2010-09-22

OD&D Trivia

Here's a trio of questions to test your Original D&D knowledge. Answers in the first comment.

(1) The "Alternative Combat System" (roll d20 on a table of level vs. AC) was first introduced in which book?
(a) Chainmail
(b) OD&D Vol-1 (Men & Magic)
(c) OD&D Supplement I (Greyhawk)
(d) AD&D Player's Handbook

(2) The Chainmail Fantasy Supplement introduces Wizards with two missile attack forms: fireball and lightning bolt. Their mechanics mimic and reference what siege weapons from the non-fantasy section (pick two)?
(a) Ballista
(b) Catapult
(c) Trebuchet
(d) Cannon

(3) Which of the following statements about Thieves, in their earliest presentation, is true?
(a) Thieves were allowed to multi-class.
(b) Thieves were one of 4 basic classes in OD&D Vol-1.
(c) Thieves were required to be humans.
(d) Thieves were the only class with a "find traps" ability.

6 comments:

  1. Answers:

    (1) (b) OD&D includes options to use either Chainmail-style combat [Vol-1, p. 18] or the "Alternative Combat System" [Vol-1, p.19].

    (2) (b)&(d), specifically the large catapult (fireball) and heavy field gun (lightning bolt) [Chainmail, p. 31]. Neither the ballista nor trebuchet are detailed anywhere in Chainmail.

    (3) (a) Thieves were introduced in OD&D Supplement-I (Greyhawk), where any character race could be one, and a wide range of multiclass options were available. Among their many abilities, "find traps" was not one of them. [Sup-I, p. 4-5]

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  2. (1) The "Alternative Combat System" (roll d20 on a table of level vs. AC) was first introduced in which book?
    (b) OD&D Vol-1 (Men & Magic)

    (2) The Chainmail Fantasy Supplement introduces Wizards with two missile attack forms: fireball and lightning bolt. Their mechanics mimic and reference what siege weapons from the non-fantasy section (pick two)?
    (a) Ballista
    (b) Catapult

    (3) Which of the following statements about Thieves, in their earliest presentation, is true?
    (a) Thieves were allowed to multi-class.

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  3. Ah, trick question for number 2. I thought you were simply mistyping with "Ballista."

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  4. Well, didn't mean it to be a "trick" question, really. All 3 are stuff I see commonly misremembered. Good job on #1 & 3. :)

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  5. Well I did write an entire RPG based on Chainmail/OD&D alternate history after all ;)

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