Consolidated AD&D Weapon Characteristics List

Having spent the last few days down a research rabbit hole, I ended up compiling a chart of AD&D weapon characteristics, adding some "missing" entries and modifying (and in some cases combining) all of the canonical weapons. Having done the work, I figured I might as well share it. I'm reasonably confident I've captured pretty much every common (or even not-so-common) military weapon used in Europe and the Near East during the Middle Ages (c. 500-1500 CE) and have also included a fair sampling of earlier, later, and non-European weapons to the extent they overlap and correspond with an existing entry or otherwise seem like they might be fun and relevant to include in a fantasy game. 

In addition to compiling book data, I've also incorporated an assortment of my own house rules, including stat minimums for various weapons (already implicit in AD&D due to the notes about certain types of mercenary soldiers being unable to use heavy weapons), my simplified take on the weapon vs AC adjustment table (previously seen in Foster's Miscellany Vol. 1) and my new notion that certain types of daggers and swords with elaborate hilts should provide a parrying bonus when used defensively (in hopes of perhaps making parrying an actual viable defensive tactic, which is not the case under the official rules). 

It's probably too later for me to introduce this list in my current campaign (not least because I'm sure the players would howl in protest that some of their weapons' damage has been reduced) but if I ever start another fresh AD&D campaign after this one I'm likely to use this as the canonical list.

A. AXES

1. Hatchet [francisca, horseman’s axe, tomahawk]: dmg 1d6/1d4
Fast (SF 4), can be thrown (Min Str 9, Dex 11: ROF 1, range 1/2/3), can be used in off-hand

2. Axe, long [Dane axe, sparth axe] (2H*) Min Str 9 (13 for 1H use): dmg 1d8/1d8
Bonus vs chain/banded/splint (+2) [slow (SF 7)]

3. Axe, pole [bardiche, ono, voulge] (2H) Min Str 11: dmg 2d4/1d10
Reach (5’), bonus vs chain/banded/splint (+2) [slow (SF 8), space requirement (5’)]

4. Halberd [bill, lochaber axe, roncone, scorpion] (2H) Min Str 13: dmg 1d10/2d6
Reach (6’), bonus vs chain/banded/splint (+2), can dismount (Min Dex 9), can be set vs. charging horses [very slow (SF 9), space requirement (5’)]


B. BLUDGEONS

1. Club (C,T): dmg 1d6/1d3
Fast (SF 4), can be thrown (ROF 1, range 1/2/3), can stun

2. Stick, fighting [jo stick] (C,M,T) Min Dex 9: dmg 1d6/1d3
Very fast (SF 2), can stun, can be used in off-hand [ineffective vs armor (disadvantage vs chain or heavier)]

3. Jitte (C) Min Dex 11: dmg 1d3/1d3
Very fast (SF 2), can stun, can disarm 1H weapons

4. Hammer (C) Min Str 9: dmg 1d4+1/1d4
Fast (SF 4), can be thrown (Min Str 9, Dex 11: ROF 1, range 1/2/3), can be used in off-hand

5. Mace, light [horseman’s mace] (C) Min Str 9: dmg 1d6/1d4
Bonus vs plate (+2 vs plate mail, +3 vs field/full plate)

6. Mace, heavy [footman’s mace] (2H*) (C) Min Str 9 (13 for 1H use): dmg 1d6+1/1d6
Bonus vs plate (+2 vs plate mail, +3 vs field/full plate) [slow (SF 7)]

7. Maul (2H) (C) Min Str 11: dmg 1d8/1d8
[slow (SF 8), space requirement (5’)]

8. Morning-star [godendag, tetsubo] (2H) (C) Min Str 11: dmg 2d4/1d6+1
Reach (5’) [slow (SF 7), space requirement (5’)]

9. Staff, quarter [bo stick] (2H) (C,M) Min Str 9, Dex 9: dmg 1d6/1d6
Fast (SF 4), reach (6’), can stun [ineffective vs armor (disadvantage vs chain or heavier)]


C. FLAILS

1. Nunchaku (C,T) Min Dex 11: dmg 1d4+1/1d4
Fast (SF 3), can stun [ineffective vs armor (disadvantage vs chain or heavier)]

2. Flail, ball and chain [horseman’s flail] (C) Min Str 9, Dex 11: dmg 1d4+1/1d4+1
Ignores shields

3. Flail, military [footman’s flail] (2H) (C) Min Str 11, Dex 9: dmg 1d6+1/2d4
Ignores shields [slow (SF 7), space requirement (6’)]

4. Whip (T) Min Str 9, Dex 9: dmg 1d2/1
Reach (10’), entangles [space requirement (6’), ineffective vs armor (no damage vs chain or heavier, entangles only)]

5. Chain (C) Min Dex 13: dmg 1d4/1d3
Reach (10’), entangles [space requirement (5’), ineffective vs armor (no damage vs chain or heavier, entangle only)]

6. Sickle-chain [kusari-gama] (2H) (T) Min Dex 13: dmg 1d4+1/1d4
Reach (10’), entangles


D. KNIVES

1. Knife (M,T): dmg 1d3/1d2
Very fast (SF 2), can be thrown (Min Dex 11: ROF 2, range 1/2/3), can be used in off-hand, can disarm knives

2. Dagger [kris, misericorde, poignard, rondel, stiletto, tanto] (M,T): dmg 1d4/1d3
Very fast (SF 2), can be thrown (Min Dex 11: ROF 2, range 1/2/3), can be used in off-hand, bonus vs chain & plate (+2 vs chain or plate mail, +3 vs field/full plate if opponent is prone), can disarm knives & daggers

3. Dagger, parrying [main-gauche] (T) Min Dex 11: dmg 1d4/1d3
Very fast (SF 2), parry bonus (+1 to AC when used to parry instead of attack), can be used in off-hand, can disarm knives & daggers

4. Dagger, sword-breaking [sai] (T) Min Dex 11: dmg 1d4/1d3
Very fast (SF 2), can disarm 1H weapons and break knives, daggers & 1H swords, can be used in off-hand

5. Sickle [falx, kama] (T): dmg 1d4+1/1d4
Fast (SF 4)


E. PICKS

1. Pick, military [crow-bill, fang, horseman’s pick, zaghnal] Min Str 9: dmg 1d4+1/1d4
Bonus vs plate (+2 vs plate mail, +3 vs field/full plate)

2. Pick, heavy [footman’s pick] (2H*) Min Str 9 (13 for 1H use): dmg 1d6+1/2d4
Bonus vs plate (+2 vs plate mail, +3 vs field/full plate) [slow (SF 7)]

3. Pole-hammer [bec de corbin, Lucerne hammer] (2H) Min Str 11: dmg 2d4/1d6
Reach (5’), bonus vs plate (+2 vs plate mail, +3 vs field/full plate) [very slow (SF 9), space requirement (5’)]


F. SPEARS

1. Spear, short: dmg 1d6/1d8
Reach (6’), can be set vs. charging men or horses, can be thrown (Min Str 9, Dex 9: ROF 1, range 1/2/3), bonus vs chain & plate (+2 vs chain & plate mail, +3 vs field/full plate if opponent prone)

2. Spear, long [pike, sarissa] (2H) Min Str 9: dmg 1d6/1d12
Reach (12’+), can be set vs. charging men or horses, bonus vs chain & plate (+2 vs chain & plate mail, +3 vs field/full plate if opponent prone) [slow to very slow (SF 8+)]

3. Lance: dmg 1d6/1d8 (light horse), 1d6+1/2d6 (medium horse) or 2d4+1/3d6 (heavy horse)
Reach (10’+), double damage on mounted charge [can only be used while mounted]

4. Trident (2H*) Min Str 9 (13 for 1H use): dmg 1d6+1/2d4
Reach (5’), can disarm any weapon (Min Dex 11)

5. Fauchard [guisarme, war scythe] (2H) Min Str 11: dmg 1d6/1d8
Reach (6’), can dismount (Min Dex 9) [slow (SF 8)]

6. Glaive [naginata] (2H) Min Str 9: dmg 1d6/1d10
Reach (8’), can be set vs charging horses [slow (SF 8)]

7. Fork, military (2H) Min Str 11: dmg 1d8/2d4
Reach (7’), can dismount (Min Dex 9), can be set vs. charging horses [slow (SF 7)]

8. Man-catcher (2H) Min Str 11, Dex 9: dmg 1d2/1d2
Reach (8’), entangles [slow (SF 7)]

9. Ranseur [Chauve-souris, korseke, ox-tongue, partisan, spetum, spontoon] (2H) Min Str 11: dmg 2d4/2d6
Reach (8’), can dismount (Min Dex 9), can disarm (Min Dex 11), can be set vs. charging horses [slow (SF 8)]


G. SWORDS

1. Sword, short [baselard, gladius, wakizashi, xiphos] (T) Min Dex 9: dmg 1d6/1d8
Fast (SF 3], can disarm knives, daggers & short swords

2. Sword-gauntlet [manople, pata] Min Dex 11: dmg 1d6/1d8
AC bonus (+1 unless wearing plate), can disarm 1H weapons

3. Falchion [cutlass, falcata, kopis, kukri, machete, seax] (T) Min Str 9: dmg 1d6+1/2d4
Can disarm knives, daggers & 1H swords

4. Sword, broad [jian, spatha, Viking sword] (T) Min Str 9: dmg 2d4/1d6+1
Can disarm knives, daggers & 1H swords

5. Sword, long [arming sword, knightly sword, side-sword] (T) Min Str 9: dmg 1d8/1d10
Parry bonus (+1 to AC when used to parry instead of attack), can disarm knives, daggers & 1H swords

6. Scimitar [dao, katana, kilij, saber, shamshir, tachi, tulwar, yatagan] (T) Min Str 9, Dex 11: dmg 1d8/1d8
Fast (SF 4); bonus vs no armor & leather (+1)

7. Rapier (T) Min Dex 13: 1d8/1d10
Fast (SF 4), parry bonus (+1 to AC when used to parry instead of attack), can disarm knives, daggers & 1H swords

8. Khopesh [rhomphaia] Min Str 11: dmg 2d4/1d6
Can snag weapons (Min Dex 11) [very slow (SF 9)]

9. Sword, bastard (2H*) Min Str 11 (13 for 1H use): dmg 2d4/1d12 (2H) or 1d8/1d10 (1H)
Parry bonus (+1 to AC when used to parry instead of attack)

10. Estoc (2H*) Min Str 11 (13 for 1H use): dmg 2d4/1d12 (2H) or 1d8/1d10 (1H)
Bonus vs plate (+2 vs plate mail, +3 vs vs field/full plate)

11. Sword, great [claymore, flamberge, nodachi, two-handed sword, zweihander] (2H) Min Str 13: dmg 1d10/2d8
Reach (6’), parry bonus (+1 to AC when used to parry instead of attack) [very slow (SF 10), space requirement (6’)]


H. MISCELLANEOUS HAND-HELD WEAPONS

1. Knuckles, brass [cestus] (T): dmg 1d3/1d3
Very fast (SF 1), can stun, can be used in off-hand [ineffective vs armor (disadvantage vs chain or heavier)]

2. Buckler, spiked Min Dex 11: dmg 1d4/1d3
Fast (SF 4), AC bonus (+1), can be used in off-hand

3. Caltrop (M, T): dmg 1/1d2
[must be placed in advance; not usable in melee]

4. Claw, fighting [bagh nakh] (T) Min Dex 9: dmg 1d4/1d3
Very fast (SF 2), can be used in off-hand [ineffective vs armor (disadvantage vs chain or heavier)]

5. Garrote (T) Min Dex 11: dmg 1d4/1d6
Very fast (SF 2), strangles [can only attack by surprise from behind, ineffective vs armor (target must have exposed neck)]

6. Sap [blackjack] (C,T) Min Dex 9: dmg 1d2/1d2
Very fast (SF 2), KO’s [ineffective vs armor (disadvantage vs any armor)]


I. BOWS

1. Bow, short (2H) Min Dex 9: dmg 1d6/1d6
ROF 2, Range 5/10/15; capable of indirect fire

2. Bow, composite, short [horse bow] (2H) Min Str 11, Dex 9: dmg 1d6/1d6
ROF 2, Range 5/10/18; capable of indirect fire, can be used from horseback, bonus vs no armor & leather (+1)

3. Bow, long (2H) Min Str 13, Dex 9: dmg 1d6/1d6
ROF 2, Range 7/14/21; capable of indirect fire, bonus vs no armor & leather (+1)

4. Bow, composite, long [daikyu] (2H) Min Str 11, Dex 9: dmg 1d6/1d6
ROF 2, Range 6/21/21; capable of indirect fire, usable from horseback, bonus vs no armor & leather (+1)

5. Bow, pellet (2H) (T) Min Dex 11: dmg 1d4+1/1d6+1
ROF 1, Range 6/12/18


J. CROSSBOWS

1. Crossbow, hand (T): dmg 1d3/1d2
ROF 1, Range 2/4/6

2. Crossbow, light (2H): dmg 1d4+1/1d4+1
ROF 1, Range 6/12/18; can be used from horseback, bonus vs no armor & leather (+1)

3. Crossbow, heavy [arbalest] (2H) Min Str 11: dmg 1d6+1/2d4
ROF ½; Range 8/16/24; bonus to hit vs all opponents (+2)

4. Crossbow, repeating [cho-ko-nu] (2H): dmg 1d4/1d4
ROF 2; Range 4/8/12 [magazine holds 10 shots, then 2 rounds to reload, or 1 round to reload 1d4 shots]


K. SLINGS

1. Sling (T) Min Dex 11: dmg 1d4/1d4 (stone) or 1d4+1/1d6+1 (bullet)
ROF 1, Range 4/8/16 (stone) or 5/10/20 (bullet)

2. Sling, staff (2H) (C) Min Str 9, Dex 11: dmg 1d8/2d4 (stone) or 2d4/2d4+1 (bullet)
ROF ½, Range -/6/9; always fires indirectly (min. 3” distance, no short range) [space requirement (6’)]


L. MISCELLANEOUS HURLED WEAPONS AND MISSILES

1. Aklys Min Dex 9: dmg 1d6/1d3
ROF 1, Range 1/-/-; entangles, drags

2. Blowgun (2H) Min Dex 11: dmg 1/1
ROF 2, Range 1/2/3 [ineffective vs armor (disadvantage vs all armor)]

3. Bolas (C) Min Str 9, Dex 13: dmg 1d3/1d2
ROF 1, Range 1.5/3/4.5; entangles

4. Boomerang (C) Min Dex 11: 1d3/1d3
ROF 1, range 2/4/6; missed attack returns to wielder’s hand [ineffective vs armor (disadvantage vs chain or heavier)]

5. Chakram Min Dex 11: dmg 1d4/1d4
ROF 2, Range 2/4/6

6. Dart [plumbata] (M,T) Min Dex 9: dmg 1d3/1d2
ROF 3, Range 1.5/3/4.5

7. Harpoon Min Str 11, Dex 9: dmg 1d6/2d4
ROF 1, range 1/2/3; drags

8. Javelin [assegai, pilum] Min Str 9, Dex 9: dmg 1d6/1d6
ROF 1, Range 2/4/6; capable of indirect fire

9. Lasso (C) Min Str 9, Dex 13: dmg -/-
ROF ½, Range 1/2/3; entangles, drags, ignores armor [space requirement (8’)]

10. Net (C) Min Str 11, Dex 11: dmg -/-
ROF ½, Range 1/2/3; entangles, ignores armor [space requirement (10’)]

11. Rock, thrown (C,M,T): dmg 1d2/1d2
ROF 2, Range 1.5/3/4.5; can stun [ineffective vs. armor (disadvantage vs chain or heavier)]

12. Shuriken (T) Min Dex 13: dmg 1d3/1d2 (large) or 1d2/1 (small)
ROF 3 (large) or 4 (small), Range 0.5/1/1.5 [ineffective vs. armor (disadvantage vs all armor)]

13. Spear-thrower [atl-atl] Min Dex 9: dmg 1d6/1d6
ROF 1, range 3/6/9; capable of indirect fire

 

Weather in the Yatil Mountains

The players in my D&D campaign will soon be headed into the Yatil Mountains in search of the lost treasure hoard of the Archmage Iggwilv (see module S4: The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth). An adventure set among high mountain passes really calls out for guidelines for handling weather and temperature, which the published module doesn't speak to at all (except for the perfunctory inclusion of avalanches and rockslides on the random encounter table). The World of Greyhawk boxed set of course has a set of tables for determining weather, but they are famously unwieldy, at least for realtime at-the-table use. 

In order to remedy that, I made my own set of weather tables for the Yatil Mountains (similar to the weather table in Brink of Calamity which I assume all of you are familiar with - daily [or as often as you feel ike making them] rolls to determine temperature, cloud cover/precipitation, and wind speed, all scaled to match the chart in the Control Weather spell on p. 52 of the 1st edition AD&D Players Handbook) and present them here for the use of anyone else who might be considering running that adventure (or any other adventure set in an environment roughly analogous climate-wise to the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains): 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xPXlRu_e5sjj7ScvYYJvYKoMpDuEDjSZ/view?usp=sharing

Enjoy!

Greyhawk Deities

A couple years ago when I converted my bootleg "AD&D Companion" compilation into the legitimate/OGL-licensed Heroic Legendarium, one section I was sorry to have to remove was the summary of the World of Greyhawk deities and the characteristics of their clerics, collecting the information that was previously spread across the World of Greyhawk boxed set and various issues of Dragon magazine into one convenient reference. 

Now, in preparation for next weekend's public playtest session, I decided to revisit that document. But instead of just copying the old text I decided it would be fun to expand it to include both those deities listed but not detailed in the boxed set as well as assorted god-like monsters. 

In creating the list I edited out a few deities* who seemed redundant or uninteresting (to me), and in a few cases repurposed some of their cleric characteristics into other deities with similar portfolios. Likewise, some deities were given cleric characteristics suggested by Roger Moore in Dragon #85 for use with clerics of the pantheons from Deities & Demigods. The rest I created myself, attempting to remain as consistent as possible with both the style and power-level of the published examples. It's likely someone else has already done and shared this same work at some point over the last 40 years, but I couldn't find anything online (at least not within my preferred 1st edition AD&D paradigm).

Symbols for the deities not detailed by Gygax or Lakofka mostly come from this wiki page (which I presume is based on content from post-Gygax TSR and WotC products with which I am not otherwise familiar), but I have unapologetically changed them wherever I didn't like what was provided there (and careful readers will also note other minor editorial emendations - deities with modified alignments or portfolios). Similarly, portfolios for the arch-devils and demon princes were mostly gleaned from a variety of online encyclopedias of folklore and witchcraft, in researching which I was surprised and amused to discover that almost all of the demon and devil names provided by Gygax in the Monster Manual II are authentic from medieval texts. In order to fit my list onto a single page I wasn't able to include all of the demon lords here, but I did keep a list of the portfolios of most of the remaining ones.

Anyway, as usual, once I've done the work I figured there's no reason not to share it more widely here. All of the deity names and previously-published descriptions are, of course, copyright Wizards of the Coast, LLC but are being used in a non-commercial manner, just like the wiki site linked above.

Download the pdf here 

*Beltar, Bralm, Delleb, Fortubo, Jascar, Lendor, Lydia, Phyton, Rudd, Velnius, and Xerbo. 8 of these 11 were detailed by Len Lakofka in Dragon magazine (issues #86-92, June-December 1984), for those who are interested

Milestone achieved

Yesterday, a bit over two years after work-in-earnest began (though the original outline was actually done back in 2017), I finally finished writing up the last encounter area for my D&D adventure/campaign book (working title Brink of Calamity), officially completing the first draft. 

It ended up being even more massive that I had originally intended, with the current draft clocking in at about 133K words and 167 pages (including 20 pages of maps). The original plan was to cover levels 1-6 but a few of the tougher areas may actually go beyond that (playtesting will tell). Here's how the contents break down:

• Roughly 8,000 square mile wilderness area with 30+ detailed locations
• 1 detailed town & 2 detailed villages
• 5 dungeons (including Melonath Falls and the Perlammo Salt Mines) with 16 combined levels (+ several mini-dungeon lairs)
• 3 dragons
• 7 new monsters
• 4 new magic items
• Over 130 named & detailed NPCs
• Extensive rumor and random encounter tables
• Dozens of potential plots and character interactions
• Enough material to fill at least 20 sessions of play

Playtesting is still ongoing (including a couple public sessions in August if anyone reading this is in the L.A. area and interested/available), as is editing/revision/layout work, so it will be still be a while before it's actually available for sale, but for as long as this thing has been gestating and as many fits and starts as I've had writing it just having a complete draft already feels like an accomplishment, so I wanted to take this opportunity to crow about it a bit.

And, while we're here, here are a couple other small things I created recently while procrastinating over finishing up the book draft:

1) An AD&D character sheet incorporating all of my additions and house rules from The Heroic Legendarium and Foster's Miscellany. I will always love TSR's old goldenrod AD&D character sheets, but it was becoming an increasingly large hassle, especially with new (or new to 1E) players, having to tell them to ignore this and add that and to put in X where it says Y. This sheet is purely functional and doesn't have the fun graphical elements and flourishes that I love in the goldenrod sheets, but (at least IMO) their increased ease of use makes up for that. For my own games I've printed them on light blue paper.

2) Even more randomly, a sheet of Character Background Detail Tables for Twilight:2000 1st edition characters. I never owned this game in its day and just recently acquired it (and being a dyed-in-the-wool grognard I of course chose to pick up the vintage 1984 edition rather than the current one published by Free League) and mostly loved it but also found it odd and frustrating that the characters' non-military background and lives and personalities were essentially completely undefined, so I decided to fill that stuff in myself with some Mekton/Cyberpunk-style lifepath tables. I suspect later editions (which I haven't seen) also cover this stuff, rendering this exercise kind of pointless and redundant, but I had fun coming up with it so I've got no regrets.  

"Foster's Miscellany, Volume 1" now available for sale

As mentioned in my last post, I decided to compile the various little house rule and addition tidbits that have accumulated over the last two years since The Heroic Legendarium manuscript was completed into a 20 page pdf which is now officially available at DriveThruRPG as PWYW, under the title Foster's Miscellany, Volume I. No print option because it's only 20 pages (and only 16 of them are actual content), and probably nothing new to anybody who's been reading and downloading content from this blog, but hopefully still worth a look for anyone who liked the Heroic Legendarium (or hasn't bought it yet but would like a cheap preview - about half of the new book is Play Aids that combine HL data alongside the original canon data (class and race info, equipment lists, weapon stats) for convenience at the table.

Since it's PWYW I went ahead and made the preview the entire thing, so you can see what you'll be getting if you purchase it. 

The big adventure-campaign book is still coming eventually (progress has been slow the last month or so but I haven't given up, I swear!) but I figured this was a nice little interim thing which will hopefully be of at least a bit of interest to some folks and will also (hopefully) suffice to get me off of DriveThruRPG's "second class citizen" list where they consign publishers who've only released one title. It also allowed me an opportunity to make a little tribute on to dedication page my dad, who passed away last week, following my mom by just over 13 months (and was an easier way to keep my mind occupied than trying to be creative).

Anyway, I hope y'all will take a look and maybe find at least one or two things that you'll find worth using in your 1E/OSRIC games.

Some new house rules & additions

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:

Google Drive download link

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.

Brainstorm notes on the Upper Planes

Gary Gygax devoted a fair amount of attention and detail to the Lower Planes of AD&D, in both the rulebooks and especially his Gord novels, but left the Upper Planes mostly untouched except for names and a few supernatural creatures that dwell there (ki-rin, titans, baku, hollyphants, devas, etc.). His reason for doing so was presumably twofold - firstly that such realms don't offer the same sort of adventuring potential as the lower planes (putting Good deities to the sword and looting their stuff doesn't have quite the same appeal of doing the same to hordes of demons and devils), and secondly that as someone who was strongly religious in his personal life Gary was always very careful about "treading too close" to subjects and content that impinged upon real-world Judeo-Christian religion.

Nevertheless, even if there's not so much adventuring potential on these planes there is value in detailing them from a worldbuilding perspective, to give players a sense of what those realms are like (and what their characters can expect after death), as well as to provide a foundation to build upon in the event travel to one or more of these planes (intentionally or otherwise) does come up in play.

In that spirit, I've collected both notes from the AD&D canon of what is known about each of the Upper Planes (including which creatures and deities dwell in each of them) and have added some color and flavor of my own based on what felt fitting and appropriate for each plane. These are rough notes from a couple days of brainstorming activity and not intended to be complete or final, only a starting point and outpouring of ideas and inspirational nuggets to guide and inform potential future development.

Note that any resemblance between the below and other post-Gygax depictions of these planes (including TSR's Manual of the Planes and Planescape) is wholly coincidental and comes only from being derived from the same base (Gygax-era) source material.

UPPER PLANES

Weather is calm towards the lawful planes, turbulent towards the chaotic planes; climate is universally mild (warm or cool depending on specific plane/level) - it never rains on the lawful plains (but doesn’t create drought conditions), it rains (or snows) daily on the chaotic planes (but doesn’t create floods); it is never full night on the upper planes - daylight fades (in scintillating reds and oranges) to perpetual post-twilight with deep indigo sky and brilliant starlight; on the neutral planes there are always puffy white clouds in the western sky and menacing storm clouds in the eastern sky.

All senses (vision, hearing, smell/taste, and even feel) are sharpened and amplified on the upper planes, but at the same time visitors always have a sense of detachment and unreality similar to a waking dream or hallucination - it all feels “too real” to be real.

Food and drink are plentiful on all upper planes (type depending on the plane) and require minimal effort in cultivation and preparation; eating a meal of upper planes food will instantly refresh the eater, functioning as a combined elixir of health, potion of vitality, and potion of extra healing (effective once per day per individual), however, for every such meal consumed the eater has a cumulative 10% chance per meal of completely and permanently forgetting their mortal life. Any food or drink taken away from its native plane loses all extraordinary powers and becomes normal food in all respects.

Architectural style, clothing, cuisine, types of flora and fauna, and all other visual trappings are variable based on the culture and expectations of the visitor - everything will always appear comfortable and familiar but may well appear differently to a visitor (or deceased soul) from a different culture or alternate prime plane. The deities who dwell in and rule over each plane are able to modify such appearances at will, as often as desired.

The primary and most common inhabitants of all the upper planes are mortal souls of humans and demi-humans (save elves, whose spirits dwell temporarily in Alfheim before being sent back to the mortal realm). The lawful planes are densely populated towns, the neutral planes less so (small villages of at most a couple hundred souls), and the chaotic planes are sparsely populated (single-family homesteads). In their natural state these souls have no memory of their mortal existence (or more than a few days in the past) and are wholly content to repeat endlessly their narrow pattern of post-mortal existence (though certain spells, such as Speak With Dead, will temporarily bring back their mortal memories). They do not fight (except for those who feed themselves by hunting) or use any magic. They can all communicate with each other and any other person or animal via telepathy. They cannot be permanently killed by physical means (they regenerate 1 hp/turn from all forms of damage and will always be fully restored within 24 hours) though some spells - such as Destruction - may do so. They will never willingly leave their plane/level unless extraordinary magic is employed. If attacked all animals in the area (which are actually immortal spirits in animal form) will come to their defense. If that is not sufficient, the more powerful supernatural beings native to that plane will intercede and the offenders will be detained, ejected, or slain depending on the magnitude of their offense. The majority of post-mortal souls dwell on the first level of each plane - the mass of regular, mundane individuals of the corresponding alignment. The upper levels of the planes are inhabited by the souls of the most pious and exemplary, the heroes and saints of the various religions.

Inhabitants of the Upper Planes generally: Agathion, Deva, Hollyphant, Planetar, Solar

[See also Heroic Legendarium p. 89 for guidelines regarding how magic items and spells are affected on the Outer Planes]

Arcadia

Endless Town (cobbled and lighted streets and open squares with inviting cafes and taverns and shops, comfortable bourgeois homes (warm hearths, soft beds, plush sitting chairs), no garbage or foul smells, no rats or pestilence, no crime)

1. Rustic suburbs (gardeners (vegetables, herbs, small livestock) - St. Cuthbert, The Protector)
2. Midtown (crafters and artisans - Pholtus, dwarf gods)
3. High street (bankers, jewelers, luxury goods - Marduk)

Inhabitants: n/a

Deities: St. Cuthbert (Greyhawk), Pholtus (Greyhawk), Marduk (Babylonian), Moradin (Dwarf), Berronar (Dwarf), Clanggedin Silverbeard (Dwarf), The Protector (my pantheon)


Heaven

Endless Leisure (1st level is an endless beach with warm water and gentle tides, higher levels are ivory buildings and amphitheaters on puffy white clouds)

1. Sport (Girru)
2. Games (chess, etc) (Heironeous, The Father)
3. Intellectual pursuit (philosophy, debate) (Chung Kuel, ki-rin)
4. Sculpture & painting (Ebisu)
5. Dance (Kuan Yin, platinum dragon)
6. Music (Surya)
7. Poetry (Vishnu)

Inhabitants: Platinum Dragon, Ki-rin, (Lammasu), (Shedu)

Deities: Heironeous (Greyhawk), Girru (Babylonian), Chung Kuel (Chinese), Kuan Yin (Chinese), Surya (Indian), Vishnu (Indian), Ebisu (Japanese), The Father (my pantheon)


Paradise

Endless Savannah (wild cattle, horses, and dogs, antelope, impalas, gazelles, zebras, giraffes, elephants, buffalo, rhinos, etc.)

1. Lowlands (Epimetheus, Halfling gods, The Mother)
2. Uplands (Ukko, Gnome gods, air maidens)

Inhabitants: Air Maiden

Deities: Ukko (Finnish), Epimetheus (Greek), Garl Glittergold (Gnome), Baervan Wildwanderer (Gnome), Segojan Earthcrawler (Gnome), Flandal Steelskin (Gnome), Yondalla (Halfling), Arvoreen (Halfling), Cyrollalee (Halfling), The Mother (my pantheon)


Elysium

Endless River (self-maintaining croplands on either bank - wheat, barley, millet, sorghum, lentils, peas, beans, dates, figs, watermelons, pomegranates, coriander, cumin, coffee, sugar cane, rice)

1. Delta (Egyptian gods, The Grower, phoenix) 
2. Lower river (Ishtar, baku)
3. Upper river (Sumerian gods)
4. Headwaters (other gods, moon dog)

Inhabitants: Baku, Moon Dog, Phoenix

Deities: Ishtar (Babylonian), Isis (Egyptian), Seker (Egyptian), Ushas (Indian), Tsukiyomi (Japanese), Bragi (Norse), Enlil (Sumerian), Nanna-Sin (Sumerian), Nin-Hursag (Sumerian), The Grower (my pantheon)


Happy Hunting Grounds

Endless Forest (elk, deer, moose, squirrels, birds; fruit, nuts, berries, mushrooms)

1. Boreal (American gods, Brother Sun)
2. Temperate (Skerrit)
3. Jungle (Bast)

Inhabitants: Thunderbird

Deities: Raven (American), Hotoru (American), Snake Man (American), Bast (Egyptian), Skerrit (Centaur), Brother Sun (my pantheon)


Olympus

Endless Mountain (storms)

1. Forested foothills (Alfheim - elf gods)
2. Slopes & vales (pastoral (sheep, goats, alpaca, rabbits) - Nephthys, foo creatures)
3. Cloud-capped heights (godsland - Greek gods, titans, eudaimones)

Inhabitants: Titan, Foo Creature, Eudaimon, (Opinicus)

Deities: Nephthys (Egyptian), Zeus (Greek), Aphrodite (Greek), Apollo (Greek), Ares (Greek), Artemis (Greek), Athena (Greek), Demeter (Greek), Dionysus (Greek), Hera (Greek), Hermes (Greek), Nike (Greek), Poseidon (Greek), Prometheus (Greek), Tyche (Greek), Corellon Larethian (Elf), Deep Sashelas (Elf), Rillifane Rallathil (Elf), Aerdrie Faenya (Elf), Erevan Ilsere (Elf), Solonor Thelandria (Elf), Hanali Celanil (Elf), Labelas Enoreth (Elf)


Gladsheim

Endless Adventure

1. Midgard (realm of endless cliffs, fjords, volcanoes; storm-tossed sea - Tritherion, Indian, Japanese gods)
2. Asgard (realm above (mountain-tops) - Norse gods, The Son, valkyries)
3. Niflheim (realm below (caves) - includes Muspelheim, Nidavelir, Svartalfheim)

Inhabitants: Valkyrie

Deities: Tritherion (Greyhawk), Karttikeya (Indian), Lakshmi (Indian), Hachiman (Japanese), Oh Kuni Nushi (Japanese), Odin (Norse), Aegir (Norse), Balder (Norse), Forseti (Norse), Frey (Norse), Freya (Norse), Frigga (Norse), Heimdall (Norse), Idun (Norse), Loki (Norse), Magni (Norse), Modi (Norse), Sif (Norse), Thor (Norse), Tyr (Norse), Uller (Norse), Vidar (Norse), The Son (my pantheon)

Alternate Appendix P

Appendix P of the AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide is a set of instructions for “Creating a Party on the Spur of the Moment” - generating pre-experienced characters quickly for use in convention or other one-off games. The bulk of the system is devoted to a series of tables for determining which magic items such characters may possess. However, using those tables requires a lot of die-rolling and there’s a chance that even high level characters will end up with few (or no) magic items. With that in mind, in order both to simplify the process and to make it less random I came up with this alternative:

Level 1: no magic items
Level 2-3: pick one item from group 1
Level 4-5: pick two items from group 1
Level 6-8: pick three items (no more than one from group 2, none from group 3)
Level 9-11: pick five items from group 1 or 2
Level 12+: pick six items (no more than two from group 3)

Group 1:
Leather Armor +1
Chain Mail +1
Shield +1
Sword +1
Battle Axe +1
12 Crossbow Bolts +2
Dagger +1, +2 vs Smaller than Man-sized
Mace +1
Spear +1
Potion of Climbing
Potion of Diminution
Potion of Fire Resistance
Potion of Flying
Potion of Gaseous Form
Potion of Growth
Potion of Healing
Potion of Invisibility
Potion of Polymorph Self
Potion of Water Breathing
Scroll of 1 Spell (MU level 1-4)
Scroll of 1 Spell (Cleric, Druid or Illusionist level 1-3)
Ring of Protection +1
Ring of Warmth
Boots of Elvenkind
Cloak of Elvenkind

Group 2:
Chain Mail +2
Plate Mail +1
Sword +1, Flame Tongue
Sword +2
Bow +1
Mace +2
Potion of Extra-healing
Scroll of 3 Spells (MU level 1-6)
Scroll of 3 Spells (Cleric, Druid or Illusionist level 1-4)
Scroll of Protection from Magic
Ring of Feather Falling
Ring of Protection +2
Ring of Water Walking
Wand of Fear
Wand of Paralyzation
Wand of Wonder
Bag of Holding (500#)
Boots of Levitation
Bracers of AC 6
Brooch of Shielding
Folding Boat (small rowboat)
2 Javelins of Lightning
Necklace of Adaptation
Robe of Useful Items*
Rope of Climbing

Group 3:
Chain Mail +3
Shield +2
Sword +3
Crossbow of Speed
Dagger +2, +3 vs Larger than Man-sized
Spear +2
Ring of Protection +3
Ring of Spell Turning
Wand of Fire
Wand of Frost 
Staff of Striking
Arrow of Direction
Boots of Striding & Springing
Bracers of AC 4
Crystal Ball

*select 10 of the following:

BONFIRE, small
CASK, 1-3= water, 4-5= wine, 6 = brandy (3 gallon capacity) CALTROPS, six
CROWBAR, 4’ tempered iron
DAGGER, silver
DOG, WAR
DOOR, standard size, oak with iron bindings and bar
GEM, 100 gold piece value
LADDER, 12’ long
LANTERN, bullseye
MALLET & STAKES
MEAT, haunch of roast mutton, venison, etc.
MONEY, stack of 50 silver coins
MULE, pack
OAK TREE, 30’ high, large
OWL, GIANT
PICK, standard digging
POLE, 10’
ROOSTER
ROPE, 50’coil
SHOVEL
TORCH, flaming
WASP NEST, normal, about 200 wasps

Heroic Legendarium available for purchase

Finally, just over 20 months after it was initially announced, The Heroic Legendarium is finally available for purchase from DriveThruRPG (pdf and eventually print as well, once I've approved the proof copy). 

This was an extended labor mostly of love, but also of frustration as I realized I utterly lacked the skills and resources to turn my Google Doc text document into a publishable book. Struggles with that ate up more than a year, before I ultimately decided to just release the book as-is and let its contents speak for themselves. Which means you'll get no art, no fancy graphics, and no advanced pdf features like bookmarks and hyperlinks. But what you will get is 154 pages of solid, gameable 1E content, almost all of it new and original (a few spells, monsters, and magic items are adapted from 1E-era sources but have been revised and modified as presented here, and in any event make up no more than about 5% of the total content). 

If you've seen the earlier (non-OGL-compliant) version of this book, copies of which I know are still being privately traded even though I stopped distributing it several years ago, you're already familiar with about two-thirds of the contents, but even so enough new content has been added to hopefully make it worth taking another look, including:

• Three new PC races (note: the preview at DriveThruRPG includes these pages)
• The savant class, including 68 new spells
• Complete system for territory development and management by PCs
• 32 new magic items
• 49 new monsters
• New essays on tips and tricks for players and GMs, dungeon design, and extra-planar adventuring
• Assorted other minor additions and revisions

The page count of the new version is increased by 42 pages over the old one, but that number undersells the amount of new material because much of the earlier edition's appendix material (i.e. direct copy/paste reprints of magazine articles and monsters and magic items from modules) was removed, or at least reworked and adapted. 

The earlier version had a narrower scope of compiling uncollected Gygaxiana and recreating "lost" system additions that he had mentioned (or were reverse-engineered from his later works). The savant class still fits within that mold, but the scope of the book generally has expanded to include more of my own voice and my own preferences and is less beholden to things that Gygax may or may not have planned or intended to do. While that might make it less valuable or interesting to some people whose interest is more historical or who want to keep their games as "pure" as possible, I am also confident that my additions and modifications maintain a consistency of style and flavor with that other material and are complementary to and will fit seamlessly alongside it. Having spent more than three decades immersed in this material and style of play I have developed a pretty solid feel for it.

Therefore, I would urge everybody who enjoys (or is curious about) the original creative and design paradigm of the First Advanced Edition to check this thing out, even if you already have the earlier version, because I am sure there is at least some material within it that you'll be able to use in your games to expand and freshen them up and help keep your players engaged, entertained, and challenged. 

[And it's all been designated as "OSRIC Reference Content" so other authors and publishers are not only allowed but strongly encouraged to use this material in their OSRIC-branded adventures and supplements as long as you refer back to this book. Nothing would make me happier than to see this material picked up and adopted by others and for my contributions here to become part of the common lexicon of 1E gamers, existing ones and new ones alike.] 

Edit/update: Lulu has unilaterally pulled this title and terminated my account (and will presumably keep the ~$400 in royalties I had earned from sales to date) because they determined that the old "AD&D Companion" (which I had put up on Lulu for private at-cost sale a few years ago) "may" be in violation of their Member Agreement by including third party IP - without any opportunity to appeal or to take down the possibly-offending title while leaving other titles in place. Since that book was uploaded ~5 years ago, the timing of this account termination feels fishy, like possibly some spiteful anti-fan found a link to that private page and reported me. Sorry to anyone who placed an order through Lulu because I have no idea whether you'll actually get the book - presumably if it's already shipped you will, but if it hasn't I'd recommend contacting Lulu customer support.

AD&D Alignment Notes

Alignment in D&D is one of those perennial (and perennially frustrating) topics of discussion, because everyone has their own ideas about what the words mean, and the definitions provided in the books are overly vague and generalized to the point of being essentially meaningless, so there's a lot to argue about and for people to accuse each other of being both Wrong and possibly A Bad Person. 

What it ultimately comes down to is that each individual DM should decide how they want to define and handle alignment in their campaign world and let the players in that campaign know what they've decided early on rather than assuming everyone is in agreement and then getting into arguments later on when the players do something based on a different interpretation than the DM. While that's surely wishful thinking (because players who disagree with how the DM defines things aren't going to disagree any less if they see it in writing in advance) I've nonetheless collected some notes both on how I view the alignments in my games along with some representative examples of characters from fiction and media who I feel fit into each of the alignment buckets, and figured since I've gone to the trouble to write this stuff down I might as well share it. The examples serve a second purpose as well, by drawing characters from a variety of sources that I'm interested in and feel are relevant to the style and flavor of the games I like to run (as opposed to other lists you can find online, which tend to be limited solely to examples from comics, Star Wars, and Harry Potter). 

AD&D ALIGNMENT NOTES

Lawful Respects (and expects) authority and loyalty derived from formal structures (title, office) and hierarchical organizations

Chaotic Respects (and expects) authority and loyalty based on individual personal qualities (strength, charisma, renown, family ties) and fluid or informal power-structures

Good Seeks to help others, especially the weak

Evil         Seeks to exploit others, especially the weak

Neutral Pragmatic, opportunistic, or indifferent 

Representative examples from fiction and media:

Lawful Good John Carter (Edgar Rice Burroughs), Agent Dale Cooper (Twin Peaks), Roland Deschain (Dark Tower), Hermione Granger (Harry Potter), Spock (Star Trek)

Neutral Good Cazaril (Curse of Chalion), Jake Chambers (Dark Tower), James T. Kirk (Star Trek), Harry Potter, Shimrod (Lyonesse)

Chaotic Good Lyra Belacqua (His Dark Materials), Eddie Dean (Dark Tower), Katniss Everdeen (Hunger Games), Kickaha/Paul Janus Finnegan (World of Tiers), Peter Pan

Lawful Neutral Judge Dredd, Inspector Javert (Les Misérables), Agent Albert Rosenfield (Twin Peaks), Severian (Book of the New Sun)

True Neutral Ged/Sparrowhawk (Earthsea), The Gray Mouser (Fritz Leiber), The Man With No Name (Sergio Leone movies), Nifft the Lean (Michael Shea), Rhialto the Marvelous (Jack Vance)

Chaotic Neutral Harry Mudd (Star Trek), Loki (Marvel movies), Skafloc (The Broken Sword), Captain Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean)

Lawful Evil Casmir (Lyonesse), Lady/Dorotea Senjak (The Black Company), President Snow (The Hunger Games)

Neutral Evil Kane (Karl Edward Wagner), Khan Noonien Singh (Star Trek), Steerpike (Gormenghast) 

Chaotic Evil BOB (Twin Peaks), Cugel the Clever (Jack Vance), Voldemort (Harry Potter)