tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724254580047847936.post5679237359783531312..comments2024-03-27T20:09:00.283-04:00Comments on Tenkar's Tavern: 40 Years of D&D - What Rules Did You Misinterpret?Tenkarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05159289652051155824noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724254580047847936.post-22623064092866617462014-01-28T00:16:10.438-05:002014-01-28T00:16:10.438-05:00I assumed the " and ' characters, even th...I assumed the " and ' characters, even though I had always thought they were inches and feet, must be feet and yards. It was the only thing I could figure out that made sense. Because of that I also thought Gary Gygax must be British or something and that must be a thing they do in Britain.yippyjoehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12708300656126031627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724254580047847936.post-25072052647188851022014-01-28T00:11:40.003-05:002014-01-28T00:11:40.003-05:00That's how we pronounced it, for the first... ...That's how we pronounced it, for the first... decade... We also pronounced "attribute" with the emphasis on the second syllable. I was probably in fifth or sixth grade. :)yippyjoehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12708300656126031627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724254580047847936.post-15534143762049238502014-01-27T15:44:08.280-05:002014-01-27T15:44:08.280-05:00Mispronunciations were the bane of my earliest D&a...Mispronunciations were the bane of my earliest D&D experiences:<br /><br />My very first game, the other players wanted me to be "the Clerk". I was rather confused why a paper shuffler would be adventuring. I wanted to be a hero!<br /><br />The, we ran into a lone "Org" (pronounced like the first part of Organization). Turns out that "Org" (or "Ogre" as other people might have pronounce it) was the toughest damn orc we ever fought.<br /><br />But once we got the hang of things (including the HD/HP thing, and the strange usage of inches) I don't think we did TOO many things completely incorrectly. We ignored a lot of stuff though, like weapon speeds and weapon/armor interactions. And training costs.hdanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16748671444451280112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724254580047847936.post-7600927961353340832014-01-27T12:09:56.247-05:002014-01-27T12:09:56.247-05:00Amen!
:DAmen!<br />:DFlambeauxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00133131881423202010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724254580047847936.post-74677184093040883672014-01-27T04:55:10.288-05:002014-01-27T04:55:10.288-05:00You know spell descriptions used to give range and...You know spell descriptions used to give range and area in inches? And an inch could be 10 feet indoors or 10 yards outdoors? So 11 year-old me never quite grasped that. I spent a lot of time holding my finger and thumb three inches apart and thinking 'Fireballs are *really small*...’Chris Gardinerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02893455228933022313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724254580047847936.post-20869975565442283752014-01-27T04:19:07.946-05:002014-01-27T04:19:07.946-05:00We has exactly same rules misunderstanding of thin...We has exactly same rules misunderstanding of thinking monster hit dice meant hit points. My friend Mikko started running Mentzer Redbox games and I learned the rules from him rather than reading them myself. Those truly were days of high adventure, heroes of old could lob off a dragons head with one lucky and well-aimed strike and even hill giants fell when they had 3 feet of cold steel inserted between their ribs. Our PC's were more like Conan, Fafrd and Gray Mouser, daring heroes who might live or die rather than these nervous little wretches that poke eveything with 10 feet poles and send henchmen to die before them. <br /><br />Now that I think of it... Crom! Why did I ever learn the rules properly?Jonashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11838302056850766272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724254580047847936.post-88213242945579898552014-01-27T04:02:00.831-05:002014-01-27T04:02:00.831-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Jonashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11838302056850766272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724254580047847936.post-2491811810987563042014-01-27T01:41:51.591-05:002014-01-27T01:41:51.591-05:00To me, that HD: 4+1 meant 'add 1hp to each HD...To me, that HD: 4+1 meant 'add 1hp to each HD'. Therefore the monster had 4 extra hit points. Other rules were ignored just because they would bog down the game.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02523570909429383271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724254580047847936.post-67268755233825069462014-01-27T01:40:19.539-05:002014-01-27T01:40:19.539-05:00To me, that HD: 4+1 meant 'add 1hp to each HD...To me, that HD: 4+1 meant 'add 1hp to each HD'. Therefore the monster had 4 extra hit points. Other rules were ignored just because they would bog down the game.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02523570909429383271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724254580047847936.post-59894197585444640282014-01-26T22:51:12.960-05:002014-01-26T22:51:12.960-05:00My first AD&D DM didn't need the Monster M...My first AD&D DM didn't need the Monster Manual either. I remember the experience point entry for monsters was written something like 200 + 5/hp or something to that effect. He took that to mean if you killed the monster, you gained 5 permanent hp. So we had 5th level characters with hundreds of hit points. Pretty funny really. :)petespahnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01003977036485078376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724254580047847936.post-8667909574991755462014-01-26T21:25:42.207-05:002014-01-26T21:25:42.207-05:00Same here. Another I'd forgotten about was tha...Same here. Another I'd forgotten about was that the AD&D players who taught me how to play my Basic Set D&D game also taught me that you could cast each of your "spells known" once per day. So my 1st level elf (er, F-MU/T) had like 5 spells he could cast every day. It was a while before we decided that couldn't be right.Peter Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14246000382321978462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724254580047847936.post-20229643368694055322014-01-26T21:17:23.051-05:002014-01-26T21:17:23.051-05:00I don't recall what grade it was, but I did an...I don't recall what grade it was, but I did an entire mythology report out of Dieties and Demigods, and did well. Maybe, um, 7th or 8th grade.Douglas Colehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04292678529266123501noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724254580047847936.post-42474391654016064372014-01-26T21:07:48.176-05:002014-01-26T21:07:48.176-05:00Not a rule thing, but we played AD&D for a goo...Not a rule thing, but we played AD&D for a good solid nine months before my mother caught us mispronouncing "paladin" to rhyme with Aladdin. Mortifying.Jason Packerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02240705069654358715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724254580047847936.post-63091177078135219082014-01-26T20:30:53.413-05:002014-01-26T20:30:53.413-05:00I started playing when the Monster Manual had alre...I started playing when the Monster Manual had already come out, the Players Handbook was about to come out and the DMG was still a year away (so the combat tables, etc. were taken from that "preview" of the DMG in The Dragon and the Judges Guild Ready Ref sheets). I don't think I misinterpreted any rules, partly because there were plenty of game stores and game get togethers where you could observe play by veteran players. My mistake, I suppose, was treating the rules as Gospel pronouncements that you were NOT free to change, though you could ignore the complicated or fussy ones like weapon speeds, etc. And of course I didn't realize that some rules, such as the Judges Guild OD&D charts and the preview DMG tables somewhat contradicted each other. My first act of rebellion was when, in a bout of 18-year old anti-science fiction and anti-low fantasy prudery, I methodically went through the Monster Manual annotating many entries with "this doesn't exist," "this doesn't exist," etc.Oakes Spaldinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08078500142758654392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724254580047847936.post-10037530398347815392014-01-26T19:54:33.487-05:002014-01-26T19:54:33.487-05:00Glad I'm not the only person who bought the Fi...Glad I'm not the only person who bought the Fiend Folio before the Monster Manual.Will Arnoldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03698278637449036933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724254580047847936.post-32381716478821082732014-01-26T19:54:21.081-05:002014-01-26T19:54:21.081-05:00Someday I'm gonna run that "Deities &...Someday I'm gonna run that "Deities & Demigods as Monster Manual" campaign. Someday... that will be an awesome day. Even discounting the gods themselves, there are some really cool monsters in there...James Mishlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03510782553325944558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724254580047847936.post-51847298125500864172014-01-26T19:29:01.214-05:002014-01-26T19:29:01.214-05:00I also confused HD with HP. Used AD&D PHB with...I also confused HD with HP. Used AD&D PHB with Mentzer Basic combat since my introduction to the game was those two books and Dieties & Demigods. Used that as a monster manual. LOLFlambeauxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00133131881423202010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724254580047847936.post-13742793339865995832014-01-26T19:25:18.241-05:002014-01-26T19:25:18.241-05:00We misinterpreted how to add hit points as we leve...We misinterpreted how to add hit points as we leveled. Instead of adding an additional HD at level two, we rolled two more and then three more at level three, etc. We learned of our mistake when we finally played with people outside my family. We literally had hundreds of hit points more than other characters of the same level. We were really embarrassed.David Bensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06411172185216814591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724254580047847936.post-24149301092330413862014-01-26T19:15:01.319-05:002014-01-26T19:15:01.319-05:00That hit dice thing was my big bugaboo as well. I ...That hit dice thing was my big bugaboo as well. I could not figure out how a goblin could have 1-1 HD, since that would mean it was already dead when you met it. Confused the heck out of me...Dr. Mike Desinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03826501692186095437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724254580047847936.post-72827238878355001722014-01-26T19:14:13.949-05:002014-01-26T19:14:13.949-05:00I thought that you had to actually put miniatures ...I thought that you had to actually put miniatures of all the monsters on the entire dungeon map when making the dungeon as DM.<br /><br />I didn't have miniatures so I cut out paper markers and laid them out on my dungeon map, so they could be moved around as wandering monsters, etc.<br /><br />More careful perusing of the rules suggested it was unnecessary.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />David Pulverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00857524962421597982noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724254580047847936.post-56352982956911682132014-01-26T19:10:20.614-05:002014-01-26T19:10:20.614-05:00This is really more of a "lore" mistake ...This is really more of a "lore" mistake rather than "rules" but, for years I thought a halfling was a half-human/half-dwarf. At the time had not read Tolkein yet and, though I was familiar with Hobbits, I didn't know that they were trademarked. And in fairness, D&D had half-elves and half-orcs, it never occured to me that halflings were a seperate race.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01876473570499137299noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724254580047847936.post-44897867910780958392014-01-26T18:52:31.872-05:002014-01-26T18:52:31.872-05:00I realixed our games were an amalgam of B/E and AD...I realixed our games were an amalgam of B/E and AD&D rules.. 1E was alot crunchier then I remember..The Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13670101962259531452noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724254580047847936.post-63583669611777510032014-01-26T18:42:27.571-05:002014-01-26T18:42:27.571-05:00Mistaking monster hit dice for hit points seems to...Mistaking monster hit dice for hit points seems to have been a common mistake; back when I first started with the Moldvay set and no adults to help, I too made that mistake; and like you, when I realized that my dragons were dying too easily, I read a bit deeper into the rules...<br /><br />With AD&D I did not realize until fairly recently that I, and most players, had been using the 0 HP and negative hit point rules completely wrong; we simply let characters who were magically healed up from 0 or negatives to jump right back into action, when according to the DMG they were in a coma for 1d6 turns then any activity other than rest for one full week... even with application of magic spells and cures (other than the nigh omnipotent heal spell).<br /><br />Heck, even now that I have noticed it, when I run AD&D, I still ignore it...James Mishlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03510782553325944558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724254580047847936.post-63437841362137557612014-01-26T18:27:40.595-05:002014-01-26T18:27:40.595-05:00I think my oldest AD&D mistake that I can reca...I think my oldest AD&D mistake that I can recall was assuming that damage by weapon type for (IIRC) S/M and L had to do with the size of the weapon. So I remember thinking something like, well, I definitely want that 1d12 "Large" two-handed sword instead of the 1d8 Small/Medium one."Douglas Colehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04292678529266123501noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1724254580047847936.post-43173908483203364332014-01-26T18:16:44.332-05:002014-01-26T18:16:44.332-05:00Being a 11-years old French-speaking newbie, almos...Being a 11-years old French-speaking newbie, almost EVERY rule was a challenge!<br />My favorite: For a couple of years I thought a "shield" was a "magical force field" only available to magic-user! (because of the spell of the same name..) and then one day I realize it was a simple "bouclier" made of wood or metal that any fighter or cleric could use!!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09946343704025220300noreply@blogger.com