Vol. 1 - Introducing Gameplay - Revision history

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 */

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Foreword

Bennettj: /* Aging Adjustments */

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Aging Adjustments

Bennettj: /* Attributes */

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Attributes

Tao alexis: /* Move Silently */

2026-01-20T22:00:20Z

Move Silently

Tao alexis: /* Setting Traps */

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Setting Traps

Tao alexis: /* Setting Traps */

2026-01-20T21:09:29Z

Setting Traps

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 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.

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 : '''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.

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 === 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.

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 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.

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 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 =

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 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

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 === Attributes ===
-We begin by establishing the character's physical and mental capacities. These are managed through six "attributes," which are also sometimes described as "ability stats" or even simply "stats." The multiplicity of terms indicates their importance in D&D. We should take a moment to remember that for our purposes, these attributes exist as game terms — over the years, all have accumulated cultural interpretations, but these must be directly set aside as they are irrelevant to understanding game play.
+We begin by establishing the character's physical and mental capacities. These are managed through six "attributes," which are also sometimes described as "[[Ability Stats|ability stats]]" or even simply "stats." The multiplicity of terms indicates their importance in D&D. We should take a moment to remember that for our purposes, these attributes exist as game terms — over the years, all have accumulated cultural interpretations, but these must be directly set aside as they are irrelevant to understanding game play.
 Four of these stats describe physical characteristics: strength, constitution, dexterity and charisma. '''Strength''' is best described as prowess, boldness or spirit, as well as being physically brawny or muscular. '''Constitution''' describes health and, loosely, endurance — though parts of the latter are better attributed to strength. '''Dexterity''' best describes agility or nimbleness; the word's relationship to craft, skill or common sense should be discounted in this context. '''Charisma''' describes attractiveness and magnetism; in context, it can relate to the loyalty engendered in others, but that should be treated as secondary to the attribute's direct meaning.

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	=== Move Silently ===		=== Move Silently ===
		+	The skill expresses an ability to move with little sound and disturbance, even as an example across a squeaky wooden floor, thus enabling the thief to approach an area where an enemy is expected, increasing chances for surprise or as a means to approach in order to back stab; the ability calls out specifically the ability to bypass a guard or member of the watch. It's assumed that most characters, when moving, tend to make a sufficient amount of noise to alert an enemy, but that the chance given is for the character to be "absolutely silent."
		+
		+	With respect to "surprise" as it's explained in the Players Handbook (p.103), following a statement that normally surprise occurs on a 1 or 2 on a d6, the text reads, "Assume the party of characters, moving silently and invisibly, comes upon a monster. They have 4 of 6 chances to surprise..." The text does not precisely explain this rule; we do not know if the 4 in 6 refers to moving silently or to "moving silently AND being invisible." The choice of "invisible" as a word here is unfortunate; in context, it clearly does not mean actually being ''transparent'', which is possible through magic in D&D, but is more probably a reference to "hide in shadows" which is discussed immediately after this section. In that case, is it "3 in 6" if only ''move silently'' is achieved, and the same if only hide in shadows is, and then 4 in 6 if both are, or is this actually a misreading of the text. This uncertainty is not addressed at all in the Dungeon Masters Guide.
		+
		+	We know from the elven ability to move silently, aforementioned, provides that people the ability to surprise 3 in 6 — however, that mechanic is not described as "absolute" silence, so even this does not provide a certain answer. It is a therefore a ruling only the DM can make.
		+
		+	There is a stipulation in the Dungeon Masters Guide that silent movement is the same as ordinary movement. It's also stated that the DM should not inform the thief that the die failed — this follows a rule that directive in AD&D that the DM, not the player, should be the one making these die rolls, though the language throughout the books repeately is framed in a language style that conveys the idea of the character trying or attempting or saving themselves. Though in practice, in most games that are played, this rule that the DM should be rolling such dice is simply ignored.
		+
		+	In any case, the supposition here — that only the DM knows whether or not the player's character has succeeded in moving silently — is used to support yet another gotcha example. In this case, it is supposed that while the character ''thinks'' they're being silent, it permits a monster or would-be victim to cleverly wait for the oncoming character to come unknowingly closer. Of course, the monster or victim need make no roll to do this — and in any case, the idea that a thief, trained to move silently from a young age, cannot somehow tell when they've failed using their own ears, is a trifle ridiculous.

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	Further, failure of success in setting up the trap is expressly described in AD&D as a way for the DM to arbitrarily adjudicate a chance for the thief character being injured, and the amount of injury damage. By our definition of "game rule," this cannot be condoned. And should the player dare to employ poison in the making of the trap — again, an extremely common sort of trap to be found in game — then the character must risk being poisoned also. And it is specifically stipulated that the thief cannot wear gloves or protective handwear, in case a player should think of an obvious solution to this. Finally, the rules do allow generously that more than one attempt can be made to set a trap, if failure occurs.		Further, failure of success in setting up the trap is expressly described in AD&D as a way for the DM to arbitrarily adjudicate a chance for the thief character being injured, and the amount of injury damage. By our definition of "game rule," this cannot be condoned. And should the player dare to employ poison in the making of the trap — again, an extremely common sort of trap to be found in game — then the character must risk being poisoned also. And it is specifically stipulated that the thief cannot wear gloves or protective handwear, in case a player should think of an obvious solution to this. Finally, the rules do allow generously that more than one attempt can be made to set a trap, if failure occurs.
		+
		+	=== Move Silently ===

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 AD&D also supplies rules for setting traps, though this option is expressly not included or even referred to in the Players Handbook. The percentage chance of success in setting a trap is the same as finding or removing them. There is a section on setting traps to be found on page 20 of the Dungeon Masters Guide that isn't very helpful. Poison needles and scything blades, both common in areas created by the dungeon master, are described here as "special," along with "similar traps," which is in no way definitive, that likely require "special mechanical components," not defined, needing "specialists," also not defined, to manufacture them (at a cost that is also not defined nor is there a time element that's explained).
-The player wishing their thief to create a trap is told to provide the DM "a simple drawing to illustrate how the trap will function," which the DM will then evaluate in terms of its capacity to injure while the trap is set up and modifications to the chance of success; obviously, the more "simple" the drawing, the wider the latitude of the DM in interpreting it. In any case, it is a breach of the game's logic: the ''player'' is not a thief, the ''character'' is the thief. It should in no way be relevant whether or not the player knows anything about trap-setting or need to explain the process; there is simply no rationale for demanding the player produce an out-of-game engineering competence.
+The player wishing their thief to create a trap is told to provide the DM "a simple drawing to illustrate how the trap will function," which the DM will then evaluate in terms of its capacity to injure while the trap is set up and modifications to the chance of success; obviously, the more "simple" the drawing, the wider the latitude of the DM in interpreting it. In any case, it is a breach of the game's logic: the ''player'' is not a thief, the ''character'' is the thief. It should in no way be relevant whether or not the player knows anything about trap-setting, nor should there be any need to explain the process; a player should never be required to produce any out-of-game demonstration for an existing character ability plainly stated as such in the rules.
 Further, failure of success in setting up the trap is expressly described in AD&D as a way for the DM to arbitrarily adjudicate a chance for the thief character being injured, and the amount of injury damage. By our definition of "game rule," this cannot be condoned. And should the player dare to employ poison in the making of the trap — again, an extremely common sort of trap to be found in game — then the character must risk being poisoned also. And it is specifically stipulated that the thief cannot wear gloves or protective handwear, in case a player should think of an obvious solution to this. Finally, the rules do allow generously that more than one attempt can be made to set a trap, if failure occurs.