What games use AD&D 1st Ed?

[ColossusCimmerian]

I'm curious what games, official or unofficial, use AD&D 1st Ed?

Is there any new game that use AD&D rules, or only the games from the 90s?

 

[__scribbles__]

Gold Box series

 

[Serus]

I'm curious what games, official or unofficial, use AD&D 1st Ed?

Is there any new game that use AD&D rules, or only the games from the 90s?

It would be nice if some computer games using some of the OSR* systems were made these days. It seems a logical choice for indies.

*old school revival, for someone unaware: pnp RPGs systems based/inspired by very early D&D, more or less.

 

[Butter]

I'm curious what games, official or unofficial, use AD&D 1st Ed?

Is there any new game that use AD&D rules, or only the games from the 90s?

It would be nice if some computer games using some of the OSR* systems were made these days. It seems a logical choice for indies.

*old school revival, for someone unaware: pnp RPGs systems based/inspired by very early D&D, more or less.

There's this: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1188270/The_Curse_of_Feldar_Vale/

It alleges to be based on OGL 1e/2e, but in practice plays nothing like those systems.

 

[luj1]

Gold Box series

​

• The Pool of Radiance Forgotten Realms series (developed internally at SSI):
  • Pool of Radiance (1988)
  • Curse of the Azure Bonds (1989)
  • Secret of the Silver Blades (1990)
  • Pools of Darkness (1991)
• The Savage Frontier Forgotten Realms series (developed by Stormfront Studios):
  • Gateway to the Savage Frontier (1991)
  • Treasures of the Savage Frontier (1992)
• The Dragonlanceseries (the first two developed by SSI, the last by MicroMagic, Inc.):
  • Champions of Krynn (1990)
  • Death Knights of Krynn (1991)
  • The Dark Queen of Krynn (1992)
• The Buck Rogersgames (developed by SSI):
  • Countdown to Doomsday (1990)
  • Matrix Cubed (1992)
• Neverwinter Nights (1991)
• Spelljammer: Pirates of Realmspace (1992)
• Forgotten Realms: Unlimited Adventures (1993)

I feel Pool of Radiance is considered the best one around here.

Zed? Zed Duke of Banville

​

 

[Dorateen]

Leeloo What are the features of 1e AD&D that appeal to you?

I also prefer the older version of AD&D, and as mentioned, the SSI Gold Box games are the go-to reference. Shortly after their release, Dungeons & Dragons products would move over to 2nd edition. But mechanically speaking, there is not that much difference between the two editions, in terms of computer role-playing games. (introduction of kits, removal of racial level caps, etc.)

 

[Covenant]

I believe Warriors of the Eternal Sun used AD&D 1st edition.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

I believe Warriors of the Eternal Sun used AD&D 1st edition.

It used basic D&d, not advanced. The one where races were classes.

 

[UndeadHalfOrc]

D&D Stronghold (1993). An obscure, but cool strategy game,
where elves are essentially a class: "fighter/mage" and clerics don't even get their first spell until level 2.

 

[luj1]

But mechanically speaking, there is not that much difference between the two editions

But 1ED didn't use THAC0 prior to AD&D, correct? That's quite a big difference.

 

[luj1]

I believe Warriors of the Eternal Sun used AD&D 1st edition.

It used basic D&d, not advanced. The one where races were classes.

Nothing wrong with that.

 

[Dorateen]

But mechanically speaking, there is not that much difference between the two editions

But 1ED didn't use THAC0 prior to AD&D, correct? That's quite a big difference.

1ed of AD&D used THAC0 and descending armor class values (lower = better).

 

[vitellus]

I'm curious what games, official or unofficial, use AD&D 1st Ed?

Is there any new game that use AD&D rules, or only the games from the 90s?

It would be nice if some computer games using some of the OSR* systems were made these days. It seems a logical choice for indies.

*old school revival, for someone unaware: pnp RPGs systems based/inspired by very early D&D, more or less.

There's this: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1188270/The_Curse_of_Feldar_Vale/

It alleges to be based on OGL 1e/2e, but in practice plays nothing like those systems.

that and the sequel mystery at morgoth are absolutely solid turn based games. they're a little short, about fifteen to twenty hours on feldar, i put about twenty into morgoth before i got derailed by real world shit so by the time i got back to it i had no desire to either stumble forward with amnesia or start over from the beginning. but they're pretty fucking good. combat is crunchy tokens.

 

[luj1]

But mechanically speaking, there is not that much difference between the two editions

But 1ED didn't use THAC0 prior to AD&D, correct? That's quite a big difference.

1ed of AD&D used THAC0 and descending armor class values (lower = better).

But not 1ED of basic rules, correct?

 

[mondblut]

D&D Stronghold (1993). An obscure, but cool strategy game,
where elves are essentially a class: "fighter/mage" and clerics don't even get their first spell until level 2.

It used basic D&d, not advanced. The one where races were classes.

 

[smaug]

Gold Box series

They don't use 1E, no game d&d game does

 

[mondblut]

Shortly after their release, Dungeons & Dragons products would move over to 2nd edition.

Akshually, 2nd edition was launched in 1989, with only Pool of Radiance and possibly Curse of Azure Bonds preceding it. Regardless, the 2nd edition logo wasn't used until Spelljammer, Dark Sun and Dungeon Hack. Even Eye of the Beholder series are supposed to be 1ed games, if packaging is to be believed.

Given that no SSI AD&D game ever used assassins and monks, the only point of contention between 1e and 2e were racial level limits.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Nothing wrong with that.

Advanced D&D was just legally distinct enough to muscle Dave Arneson out of getting royalties.

Given that no SSI AD&D game ever used assassins and monks, the only point of contention between 1e and 2e were racial level limits.

Those were still in 2E, but rarely used. In fact most 2E games never advanced much at all, unless you started out at high levels, because of a 'bug' in the XP tables.

 

[Dorateen]

1ed of AD&D used THAC0 and descending armor class values (lower = better).

But not 1ED of basic rules, correct?

Correct. Before the development and usage of THACO, there were "to hit charts" that were looked up on the reference manuals.

 

[luj1]

Correct. Before the development and usage of THACO, there were "to hit charts" that were looked up on the reference manuals.

So that's quite a significant difference. However I doubt there were any videogames which used the 1ED basic rules. And I'm not sure about 1ED advanced rules, perhaps Zed Duke of Banville knows?

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Correct. Before the development and usage of THACO, there were "to hit charts" that were looked up on the reference manuals.

To-hit charts corresponded to THAC0 though, its the exact same mechanic, just framed differently. THAC0 was just a shortcut originally used by DMs to speed up play.

Interesting, THAC0 was apparently 2E officially.

An early use of THAC0 appeared in the Dungeon Masters Guide (1e) (1979), p.197-215, Appendix E: Alphabetical Recapitulation of Monsters. This listed each monster's attack capability under a column called "To Hit A.C. 0", which for convenience gave the roll required for the monster to hit AC 0 in addition to the monster's hit dice. However, the lookup tables on page 75 were the standard method of monster statistics, and the exact term "THAC0" was not used by AD&D 1st edition's core rulebooks.

 

[mondblut]

Interesting, THAC0 was apparently 2E officially.

Ironically, the only non-goldbox AD&D game before BG to have THAC0 was Spelljammer. The rest of them figured that the player doesn't need to know his characters' general proficiency at hitting stuff. So much for "THAC0 means 2nd edition game" rules-lawyering.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

I feel Pool of Radiance is considered the best one around here.

Zed? Zed Duke of Banville

Yes, Pool of Radiance is generally considered the best single Gold Box game, and I agree with that consensus. However, IMHO, the next best games are Death Knights of Krynn and Champions of Krynn, and overall the Krynn/Dragonlance trilogy is stronger than the Pools/FR quartet.

Correct. Before the development and usage of THACO, there were "to hit charts" that were looked up on the reference manuals.

So that's quite a significant difference. However I doubt there were any videogames which used the 1ED basic rules. And I'm not sure about 1ED advanced rules, perhaps Zed Duke of Banville knows?

THAC0 (To-Hit Armor Class 0) was merely a simplification of the existing tables in D&D and AD&D, which laboriously displayed the minimum d20 roll needed to hit an enemy based on character class and level range (in rows or columns) and the enemy's armor class (in columns or rows). Gary Gygax had already hit upon the THAC0 concept in a series of tables appearing in Appendix E in the AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide in 1979, though the exact acronym THAC0 wasn't used until 1985's 'Black Box' Master Set for Mentzer BECMI D&D, and it didn't become standard until AD&D 2nd edition in 1989, which finally enabled the same information to be delivered far more concisely.

in AD&D 2nd edition versus AD&D 1st edition's unnecessarily lengthy tables

Not sure why you're referring to "1ED basic rules" and "1ED advanced rules", since "basic rules" could be referring to 1977's Holmes Basic D&D, 1981's Moldvay/Cook B/X D&D, or Mentzer BECMI D&D published from 1983-6 (possibly also original D&D from 1974). The Gold Box games relied on AD&D 1st edition rules, even though the second Gold Box (Curse of the Azure Bonds) released in July 1989 at about the same time as the AD&D 2nd edition core rulebooks. Two console games used BECMI D&D rules (Order of the Griffon for the Turbografx-16 and Warriors of the Eternal Sun for the Sega Genesis), which were also the reference for a few non-RPGs such as that Stronghold game or the two Capcom D&D beat-'em-ups.