2014-08-15

Chargen Lab: AD&D 2e

So now onto a character generated in AD&D 2nd Edition.  This is a bit more complicated than the Rules Cyclopedia and 1st Edition characters, so there's more explanations to be had.  Bear in mind that the character I wrote up is a more complex character than the typical 1st level character.

 

Eonthril

Race: Male Elf
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Age: 122     Height: 5'1"    Weight: 96lbs
Class/Level: Fighter 1/Thief 1
HP: 5
THAC0: 20    AC: 6 (8)

STR 16
     Hit Prob: +0     Damage Adj: +1    Weight Allow: 70     Max Press: 220
     Open Doors: 9    BB/LG: 10
DEX 16
     Reaction Adj: +1     Missile Attack Adj: +1     Defensive Adj: -2
CON  7
     HP Adj: +0     System Shock: 55%     Resurrection: 60%
     Poison Save: +0     Regen: Nil
INT  8
     # Of Languages: 1
WIS 10
     Magical Defense Adj: +0
CHA  8
     Max Henchmen: 3     Loyalty Base: -1     Reaction Adjustment: +0

Saves
13  Paralyzation, Poison, Death Magic
14  Rod, Staff, Wand
12  Petrification, Polymorph
16  Breath Weapon
15  Spell

Languages: Common, Elven
Racial Abilities
  • 90% resistance to Sleep and all Charm-related spells.
  • +1 to attack rolls with bows (not crossbows), short swords, and long swords.
  • Can gain surprise if not in metal armor and are at least 90ft away from a non-halfling/elf party.  Opponents suffer -4 penalty to surpris die rolls, -2 if the elf has to open a door.
  • Infravision 60ft
  • Secret doors and concealed doors are passively detected if within 10ft on a result of 1 on a 1d6 roll.  Actively searching for secret doors is a success on a 1-2, 1-3 for concealed doors.

Fighter Abilities
  • Melee Attacks/Round: 1/round
  • Armor Proficiency: Any, Shields
  • Specialist Attacks/Round: 3 attacks every 2 rounds with melee weapons that you specialize in.

Thief Abilities
  • Armor Proficiency: Leather, Studded Leather, Padded Leather, Elven Chain
  • Backstab: Victim must be unaware of the attack and the thief must attack from behind. +4 to attack roll, negates Shield and Dexterity bonuses to AC, multiply unmodified damage roll by x2.  Other restrictions apply.
  • Thieves Cant: Secret thief language.

Weapon Proficiencies
  • Long Sword x2 (Specialized)
  • Long Bow x1
  • Short Sword x1

Non-Weapon Proficiencies
  • Jumping      STR + 0
  • Hunting      WIS - 1
  • Tracking    WIS + 0 
  • Tumbling     DEX + 0

Thieving Skills                         Base       Armor     Total
  • - Pick Pockets:              20%        +0%
  • - Open Locks:              10%        +0%
  • - Find/Remove Traps:     5%        +0%
  • - Move Silently:            35%        +0%
  • - Hide In Shadows:      35%        +0%
  • - Detect Noise:            30%        +0%
  • - Climb Walls:              70%        +0%
  • - Read Languages:         0%        +0%

Encumbrance: 23.8lbs
  • Unencumbered: 70
  • Light: 71-100
  • Moderate: 101-130
  • Heavy: 131-160
  • Severe: 161-195

Money: 73 gp, 3 sp
Equipment
  • Leather Armor: AC 8, 15lbs.
  • Long Bow: To-Hit +1, 3lbs
    • Quiver of Sheaf Arrows x18: DMG 1d8, 50/100/170
  • Long Sword: To-Hit +2, Damage S-M 1d8+3/L 1d12+3, 4lbs.
Notes
  • Race: Because I didn't have good enough stats to be a dwarf.  Your race restricts what classes you can take, as well as the maximum level you can obtain in a given class.  Strangely, elves can't be clerics or druids according to the rules. But a dwarf thief makes total sense given their lawful nature, right?
  • Class/Level: In 2nd Edition, non-humans could multiclass, meaning they took two classes at the same time, getting a lot of benefits and some drawbacks.  It makes you pretty awesome, except you have to divide your XP gained evenly between your two classes, meaning you advance slower than single-class characters and your classes will level at different times.  There were also restrictions on which multiclass combinations a given non-human race could take, in addition to the normal level limitations for non-human characters.
  • THAC0: Short for 'To Hit Armor Class 0', THAC0 was essentially a target number that was modified by subtracting the target's AC.  Negative ACs were very good to have, since subtracting a negative means you're really adding the number.  But the simplest way to implement THAC0 is to just add the target's AC to the attack roll and see if the new total meets or exceeds the THAC0; the math works out the same and it's slightly more intuitive.
  • Ability Scores: 3d6, straight down the line.  As an elf, Eonthril gets +1 Dexterity and -1 Constitution.
  • Weight Allowance: The only reason this number exists is in case you didn't use the optional and more detailed encumbrance rules.  This is the amount of weight you can carry without being slowed down by it.  It is in pounds.
  • Open Doors: Roll this number or less on 1d20 to open a stuck door.
  • BB/LG: This is short for Bend Bars/Lift Gates.  In essence, your percent chance to bend the bars or lift a gate enough to get out.
  • Reaction Adjustment: When it comes to Dexterity, it's your initiative modifier.  When it's in Charisma, it's how favorably people react to you.
  • Missile Attack Adjustment: A bonus to hit things with a ranged weapon or a thrown weapon.
  • Defensive Adjustment: Add this to your armor class.  Eonthril is pretty dodgy with a -2 adjustment to his AC, since lower is better.
  • System Shock/Resurrection Survival: System shock measures your chances of surviving a really bad body-wide thing happening, like your blood turning to ash (well, that might be a save vs. death, actually).  Resurrection survival measures your chances of surviving coming back to life.
  • Saving Throws:  These numbers in front of the saving throws are what need to be met or exceeded on a d20 throw.  Prior to D&D 3e, saving throws were grouped by what caused them (or was like what causes them in many cases), and then there were rules about which saves took priority over the others.  The example the book gives is a ray created by a wand of polymorph, which it explains that the saves are listed in order of priority.  The saving throw would be versus a Wand, because a Wand is higher up on the list than the polymorph effect.  Many write-ups in the system though, would be very specific about the kind of save if it was not immediately obvious.
  • Specialist Attacks/Round: In 2e, if you used the optional proficiencies system (which we do here), Fighters who specialize in a melee weapon (that is, devoted two weapon proficiency slots to one melee weapon) get 2 attacks with that weapon every other round.  He also gets +1 to hit with a specialized weapon and +2 damage with that weapon.  Eonthril, at 1st level, is doing 1d8+3 damage, which will quickly kill most things he can hit and hurt with his long sword.  Since a monster's Hit Die is a d8, he'll kill most early foes with one hit.
  • Weapon Proficiencies: The number indicates how many slots have been dedicated to it.  You'll note that Eonthril specializes in the use of a long sword.  He would need to devote three weapon proficiencies to the long bow to do the same with it, because that's what's required for bows.
  • Non-Weapon Proficiencies: As a fighter/thief, Eonthril gets the more advantageous of the two class progressions in both kind of proficiencies.  So he started with 3 base for the Thief, and one more because of his Intelligence, since number of languages known also stands in for how many extra non-weapon proficiencies you get.  The notation next to the NWP name is the stat its keyed to and a modifier to that stat.  You want to roll that number or under to succeed in using the NWP.
  • Thieving Skills: In 2nd Edition, thieves got a set of percentile-based skills, which had base values modified by your race and Dexterity score.  Then you got 60 points to distribute with some limitations, and more points each level.
  • Encumbrance: This might seem familiar to people who have played D&D 3e or Pathfinder.  Your movement speed is affected by how much you're carrying.
  • Sheaf Arrows: Second Edition AD&D has bows deal damage on what kind of arrow you're using.  And the arrows also determine the range of your bow, in yards.  So to translate, sheaf arrows have a short range of up to 150ft, a medium range of 300ft, and a long range of 510ft.  Sheaf arrows have a weight of 1/10th of a pound.
  • Long Sword: Eonthril gets +1 to hit from his elf racial ability and +1 to hit from weapon specialization, giving him +2 to hit. In 2E, weapon damage is different if your target is small/medium, or large.  Eonthril gets +3 damage with his long sword because he gets +1 from his 16 Strength and +2 for his weapon specialization.

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