D&D 1st Edition question.

[Tempest Fennac]

If anyone knows of any websites with information regarding the class abilities and spells which 1st addition D&D characters got access to, please could you tell me? (I'm curious about how much the magic system has changed since then).

[Closet_Skeleton]

The magic system is almost identical while class features were mostly all gained at first level and pretty unimportant or scaled to level. Monk was the only class that really gained new stuff as it leveled, and that was mainly just Quivering Palm at level 15 (no DR and becoming an outsider).

The spell lists is where most of the change has been, the magic system is regarded as the thing that really should have been discarded and re-imagined.

The other problem is what do you mean by 1st edition? 3rd edition is 2 editions after the 1st edition of AD&D, which isn't the original D&D.

[Tempest Fennac]

Thanks for telling me (I meant 1st Edition as opposed to the very first version of D&D). If you know where I can find a list of the spells which were available to the different classes, please could you tell me? Also, why do you think the magic system should have been changed?

[hamlet]

Thanks for telling me (I meant 1st Edition as opposed to the very first version of D&D). If you know where I can find a list of the spells which were available to the different classes, please could you tell me? Also, why do you think the magic system should have been changed?

Google OSRIC.

Learn it, play it, love it.

[crimson77]

Thanks for telling me (I meant 1st Edition as opposed to the very first version of D&D). If you know where I can find a list of the spells which were available to the different classes, please could you tell me? Also, why do you think the magic system should have been changed?

I am still a little confused. Are you talking about 1st edition AD&D or the box sets /rules encyclopedia? Are you asking as a player or a DM?

If i can remember right, in 1st ed AD&D, it was very vague. I have played this system with a few different groups and there seemed to be little consistency on this issue. One let the players choose a predetermined number of spells, another group the DM has a list already generated, the last group the player rolled on a table. It just seemed like different house rules. I do not have my 1st ed books with me.

Rules Encyclopedia/box sets - i cannot remember. I thought that i had my rules encyclopedia on this computer but i do not.

[crimson77]

Google OSRIC.

Learn it, play it, love it.

This is cool. Reminds me of the old AD&D books.

[Kurald Galain]

There were spell lists for the relevant classes; however, which spells a wizard would have in his spellbook is not really defined. The aforementioned lists were numbered, so you could hand out scrolls of random spells easily. Giving a wizard a pick of one or two spells at each levelup was a (common?) house rule.
AFAIR.

[Crazy_Uncle_Doug]

There were limited lists. There was "Magic-User" lists, "Illusionist" lists, "Cleric" lists and "Druid" lists. The Illusionist was a separate class at first, not a sub-class of the mage.

Some other classes had spells, but they dipped into other lists. Rangers could use a couple Druid and Magic-User spells. Paladins dipped into the Cleric list.

There were some other odd rules tossed in. At higher levels, Druids and Monks had to kill or defeat a superior of one level higher than they to actually proceed in level.

[Matthew]

Yeah, you want to check out OSRIC. It's the closest thing you're going to get to a 1e SRD (and a very great boon to the AD&D community). If you're interested in the differences beween the OSRIC document and 1e AD&D, you could always download Pdfs of the Rulebooks from Paizo at $4 a go.

If you're interested in Basic Dungeons & Dragons you should check out Labyrinth Lord, which is the same sort of thing as OSRIC.

The basic Magic System is the same across editions. However, there are many differences between how the Spells operated in AD&D and how they operate in 3e. Most notably, Saving Throws were a lot easier to come by and generally more effective, Casting Times created Initiative consequences and when a Spell was interrupted it was spoiled, no questions asked. Furthermore, Spell Casters could not do much of anything except cast the Spell in question if that was their action for the Round.

[Tempest Fennac]

Thanks for telling me about OSWIC, Hamlet (it's exactly what I was looking for).

[Matthew]

If you have any difficulties understanding any aspects of it, try posting on Dragonsfoot. You may not get a definitive answer (it's not that sort of game), but you will probably get some guidance.

[Tempest Fennac]

Thanks for telling me (I think I understood what I needed to know).