As a way of procrastinating from doing more work on the adventure-campaign book I've been working on seemingly forever I decided to collect my miscellaneous "OSRIC" house rules and additions that weren't included in The Heroic Legendarium, either because I only came up with them after the contents of that book had been finalized or because for whatever reason I forgot to include them there. A lot of this stuff is pretty simple and minor, to the point that it didn't necessarily need to be formalized in writing, but a couple of them are more substantial and impactful.
While I'm not so naive as to believe anyone besides me would want to actually use all of these rules and rulings in their games (surely anyone running a 1st edition game at this point has already resolved all of these issues to their satisfaction many years ago), maybe some folks will find something they like here, and - as always - I've already done the work of writing it all up so why not share it, right? So, that said:
Enjoy!
Update: In a fit of inspiration, I decided to combine this document with the other house rules and play aids I've published here over the last couple years (since the HL text was finalized) into a smallish (20 page) pdf and put it up on DriveThruRPG as PWYW. I'm still a second-class citizen there so it hasn't gone live yet, but should within the next couple days (and when it does I'll probably make another post about it with a link). The Necropolis conversion notes aren't included (both because they're incomplete and because I'm not sure it would actually be legal to upload them for sale there - I know people sell 5E conversion guides for old 1E modules but am not sure what the rules are for that and don't want to take any chances and risk a repeat of last year's Lulu fiasco) but everything else is. Most of you reading this have probably already downloaded anything that you're interested in, but it might still be convenient to have it all in a single file, plus it will at least theoretically reach the people who (shockingly!) don't read this blog.
Right on. Thanks!
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Hey, Trent: is there a reason the mind flayer is not one of the creatures in your Heroic Legendarium errata? Should I assume the MM entry is correct as written?
ReplyDeleteThanks!
They're there under their OSRIC/OGC name ("cephaloid"). The MM stats are not correct - but, like the clay golem's damage error, the wrong version (i.e. that mind flayers have a really high psionic strength rating) has become so entrenched over the decades that it's taken on a life of its own and I imagine some people will resist the "corrected" version, even though reading the write-up in Eldritch Wizardry it's clear that the number shown in the MM is their total psionic strength (attack + defense) whereas for most other creatures it's their attack strength only.
DeleteNo, no…I’m with you on that. The only way the MM makes sense (psionics-wise) is viewing it in light of the original mechanics in Eldritch Wizardry. Mind thrust?Really?
DeleteAnyway…I didn’t know the “cephaloid” term (I don’t use OSRIC). If I recall correctly, I used the term “brain skinner” for a B/X write-up of the critter (a few years back). Regardless, I’ve got it now…thanks, man.
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“surely anyone running a 1st edition game at this point has already resolved all of these issues to their satisfaction many years ago”
ReplyDeleteI'm not running a 1st edition game, but I am looking at potentially moving my game over to it after having started with B/X almost a couple of years ago now. As you might be able to imagine, various issues and questions are cropping up as I explore AD&D for the first time. Recently, I've found myself frequently referring to your work in order to see how you've handled various things, so, thank you for sharing.
Glad to be of some help :)
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