3 foot three to 3 foot six in height, weighing 75 to 80 pounds; adopting a gnome as a character offers no special adjustments to the character's attributes. Gnomes are able to become assassins, clerics, fighters, illusionists and thieves. They receive the same benefits against magic as their dwarvish cousins, with like adjustments to their saving throws, but do not enjoy the same benefit against poison and venom. Gnomes understand their own language and that of certain others and are able to communicate with burrowing animals such as moles, badgers and squirrels. They too possess an unusual ability to see in the dark. They are miners of exceptional merit and are effective in combat against the aforementioned goblins, and one other people called kobolds. Gnomes enjoy the same defensive benefit against very large giant-like creatures as well.
+: '''Gnomes''' are smaller than dwarves and are considered a cousin of the latter. They stand about 3 foot three to 3 foot six in height, weighing 75 to 80 pounds; adopting a gnome as a character offers no special adjustments to the character's attributes. Gnomes are able to become assassins, clerics, fighters, illusionists and thieves. They receive the same benefits against magic as their dwarvish cousins, with like adjustments to their saving throws, but do not enjoy the same benefit against poison and venom. Gnomes understand their own language and that of certain others and are able to communicate with burrowing [[Animal|animals]] such as moles, badgers and squirrels. They too possess an unusual ability to see in the dark. They are miners of exceptional merit and are effective in combat against the aforementioned goblins, and one other people called kobolds. Gnomes enjoy the same defensive benefit against very large giant-like creatures as well.
 : '''Half-elves''' stand on average about five foot two to five foot six in height and weigh between 100 and 130 pounds. Adopting a half-elf as a character offers no special adjustments to the character's attributes. They are able to become assassins, clerics, druids, fighters, magic-users, rangers and thieves, more than any other people except humans. They have some immunity from magic that causes sleep or which can charm the individual, but much less than that of elves. They understand the language of humans and elves, and a number of others besides. They retain the unusual ability to see in the dark from their elven forebears, and the same ability to spot or locate concealed or secret doors.

@@ Line 103: / Line 103: @@
 === Peoples ===
-For those with no experience with AD&D, the discovery that their "races" and that players are expected to decide which they are without context, before moving on from here, can be off-putting. "Race" has become anachronistic in this day and age, though it is the game's language — therefore I feel it would be best to say that players at this stage of character creation are asked to choose, at this time, what "people" to which they'd like their characters to belong.
+For those with no experience with AD&D, the discovery that their "races" and that players are expected to decide which they are without context, before moving on from here, can be off-putting. "Race" has become [[Anachronism|anachronistic]] in this day and age, though it is the game's language — therefore I feel it would be best to say that players at this stage of character creation are asked to choose, at this time, what "people" to which they'd like their characters to belong.
 While it would be convenient to ignore the archaic toxicity of AD&D race-rules—the assumption that humans are "superior," the tiresome presupposition of antipathy between dwarves and elves—it would be irresponsible to do so. What fictional peoples think or believe in the game's setting are not "rules," they are the opinions of narrow-minded persons and we need not give them credence. We have already explained that a "rule" is boundary the players should observe, as something applied consistently and predictably by any DM, regardless of their background. Therefore, things in AD&D that attempt to describe what  peoples choose beyond strict game details that provide defined affordances—or benefits, if one prefers, can be discarded. We need not give time to them nor credibility.

@@ Line 787: / Line 787: @@
 Even in its earliest printing, AD&D recognised that the thief class was something that needed to be laundered as a thing morally neutral. Yet while one book tells us that as a profession, thieves are neither honourable nor dishonorable, another provides an infamous illustration on page 24: with one thief dead before a chest of treasure, murdered by another, the caption reads, "There is no honor among Thieves..." It is obviously not the apology we are given by an uncomfortable author, but the picture, that tells us the truth about the thief character.
-Nevertheless, the class is built from affordances that, while the setting might treat as offensive, are of great value to a player party: concealment, gaining access, light fingers and ambush — not to mention the ability to contact and converse with a connected underworld and needful black market. These are useful procedures in a dangerous world, regardless of whether these skills are considered right by polite society. Sometimes, a party has to get their hands dirty.
+Nevertheless, the class is built from affordances that, while the setting might treat as offensive, are of great value to a player party: concealment, gaining access, light fingers and  [[Ambush|ambush]] — not to mention the ability to contact and converse with a connected underworld and needful black market. These are useful procedures in a dangerous world, regardless of whether these skills are considered right by polite society. Sometimes, a party has to get their hands dirty.
 Because the thief is physically the weakest member of the party — better in combat than the magic-user or illusionist, but without the ability to produce the raw power of those classes — they must survive much of the time by withdrawal or by avoidance. Where possible, they'll seek to get behind an enemy, where they can attack in their best manner: a neatly done stab in the back, however cruel. For many thieves, this ability to "back stab" is their bread and butter. We shall explain how it works shortly.

@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 Rather, this book and those that follow it are designed to provide a reconstructed, merged rules explanation that treats the books as one fractured manuscript and then reassembles it into a more learnable sequence. It shall appear, occasionally, that things are overlooked, because they are not spoken of in the sequence the books provide. This shall certainly lead to the conclusion that much has been left out or missed, or deliberately discounted. Instead, it only means that much will be left to the appendices at the end, as flotsam and jetsam not necessary for inclusion in understanding the game's play or its structure. This shall be especially true of rules that might be played, but don't need to be played, to make a good game experience.
-— Alexis Smolensk
+— [[Alexis Smolensk]]
 = Participants =

@@ Line 233: / Line 233: @@
 In game designer terms, we must believe that someone, for some reason, believed that age should differ by class. Someone believed spellcasting required more time. Someone believed some identities required maturity. Those impulses never became a system, but their inclusion alone can provide a clue for any dungeon master wishing to take the premise to the next level. This branch of thinking serves as a benefit throughout the game's rules — even if the work wasn't done, it ''could'' be done, by the right enterprising person willing to undertake the task.
-==== Aging Adjustments ====
+==== [[Aging]] Adjustments ====
 {| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin-left: 15px; text-align:center; background-color:#d4f2f2;"
 |+Age Category Table