Help with AD&D 1st Edition Magic Items Needed.

[F. Gilmakin]

Good day all,
After forcing my friends to play a couple 2nd edition modules, I am now subjecting them to 1st edition. The problem with this is that unlike AD&D 2nd edition, I have no experience with first edition at all. That being said I will get to my question.

I will be running G1: Steading of the Hill Giant Chief. It is recommended in the module that two to three magic items should be possessed by each player before the outset of the module. Is there a good rule of thumb to know how powerful magic weapons and armor should be (presumably more powerful than +1)? My P.C.'s are range from levels 8-10.

Thank you for your suggestions!

[Premier]

I suggest you look at the pregenerated characters on page 9 and use them to get the right ballpark. On average, it's more like 3 items or more per PC with +2 bonuses - and that's not including some potions and scrolls over and above the other stuff.

Also note that half of those characters are level 12-14 and the party is 9 members strong - you should compensate for this, since your players' characters are 8th-10th, and presumably fewer.

[F. Gilmakin]

Thanks! I appreciate the advice.

[MeeposFire]

For the most part 1e and 2e play the same with differences in small details and optional rules.

one thing to do is look at the monsters and see if any require a specific type of weapon to hit it. If it needs a +2 weapon and there are no +2 weapons in the module you probably want to give them a +2 weapon.

[Zombimode]

...or not and let the party figure out a way to defeat this foe in another way. Works pretty well, if such occurances are few.

(Of course, if the enemy in question is an incorporal undead of some sort this approach wont work out)

[MeeposFire]

Only if you supply ways for them to beat it using something else. More work for you and you better hope that your players are clever enough or your fight will not be enjoyable especially if they cannot get away.

[hamlet]

For G1 (or G1-3 for that matter), for 8-10 level characters, you'll not go too far wrong with the following:

Fighters-One +2-3 weapon of some sort. Maybe +1 armor if you're feeling generous. A couple of potions such as extra healing, strength, or some such. Perhaps a 35% chance of some randomly rolled gewgaw of indeterminate, but possible use within the module (like Murlynd's Spoon or something, or just some random item that has very limited combat us, but is nifty, the PC's will find a way to use it to their own, and your, amusement).

Thief - 50% chance of a +1 weapon of some sort, preferbaly short sword, dagger, or the like. Boots and/or cloak of elven kind perhaps. Potions, 2-3, of like type to fighters, but maybe invisibility would be helpful. If high enough level, throw a scroll of some sort his way and watch the fun as he tries to read it in the heat of combat. Rings are always a nice thing to have, like feather falling and spider climbing.

Wizard - These guys you have to watch out for a little bit. Scrolls are good, maybe half a dozen spells worth. Wands can get dicey, especially if you lose your mind and throw something like a wand of fire at them (though that would amuse the hell out of me in G3). Stay away from staves, they're too powerful generally. Rings can definately be useful. Carpet of flying can be great entertainment, especially as the PC tries to find uses for it indoors.

Cleric - A +1-2 weapon. A set of prayer beads (without the bead to summon a deity!) is of tremendous use and, if used properly, can help the cleric avoid healbot syndrome. Potions, scrolls of spells, scrolls of protection.

On top of this, you should probably just roll randomly once or twice or thrice on the table for a few more items that are given to the party as a bonus from the hiring party and let them argue over who gets to hold/use what. Sometimes, you can come up with something very interesting that turns the tables now and then, or is more trouble than it's worth half the time. A censor of air elemental summoning perhaps. Or maybe something you've cobbled together on your own that has significant drawbacks to use. Or something silly and zaney like a wand of wonder.

[Matthew]

I pretty much agree with what has been said above. This thread from Dragonsfoot might be useful if you need the statistics written out: G1-3 Pregenerated Characters.

[F. Gilmakin]

Thank you to everyone who replied! I really appreciate you insight.

[LibraryOgre]

With a group this small, I would replace a fighter with a ranger. Makes G1 a LOT easier.

[F. Gilmakin]

It is a ranger. I am not using the pre-generated characters which is why I am asking for help with magic items. I feel confident in all other respects. I must have had the same thought as you, though. That level bonus to damage against giant type monsters is ridiculously awesome.

I suppose though, that I should list the classes and races of my characters. That would probably help with the advice. All characters are human unless noted otherwise. Also, I used the rules Unearthed Arcana where applicable, and used the alternate ability score generation for humans from that source. The part consists of:

Elven Thief (10)
Magic User (9)
Paladin (8)
Ranger (8)
Cleric (8)
Assassin (8)

[Cyrion]

Make sure the party has some method of quick escape. With that party, the individual encounters should be things they could deal with, but the main throne room could be dicey, and things could get ugly fast if they set off an alarm and have to fight their way out. When I went through this module, the only way we escaped was by me rolling the corpses of the rest of the party into a portable hole and going invisible to escape. We didn't do anything "wrong" per se, but the dice were not our friends in the main room.

[hamlet]

Make sure the party has some method of quick escape. With that party, the individual encounters should be things they could deal with, but the main throne room could be dicey, and things could get ugly fast if they set off an alarm and have to fight their way out. When I went through this module, the only way we escaped was by me rolling the corpses of the rest of the party into a portable hole and going invisible to escape. We didn't do anything "wrong" per se, but the dice were not our friends in the main room.

Which is one of the points of AD&D 1ed. Sometimes, the dice are simply not in your favor and characters die because of it.

[MeeposFire]

Which is one of the points of AD&D 1ed. Sometimes, the dice are simply not in your favor and characters die because of it.

More like how things were done when 1e came out. There is no reason to play like that in 1e unless that appeals to you, heck its not like fudging the dice was unheard of in 1e games...

[hamlet]

More like how things were done when 1e came out. There is no reason to play like that in 1e unless that appeals to you, heck its not like fudging the dice was unheard of in 1e games...

Of course it's about play style. My point was that it was, to a certain extent, the intended playstayle as described by the original author. Gygax was not a killer DM (contrary to popular image), but he was a great believer in letting PC's suffer the consequences of stupid actions, or even flat out bad luck.

[lazar]

Dude, I suggest you forget about what magic items you need and take a closer look at your party!!! A PALADIN playing alongside an ASSASSIN??? I mean really?

[hamlet]

Dude, I suggest you forget about what magic items you need and take a closer look at your party!!! A PALADIN playing alongside an ASSASSIN??? I mean really?

I can actually see it, if you fudge around with alignment rules of Assassins a bit. Perhaps he's a holy slayer of Pholtus sent out quietly to slay a terrible and dark wizard oppressing the countryside that Paladins can't get near without being turned into burnt cinders.

[F. Gilmakin]

Actually, the classes didn't pose much of a problem. I have a group of players very used to games like Vampire: The Masquerade, so they are accustomed to intrigue and in-fighting. It's all about trusting your players. and I have known all of mine for the better part of a decade.

[Matthew]

It is always interesting to hear about groups that do not end up with problems from having a paladin and an assassin in the same party!

[obryn]

I am way, way late to this party, but there's actually an appendix in the 1e DMG detailing how to equip higher-level characters. Basically it's an X%/level system. I've used it before, and it's both fun and random!

-O

[Crow]

Dude, I suggest you forget about what magic items you need and take a closer look at your party!!! A PALADIN playing alongside an ASSASSIN??? I mean really?

I think Assassins only need to start as evil-aligned, and don't need to worry about losing class features if they stray. Basically the 1e assassin is every 3.x assassin fanboy's dream.

[LibraryOgre]

I think Assassins only need to start as evil-aligned, and don't need to worry about losing class features if they stray. Basically the 1e assassin is every 3.x assassin fanboy's dream.

By the book, a non-evil assassin might have trouble finding training, but I can also see hand-waving that, or providing a non-evil (or don't-care-about-evil) assassin group; arguably, the class that best fits James Bond is assassin (while Indiana Jones is a Thief, straight up).