The Inside Scoop on Gaming

With all the reviews that have appeared on RPG.NET over its two year existence, it suddenly occurred to me that I’d never seen a review of the three core Advanced Dungeons &Dragons books out there: the Dungeon Master’s Guide, the Player’s Handbook, and the Monstrous Companion. With this in mind, I checked the backlist of reviewed games and, sure enough, no one has done that. So I have.

Rather than write three separate reviews of each the core AD&D books, I decided to write a comprehensive review of the overall basic game. I am not going to review the books’ layouts or art since there are two versions of the Player’s Handbook and Dungeon Master’s Guide out there (although the updated versions of both do look much better than the originals). For that matter, I think a book’s art is irrelevant anyway. Who cares how bad the art is if the game is good?

Everyone who plays AD&D for the first time starts with the Player’s Handbook (or had better if they want to figure out how to play the game). This tome explains very kindly at its beginning that AD&D is a roleplaying game and that the point of a roleplaying game is to, well, roleplay a fictitious character you create. This is the single most important concept of this game, and it’s one people consistently miss. Keep that in mind as this review progresses.

The Player’s Handbook explains how to make a character. It tells you that AD&D uses a class-based system that allows characters to improve by gaining levels of experience. Character creation is a bit long winded and involves lots of graphs and charts and a variety of difference dice. You need three 6-sided dice for attributes, percentiles for thief skills, and 20-sided dice for combat. The rule for character skills, called proficiencies in this game, is optional, but without it the game is much more difficult to play. (Can my character swim? I don’t know!"). The multiple dice necessary to make a character is one thing TSR should really consider getting rid of. A standard die type would be extremely nice to have. The problem with multiple dice types is that they confuse new players. And for a game that has probably launched more people into the world of roleplaying than any other, you would think they would have thought of that.

After the core creation process is finished, most players like to take a moment and choose a character’s alignment. Alignment is a character’s overall outlook on good and evil and law and chaos. This outlook determines how a character will act. If the character is lawful in nature, for example, she would follow laws. If she is good, she would do what she believes is good. The same is true for a combination of these outlooks, including true neutrality (apathy?) towards everything and everyone. Alignment makes the world quite black and white and severely limits and hampers roleplaying. If your character starts acting in a way that contradicts her alignment, she will stop gaining experience points until she acts right or changes alignment. I personally suggest alignment be outright ignored. It is a nice guideline for monsters, though, since it gives one an idea how the monster is likely to act.

The next thing for players to learn about is combat. This is for many the most important part of the game. Combat is resolved using two key components: armor class and the To Hit Armor Class 0 (THAC0) number, both of which improve as a character goes up in levels. Armor class is how hard a character or monster is to hit, and it is represented by a number that ranges between 10 and -10; the lower the number, the harder it is for someone to be hit. Armor class is lowered by two things: dexterity (a character’s reflexes) and by what armor is being worn. Once you know an opponent’s armor class, a combatant need only subtract armor class from the THAC0. With this number in mind, you roll a 20-sided die. The result must be equal to or higher than the number you got by doing that subtraction. If it is equal or higher, an opponent is hit and damage is rolled. Although surprisingly easy to do, this system does seem awfully complicated if you are extremely tired or, in some player’s cases, drunk. In fact, the negative numbers should probably be eliminated altogether and maybe the scale should range from 0 to 20.

Once you’ve managed to get combat figured out, the next thing to deal with is the saving throw. This is used when a character is attempting to dodge or resist something, like a spell or breath weapon. Saving throws are made by rolling a 20-sided die and hoping the number is equal to or higher than a target number, which is located on (yet another) chart. It is determined by a character’s level. Now here’s a good question: why not use dexterity and other character attributes for saving throws instead of making a table that is independent of attributes? Of all the things in the AD&D system that don’t make sense, this one is at the top of my list.

The last thing player characters need to be aware of is magic. Magic spells are ranked as levels, the first being the least powerful spells, the ninth (and highest) being the most powerful. Characters can only cast spells that their current level allows for. A first level character could only cast a first level spell. A character is also limited to a number of spells that she can cast in a day. Now, you would think that once a character gets to second level she would be able cast second level spells, a third level character would be able to cast third level spells, and so forth. This is not the case in this game. A third level character can only cast up to second level spells. In fact, you have to be eighteenth level just to cast a ninth level spell! Oh well, I guess logic can’t prevail everywhere.

With their characters complete, players can’t just sit down and play. They need someone to run the game. For this they turn to a game judge, called the Dungeon Master (DM) in AD&D. The Dungeon Master must read the Dungeon Master’s Guide, which does a good job of explaining what it is to be a good judge, how to run the game, and all sorts of other things the players do not really need to know. Magic items are supposed to be the most secret part of the game and they are therefore in this book. It also offers information already covered in the Player’s Handbook (like combat) as well as many more tables (in addition to the 67 found in the Player’s Handbook).

Once a DM has read the Dungeon Master’s Guide, it is time to play. Well, not quite time. You now have to buy the Monstrous Manual (or Monster Compendium in the early days of the 2^nd-edition release) and read about the monsters that are going to be in your adventure. In this tome logic takes a turn for the worst. Instead of employing the same statistical system that player characters and non-playing characters use, AD&D uses a different one for monsters. Monsters do not have levels, for example; instead they use hit dice. After learning what all the new statistics are supposed to mean, the DM can read about his monsters and play the game.

Oh, but in this hypothetical situation where new people are playing the game for the first time, the DM cannot just sit down and run an adventure without having one. Chances are she will have to go out and buy one because you do not get a starter adventure in this Dungeon Master’s Guide or anywhere else. So, after buying the adventure module you (or make it if you’re feeling real ambitious), the DM reads it and (finally) runs it. The player characters wind up each going up a level and coming away with a vast treasure (a total of 1,000 gps!). Now, if the DM is smart, she will make the players actually have to spend the money during the adventure and try to instill upon them the fact that 1,000 pieces of gold weigh a lot--most likely over 100 pounds, so they cannot take the whole lot with them at any one time.

What I have done so far is attempt to give a simplistic overview of what the entire AD&D system is like. I also included a few criticisms along the way of specific problems with the system. But what do I think about the game overall? Well, I rather like it. There are just some pieces and parts that need to be cleaned up, like the elimination of several hundred tables.

Despite the game’s bulk, it is surprisingly simple. That’s its best feature. It is also adaptable. Say what you like about the system, you can use it for just about any campaign setting you want. Although the game’s system lacks cohesion and (in parts) logic, it still works and it works well. There are games out there that are cool concepts that have unusable systems (like Abyss), or systems that are so complicated that the average player will refuse to learn it (like Shadowrun).

Most people attack AD&D on the grounds that it is unrealistic. I have attacked pieces and parts of it on the grounds that it is illogical, not that it is unrealistic. I think a realistic system would be horrible, and here’s why. A logical system would have the spell levels equal to the level of a character. It would have a single, universal die type to make things easier. It would have the attributes directly affect more things about the character, especially in combat situations. A realistic system, on the other hand, would have combat hit locations, critical hit charts, speed variations for certain types of terrain, and--oh, my, they would transform AD&D into a war-playing game, like Battletech or Warhammer.

In any case, there are two ways to play AD&D. You can play it with the objective of killing anything that gets in your way and acquiring lots of magic and gold, or you can play with the goal of interacting with as many NPCs as possible to promote and improve your roleplaying ability. AD&D is a roleplaying game and the second way of playing is the way it is meant to be played. Combat, treasure acquisition and character improve are fun elements, but roleplaying should be stressed most of all. If players spend 75% of their game play consulting tables and resolving combat scenarios, they have missed the point. A simple (and logical but not necessarily realistic) system is needed so the game mechanics are quick and easy to leave more room for actual roleplaying.

I suggest players who play this game to fight in combat and acquire treasure should stop playing it and go play Warhammer or some other war-playing game. You will be far happier with it than AD&D.

Let me capsulate exactly what I think since I’ve taken so bloody long to get it all out: the AD&D Second Edition game is a good game and I have played it more than any other. It is time for TSR to revise it for a third edition, however, and it is the hope of this reviewer that the new edition is simpler to use and has far less tables (which I realize every game needs--just not so many). I also honestly think that the reason so many people attack this game is because they really are happier with war-playing games (and maybe don’t even realize it), but I am not stupid enough to believe there aren’t hundreds of other valid and good reasons why people dislike it.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (Core Books)
Author: David "Zeb" Cook and Others Category: game Company/Publisher: TSR Line: AD&D Core Rules Cost: -- Page count: -- ISBN: -- Capsule Review by Mark Strecker on 05/10/99. Genre tags: Fantasy	With all the reviews that have appeared on RPG.NET over its two year existence, it suddenly occurred to me that I’d never seen a review of the three core Advanced Dungeons &Dragons books out there: the Dungeon Master’s Guide, the Player’s Handbook, and the Monstrous Companion. With this in mind, I checked the backlist of reviewed games and, sure enough, no one has done that. So I have. Rather than write three separate reviews of each the core AD&D books, I decided to write a comprehensive review of the overall basic game. I am not going to review the books’ layouts or art since there are two versions of the Player’s Handbook and Dungeon Master’s Guide out there (although the updated versions of both do look much better than the originals). For that matter, I think a book’s art is irrelevant anyway. Who cares how bad the art is if the game is good? Everyone who plays AD&D for the first time starts with the Player’s Handbook (or had better if they want to figure out how to play the game). This tome explains very kindly at its beginning that AD&D is a roleplaying game and that the point of a roleplaying game is to, well, roleplay a fictitious character you create. This is the single most important concept of this game, and it’s one people consistently miss. Keep that in mind as this review progresses. The Player’s Handbook explains how to make a character. It tells you that AD&D uses a class-based system that allows characters to improve by gaining levels of experience. Character creation is a bit long winded and involves lots of graphs and charts and a variety of difference dice. You need three 6-sided dice for attributes, percentiles for thief skills, and 20-sided dice for combat. The rule for character skills, called proficiencies in this game, is optional, but without it the game is much more difficult to play. (Can my character swim? I don’t know!"). The multiple dice necessary to make a character is one thing TSR should really consider getting rid of. A standard die type would be extremely nice to have. The problem with multiple dice types is that they confuse new players. And for a game that has probably launched more people into the world of roleplaying than any other, you would think they would have thought of that. After the core creation process is finished, most players like to take a moment and choose a character’s alignment. Alignment is a character’s overall outlook on good and evil and law and chaos. This outlook determines how a character will act. If the character is lawful in nature, for example, she would follow laws. If she is good, she would do what she believes is good. The same is true for a combination of these outlooks, including true neutrality (apathy?) towards everything and everyone. Alignment makes the world quite black and white and severely limits and hampers roleplaying. If your character starts acting in a way that contradicts her alignment, she will stop gaining experience points until she acts right or changes alignment. I personally suggest alignment be outright ignored. It is a nice guideline for monsters, though, since it gives one an idea how the monster is likely to act. The next thing for players to learn about is combat. This is for many the most important part of the game. Combat is resolved using two key components: armor class and the To Hit Armor Class 0 (THAC0) number, both of which improve as a character goes up in levels. Armor class is how hard a character or monster is to hit, and it is represented by a number that ranges between 10 and -10; the lower the number, the harder it is for someone to be hit. Armor class is lowered by two things: dexterity (a character’s reflexes) and by what armor is being worn. Once you know an opponent’s armor class, a combatant need only subtract armor class from the THAC0. With this number in mind, you roll a 20-sided die. The result must be equal to or higher than the number you got by doing that subtraction. If it is equal or higher, an opponent is hit and damage is rolled. Although surprisingly easy to do, this system does seem awfully complicated if you are extremely tired or, in some player’s cases, drunk. In fact, the negative numbers should probably be eliminated altogether and maybe the scale should range from 0 to 20. Once you’ve managed to get combat figured out, the next thing to deal with is the saving throw. This is used when a character is attempting to dodge or resist something, like a spell or breath weapon. Saving throws are made by rolling a 20-sided die and hoping the number is equal to or higher than a target number, which is located on (yet another) chart. It is determined by a character’s level. Now here’s a good question: why not use dexterity and other character attributes for saving throws instead of making a table that is independent of attributes? Of all the things in the AD&D system that don’t make sense, this one is at the top of my list. The last thing player characters need to be aware of is magic. Magic spells are ranked as levels, the first being the least powerful spells, the ninth (and highest) being the most powerful. Characters can only cast spells that their current level allows for. A first level character could only cast a first level spell. A character is also limited to a number of spells that she can cast in a day. Now, you would think that once a character gets to second level she would be able cast second level spells, a third level character would be able to cast third level spells, and so forth. This is not the case in this game. A third level character can only cast up to second level spells. In fact, you have to be eighteenth level just to cast a ninth level spell! Oh well, I guess logic can’t prevail everywhere. With their characters complete, players can’t just sit down and play. They need someone to run the game. For this they turn to a game judge, called the Dungeon Master (DM) in AD&D. The Dungeon Master must read the Dungeon Master’s Guide, which does a good job of explaining what it is to be a good judge, how to run the game, and all sorts of other things the players do not really need to know. Magic items are supposed to be the most secret part of the game and they are therefore in this book. It also offers information already covered in the Player’s Handbook (like combat) as well as many more tables (in addition to the 67 found in the Player’s Handbook). Once a DM has read the Dungeon Master’s Guide, it is time to play. Well, not quite time. You now have to buy the Monstrous Manual (or Monster Compendium in the early days of the 2^nd-edition release) and read about the monsters that are going to be in your adventure. In this tome logic takes a turn for the worst. Instead of employing the same statistical system that player characters and non-playing characters use, AD&D uses a different one for monsters. Monsters do not have levels, for example; instead they use hit dice. After learning what all the new statistics are supposed to mean, the DM can read about his monsters and play the game. Oh, but in this hypothetical situation where new people are playing the game for the first time, the DM cannot just sit down and run an adventure without having one. Chances are she will have to go out and buy one because you do not get a starter adventure in this Dungeon Master’s Guide or anywhere else. So, after buying the adventure module you (or make it if you’re feeling real ambitious), the DM reads it and (finally) runs it. The player characters wind up each going up a level and coming away with a vast treasure (a total of 1,000 gps!). Now, if the DM is smart, she will make the players actually have to spend the money during the adventure and try to instill upon them the fact that 1,000 pieces of gold weigh a lot--most likely over 100 pounds, so they cannot take the whole lot with them at any one time. What I have done so far is attempt to give a simplistic overview of what the entire AD&D system is like. I also included a few criticisms along the way of specific problems with the system. But what do I think about the game overall? Well, I rather like it. There are just some pieces and parts that need to be cleaned up, like the elimination of several hundred tables. Despite the game’s bulk, it is surprisingly simple. That’s its best feature. It is also adaptable. Say what you like about the system, you can use it for just about any campaign setting you want. Although the game’s system lacks cohesion and (in parts) logic, it still works and it works well. There are games out there that are cool concepts that have unusable systems (like Abyss), or systems that are so complicated that the average player will refuse to learn it (like Shadowrun). Most people attack AD&D on the grounds that it is unrealistic. I have attacked pieces and parts of it on the grounds that it is illogical, not that it is unrealistic. I think a realistic system would be horrible, and here’s why. A logical system would have the spell levels equal to the level of a character. It would have a single, universal die type to make things easier. It would have the attributes directly affect more things about the character, especially in combat situations. A realistic system, on the other hand, would have combat hit locations, critical hit charts, speed variations for certain types of terrain, and--oh, my, they would transform AD&D into a war-playing game, like Battletech or Warhammer. In any case, there are two ways to play AD&D. You can play it with the objective of killing anything that gets in your way and acquiring lots of magic and gold, or you can play with the goal of interacting with as many NPCs as possible to promote and improve your roleplaying ability. AD&D is a roleplaying game and the second way of playing is the way it is meant to be played. Combat, treasure acquisition and character improve are fun elements, but roleplaying should be stressed most of all. If players spend 75% of their game play consulting tables and resolving combat scenarios, they have missed the point. A simple (and logical but not necessarily realistic) system is needed so the game mechanics are quick and easy to leave more room for actual roleplaying. I suggest players who play this game to fight in combat and acquire treasure should stop playing it and go play Warhammer or some other war-playing game. You will be far happier with it than AD&D. Let me capsulate exactly what I think since I’ve taken so bloody long to get it all out: the AD&D Second Edition game is a good game and I have played it more than any other. It is time for TSR to revise it for a third edition, however, and it is the hope of this reviewer that the new edition is simpler to use and has far less tables (which I realize every game needs--just not so many). I also honestly think that the reason so many people attack this game is because they really are happier with war-playing games (and maybe don’t even realize it), but I am not stupid enough to believe there aren’t hundreds of other valid and good reasons why people dislike it. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (Core Books)