2017/03/29

Fantasy rpg history: The Complete Warlock (August 1975) (Page 1-4)




 "The Warlock" seemed to address "loopholes" found in the three original OD&D brown books, as specified by their authors in this first introductory page (also, i find it amusing to read how they spell "DandD" :)

Here, at the dawning of Dungeons & Dragons (only one year after its appearance on the market) there were already guys around trying to tweak its rules.

What i love in this first page is the fact that mages can use magical swords in addition to (normal) daggers. This is quite fascinating. I can easily imagine a group of adventurers entering a dungeon chamber where they find a loot in which there is a sword. The mage uses a spell in order to see if it is enchanted and once he realizes it is, he starts an argument with the fighter because both wanted to take possession of it. But at the same time, isn't it a bit illogical for a mage to be able to wield a sword, albeit magical? I am not 100% sure that i would implent this rule without thinking about it.

Last unusual thing we see here is the characteristic named "Size". We will see later what it means and its functions in the game.

2 comments:

Tony said...

I call the magic swords for magic-users rule "The Gandalf Rule." That way, you can emulate Gandalf with his trusty blade Glamdring in D&D.

Alec Semicognito said...

There's some old Gygax column where Gary writes in frustration about "arguments about Gandalf" not changing the rule. I think it was common for 70s players to think of D&D first as a Middle Earth sim.

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