FANTASY ADVENTURE GAMEFANTASY ADVENTURE GAMEBYERICK LEE EDWARDSALTERNATE RULES FOR CHARACTER CREATION AND ADVANCEMENT,ALIGNMENTS, TASK RESOLUTION MECHANICS, AND OTHER SYSTEMSWITH EXAMPLES.
FOR USE WITH ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS FIRST EDITIONINQUIRIES CONCERNING RULES SHOULD BE ANSWERED BY YOURLOCAL DUNGEON MASTER.

© 2024 ● ICOSAHEDRON© ICOSAHEDRONSEVENTH PRINTING, JULY 2024
PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Creating and Advancing Characters……………………………..

4

Point Costs for Traits……………………………..

8

Ability Score Tables……………………………..

9

Building Classes for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons……………………………..

12

Explanation of Adventuring Traits……………………………..

18

Features……………………………..

24

Combat……………………………..

27

Heroic Alignments……………………………..

32

Spell Research and Magical Item Creation……………………………..

40

A Skill System……………………………..

41

Addenda and Optional Rules……………………………..

43

CREATING AND ADVANCING CHARACTERS
Under this system the normal classes from the
AD&D Players Handbook are not used (but canbe, as both systems are compatible). Instead,characters are created at 1st level using a numberof points (usually 30) with which to buy characterclass traits, such as hit points, an attack bonus,
thief abilities, spellcasting, etc.
After creating a 1st level character and some time
before the expected attainment of 2nd level, theplayer should note what traits are desired at 2ndlevel. The point costs for these traits are added
up and multiplied by the current level’s multiplier.
This total equals the amount of experience points
needed for 2nd level. Each level’s experience
point requirement is calculated in the same
fashion except the previous level’s required
experience points are added to the new calculated
amount.
Please consult the section POINT COSTS FOR
TRAITS to find the point costs for the traits
described hereafter.
Generating Original Ability Scores
Under this system, ability scores should be
generated by rolling 3d6 for each ability score inorder of Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom,
Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma. The
original results of each roll should be recorded.
“Current” ability scores represent the character’sscores at the present and may be different fromthe original scores (through development,
permanent magic, etc.). Racial adjustments
should be applied and recorded as “current”
ability scores so that the originally rolled scores
are known.
Keep in mind that this system doesn’t use
minimum ability scores as requisites foradvancement, spellcasting, etc. A character withan Intelligence of 3 can still be a wizard under thissystem. High scores aren’t needed to the extent
they were in previous editions of the game.
Generating Maximum Ability Scores
Under this system, abilities can be improved
during play. A character’s maximum potential ineach area should be determined, however. Thisis accomplished by assigning a dice package toeach of the six ability scores. The dice packages
are: 9d6, 8d6, 7d6, 6d6, 5d6, and 4d6. Eachpackage is assigned to one ability. The dice arerolled and the best three are retained to generate
4

a total between 3 and 18. The likelihood ofgetting a much higher score comes with the
packages that have a larger number of dice. If thenumber rolled for the ability is higher than theoriginally rolled score, then this is the maximum.
If the number is equal to or lower than theoriginally rolled score, then the character isconsidered to have already reached the maximum
potential in that ability and the maximum is equal
to the originally rolled score. These maximums
are affected by racial adjustments. Thus, if theplayer of an elf originally rolled an 18 for
Dexterity, the current Dexterity will be 19, andthe maximum Dexterity will also be 19 (thecurrent score).
Character Races
This system is not altering the rules for character
races. Note that the “Reorx Bonus” on theConstitution table refers to the dwarven,gnomish, and halfling resistances to poison
and/or magic (see ABILITY SCORE TABLES).
There are no racial restrictions to gaining traits
under this system. Dwarves can gain wizardry
and halflings can progress as assassins. It is
assumed that the demi-human abilities are really
not that over-powered after all and they do notneed to be penalized for their racial abilities. Ifbalancing is desired, however, give humans anexperience point bonus equal to +100%(effectively double the XP they get). This will keep
humans about one level ahead until name level,at which point they will “take off.”
Hit Dice
A character must have one hit die per level up to,and including, 10th level (for ten total hit dice at10th experience level). The point cost for a hit
die is equal to the maximum result that die cangive when rolling for hit points (i.e., a d4 costs 4
points, a d10 costs 10 points). The Constitution
ability modifier is applied to each hit die rolled
when determining a character’s maximum hit
point total.
Hit Points
At 11th level, and every level thereafter, thecharacter gains a number of hit points equal to
one-half the number of points spent on the trait(i.e., +1 hit point per level costs 2 points, +3 hit
points per level costs 6 points). The Constitution
ability modifier is not added to these hit points perlevel.

Maximum Hit Point Total
A character’s total hit points is equal to a roll of
all hit dice gained (from 1st to 10th level) plus all
hit points gained (from 11th level on). To this,add the character’s Constitution ability modifier
times the number of hit dice the character has.

attacks per round, etc.). The third weapon
specialization slot grants +3/+3 and these are thehighest bonuses granted by specialization.
Specialization can be gained for any number of
weapons. Note that these rules supersede thoseof Unearthed Arcana.

Saving Throws
For simplicity, every character has a saving throwof 16 minus one-half the character’s level(rounding all fractions favorably for the character).
Thus, all saving throws are 15 at 1st and 2ndlevel, 14 at 3rd and 4th level, and so on, until thecharacter has saving throws of 6 at 19th and 20thlevel (the lowest base possible). Characters canfurther lower their saving throws by four by taking
a saving throw proficiency. There are five saving
throw proficiencies, one for each category. A
saving throw proficiency costs two points. Thismeans that a character’s lowest saving throw canbe 2 under this system (a 19th level character withproficiency in the saving throw).

Attack Bonus
Every character must advance their attack bonus
at every experience level. However, the rate at
which they advance the attack bonus can be as
high as +1 for every level or as little as +1 forevery six levels. Increasing the character’s attack
bonus costs one point for every 1/6th increase in
the character’s attack bonus. Fractional amounts
should be recorded on the character sheet. Only
the whole number amount counts for combat; do
not round up to find the character’s attack bonus.

Armor and Shield Proficiencies
Normally gained at 1st level, armor proficiencies
define the best armor type the character can use.
The best base AC a character can have is equal
to 10 minus the points put into armor
proficiencies. Thus, a character who has placed
two points into armor proficiencies can use allarmors that have a base AC of 8 or worse. A
character spending seven points can effectively
use plate mail armor and worse (basically, allarmor types in the Players Handbook). To beable to use shields, a character needs to spend
one point. A character suffers a -3 on their “tohit” rolls when wearing armor in which they are
not proficient and spellcasting is affected as well.
Weapon Proficiencies
Characters attack at a -3 on their “to hit” roll withall weapons they are not proficient with. Eachweapon proficiency costs one point and grants a
basic ability to use the weapon with no penalty.
Each melee and missile weapon listed in the
COMBAT section has its own proficiency. Thereis no advantage for using a “similar” weapon.
Weapon specialization exists in this rule set andeach weapon specialization “slot” is considered amajor feature (costing two points). The first
weapon specialization slot grants a +1 to hit anda +1 to damage with the weapon. The second
weapon specialization slot grants +2/+2 and thecharacter may use the next best attack
progression (three attacks every two rounds, two

When your attack bonus becomes +7 you gain theattacks per round of a 7th level fighter (see AD&D
Players Handbook, page 25). When your attack
bonus becomes +13 you gain the attacks perround of a 13th level fighter. These attack rates
apply to melee weapons only. Missile weapon
rates of fire increase according to the weapon
specializations the character has.
Class Progressions
The special abilities of some normal AD&D
classes can be bought under this system as well.
The per-level abilities of assassins and thieves
costs four points each level. Monk abilities (called“mystic” in this rule set) cost three points perlevel. Magic-user spellcasting (“wizardry”) costs
ten points per level. Each additional wizard spellknown and scribed costs one point.
Anamalgamation of cleric, druid, and illusionist
spellcasting (“thaumaturgy”) costs seven points
per level. A new type of spellcasting, calledsorcery, costs six points per level. Dungeon
Masters can add additional progressions fromother character classes if desired.
One level in thievery gets you an additional levelin larceny, athletics, and cyphering. This includes
all of the traditional thief abilities (pick pocket
through read languages), the backstab
progression, the ability to use scrolls (whenreaching 10th level in thievery), Thieves’ Cant,
etc. Larceny covers picking pockets, opening
locks, finding and removing traps, moving
silently, hiding in shadows, hearing noise, andfinding and opening concealed and secret doors.
Athletics covers climbing walls, tightrope walking,and other such functions. Cyphering covers
5reading language, deciphering scripts, readingtreasure maps, and the like. You count as a“thief” of the given level of thievery according togame rules.
One level in assassin gets you an additional levelin assassin. This raises your assassination ability
by one level, your backstab by one level, and yourlarceny, athletics, and cyphering by one level.
Note that the assassin progression grants larceny,
athletics, and cyphering as thievery but two levels
behind (i.e., you get these abilities as a 1st level
thief when you gain 3rd level assassin). You
count as an “assassin” of the given level ofassassin according to game rules.
One level in mystic gets you an additional level incertain monk abilities. You gain the effective
armor class, the move, open hand attacks permelee round, open hand damage, and special
abilities of a monk. Furthermore, you gain theweapon damage bonus and the ability to stun, oreven kill, an opponent. You must be unarmoredand not employing a shield when using mystic
abilities. If you want thief skills, take thievery orassassin. You count as a “monk” of the given
level of mystic according to game rules.
One level in sorcery gains you the next level’s
spell slots, spells known, and bonus spell slots due
to Charisma (if any).
One level in thaumaturgy gets you the next level’s
spell slots, spell lists, and bonus spell slots due to
Wisdom (if any). You count as a “cleric” of thegiven level of thaumaturgy according to game
rules (unless “druid” or “illusionist” would fit yourcharacter concept better).
One level in wizardry gets you the next level’s
spell slots, one scribed spell of any level that canbe cast (including the new spell level, if any), andbonus spell slots due to Intelligence (if any). You
count as a “magic-user” of the given level ofwizardry according to game rules.
Ability Score Increases
This system allows for advancement in ability
scores as well. The DM is encouraged to use a
3d6 method for ability score generation and allow
players to advance their characters’ ability scores
during the course of play. To raise an ability scoreby one from any value of 12 or lower costs one
point. To raise an ability from 13 to 14 or from
14 to 15 costs two points. From 15 to 16 orfrom 16 to 17 costs three points. Going from 17
6

to 18 costs four points. For the purposes of thissystem, a demi-human’s score should be counted
as being equal to the initially rolled score (before
the racial adjustment). Thus, it is possible to raise
an elf’s Dexterity to 19 this way. Racial
maximums below 18 can be ignored by the DM if
desired.
Note, that under this system, there is nopercentile Strength (but a straight 18 does granta +4 to hit bonus and a +6 damage bonus, so it’sbetter than 18/00 anyway). All of the ability
score tables have been redesigned so that lower
scores still grant bonuses in most cases. Inflated
ability score rolling techniques are not necessary
under this system.
Starting Money and Equipment
All characters start with 3d6 × 10 g.p. with which
to buy equipment.
The Level Multiplier
A 1st level character has zero experience points.
Each level after requires a number of experience
points equal to the total point cost of the traits
gained the next level multiplied by the current
level’s multiplier (see the Mid-Level Costs table in
the POINT COSTS FOR TRAITS section). Thus,
if a character would gain a +1 attack bonus and ad10 hit die at 2nd level (much like a fighter), thispoint cost would be 16 (6 for the +1 attack bonus
and 10 for the d10 hit die). A 1st level character’s
multiplier is 125. The total XP needed for 2nd
level is zero (the 1st level total) plus 16 × 125 (themultiplier for 1st level) = 2,000 XP. If thecharacter would gain a +1 to attack bonus andanother d10 at 3rd level, then the XP required for3rd level would be 2,000 XP (previous total) plus
16 × 125 (the multiplier for 2nd level) = 4,000
XP. If the same traits were gained for 4th level,
then the required XP total for 4th level would be
4,000 XP (previous total) plus 16 × 250 (themultiplier for 3rd level) = 8,000 XP.
When determining what traits will be advanced forthe next level, it is mandatory that the characterbe given a hit die (up to 10th level) or additional
hit points (at 11th level and after) and that thecharacter’s attack bonus be increased, even if only
by a bonus of one-sixth (costing one point). The
lowest hit die should be 1d4 but individual DMs
can allow the hit die to go as low as 1d2 (or evenjust one point!) if desired.

Advancing the Character
Characters can advance in two ways. The firstway is through traditional level advancement.
The character earns XP which are added to their
Current Experience Point Total. When the
Current Experience Point Total equals or exceeds
what’s needed for next level, the character gains
a level (be advised that some Dungeon Masters
may require that the character train in somemanner before gaining the next level). The
amount needed for the next level is calculated asabove. Also see the Advancement worksheet on
the last page of the AD&D 5e Character Sheet
Supplement.
The second way involves spending or sacrificing
XP. A player can sacrifice a number of XP to buy
a trait outright. The appropriate amount is
subtracted from the Current Experience Point
Total and the trait is gained. Experience points
sacrificed in this way can be recorded as the SpentExperience Point Total so that the sum of Current
and Spent XP will equal the career Total Earned
Experience Point Total.
The amount of XP spent is determined by the costof the trait and the character’s current level
multiplier. The Mid-Level Costs table (next page)shows the amount of XP that must be spent fortraits costing one to ten points for all character
levels. For example, a 7th level character wishes
to gain proficiency in the Save vs. Spells saving
throw proficiency. This costs two points. Crossindexing 7th level with the ‘2’ column yields a
result of 7,625 XP. If the player spends thisnumber of XP, proficiency in Save vs. Spells canbe bought.
Note that a character’s Current Experience Point
Total can never be lowered below the experience
point total that was needed to attain the current
level (in other words, you can’t “cash out” a level’s
advancement to make XP available to spend).

Character Creation Example
A player rolls 3d6 for each ability in order andrecords these numbers. He gets Strength 12,
Intelligence 9, Wisdom 11, Dexterity 13,
Constitution 10, and Charisma 7. Next, theplayer generates the maximum ability scores byassigning 9d6 to Strength, 8d6 to Dexterity, 7d6
to Constitution, 6d6 to Charisma, 5d6 to
Wisdom, and 4d6 to Intelligence. He rolls thedice for each ability totaling only the highest threeand making each result the maximum ability score
for that ability. The results are Strength 18,
Intelligence 8, Wisdom 13, Dexterity 17,
Constitution 17, and Charisma 15. Because theIntelligence roll is lower than the character’scurrent Intelligence of 9, the Intelligencemaximum is also 9. All other ability scores haveroom for natural improvement over time. He
chooses to make his character human. Now it’stime to assign 30 points to traits. Consulting
POINT COSTS FOR TRAITS, the player decides
to assign 10 points to the character’s hit die (d10),
6 points to the character’s attack bonus (making
this the full +1 allowable at 1st level), 7 points toarmor proficiencies (granting all armor up to andincluding plate mail), 4 points to weapon
proficiencies (granting proficiency in four
weapons), one point to gain the ability to use
shields, and the final 2 points to one saving throwproficiency (which will lower the saving throw
number by four in the chosen category). This
character is a competent warrior and has great
potential given the Strength, Dexterity, andConstitution maximums. The player then plansout what traits the character will receive at 2ndlevel. He decides that he wants the character tohave another d10 hit dice (costing 10 points) anda full +1 to attack score (costing 6 points). These
16 points are multiplied by 125 (the 1st level
multiplier) for a result of 2,000 XP needed for 2nd
level.

7

POINT COSTS FOR TRAITSHIT DICE COSTS
Hit Dice Points
d1
1
d2
2
d3
3
d4
4
d5
5
d6
6
d7
7
d8
8
d9
9
d10
10

HIT POINT COSTS
Hit Points Points
+½
1
+1
2
+1½
3
+2
4
+2½
5
+3
6
+3½
7
+4
8
+4½
9
+5
10

ABILITY SCORE INCREASES
Increase
Points
By one (12 or lower)
1
From 12 to 13
1
From 13 to 14
2
From 14 to 15
2
From 15 to 16
3
From 16 to 17
3
From 17 to 18
4

FEATURE COSTS
Feature Points
Minor
1
Major
2

PROFICIENCY COSTS
Proficiency
PointsSpell
1Shield1
Weapon1
Save
2

PROGRESSION COSTS
Progression
PointsMystic3
Assassin
4
Thievery4
Sorcery
6
Thaumaturgy
7
Wizardry
10

MID-LEVEL COSTS
Level Multiplier
1
1
125
125
2
125
125
3
250
250
4
500
500
5
1,000
1,000
6
2,000
2,000
7
3,813
3,813
8
7,813
7,813
9
15,625 15,625
10+
15,625 15,625

2
250
250
500
1,000
2,000
4,000
7,625
15,62531,25031,250

3
375
375
750
1,500
3,000
6,000
11,43823,43846,87546,875

4
500
500
1,000
2,000
4,000
8,000
15,25031,25062,50062,500

5
625
625
1,250
2,500
5,000
10,00019,06339,06378,12578,125ATTACK BONUS COSTS
Attack Bonus
Points
+⅙
1
+⅓
2
+½
3
+⅔
4
+⅚
5
+1
6

ARMOR PROFICIENCY
Armor Types
Padded/Leather
Studded Leather/Ring Mail
Scale Mail
Chain Mail
Banded Mail/Splint Mail
Plate Mail
Field Plate
Full Plate
All Armor (Futuristic, Exotic)

Points
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

6
7
8
9
10
750
875
1,000
1,125
1,250
750
875
1,000
1,125
1,250
1,500
1,750
2,000
2,250
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
4,500
5,000
6,000
7,000
8,000
9,000 10,000
12,000 14,000 16,000 18,000 20,000
22,875 26,688 30,500 34,313 38,125
46,875 54,688 62,500 70,313 78,125
93,750 109,375 125,000 140,625 156,250
93,750 109,375 125,000 140,625 156,250

These tables show the point costs when creating 1st level characters and planning for level advancement
as well as the mid-level cost, in experience points, to purchase traits. For example, if the campaign gives
1st level characters 30 points to spend on traits, a character could buy one d10 hit die (for 10 points), a
full +1 attack bonus (for 6 points), proficiency in shields and all armor up to plate mail (for 8 points),
proficiency in four weapons (for 4 points), and proficiency in one saving throw (for 2 points). For thecharacter’s 2nd level, the player may desire an additional d10 hit die (for 10 points) and a full +1 attack
bonus increase (for 6 points) making the experience points required for 2nd level equal to 2,000 XP (i.e.,
the number of points, 16, multiplied by the current level multiplier, 125, for a total of 2,000 XP). If,
while advancing toward 2nd level, the player wanted to sacrifice experience points to buy further traits,
the player would simply cross-index the current level (1st) with the point cost of the trait or traits (onethrough ten) and find the experience point cost (125 XP through 1,250 XP).

8

ABIILTY SCORE TABLES
STRENGTH TABLE
Strength Ability Modifier Damage Bonus Athletics Lesser Feat Greater Feat
3
-4
-3
-20%
10%
0%
4
-3
-3
-15%
10%
0%
5
-3
-2
-15%
15%
0%
6
-2
-2
-10%
15%
0%
7
-2
-1
-10%
20%
0%
8
-1
-1
-5%
20%
1%
9
-1
+0
-5%
25%
2%
10
+0
+0
+0%
25%
4%
11
+0
+1
+0%
30%
6%
12
+1
+1
+5%
30%
9%
13
+1
+2
+5%
35%
12%
14
+2
+2
+10%
35%
16%
15
+2
+3
+10%
40%
20%
16
+3
+4
+15%
45%
25%
17
+3
+5
+15%
50%
30%
18
+4
+6
+20%
55%
36%
19
+4
+7
+20%
60%
42%
20
+5
+8
+25%
65%
49%
21
+5
+9
+25%
70%
56%
22
+6
+10
+30%
75%
64%
23
+6
+11
+30%
80%
72%
24
+7
+12
+35%
85%
81%
25
+7
+14
+35%
95%
90%

INTELLIGENCE TABLEIntelligence
Ability Modifier Added Languages Illusion Immunity Read Languages
3
-4
0
--20%
4
-3
0
--15%
5
-3
0
--15%
6
-2
0
--10%
7
-2
0
--10%
8
-1
0
--5%
9
-1
1
--5%
10
+0
1
-+0%
11
+0
2
-+0%
12
+1
2
-+5%
13
+1
3
-+5%
14
+2
3
-+10%
15
+2
4
-+10%
16
+3
4
-+15%
17
+3
5
-+15%
18
+4
5
-+20%
19
+4
6
1st Level
+20%
20
+5
6
2nd Level
+25%
21
+5
7
3rd Level
+25%
22
+6
7
4th Level
+30%
23
+6
8
5th Level
+30%
24
+7
8
6th Level
+35%
25
+7
9
7th Level+35%

9WISDOM TABLE
Wisdom Ability Modifier Magical Defense Perception Spell Immunities
3
-4
-3
-20%
4
-3
-3
-15%
5
-3
-2
-15%
6
-2
-2
-10%
7
-2
-1
-10%
8
-1
-1
-5%
9
-1
+0
-5%
10
+0
+0
+0%
11
+0
+1
+0%
12
+1
+1
+5%
13
+1
+2
+5%
14
+2
+2
+10%
15
+2
+3
+10%
16
+3
+3
+15%
17
+3
+4
+15%
18
+4
+4
+20%
19
+4
+5
+20% As Legends & Lore20
+5+5+25% As Legends & Lore21+5+6+25% As Legends & Lore22+6+6+30% As Legends & Lore23+6+7+30% As Legends & Lore24+7+7+35% As Legends & Lore25+7+8+35% As Legends & Lore

DEXTERITY TABLE
Dexterity Ability Modifier Initiative Modifier Larceny
3
-4
+3
-20%
4
-3
+3
-15%
5
-3
+2
-15%
6
-2
+2
-10%
7
-2
+1
-10%
8
-1
+1
-5%
9
-1
+0
-5%
10
+0
+0
+0%
11
+0
-1
+0%
12
+1
-1
+5%
13
+1
-2
+5%
14
+2
-2
+10%
15
+2
-3
+10%
16
+3
-3
+15%
17
+3
-4
+15%
18
+4
-4
+20%
19
+4
-5
+20%
20
+5
-5
+25%
21
+5
-6
+25%
22
+6
-6
+30%
23
+6
-7
+30%
24
+7
-7
+35%
25
+7
-8
+35%

10

CONSTITUTION TABLE
Constitution Ability Modifier
3
-4
4
-3
5
-3
6
-2
7
-2
8
-1
9
-1
10
+0
11
+0
12
+1
13
+1
14
+2
15
+2
16
+3
17
+3
18
+4
19
+4
20
+5
21
+5
22
+6
23
+6
24
+7
25
+7

Reorx Bonus
+0
+1
+1
+1
+2
+2
+2
+2
+3
+3
+3
+4
+4
+4
+4
+5
+5
+5
+6
+6
+6
+6
+7

CHARISMA TABLE
Charisma Ability Modifier
3
-4
4
-3
5
-3
6
-2
7
-2
8
-1
9
-1
10
+0
11
+0
12
+1
13
+1
14
+2
15
+2
16
+3
17
+3
18
+4
19
+4
20
+5
21
+5
22
+6
23
+6
24
+7
25
+7

System Shock
35%
40%
45%
50%
55%
60%
65%
70%
75%
80%
85%
90%
95%
99%
99%
99%
99%
99%
99%
99%
99%
99%
99%

Resurrection Poison Save Regeneration
40%
+0
-45%
+0
-50%
+0
-55%
+0
-60%
+0
-65%
+0
-70%
+0
-75%
+0
-80%
+0
-85%
+0
-90%
+0
-95%
+0
-100%
+0
-100%
+0
-100%
+0
-100%
+0
-100%
+1
-100%
+1
1 point / hr
100%
+2
2 points / hr
100%
+2
3 points / hr
100%
+3
4 points / hr
100%
+3
5 points / hr
100%
+4
6 points / hrHenchmen Loyalty Base Reaction Adjustment
0
-30%
-25%
1
-25%
-20%
1
-20%
-15%
2
-15%
-10%
2
-10%
-5%
3
-5%
-5%
3
-5%
+0%
4
+0%
+0%
4
+0%
+5%
5
+5%
+5%
6
+5%
+10%
7
+10%
+15%
8
+15%
+20%
9
+20%
+25%
10
+30%
+30%
15
+40%
+35%
20
+50%
+40%
25
+60%
+45%
30
+70%
+50%
35
+80%
+55%
40
+90%
+60%
45
+100%
+65%
50
+100%
+70%

11

BUILDING CLASSES FOR ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS
Even though this system gives full control ofcharacter creation and advancement to theplayer, some players may just wish to have theircharacter follow a traditional AD&D class. To
create a class, simply assign a number of traits
having a total cost of 30 points to the 1st level ofthat class and then assign a number of points foreach level thereafter. The number of points perlevel after 1st can be any number and eachsuccessive level need not have the same numberof points. However, the classes below, with the
exception of the Paragon, were made using 16,
18, 20, 22, or 24 points per level after 1st.
The classes are shown below with main names
and an alternate name or closest AD&D
multiclass in parenthesis. Each class entry shows
which experience point table is used foradvancement as well as the XP needed to reach
2nd level for reference. Hit dice (for 1st through10th level) and hit points (for 11th level andhigher) are shown next. When two hit point adds
are shown, the first is for odd-numbered levels,
the second for even. The attack progression
shows the increase in the attack bonus of thatclass. The best armor type that the character canuse effectively is shown after. The number of
weapon and saving throw proficiencies gained at
1st level comes next. If the class can use shields,
this is shown with the weapon proficiencies.
Finally, the progressions, if any, for the characterclass are listed. If the class has wizardry, thenumber after in parenthesis shows the number of
1st level spells gained during character
generation. Note that the Gish and the Paladin
do not begin their spellcasting progression until
2nd level.
Assassin (Thug)
Experience Point Chart:
2nd Level XP:
Hit Dice (1st – 10th):
Hit Points (11th+):Attack Progression:
Best Armor Type:
Weapon Proficiencies:
Save Proficiencies:
Progressions:
Suggested Features:

1
2,000
d8
+4
+2 / 3 levels
Scale Mail
4
3
Assassin
Armor MasteryFighting Prowess

Assassins are good in physical combat but excel
when able to strike from positions of advantage.
Good armor and a respectable number of weapons
complement their assassination ability but thievery
skills will be two levels behind. Strength andDexterity are prime requisites for Assassins.

12

Barbarian (Slayer)
Experience Point Chart:
2nd Level XP:
Hit Dice (1st – 10th):
Hit Points (11th+):Attack Progression:
Best Armor Type:
Weapon Proficiencies:
Save Proficiencies:
Progressions:
Suggested Features:

2
2,250
d12
+6
+1 / level
Plate Mail
4 + Shield0
None
Martial Artist
Resistance

Barbarians potentially have the highest amount of hit
points than any other class and are superior toalmost all other classes in physical combat. A lackof saving throw proficiencies and no other special
abilities are a weakness, however. Barbarians needhigh Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution in order
to excel.
Bard (Cleric/Thief)Experience Point Chart:
2nd Level XP:
Hit Dice (1st – 10th):
Hit Points (11th+):Attack Progression:
Best Armor Type:
Weapon Proficiencies:
Save Proficiencies:
Progressions:
Suggested Features:

4
2,750
d7
+4 / +3+2 / 3 levels
Leather22
Thaumaturgy
Thievery
Bardic Lore

Bards advance in both thaumaturgy and thievery andare decent combatants. Proficiency in thievery
necessitates light armor but their defenses can beaugmented with thaumaturgy spells. Wisdom andDexterity are important to Bards.
Druid (Cleric/Sorcerer)
Experience Point Chart:
2nd Level XP:
Hit Dice (1st – 10th):
Hit Points (11th+):Attack Progression:
Best Armor Type:
Weapon Proficiencies:
Save Proficiencies:
Progressions:
Suggested Features:

4
2,750
d6
+3
+1 / 2 levels
Leather22
Sorcery
Thaumaturgy
Druidic Lore

The Druid class combines sorcery and thaumaturgy
into a very effective, versatile, and powerfulspellcaster. The Druid has moderate physicalcombat ability and uses only the lighter forms ofarmor. Druids are more effective when they havehigh Wisdom and high Charisma.

Gish (Fighter/Wizard)
Experience Point Chart:
2nd Level XP:
Hit Dice (1st – 10th):
Hit Points (11th+):Attack Progression:
Best Armor Type:
Weapon Proficiencies:
Save Proficiencies:
Progressions:
Suggested Features:

4
2,750
d8
+4
+2 / 3 levels
Scale Mail
3 + Shield5
Wizardry*Armor Mastery
Spell Mastery

The Gish is very good at physical combat andprogresses in wizardry starting at 2nd level (i.e.,
wizard spellcasting level equals Gish level minusone). Combining fighting and wizardly magic is ahighly effective combination sought after by mostadventuring parties. Strength, Intelligence, andDexterity are important to the Gish.
Jack (Sorcerer/Thief)Experience Point Chart:
2nd Level XP:
Hit Dice (1st – 10th):
Hit Points (11th+):Attack Progression:
Best Armor Type:
Weapon Proficiencies:
Save Proficiencies:
Progressions:
Suggested Features:

3
2,500
d6
+3
+2 / 3 levels
Chain Mail
3
1
Sorcery
ThieverySpell Knowledge
Treasure

As the name indicates, the Jack class can function
somewhat well in a number of areas: physicalcombat, thievery, and spellcasting. Decent hit diceand attack progression is supplemented byproficiency in all but the heaviest armor types. All
ability scores are important to this class but
Charisma is used for spellcasting.
Monk (Mystic)
Experience Point Chart:
2nd Level XP:
Hit Dice (1st – 10th):
Hit Points (11th+):Attack Progression:
Best Armor Type:
Weapon Proficiencies:
Save Proficiencies:
Progressions:
Suggested Features:

2
2,250
d9
+5 / +4+1 / level
None
25
MysticCombat Endurance
FootpadAs the premier unarmed fighter, the Monk has very
good hit dice and the best attack progression but
does not normally use armor. Mystic abilities grant
unusual powers. Note that this Monk class does notgain the thief abilities of the AD&D monk (but see
Ninja below). Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution
are important.

Ninja (Monk/Thief)Experience Point Chart:
2nd Level XP:
Hit Dice (1st – 10th):
Hit Points (11th+):Attack Progression:
Best Armor Type:
Weapon Proficiencies:
Save Proficiencies:
Progressions:
Suggested Features:

1
2,000
d5
+3 / +2+2 / 3 levels
None
45
MysticThieveryCombat Endurance
Toughness

Combining the unarmed fighting of the mystic
progression with all skills gained through thievery,
the Ninja excels in stealth, subterfuge, andinfiltration. Although weaker than other combatantsin straight toe-to-toe fighting, this class has special
attack abilities not available to most other classes. A
high Dexterity is extremely important to this class.
Paladin (Fighter/Cleric)Experience Point Chart:
2nd Level XP:
Hit Dice (1st – 10th):
Hit Points (11th+):Attack Progression:
Best Armor Type:
Weapon Proficiencies:
Save Proficiencies:
Progressions:
Suggested Features:

4
2,750
d9
+5 / +4+1 / level
Plate Mail
3 + Shield
2
Thaumaturgy*
Holy Warrior

These fighters are exceptional physical combatants
and advance in thaumaturgy after 1st level (they startwith no magic-use, however) making them highly
effective in adventuring situations. A Paladin’sthaumaturgy spellcasting level is equal to their
Paladin level minus one. High Strength and highWisdom are desired.
Paragon (Polymath)Experience Point Chart:
2nd Level XP:
Hit Dice (1st – 10th):
Hit Points (11th+):Attack Progression:
Best Armor Type:
Weapon Proficiencies:
Save Proficiencies:
Progressions:

Suggested Features:

Double 3
5,000
d10
+5
+1 / level
Full Plate
9 + Shield
5
Thaumaturgy
Thievery
Wizardry (3)Any

As this class is extremely powerful, not all DMs allow
Paragons in their campaign. Paragons excel in all
meaningful areas of development: combat ability,
thievery, thaumaturgy, and wizardry. Advancement
is extremely slow as a result. All ability scores areequally important.

13

Ranger (Multiclass)Experience Point Chart:
2nd Level XP:
Hit Dice (1st – 10th):
Hit Points (11th+):Attack Progression:
Best Armor Type:
Weapon Proficiencies:
Save Proficiencies:
Progressions:
Suggested Features:

3
2,500
d6
+3
+2 / 3 levels
Chain Mail
4 + Shield0
10 Points forClass Traits
Giant Killer

No two Rangers are alike but the core class enjoys
moderate proficiency in physical combat, usage ofall but the heaviest armor types, and a good number
of weapon proficiencies at start. At 1st level andeach level thereafter, the Ranger gains 10 points
with which to augment their traits. Increased hit
dice, a better attack progression, magic-use, special
abilities, etc. are available.
Rogue (Wizard/Thief)Experience Point Chart:
2nd Level XP:
Hit Dice (1st – 10th):
Hit Points (11th+):Attack Progression:
Best Armor Type:
Weapon Proficiencies:
Save Proficiencies:
Progressions:
Suggested Features:

4
2,750
d6
+3
+1 / 3 levels
Leather2
1
Thievery
Wizardry (2)Spell Knowledge

Rogues augment their thievery skills with the art of
wizardry and are very good at handling a wide varietyof adventuring challenges. They are not as good at
physical combat as the Thief but are hardier thanWizards.
Scout (Fighter/Thief)Experience Point Chart:
2nd Level XP:
Hit Dice (1st – 10th):
Hit Points (11th+):Attack Progression:
Best Armor Type:
Weapon Proficiencies:
Save Proficiencies:
Progressions:
Suggested Features:

3
2,500
d10
+5
+1 / level
Plate Mail
2 + Shield0
Thievery
Weapon Mastery
Weapon Specialist

The Scout functions as the Warrior (q.v.) with theadded ability to operate as a Thief. Hit points,
combat ability, and armor use is as the Warrior,though thievery skills are severely limited when
wearing heavy armor and shields cannot be
employed. Scouts are found in almost every
adventuring party.

14

Shukenja (Cleric/Monk)
Experience Point Chart:
2nd Level XP:
Hit Dice (1st – 10th):
Hit Points (11th+):Attack Progression:
Best Armor Type:
Weapon Proficiencies:
Save Proficiencies:
Progressions:
Suggested Features:

3
2,500
d6
+3
+2 / 3 levels
None24
MysticThaumaturgyFighting Prowess
Toughness

Combining unarmed physical combat prowess withthe use of thaumaturgy, the Shukenja is an effective
combatant, especially when augmented by spells.
Spell selection is extremely versatile, being able todraw from the AD&D cleric, druid, and illusionist
spell lists. High Wisdom is advantageous.
Sorcerer
Experience Point Chart:
2nd Level XP:
Hit Dice (1st – 10th):
Hit Points (11th+):Attack Progression:
Best Armor Type:
Weapon Proficiencies:
Save Proficiencies:
Progressions:
Suggested Features:

1
2,000
d6
+3
+2 / 3 levels
Chain Mail
3
3
Sorcery
Spell Knowledge

Unlike other spellcasters, Sorcerers are moderately
good at physical combat and can wear all but theheaviest forms of armor. Charisma is their mostimportant ability along with Strength and Dexterity
if they are to act as secondary fighters. Sorcerers
may choose spells from any spell list andadvancement is faster than many other spellcastingclasses that combine two forms of magic.
Thaumaturgist (Cleric)Experience Point Chart:
2nd Level XP:
Hit Dice (1st – 10th):
Hit Points (11th+):Attack Progression:
Best Armor Type:
Weapon Proficiencies:
Save Proficiencies:
Progressions:
Suggested Features:

1
2,000
d6
+3
+1 / 2 levels
Plate Mail
2 + Shield
2
ThaumaturgyFighting Prowess
Toughness

These characters are only moderately proficient atfighting, with d6 hit dice and a middle-of-the-road
attack progression but their magic is exceptionallydiverse, being able to draw from the AD&D cleric,
druid, and illusionist spell lists and Wisdom is theirprime requisite. Thaumaturgists can be wellarmored (they have proficiency with shields and allarmor types up to plate mail) and they are able toturn undead, a powerful ability when the need arises.

Theurge (Cleric/Wizard)
Experience Point Chart:
2nd Level XP:
Hit Dice (1st – 10th):
Hit Points (11th+):Attack Progression:
Best Armor Type:
Weapon Proficiencies:
Save Proficiencies:
Progressions:
Suggested Features:

5
3,000
d4
+2
+1 / 3 levels
None11
Thaumaturgy
Wizardry (4)ResistanceSpell Mastery

Warrior (Fighter)
Experience Point Chart:
2nd Level XP:
Hit Dice (1st – 10th):
Hit Points (11th+):Attack Progression:
Best Armor Type:
Weapon Proficiencies:
Save Proficiencies:
Progressions:
Suggested Features:

1
2,000
d10
+5
+1 / level
Plate Mail
4 + Shield
1
None
Weapon Mastery
Weapon Specialist

Among the most versatile and powerful of thespellcasting classes, Theurges combine the usage ofboth thaumaturgy and wizardry but physical combat
ability suffers as a result. Intelligence and Wisdom
are equally important to this class.

The basic fighting class with exceptional hit dice, thebest attack progression, usage of all commonlyencountered armor types, and five weapon
proficiencies at start. Warriors need high Strength,
Dexterity, and Constitution to be effective. Warriors
form the core of most adventuring parties.

Thief
Experience Point Chart:
2nd Level XP:
Hit Dice (1st – 10th):
Hit Points (11th+):Attack Progression:
Best Armor Type:
Weapon Proficiencies:
Save Proficiencies:
Progressions:
Suggested Features:

WizardExperience Point Chart:
2nd Level XP:
Hit Dice (1st – 10th):
Hit Points (11th+):Attack Progression:
Best Armor Type:
Weapon Proficiencies:
Save Proficiencies:
Progressions:
Suggested Features:

1
2,000
d8
+4
+2 / 3 levels
Leather4
4
ThieveryAtonement
Treasure

These characters are good in physical combat but
excel in all manner of nefarious activities and thenegotiation of obstacles.
Practicing theirprofessional abilities necessitates the usage of lightarmor. Thieves rely mostly on Dexterity but
Strength and Wisdom are important as well. Given
their versatility and usefulness, most adventuring
parties contain at least one Thief.
Warlock (Sorcerer/Wizard)
Experience Point Chart:
2nd Level XP:
Hit Dice (1st – 10th):
Hit Points (11th+):Attack Progression:
Best Armor Type:
Weapon Proficiencies:
Save Proficiencies:
Progressions:
Suggested Features:

4
2,750
d4
+2
+1 / 3 levels
None1
1
Sorcery
Wizardry (5)Spell Knowledge
War Caster

The combination of sorcery and wizardry is a
powerful mix which makes Warlocks particularly
potent.
Warlocks need high Intelligence andCharisma to take advantage of their proficiency inusing two forms of magic.

1
2,000
d4
+2
+1 / 3 levels
None12
Wizardry (9)Spell Knowledge
War Caster

The classic spellbook-based magic-using class.
Wizards are weak in physical combat but masters of
wizardry, a very powerful form of magic noted for its
versatility and wide-range of damaging spell effects.
Wizards rely on Intelligence and this ability score
should be very high. Most adventuring parties haveat least one Wizard.
Wu JenExperience Point Chart:
2nd Level XP:
Hit Dice (1st – 10th):
Hit Points (11th+):Attack Progression:
Best Armor Type:
Weapon Proficiencies:
Save Proficiencies:
Progressions:
Suggested Features:

2
2,500
d5
+3 / +2+1 / 3 levels
None
10
MysticWizardry (9)Fighting Prowess
Toughness

The Wu Jen class combines the spellcasting of
the Wizard (above) and adds some proficiency
with unarmored and unarmed attacks. Combat
effectiveness can be augmented with theFighting Prowess and Toughness features.

15

CHARACTER ADVANCEMENT CHART
Level
XP Chart 1
XP Chart 2
1
0
0
2
2,000
2,250
3
4,000
4,500
4
8,000
9,000
5
16,00018,0006
32,00036,000764,00072,0008
125,000
140,6259250,000
281,25010500,000
562,500
11
750,000
843,75012
1,000,000
1,125,000
13
1,250,000
1,406,250
14
1,500,000
1,687,500
15
1,750,000
1,968,750
16
2,000,000
2,250,000
17
2,250,000
2,531,250
18
2,500,000
2,812,500
19
2,750,000
3,093,750
20
3,000,000
3,375,000

XP Chart 3

CHARACTER HIT DICE AND SAVING THROWS
Level
Hit Dice
Save Proficient Save
1
1
15
11
2
2
15
11
3
3
14
10
4
4
14
10
5
5
13
9
6
6
13
9
7
7
12
8
8
8
12
8
9
9
11
7
10
10
11
7
11
10 + 1x106
12
10 + 2x10613
10 + 3x9514
10 + 4x9515
10 + 5x8
4
16
10 + 6x8
4
17
10 + 7x
73
18
10 + 8x7
3
19
10 + 9x62
20
10 + 10x
6
2

16

0
2,500
5,000
10,00020,00040,00080,000156,250
312,500
625,000
937,500
1,250,000
1,562,500
1,875,000
2,187,500
2,500,000
2,812,500
3,125,000
3,437,500
3,750,000

XP Chart 4
0
2,750
5,500
11,00022,00044,00088,000171,875
343,750
687,500
1,031,250
1,375,000
1,718,750
2,062,500
2,406,250
2,750,000
3,093,750
3,437,500
3,781,250
4,125,000

XP Chart 5
0
3,000
6,000
12,00024,00048,00096,000187,500
375,000
750,000
1,125,000
1,500,000
1,875,000
2,250,000
2,625,000
3,000,000
3,375,000
3,750,000
4,125,000
4,500,000

CLASS TRAITSClassAssassin
Barbarian
Bard
Druid
Gish
Jack
Monk
Ninja
PaladinParagonRanger
Rogue
Scout
Shukenja
Sorcerer
Thaumaturgist
Theurge
Thief
WarlockWarriorWizardWu JenXP Chart
1
2
4
4
4
3
2
1
4
Double 3
3
4
3
3
1
1
5
1
4
1
1
2

2nd Level
2,000
2,250
2,750
2,750
2,750
2,500
2,250
2,000
2,750
5,000
2,500
2,750
2,500
2,500
2,000
2,000
3,000
2,000
2,750
2,000
2,000
2,500

HD
d8
d12
d7
d6
d8
d6
d9
d5
d9
d10
d6
d6
d10
d6
d6
d6
d4
d8
d4
d10
d4
d5

Top Out
+4
+6
+3/+4
+3
+4
+3
+4/+5
+2/+3
+4/+5
+5
+3
+3
+5
+3
+3
+3
+2
+4
+2
+5
+2
+2/+3

CLASS TRAITSClassAssassin
Barbarian
Bard
Druid
Gish
Jack
Monk
Ninja
PaladinParagonRanger
Rogue
Scout
Shukenja
Sorcerer
Thaumaturgist
Theurge
Thief
WarlockWarriorWizardWu JenWeapons
4
4+S
2
2
3+S
3
2
4
3+S
9+S
4+S
2
2+S
2
3
2+S
1
4
1
4+S
1
1

Saves
3
0
2
2
5
1
5
5
2
5
0
1
0
4
3
2
1
4
1
1
2
0

SpellsProgressions
Assassin

Attack+2 / 3 lvl+1 / 1 lvl+2 / 3 lvl+1 / 2 lvl+2 / 3 lvl+2 / 3 lvl+1 / 1 lvl+2 / 3 lvl+1 / 1 lvl+1 / 1 lvl+2 / 3 lvl+1 / 3 lvl+1 / 1 lvl+2 / 3 lvl+2 / 3 lvl+1 / 2 lvl+1 / 3 lvl+2 / 3 lvl+1 / 3 lvl+1 / 1 lvl+1 / 3 lvl+1 / 3 lvl

Best Armor
Scale Mail
Plate Mail
Leather
Leather
Scale Mail
Chain Mail
None
None
Plate Mail
Full Plate
Chain Mail
Leather
Plate Mail
None
Chain Mail
Plate Mail
None
Leather
None
Plate Mail
None
None

5

Thaumaturgy, Thievery
Sorcery, Thaumaturgy
Wizardry (one level behind)
Sorcery, Thievery
MysticMystic, Thievery
Thaumaturgy (one level behind)Thaumaturgy, Thievery, Wizardry(10 Points per Level for Class Traits)
Thievery, Wizardry
Thievery
Mystic, Thaumaturgy
Sorcery
Thaumaturgy
Thaumaturgy, Wizardry
ThieverySorcery, Wizardry

9
9

Wizardry
Mystic, Wizardry

3
2

4

17

EXPLANATION OF ADVENTURING TRAITSThis section provides additional information concerning the various traits that adventurers can possess.
The Attack Bonus
If the character follows a set attack
bonus progression such as +1
every level or +2 every 3 levels,then use the table to the right tofind the attack bonus at eachcharacter level.

ATTACK BONUS FOR CHARACTERS
Level +1 / lvl+5 / 6 lvl +2 / 3 lvl +1 / 2 lvl +1 / 3 lvl +1 / 6 lvl
1
+1
+0
+0
+0
+0
+0
2
+2
+1
+1
+1
+0
+0
3
+3
+2
+2
+1
+1
+0
4
+4
+3
+2
+2
+1
+0
5
+5
+4
+3
+2
+1
+0
6
+6
+5
+4
+3
+2
+1
7
+7
+5
+4
+3
+2
+1
8
+8
+6
+5
+4
+2
+1
9
+9
+7
+6
+4
+3
+1
10
+10
+8
+6
+5
+3
+1
11
+11
+9
+7
+5
+3
+1
12
+12
+10
+8
+6
+4
+2
13
+13
+10
+8
+6
+4
+2
14
+14
+11
+9
+7
+4
+2
15
+15
+12
+10
+7
+5
+2
16
+16
+13
+10
+8
+5
+2
17
+17
+14
+11
+8
+5
+2
18
+18
+15
+12
+9
+6
+3
19
+19
+15
+12
+9
+6
+3
20
+20
+16
+13
+10
+6
+3

Spellcasting
There are three main forms ofspellcasting in this rule set:
sorcery,
thaumaturgy,
andwizardry. Thaumaturgy is miracleworking. The prime requisite is
Wisdom and thaumaturgists draw
from the cleric, druid, andillusionist spell lists (i.e., all spell
lists that go up to 7th level spells).
Wizardry is spellbook-based magic,
has Intelligence as its prime
requisite, and consists of themagic-user spell list. Sorcery is
innate spellcasting. Charisma is
the prime requisite for the sorcerer. Sorcerydraws from all spell lists but only gets spell slots
up to 5th level spells. All spellcasters get bonus
spell slots based on the score of their prime
requisite.

Thaumaturgists operate like clerics and druids
with regard to spell selection. Thaumaturgists
may prepare spells from the cleric, druid, andillusionist spell lists. Wizards have spellbooks andoperate like magic-users. They must memorize
their spells from their spellbooks. Sorcerers know
a number of spells and at the levels indicated on
their spells per day chart. Sorcerers do not get
extra spells from high Charisma scores (just bonus
spell slots to cast the spells they know). Whencasting a spell, a sorcerer spends a spell slot of
the appropriate level to cast the spell. Sorcerers
do not “fill” their spell slots like thaumaturgists
and wizards.
Thaumaturgists recover their spell slots after aperiod of time. This time does not have to be
spent resting or sleeping. However, for recovery
to occur a thaumaturgist must refrain from casting
any spells. It takes four hours to recover all 1st
level spell slots, five hours to recover all 2nd level

18

spell slots, and so on, up to ten hours to recover
7th level spell slots. As an example, a 13th level
thaumaturgist is completely out of spell slots.
After four hours, all 1st level spell slots arerecovered. After one more hour (for a total of five
hours), all 2nd level spell slots are recovered.
Continuing on, every hour after sees thethaumaturgist regaining the next level’s spell slots.
Finally, after ten hours of completely refraining
from spellcasting, the thaumaturgist regains their
7th level spell slots. Due to these lengths of time,
this is the normal reason why thaumaturgists
regain spell slots only after a night’s rest.
To fill their spell slots, a thaumaturgist must spend
one hour in prayer, meditation, contemplation, orsome other activity in accordance with theirmagical tradition. During this hour, which must
be uninterrupted, any or all available spell slots
are filled with the spells they desire (subject to DM
approval). A thaumaturgist need not fill every
available spell slot (they can leave as many as theywant open). However, to fill any spell slots lateron in the day, they must spend another hour eachtime they wish to fill one or more slots.
Wizards must have actual rest or sleep to regain
the ability to refill their spell slots through spell
preparation. The amount of rest or sleep

required to regain their spell slots ranges fromfour hours (for 1st level spell slots) to 12 hours(for 9th level spell slots). Once rested, wizards
spend one hour preparing some or all of theirspell slots by filling those slots with spells found intheir spellbook(s). Spell slots can be left open forlater but regardless of how many spell slots are to
be filled, it takes another hour of preparation.
Sorcerers do not need to rest to regain their spell
slots. They must simply refrain from spellcastingfor the allotted time (four hours to eight hours) toregain spell slots. They do not fill their spell slots
as thaumaturgists and wizards do. When castinga spell, they simply pick a spell they know,
sacrifice a spell slot of the appropriate spell level,
and the spell is cast.
Casting Spells in Armor
This has to be addressed because it always comesup.
The simple rule is that characters must be
proficient in the armor they are wearing to castspells in that armor. You can’t cast spells wearing
armor that you are not proficient with.
The advanced rule is that characters can castspells wearing any armor they like. However,they must add one segment to the casting timefor each base AC number below the best AC inwhich they are proficient. For example, if awizard is wearing chain mail armor but is notproficient in any armor, then the casting time ofall spells is extended by 10 (the best AC they have)minus 5 (the AC they’re wearing) = 5 segments.
Magical bonuses, Dexterity, etc. have no effect on
this increased time. Just compare the character’s
proficiency in armor with what they’re wearing
and add an appropriate number of segments. In
addition, any power rolls incur a -3 penalty when
non-proficient armor is worn (in other words,
creatures get +3 to save scores).
Using a Focus with Spellcasting
Spellcasters can use a focus as a substitute for any
material components that don’t have a monetary
value. Any expensive or precious material
component required for a spell still needs to beused.
Spell per Day and Bonus Spells Tables
The number of spells per day for sorcerers,
thaumaturgists, and wizards are shown.
Sorcerers get bonus spells for high Charisma,
thaumaturgists for high Wisdom, and wizards for

SORCERY SPELLS PER DAY
Level
1
2
3
1
1
2
2
3
2
1
4
3
2
5
3
2
1
6
3
3
2
7
4
3
2
8
4
3
3
9
4
4
3
10
4
4
3
11
5
4
4
12
5
4
4
13
5
5
4
14
5
5
5
15
5
5
5
16
6
5
5
17
6
5
5
18
6
6
5
19
6
6
5
20
6
6
6

BONUS SORCERY SPELLS
Charisma 1
2
3
12
1
13
2
14
2
1
15
2
2
16
2
2
1
17
2
2
2
18
2
2
2
19
2
2
2
20
2
2
2
21
2
2
2
22
2
2
2
23
2
2
2
24
2
2
2
25
2
2
2

4

5

1
2
2
3
3
3
4
4
4
4
5
5
5
5

1
2
2
3
3
3
4
4
4
4
5
5

4

5

1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2

1
2
2
2
2
2

19

high Intelligence. Sorcerers get spell slots
for spell levels up to 5th. Thaumaturgists
get spell slots for spell levels up to 7th.
Wizards get spell slots for all levels of spells
up to 9th.
Mystic Arcana
If the DM allows, sorcerers gain abilities
known as mystic arcana at odd levels
starting at 11th level. A mystic arcanum
grants the ability to use a spell of a given
level once per day. It is important to notethat the sorcerer is not getting a spell slot
for the spell at that level. Bonus spells due
to high Charisma, magical items that grant
additional spell slots, and the like cannot
affect mystic arcana.
Sorcerers gain the ability to cast one 6thlevel spell as a mystic arcana at 11th level.
At 13th level, sorcerers gain one 7th level
spell. An 8th level spell is gained at 15th
level and a 9th level spell at 17th level. At
19th level, the sorcerer gains another 6th
level spell and at 21st level another 7th
level spell. There is no further progression
after 21st level.
MiraclesIf the DM allows, thaumaturgists gain
miracles starting at 15th level. A miracle
is a limited wish or wish spell that is usable
once per day.
At 15th level, thethaumaturgist gains one limited wish thatcan be used once per day. At 17th level,
another limited wish is gained (for a totalof two usable limited wishes per day). At
19th level, the thaumaturgist gains one
wish spell that can be used once per day.
There is no further progression beyond
19th level. These spells gained do notcount as spell slots.
Granted Powers
In some campaigns, thaumaturgists (andperhaps sorcerers and wizards) can gain
additional abilities known as granted
powers. It is up to the Dungeon Master todetermine if any granted powers areavailable to spellcasters in his or her milieu
and the extent of those powers.

20

THAUMATURGY SPELLS PER DAY
Level
1
2
3
4
1
1
2
2
3
2
1
4
3
2
5
3
2
1
6
3
3
2
7
4
3
2
1
8
4
3
3
2
9
4
4
3
2
10
4
4
3
3
11
5
4
4
3
12
5
4
4
3
13
5
5
4
4
14
5
5
4
4
15
5
5
5
4
16
6
5
5
4
17
6
5
5
5
18
6
6
5
5
19
6
6
5
5
20
6
6
6
5

BONUS THAUMATURGY SPELLS
Wisdom
1
2
3
4
12
1
13
2
14
2
1
15
2
2
16
2
2
1
17
2
2
2
18
2
2
2
1
19
2
2
2
2
20
2
2
2
2
21
2
2
2
2
22
2
2
2
2
23
2
2
2
2
24
2
2
2
2
25
2
2
2
2

5

6

7

1
2
2
3
3
3
4
4
4
4
5
5

1
2
2
3
3
3
4
4
4
4

1
2
2
3
3
3
4
4

5

6

7

1
2
2
2
2
2

1
2
2
2

1
2

WIZARDRY SPELLS PER DAY
Level
1
2
3
1
1
2
2
3
2
1
4
3
2
5
3
2
1
6
3
3
2
7
4
3
2
8
4
3
3
9
4
4
3
10
4
4
3
11
5
4
4
12
5
4
4
13
5
5
4
14
5
5
4
15
5
5
5
16
6
5
5
17
6
5
5
18
6
6
5
19
6
6
5
20
6
6
6

BONUS WIZARDRY SPELLSIntelligence 1
2
3
12
1
13
2
14
2
1
15
2
2
16
2
2
1
17
2
2
2
18
2
2
2
19
2
2
2
20
2
2
2
21
2
2
2
22
2
2
2
23
2
2
2
24
2
2
2
25
2
2
2

4

5

6

7

8

9

1
2
2
3
3
3
4
4
4
4
5
5
5
5

1
2
2
3
3
3
4
4
4
4
5
5

1
2
2
3
3
3
4
4
4
4

1
2
2
3
3
3
4
4

1
2
2
3
3
3

1
2
2
3

4

5

6

7

1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2

1
2
2
2
2
2

1
2
2
2

1
2

SPELL SLOT RECOVERY
Spell Slots Regained Recovery Time
1st
4 hours
2nd
5 hours
3rd
6 hours
4th
7 hours
5th
8 hours
6th
9 hours
7th
10 hours
8th
11 hours
9th
12 hours

21

MATRIX FOR THAUMATURGISTS AFFECTING UNDEAD
Type of Undead
1
2
3
4
5
6
Skeleton or 1 HD
10
7
4
T
T
D
Zombie or 2 HD
13
10
7
4
T
T
Ghoul
16
13
10
7
4
T
Shadow or 3 HD
19
16
13
10
7
4
Wight or 4 HD
20
19
16
13
10
7
Ghast
-20
19
16
13
10
Wraith or 5 HD
--20
19
16
13
Mummy or 6 HD
---20
19
16
Spectre or 7 HD----2019
Vampire or 8 HD-----20
Ghost or 10 HD------Lich or 11+ HD------Special-------

Turning Undead
The power to turn (or control) undead is normallyreserved for thaumaturgists but other characters
may gain this ability through a class ability or
taking the appropriate feature.
The matrix above shows the effective turning level(normally the character’s level of thaumaturgy)
and the various types of undead. To resolve aturning attempt, a d20 is rolled and the chart isconsulted. One d20 roll is used regardless of thenumber of types of undead in a group.
Undead of the type indicated will be successfully
turned if the result of the d20 roll is equal to or
greater than the number shown in the matrix. A‘T’ indicates automatic turning of 1d12 undead.
A ‘D’ indicates automatic destruction of 1d12
undead. A ‘D*’ indicates automatic destructionof 1d6+6 undead. Consult the Dungeon Master’s
Guide for further rules on turning undead.
ThieveryThis progression follows the primary, secondary,and tertiary functions of the AD&D thief class.
The three base scores given in this rule set are
Larceny, Athletics, and Cyphering. Larceny
covers the primary thief functions of picking
pockets, opening locks, finding and removing
traps, moving silently, and hiding in shadows. It
also includes the secondary function of listening
at doors and hearing noise. The Athletics scorecovers the secondary function of climbing walls
and whatever other physical feats the DM deems
possible (such as actions from the Unearthed
Arcana thief-acrobat split class). The Cyphering
22

7
D
D
T
T
4
7
10
13
16
19
20
---

8
D*
D
D
T
T
4
7
10
13
16
19
20
--

9
D*
D*
D
D
T
T
4
7
10
13
16
19
20

10-11 12-13 14+
D*
D*
D*
D*
D*
D*
D*
D*
D*
D
D*
D*
D
D
D*
T
D
D
T
T
D
4
T
T
7
4
T
10
7
4
13
10
7
16
13
10
19
16
13

score covers the tertiary function of reading
languages, deciphering codes, and understandingtreasure maps.
Any character with the thievery progression alsofunctions as an AD&D thief of the given level inback stabbing, deciphering magical writings, etc.
and is also fluent in Thieves’ Cant if this language
is used in the campaign.
AssassinThis progression allows a character to function as
an AD&D assassin of the given level. Assassins
perform all thieving functions as a thief of twolevels lower than the assassin level except in thearea of back stabbing (where the assassinfunctions as a thief of the same level as theassassin level).
Characters with the assassin progression gain theability to assassinate, spy, disguise themselves,and gain alignment languages as an AD&D
assassin. In the event alignment languages are
not used in the campaign, the assassin is able tolearn languages that are otherwise secret,guarded, lost, or in some other way inaccessible
to the general population. Note that assassins do
gain fluency in Thieves’ Cant at 3rd level.
MysticThe mystic progression grants characters allabilities found on the Monks Ability Table in the
AD&D Players Handbook. In addition, they gain
all of the monk abilities in the class description but
do not gain the six thief abilities listed.

THIEF SKILLS
Level
Larceny
1
30%
2
35%
3
40%
4
45%
5
50%
6
55%
7
60%
8
65%
9
70%
10
75%
11
80%
12
85%
13
90%
14
95%
15
100%
16
105%
17
110%
18
115%
19
120%
20
125%

Athletics Cyphering
85%
5%
87%
10%
89%
15%
91%
20%
93%
25%
95%
30%
97%
35%
99%
40%
101%
45%
103%
50%
105%
55%
107%
60%
109%
65%
111%
70%
113%
75%
115%
80%
117%
85%
119%
90%
121%
95%
123%
100%

ABILITY SCORE AND RACIAL MODIFIERS TO THIEF SKILLS
Thief Skill
Ability Modifier
Dwarf
Pick Pockets+ 5% × Dexterity Modifier
Open Locks+ 5% × Dexterity Modifier+10%
Find Traps+ 5% × Wisdom Modifier+15%
Remove Traps+ 5% × Dexterity Modifier+15%
Move Silently+ 5% × Dexterity Modifier
Hide in Shadows + 5% × Dexterity Modifier
Hear Noise+ 5% × Wisdom Modifier
Climb Walls+ 5% × Strength Modifier-10%
Read Languages + 5% × Intelligence Modifier-5%
ARMOR ADJUSTMENTS TO THIEF SKILLS
Thief Skill
None
Padded Leather
Pick Pockets
+5%
-30%
+0%
Open Locks
+0%
-10%
+0%
Find Traps
+0%
-10%
+0%
Remove Traps
+0%
-10%
+0%
Move Silently
+10%
-20%
+0%
Hide in Shadows
+5%
-20%
+0%
Hear Noise
+0%
-10%
+0%
Climb Walls
+10%
-30%
+0%

Studded
-30%
-10%
-10%
-10%
-20%
-20%
-10%
-30%

Ring
-40%
-15%
-15%
-15%
-40%
-30%
-20%
-40%

ABILITY SCORE MODIFIERS TO THIEF SKILLS
Thief Skill
Ability Modifier
Pick Pockets+ 5% × Dexterity Modifier
Open Locks+ 5% × Dexterity Modifier
Find Traps+ 5% × Wisdom Modifier
Remove Traps+ 5% × Dexterity Modifier
Move Silently+ 5% × Dexterity Modifier
Hide in Shadows + 5% × Dexterity Modifier
Hear Noise+ 5% × Wisdom Modifier
Climb Walls+ 5% × Strength Modifier
Read Languages + 5% × Intelligence Modifier

ASSASSINATION
Chance for successful assassination is:
50% + 5% × (Assassin Level – Victim Level)
BACK STAB+4 attack bonus
Levels 1 to 4:
Levels 5 to 8:
Levels 9 to 12:
Levels 13+:

Double Damage
Triple Damage
Quadruple Damage
Quintuple Damage

USE SCROLLS
10th Level or higher: Failure Chance = 25%

Elf
+5%
-5%

+5%
+10%
+5%

Scale
-50%
-20%
-20%
-20%
-60%
-50%
-30%
-90%

Chain
-40%
-15%
-15%
-15%
-40%
-30%
-20%
-40%

Gnome
+5%
+10%
+10%
+5%
+5%
+10%
-15%

Elfin
-20%
-5%
-5%
-5%
-10%
-10%
-5%
-20%

Half-Elf+10%+5%

Banded
-50%
-20%
-20%
-20%
-60%
-50%
-30%
-90%

Halfling
+5%
+5%
+5%
+5%
+10%
+15%
+5%
-15%
-5%

Half-Orc
-5%
+5%
+5%
+5%

+5%
+5%
-10%

Splint Plate Mail Plate-50%-75% -100%
-20%
-40%
-80%
-20%
-40%
-80%
-20%
-40%
-80%
-60%
-80% -100%-50%-75% -110%
-30%
-50%
-70%
-90%
-99% -100%

Having a shield in-hand imposes a -20% modifier to Move Silently, Hide in Shadow, and Hear Noise and -100% to all other thief skills.

23

FEATURES
One Feature should be given out during character
generation and at the attainment of every level
after. Features do not need to be paid for inpoints (each Feature is worth two points) but are
rewards for attaining the next level. Features canaugment traits or be “fluffy” (i.e., narrative,
perhaps campaign-based extras). Features canrepresent some sort of secondary advancement
or interest that the character has, can qualify themto act as certain character types (such as “druid”
or “bard”), give them certain abilities present inother rule systems (like rolling hit dice to recover
hit points during an adventure), or really anythingelse the DM can imagine.
Some examples are below. Any requirements areshown after “Required.”
Ability Development
You get two points with which to raise ability
scores. Raising an ability score from 12 or lower
to the next higher score costs one point. Raising
an ability score from 13 to 14 or from 14 to 15
costs two points. Raising an ability score from 15
to 16 or from 16 to 17 costs three points. Raising
an ability score from 17 to 18 costs four points.
You may keep track of points spent on an ability
that you didn’t raise to the next higher score (sothat you may raise it by taking this feature again).
No ability score can be raised above a maximum
ability score with this feature. This feature may
be taken more than once.
Armor Mastery
You become proficient in the two, next best,armor categories. For example, if you areproficient with base AC 8 armor (leather andpadded), you become proficient in armor types
that have a base AC of 6 and 7. You may takethis feature more than once.
Artificer
Choose one category of magic item: potions,rings, rods/staves/wands, miscellaneous magic,
armor/shields, or weapons. You can create
magic items of this type at a level of one plus thenumber of features you have taken for this magic
item category (see page 40 for more details).
Atonement
Remove all non-permanent Shadow points. You
may take this feature more than once.
Permanent Shadow points and Degeneration
cannot be removed with this feature.
24

Bardic Lore
You are considered to be a bard having a bardlevel equal to the number of times you’ve taken
this feature for game purposes. You gain theabilities of a 1st level bard: charm, legend lore anditem knowledge, additional languages, andpoetics, singing, and playing (see AD&D Players
Handbook, page 118). You may take this feature
more than once. Each time, increase youreffective bard level by one.
Combat Endurance
If you take a rest of at least one turn (ten minutes)
you may roll one of your hit dice and add theresult of your roll to your hit point total. Your hit
point total may not exceed the maximum numberof hit points you have. You may take this feature
more than once. Each time you take this feature
after the first time, you add one more hit die toyour daily pool up to a maximum of ten hit dice.
When you rest, you may roll each die, increasing
your hit points before deciding to roll successive
dice. You may take any number of one turn rests
during the day to use this ability but once you
spend a hit die it is gone until replenished. Thisability replenishes after a night’s sleep (when you
regain all spent hit dice).
Druidic Lore
You are considered to be a druid having a druid
level equal to the number of times you’ve taken
this feature for game purposes. You learn thelanguage Druidic and gain a +2 on saving throws
against fire, lightning, and electrical attacks. You
may take this feature more than once. Each time
you take it, you learn one language of your choicefrom the following list: centaur, dryad, elvish,faun, gnome, green dragon, hill giant, lizardman,manticore, nixie, pixie, sprite, or treantish.
Furthermore, the third time you gain this feature
you gain the abilities of an Initiate of the 1st
Circle. If you gain this feature a seventh time, yougain the abilities of an Initiate of the 5th Circle(see AD&D Players Handbook, page 21).
Fighting Prowess
Your attack bonus increases by +⅓. You may
take this feature more than once but your attack
bonus cannot be increased to higher than yourcharacter level this way.

Followers
Required: 10th Character Level or higher
You gain followers. The DM will determine thenature of these followers taking into account yourcharacter’s class traits. The DM should determine
which AD&D character class your character mostclosely conforms to and your character’s desired
future endeavors to choose followers accordingly.
FootpadRequired: Have no levels of Assassin or Thievery
You gain the Larceny, Athletics, and Cypheringskills at half the listed percentages of a 1st level
thief (round down). Ability score, racial, armor,and other modifiers are applied normally. You
may take this feature more than once. Each time
you take it, you increase one-half level in yourLarceny, Athletics, and Cyphering skills. Thus,
the second time you take Footpad, you get thebase percentages of a 1st level thief. The thirdtime you take it, your percentages are at 1st level
thief +2% / +1% / +2% for Larceny / Athletics /Cyphering (half-way between 1st and 2nd level).
The fourth time you take it, you act as a 2nd level
thief, and so on. If any situation occurs where
you get another base percentage in Larceny,
Athletics, and/or Cyphering, only use the higherof your base scores (do not add them up).
Giant Killer
You are considered to be a ranger having a ranger
level equal to the number of times you’ve taken
this feature for game purposes. You gain a +1 todamage in melee combat against giant classcreatures. Giant class creatures are: bugbears,
ettins, giants, gnolls, goblins, hobgoblins,
kobolds, ogres, ogre magi, orcs, trolls, and anyother creature designated as such by AD&D rules.
You may take this feature more than once. Eachtime you take it after the first, increase thedamage bonus by +1.
Henchman
You gain one henchman. Use the rules in the
AD&D Dungeon Master’s Guide to determine all
relevant details. You do not go through the entire
process outlined to find a henchman; it isassumed that the groundwork was completed
previously. You may take this feature more thanonce but you may not have more henchmen thanyour Charisma score allows.
Holy Warrior
You are considered to be a paladin having apaladin level equal to the number of times you’vetaken this feature for game purposes. You gain

one of the six paladin benefits listed in the AD&D
Players Handbook, page 22, benefits 1 through6. You must follow strictures #1, #2, and #3
starting on the same page or risk losing all of thebenefits and abilities you’ve gained through thisfeature. If you reach Degeneration Level 2, youlose your paladin status and all Holy Warrior
features permanently. You may take this feature
more than once. Each time you take it, you may
choose one new paladin feature (from benefits 1
through 6) that you did not have before.
Furthermore, you gain the ability to turn undead
as a good cleric at a level equal to the number oftimes you’ve taken Holy Warrior minus two.
Additionally, if you take Holy Warrior a fourthtime, you are eligible to call for your warhorse (asbenefit #8 in the paladin description).
Martial Artist
You gain the effective armor class, open hand
attacks per melee round, and open hand damageof a 1st level monk (see AD&D Players
Handbook, page 31). You must not be wearing
armor or employing a shield to use these abilities.
You may take this feature more than once. Eachtime you take it, increase your effective monklevel for the purposes of these three abilities only.
Necromancer
You control undead and turn good creatures asan evil cleric of a level equal to the number oftimes you’ve taken this feature. You may takethis feature more than once.
Resistance
Choose one saving throw category out of the fivecategories. You gain proficiency in this saving
throw category. Proficiency lowers your saving
throw number by four (i.e., a 15 becomes an 11
and a 6 becomes a 2). You may take this feature
more than once but it can be applied only once
to each saving throw category.
Rutterkin
Required: Have no levels of Assassin or Thievery
You operate as the assassin progression directs at
a level equal to the number of times you havetaken this feature divided by two. Your initialassassination percentages are half those of a 1st
level assassin (round down). You gain the fullabilities of a 1st level assassin after taking thisfeature a second time. You gain the thievery
functions after taking this feature six times (you’ll
operate as a 3rd level assassin, meaning 1st level
thief abilities). You may take this feature morethan once.
25

Skill Mastery
You gain two skills. These may be chosen fromthe Secondary Skills Table in the Dungeon
Master’s Guide (page 12), from among the nonweapon proficiencies listed in other sources, orwith the agreement of the player and DM. If theskill system in this document is used, each skill
allocation grants a +2 bonus to the skill roll in
addition to the character’s ability score modifier.
You may take this feature more than once, for a
new skill or to advance a skill.
Spell Knowledge
Required: Sorcery or Wizardry
You either gain knowledge of one sorcery spell ofa level you can cast or two wizard spells of levels
you can cast and these spells are scribed in yourspellbook. You may take this feature more thanonce.
Spell Mastery
Required: Thaumaturgy or Wizardry
Choose one thaumaturgy spell you can cast thatis on your spell list or one wizard spell that isscribed in your spellbook. You can cast this spell,even if you do not have it prepared, by sacrificing
a prepared spell slot of the appropriate level tocast the mastered spell instead. You may takethis feature more than once. Each time you takeit, apply it to a different spell.
Toughness
If your level is 10th or lower when you take thisfeature, add two hit points to your maximum hit
point total. If your level is 11th or higher when
you take this feature, add one hit point to yourmaximum hit point total. You may take thisfeature more than once.
Treasure
You roll for treasure. Start by rolling on Table I.
Map or Magic Determination in the Dungeon
Master’s Guide, page 120. The DM will consult
the DMG (not allowing the player to see), follow
along and record the results, asking you to makeadditional rolls as appropriate until a map has
been generated, a magic item determined, etc. If
a map is generated, you have come by the map
and may do as you wish with it. If a magic item
is generated, the DM should introduce the item assoon as possible but may just give you a backstory
and have you record its possession on yourcharacter sheet. The DM may disallow any
randomly-generated results and determine what isgained by fiat or needs of the campaign, if
desired.
26

Undead Slayer
You turn undead as a good cleric of a level equal
to the number of times you’ve taken this feature.
You may take this feature more than once.
VirtueYou gain a Virtue, which is a class feature, special
ability, supernatural gift, mark of prestige, combat
feat, or some other boon. The details of the
Virtue should be worked out between the player
and Dungeon Master and may be based on asimilar character trait found in another edition of
Dungeons & Dragons. You may take this feature
more than once, each time applying it to adifferent Virtue.
War Caster
Required: Ability to cast spells
You gain a special saving throw called Save vs.
Damage. When you take damage while casting aspell, you may make a Save vs. Damage to avoid
having the spell disrupted by the damage. This
special saving throw starts at a score of 15. You
may take this feature more than once. Each time
you take it, reduce your Save vs. Damage scoreby one point. You may only reduce your Save vs.
Damage score to 2 (after you have taken 14
instances of War Caster).
Weapon Mastery
You gain proficiency in two weapons of yourchoice. You may take this feature more thanonce, choosing two new weapons each time.
Weapon Specialization
Required: Did not take this feature last level
Choose one weapon that you have proficiency
with. You gain one level of specialization withthat type of weapon. The first level of weapon
specialization grants a +1 to hit and a +1 todamage with the weapon. A second level of
weapon specialization grants +2/+2 and thecharacter may use the next best attack
progression given their attack bonus (seeUnearthed Arcana, page 18). The maximum,
third level, of weapon specialization grants+3/+3. You may take this feature more thanonce and apply additional features to the same ordifferent weapons. However, you may only takethis feature if you did not take it last level (every
other level maximum).

COMBAT
Initiative
Initiative in combat is determined by a d10 rollplus modifiers for each combatant. Groups of likemonsters can use the same initiative result at theDM’s discretion.
INITIATIVE MODIFIERS
ActionAttacking with a Weapon
Breath Weapon
Casting a Spell
Innate Spell Ability
Natural Attack
Small Creature
Medium Creature
Large Creature
Using a Magic Item
Miscellaneous Magic
PotionRing
Rod
ScrollStaff
Wand

Modifier
Weapon's Speed+1
Casting Time+3
+3 to +6+3
+3
+6
+1 to +4
+3
+4
+3
+1
Casting Time+2
+3

The melee and missile weapon tables that follow
show each weapon’s initiative modifier as Speed.
The initiative roll shows which “segment” thecombatant acts on and progresses from 1 to thehighest initiative number. Creatures with lower
numbers act before those with higher numbers.
Spells are started on the base initiative result andare discharged when the casting time has passed.
For example, if the d10 roll for a wizard casting afireball spell is 3, then the wizard begins casting
the spell on segment 3 and the spell is discharged
on segment 6 (because the casting time is 3
segments). If the character were to be hit on
segment 3, 4, or 5, the spell is disrupted. If thecharacter is hit on segment 6, the spell goes off(as the discharge and the hit are considered to be
simultaneous).
The DM should only have to keep track ofinitiative order every round since players will bemaking all other rolls. The DM just decides what
the monsters will do on their turn and keeps trackof their hit points and abilities.

Armor Class and Defense Bonus
A creature’s armor class is its normal AD&D
armor class. The defense bonus is unique to theserules and is equal to 8 minus the AD&D AC. The
table below summarizes.
ARMOR CLASS AND DEFENSE BONUS
Armor
AC
DB
None
10
-2
Padded8+0Leather8+0Studded Leather
7+1
Ring Mail
7+1
Scale Mail
6+2
Chain Mail
5
+3
Splint Mail
4+4
Banded Mail
4+4Plate Mail
3
+5
Field Plate
2+6
Full Plate
1+7

The defense bonus is used for the defense rollsthat players make in lieu of DM-rolled attack rolls.
Player Rolls
In this system, players make most of the rolls
during the game, even rolls that are traditionallyreserved for the DM.
•

The attack roll is just like the normal AD&D
to hit roll. Players make attack rolls againstmonsters to see if their characters hit.

•A player’s saving throw is just like a normal
AD&D saving throw. Players make saving
throws for their characters to see the resultsof various effects.

•

The defense roll takes the place of the DM’s
attack rolls for monsters. Players makedefense rolls to determine whether
creatures hit or miss their characters. To
make a defense roll, the player rolls a d20
and adds the character’s Defense Bonus(which is simply 8 minus the normal AC).
The player must equal or beat the monster’s
Attack Score which is equal to 10 plus themonster’s Hit Dice (up to 10 HD). Successindicates the monster missed. Failure
indicates the monster hit. A natural 20 islike the monster rolled a natural 1 (always a27

miss). A natural 1 is like the monster rolled
a natural 20 (always a hit).
•

The power roll takes the place of the DM
making saving throws for monsters. Players
make power rolls to determine if theircharacters spells or special attacks affect themonsters. The player makes the power roll,rolling a d20, usually without modifiers.
This is compared to the monster’s Save
Score which is equal to the monster’s HDplus 4 (up to 10 HD). If the power rollequals or exceeds the Save Score, themonster failed the saving throw. If thepower roll is lower than the save score, themonster made the saving throw. As before,a natural 20 on the power roll is like the

PLAYER ROLLS
Player Roll
Attack Roll
Defense Roll
Power Roll
Saving Throw

monster rolled a natural 1 (always a failure).
A natural 1 on the power roll is like a natural
20 for the monster (the save is always
made). A separate power roll is made foreach creature potentially affected by thespell or special attack to determine if thecreature succumbs to the effect or manages
to avoid the worst of it. At the DM’s option,
one power roll can be used for like creatures
to speed up play when large groups ofmonsters are involved.
The tables below summarize the rolls that players
make for their characters and the attack bonuses,
attack scores, normal saving throws, and savescores of monsters.

Roll
Versus
d20 + Attack Bonus ≥ 20 – Monster AC
d20 + Defense Bonus ≥ Monster Attack Score
d20 ± Penalty/Bonus ≥ Monster Save Score
d20 ± Bonus/Penalty ≥ Player Saving Throw

ResultCharacter Hits Monster
Monster Misses Character
Monster Fails Save
Player Makes Save

MONSTER ATTACKS AND SAVING THROWS
Hit Dice Attack Bonus Attack Score Normal Saveup to 1-1
+0
10
18
1
+1
11
17
2
+2
12
16
3
+3
13
15
4
+4
14
14
5
+5
15
13
6
+6
16
12
7
+7
17
11
8
+8
18
10
9
+9
19
9
10
+10
20
8
11
+10
20
8
12
+11
21
7
13
+11
21
7
14
+12
22
6
15
+12
22
6
16
+13
23
5

28

Save Score
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
14
15
15
16
16
17

ATTACK AND SAVE SCORES FOR AD&D CHARACTER CLASSES AND MONSTERS
Paralyzation,
Level orPoison, or Petrification or Rod, Staff or
Hit Dice Attack Score Death Magic
Polymorph
Wand
Class
Cleric
1-3
10
12
9
8
4-6
12
13
10
9
7-9
14
15
12
11
10-12
16
16
13
12
13-15
18
17
14
13
16-18
20
18
15
14
19+
21
20
17
16
Fighter
0
9
6
5
4
1-2
10
8
7
6
3-4
12
9
8
7
5-6
14
11
10
9
7-8
16
12
11
10
9-10
18
14
13
12
11-12
20
15
14
13
13-14
22
17
16
15
15-16
24
18
17
16
17+
26
19
18
17
Magic-User 1-5
9
8
9
11
6-10
11
9
11
13
11-15
14
11
13
15
16-20
17
12
15
17
21+
19
14
17
19
Thief
1-4
9
9
10
8
5-8
11
10
11
10
9-12
14
11
12
12
13-16
16
12
13
14
17-20
18
13
14
16
21+
20
14
15
18
Monster
up to 1-1
9
6
5
4
1-1
10
8
7
6
1
11
8
7
6
1+
12
8
7
6
2
13
8
7
6
3
13
9
8
7
4
14
9
8
7
5
14
11
10
9
6
16
11
10
9
7
16
12
11
10
8
17
12
11
10
9
17
14
13
12
10
19
14
13
12
11
19
15
14
13
12
20
15
14
13
13
20
17
16
15
14
21
17
16
15
15
21
18
17
16
16+
22
18
17
16

BreathWeapon
6
7
9
10
11
12
14
2
5
6
9
10
13
14
17
18
18
7
9
11
13
15
6
7
8
9
10
11
2
5
5
5
5
6
6
9
9
10
10
13
13
14
14
17
17
18
18

Spell
7
8
10
11
12
13
15
3
5
6
8
9
11
12
14
15
16
10
12
14
16
18
7
9
11
13
15
17
3
5
5
5
5
6
6
8
8
9
9
11
11
12
12
14
14
15
15

29

MELEE WEAPONS
WeaponAxe, Battle
Axe, Great
Axe, Hand
Club
Club, Great
Dagger
Fist
Flail, Footman's
Flail, Horseman's
GlaiveHalberdHammer, Light
Hammer, War
Lance
Mace, Footman'sMace, Horseman's
MaulMorningstar
Pick, Footman's
Pick, Horseman's
Pike
Quarterstaff
Scimitar
Spear
Sword, Bastard
Sword, Broad
Sword, Great
Sword, Long
Sword, Short
Trident
Whip30

Speed Damage Type
Weight Size
7
1d8 Slashing
4 lb.
9
1d12 Slashing
7 lb. Heavy
4
1d6 Slashing
2 lb. Light
4
1d4 Bludgeoning
2 lb. Light8
1d8 Bludgeoning 10 lb.
2
1d4 Piercing
1 lb. Light
1
1
Bludgeoning-7
1d8 Bludgeoning
2 lb.
5
1d6 Bludgeoning
1 lb. Light8
1d10 Slashing
6 lb. Heavy9
1d10 Slashing
6 lb. Heavy
4
1d4 Bludgeoning
2 lb. Light
6
1d8 Bludgeoning
4 lb.
7
1d12 Piercing
6 lb. Special
7
1d6 Bludgeoning
4 lb.
6
1d4 Bludgeoning
2 lb. Light
12
2d6 Bludgeoning 10 lb. Heavy
7
1d8 Piercing
4 lb.
7
1d8 Piercing
2 lb.
5
1d6 Piercing
1 lb. Light13
1d10 Piercing
18 lb. Heavy
4
1d6 Bludgeoning
4 lb.
4
1d6 Slashing
3 lb. Light
7
1d6 Piercing
3 lb.
6
1d10 Slashing
5 lb. Heavy
5
2d4 Slashing
4 lb.
10
2d6 Slashing
6 lb. Heavy
5
1d8 Slashing3 lb.
3
1d6 Piercing
2 lb. Light
7
1d6 Piercing
4 lb.
7
1d4 Slashing
3 lb.

WieldinessDistance Range
Versatile (1d10)
Two-handed
Thrown 20/60
Two-handed
FinesseTwo-handed
Two-handed

Thrown

20/60

Reach
Reach
Thrown

20/60

Versatile (1d10)
Reach

Two-handed

Two-handed
Reach
Versatile (1d8)
FinesseVersatile (1d8) Thrown
Versatile (1d12)
Two-handed
Versatile (1d10)
FinesseVersatile (1d8) ThrownFinesse
Reach

20/60

20/60

MISSILE WEAPONS
WeaponAxe, Hand
BlowgunBow, Composite, Long
Bow, Composite, Short
Bow, Long
Bow, Short
Crossbow, Hand
Crossbow, Heavy
Crossbow, Light
DaggerDart
Hammer, Light
Javelin
Net
Sling
Spear
Trident

Speed Damage Type
Weight Size
4
1d6 Slashing
2 lb. Light
5
1
Piercing
1 lb.
7
1d8 Piercing
2 lb. Heavy
6
1d6 Piercing
2 lb.
8
1d8 Piercing
2 lb. Heavy
7
1d6 Piercing
2 lb.
5
1d6 Piercing
3 lb. Light10
1d10 Piercing
18 lb. Heavy
7
1d8 Piercing
5 lb.
2
1d4 Piercing
1 lb. Light
2
1d4 Piercing
1/4 lb.
4
1d4 Bludgeon
2 lb. Light
4
1d6 Piercing
2 lb.
7--3 lb. Special
6
1d4 Bludgeon-7
1d6 Piercing
3 lb.
7
1d6 Piercing
4 lb.

WieldinessDistance
ThrownAmmo/Loading
Two-handed
Ammunition
Two-handed
Ammunition
Two-handed
Ammunition
Two-handed
Ammunition
Ammo/Loading
Two-handed
Ammo/Loading
Two-handed
Ammo/Loading
FinesseThrownFinesseThrownThrownThrownThrownAmmunition
Versatile (1d8) Thrown
Versatile (1d8) Thrown

Range
20/60
25/100150/600
80/320150/600
80/32030/120100/400
80/320
20/60
20/60
20/60
30/1205/15
30/12020/60
20/60

Weapon Qualities
Ammunition: Must have ammunition to use weapon, can spend a minute after a battle to recover half
expended ammunition.
Finesse: May use either Strength or Dexterity for both the attack and damage rolls, must use same ability
for both rolls.
Heavy: Small creatures have disadvantage on attack rolls.
Light: May use two weapons in combat if both are light, can attack at -2 with the first weapon and at -4
with the second, modified by the Dexterity modifier (up to +0).
Loading: May only fire one piece of ammunition regardless of number of attacks you normally make perround.
Range: numbers are in feet, first number is the normal range, second number is maximum range,
disadvantage on attack rolls past normal range.
Reach: Weapon adds five feet to your reach when you attack with it.
Thrown: May throw the weapon to make a ranged attack, use the same ability modifier you use in melee
with the weapon.
Two-handed: Requires two hands to use.
Versatile: May be used with one or two hands, two-handed damage in parenthesis.

31

HEROIC ALIGNMENTS
An alternate alignment system is presented here,
one based on real-world values, but designed foruse in a fantasy campaign. Unlike the normal
D&D alignment system, all nine alignments canbe used, since these alignments represent the“heroic” version of the normal nine alignments.
These heroic alignments are described in terms ofthe value system adhered to by charactersprofessing that philosophy. Ten values are usedand each of the ten basic values can becharacterized by describing its central
motivational goal and its associated single values.
These values are:Achievement - Personal success throughdemonstrating competence according to social
standards. Associated single values are: being
ambitious, influential, capable, successful,
intelligent, and having self-respect.
Benevolence - Preserving and enhancing thewelfare of those with whom one is in frequent
personal contact (the "in-group"). Associatedsingle values are: being helpful, responsible,
forgiving, honest, loyal, and having mature love
for others and true friendships.
Conformity - Restraint of actions, inclinations,and impulses likely to upset or harm others andviolate social expectations or norms. Associatedsingle values are: being obedient, having selfdiscipline, being polite, honoring parents andelders.
Hedonism - Pleasure and sensuous gratificationfor oneself. Associated single values are:experiencing pleasure and enjoying life.
Power - Social status and prestige, control ordominance over people and resources. Associate
single values are: having social power, wealth,and authority, preserving one's own public image,and having social recognition.
Security - Safety, harmony, and stability ofsociety, of relationships, and of self. Associate
single values are: ensuring national security,
reciprocation of favors, ensuring family security,
having a sense of belonging, preserving the social
order, being healthy and clean.

32

Self-Direction - Independent thought and action;choosing, creating, exploring. Associated single
values are: freedom, creativity, independence,choosing one's own goals, being curious, having
self-respect.
Stimulation - Excitement, novelty, and challenge
in life. Associated single values are: having an
exciting and varied life, being daring.
Tradition - Respect, commitment, andacceptance of the customs and ideas thattraditional culture or religion provide the self.
Associated single values are: respecting tradition,
being devout, accepting one's own portion in life,
being humble, and taking life in moderation.
Universalism - Understanding, appreciation,
tolerance, and protection for the welfare of all
people and for nature. Associated single values
are: advancing equality, being one with nature,having wisdom, filling the world with beauty,
advancing social justice, being broad-minded,
protecting the environment, and see the world atpeace.
Below, each alignment is described in terms ofthese values. Acts that call for an Inspiration
award for characters adhering to a particular
philosophy are listed. These acts are deliberately
left vague so that the DM can determine thefrequency of Inspiration awards during the game.
It should be noted that DMs are under noobligation to allow all nine of the alignments listed
below. DMs can certainly use all of them or
restrict the number to three or four to encourage
party unity.
Each of the heroic alignments also has a Shadow
Weakness. Each alignment’s Shadow Weakness,along with the Flaws that are gained at the four
Degeneration levels, are shown.

THE HEROIC ALIGNMENTS

ALABASTROUS

CERULINE

SPESSARTINEATRAMENTOUS

33

ALABASTROUS
You’re hero the people want on their side. You don’t necessarily play by the rules, but you’ll save theday because that’s what heroes do. You’re not motivated by money or power or pleasure. You justwant to right the wrongs, defend the weak, and kick evil’s butt. A sincere “thank you” or a home-cooked
meal is all you need for a reward. But if they insist on giving you money, well, you’ll just give that to thepoor or the local church. You’re always ready to make the ultimate sacrifice, but not before you take as
many of those evil bastards with you as possible.
Choose two core values from each list. These core values will be used by the DM to award Inspiration.
MeaningCore Values

Benevolence
Preserving and enhancing the welfareof those with whom one is in frequent
personal contact (the "in-group").

Universalism
Understanding, appreciation,
tolerance, and protection for thewelfare of all people and for nature.

•
•
•
•
•
•

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

being helpful
being responsible
being forgiving
being honest
being loyal
having mature love for others
and true friendships

advancing equality
being one with nature
having wisdom
filling the world with beauty
advancing social justice
being broad-minded
protecting the environment
seeing the world at peace

ATRAMENTOUS
You’re the hero they call on to get the job done, no matter what. As long as they don’t criticize yourmethods or delve too deeply into your affairs, they’ll be alright. You’ll defend civilization, rescue theking’s daughter from the dragon, or do just about anything else, if the price is right. You’re the mercenaryof the adventurer world. You won’t side with evil, because there’s no end to the number of good people
who will pay dearly for your services. Fight fire with fire is what you say. At the end of the day, when
the Dark Lord has been defeated, honors will be heaped upon you by a grateful populace. And you get
to keep all of the Dark Lord’s cool stuff. It’s a win-win.
Choose two core values from each list. These core values will be used by the DM to award Inspiration.
MeaningCore Values

34

Achievement
Personal success throughdemonstrating competence according
to social standards.

Power
Social status and prestige, control ordominance over people andresources.

•
•
•
•
•
•

•
•
•
•

having social power•

having social recognition

being ambitious
being influential
being capable
being successful
having intelligence
having self-respect

having wealthhaving authority
preserving one's own public
image

CERULINE
Some people do what’s right because they believe in the system. All that stands between civilization andchaos is a fragile social order. Society needs its heroes, people who are willing to do what it takes todefend the nation, protect its citizens, enforce its laws, and maintain its traditions. That’s you. You’ve
got the talent and it’s your duty to use your gifts to ensure that your nation, your people, and your wayof life will last forever. You’ve got the law on your side, but you’re never above the law. Sometimes it’sa messy business, because no system is perfect. But it’s the best one we’ve got and it’s worth fightingfor.
Choose two core values from each list. These core values will be used by the DM to award Inspiration.
MeaningCore Values

Security
Safety, harmony, and stability ofsociety, of relationships, and of self.

Conformity/Tradition
Restraint of actions, inclinations, andimpulses likely to upset or harm
others and violate social expectations
or norms. Also respect, commitment,
and acceptance of the customs andideas that traditional culture or
religion provide the self.

•
•
•
•
•
•

•
•
•
•
•
•
•

being obedient••

being humble

ensuring national security
reciprocation of favors
ensuring family security
having a sense of belonging
preserving the social order
being healthy and clean

having self-discipline
being polite
honoring parents and elders
respecting tradition
being devout
accepting one's own portion inlife
taking life in moderation

CINEREAL
You’re not the hero they expected, but you’re the hero they need. You’re not quite sure what keeps you
going but if you don’t do something, who will? You don’t put your trust in high ideals, the authorities ofyour society, a certain philosophy, or really anything else for that matter. You trust yourself, those close
to you, and anyone else who’s proven they’re on your side. You fight evil to protect yourself and thoseyou care about. And because you’re one of the few who can. The enemy had better watch out, because
unlike these other heroes, you’re flexible enough in your morals and ethics to take advantage of just about
any situation. They’ll never see it coming.
Choose two primary values. Choose two core values from the two lists you chose for your primaryvalues. For example, if you chose security and self-direction for your character, choose two core values
from the security list (which can be found in the Erubescent and Ceruline descriptions) and two corevalues from the self-direction list (found in the Spessartine and Viridescent descriptions).

35

ERUBESCENT
You defend your nation, protect the weak, and smite evil, not because it’s the right thing to do, but
because it’s what keeps you on top of the heap yourself. You’re a hero, so you’ve earned the right tobe above the common rabble. Who else hurls themselves into danger like you do? Your high station insociety is predicated upon the continuance of the social order, so it’s also self-interest that motivates you
to defeat your nation’s enemies. The wicked must be punished for daring to disrupt the society thatprovides you with power and prestige. And it does feel good bringing wrong-doers to justice and wiping
out enemies in war. Everyone knows you don’t mess around.
Choose two core values from each list. These core values will be used by the DM to award Inspiration.
MeaningCore Values

Power
Social status and prestige, control ordominance over people andresources.

Security
Safety, harmony, and stability ofsociety, of relationships, and of self.

•
•
•
•

having social power•

having social recognition

•
•
•
•
•
•

having wealthhaving authority
preserving one's own public
image

ensuring national security
reciprocation of favors
ensuring family security
having a sense of belonging
preserving the social order
being healthy and clean

PORPHYRIC
It feels good when they call you a “hero” and that’s what it’s all about for you. Being a hero is the best
way of getting what you want. And what is it that you want? Excitement, pleasure, success, adoration,
just to name a few of the many things that you desire in your insatiable quest for enjoyment in life. Aslong as you act like a hero, you get to operate outside of convention and they’ll happily overlook yourindiscretions, your eccentricities, and your pursuit of darker desires. You understand the enemy better
than anyone else, but you’ll never join them. These innocents, they look up to you and are so ready andwilling to reward you for putting your life on the line for them. You’ve got a good thing going and you
don’t want to ruin that, now do you?
Choose four core values from among those offered on the three lists. These core values will be used by
the DM to award Inspiration.
Meaning

Stimulation
Excitement, novelty,
and challenge in life.

Achievement
Personal successthrough demonstratingcompetence according
to social standards.

Hedonism
Pleasure and sensuous
gratification for oneself.

Core Values

•

•
•
•
•
•
•

•

experiencing
pleasure•

enjoying life•

36

having an exciting
and varied life
being daring

being ambitious
being influential
being capable
being successful
having intelligence
having self-respect

SPESSARTINE
You have no grand plan, no unwavering ideals, no lifelong goals when it comes to being a hero. You
really don’t care about saving people, smiting evil, or any of that stuff all of the other heroes seem to careso much about. As far as rewards go, you don’t want the titles they might give you, the lands they might
bequeath you, the gold they might heap upon you (okay, maybe you want the gold). You do it for thethrills, for the freedom, and for the simple pleasure of seeing what you can get away with. You’re a herofor your own reasons, which might change with the wind. With you, the enemy never knows what they’regetting or what to expect. You’re that hero that’s the life of the party, the instigator, hell, maybe thewhole reason there’s an adventure in the first place!
Choose two core values from each list. These core values will be used by the DM to award Inspiration.
MeaningCore Values

Self-Direction
Independent thought and action;choosing, creating, exploring.

Stimulation
Excitement, novelty, and challenge in
life.

•
•
•
•
•
•

•

having an exciting and varied
life•

being daring

freedomcreativity
independencechoosing one's own goals
being curious
having self-respect

VIRIDESCENT
There’s no need for heroes in a just world and you work tirelessly for the day when you can lay down
your sword. But there’s no end to the cruelty, the misery, and the injustices that are visited upon goodfolk by the depredations of evil people, so respite will never come. You’re a hero of the people, fighting
for equality, for freedom, and for independence. Tyrants are wise to fear you, as you work to freeeveryone from all forms of oppression: slavery, burdensome duties, unfair taxation, and perhaps evensocietal expectations. The world you’re building will be one of beauty, equality, and peace that allows
everyone to live their own lives as they see fit without the interference of authoritarian influences.
Choose two core values from each list. These core values will be used by the DM to award Inspiration.
MeaningCore Values

Universalism
Understanding, appreciation,
tolerance, and protection for thewelfare of all people and for nature.

Self-Direction
Independent thought and action;choosing, creating, exploring.

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

•
•
•
•
•
•

advancing equality
being one with nature
having wisdom
filling the world with beauty
advancing social justice
being broad-minded

freedomcreativity
independencechoosing one's own goals
being curious
having self-respect

protecting the environment
seeing the world at peace

37

XANTHIC
You’re a true hero, the figurative knight-in-shining-armor, fighting for truth, justice, and the chivalric way.
You’re a paragon of virtue, fair to both friend and foe. You balance the needs of your own altruistic
goals with those of the social order. You follow the rules, respect the laws, and adhere to the social
mores of your nation and this endears you to all in polite society. You also defend the innocent, humble
yourself before the lowly, and cheerfully render aid to the needy and this makes you loved by thecommoners. You show mercy to your foes, engage in fair play, and use only that force which is necessary
in battle and this makes you respected by the enemy. You are willing to sacrifice your life before behaving
dishonorably and your heart is always ready to forgive the truly repentant.
Choose two core values from each list. These core values will be used by the DM to award Inspiration.
MeaningCore Values

38

Conformity/Tradition
Restraint of actions, inclinations, andimpulses likely to upset or harm
others and violate social expectations
or norms. Also respect, commitment,
and acceptance of the customs andideas that traditional culture or
religion provide the self.

Benevolence
Preserving and enhancing the welfareof those with whom one is in frequent
personal contact (the "in-group").

•
•
•
•
•
•
•

being obedient

•
•
•
•
•
•

•
•

being humble

having self-discipline
being polite
honoring parents and elders
respecting tradition
being devout
accepting one's own portion inlife
taking life in moderation

being helpful
being responsible
being forgiving
being honest
being loyal
having mature love for others
and true friendships

Changing Your Alignment
You can change your character’s core values
between gaming sessions. Just inform your DM
at the start of a new session that you are changing
your character’s core values. You must choose
your character’s new core values from the lists
presented in your alignment description (or thelists you chose, if your character is Cinereal). You
must follow the instructions in your alignment
description (such as “Choose two core values
from each list.”).
Changing your character’s alignment requires a
bit more work. You can begin to change yourcharacter’s alignment to one that shares at least
one primary value (such as Xanthic to
Alabastrous, because they share benevolence as a
primary value) by announcing your intention to do
so at the start of a gaming session and choosing
one core value from a list that is not common to
your old alignment. For example, for a Xanthic
to Alabastrous change, the player will choose one
core value from the universalism core values list
(since benevolence is common to both Xanthic
and Alabastrous, but universalism is not). Thismeans the character should have one core value
from the conformity/tradition list, two core values
from the benevolence list, and the new core value
from the universalism list. Once the character hasreceived three Inspiration awards based on the
new core value, the player may choose anothercore value from that list at the beginning of thenext session. Once the character has been
awarded Inspiration three times based on thissecond new core value, the character has
successfully switched alignment.

However, if the player does not wish to switch toa new alignment that shares a primary value, thecharacter must be switched to Cinereal. In otherwords, it is the intention of the player to switch
two or more primary values to different primaryvalues. In this case, choose the first primary value
and follow the instructions above for slowly
switching core values. Once that primary value
has been successfully switched (by being awarded
Inspiration for both new core values three timeseach), then pick another primary value to switch
to and follow the same procedure. For example,
the player of a Xanthic character is tired of having
conformity/tradition and benevolence as primaryvalues and would rather play a thrillseeker. First,
he loses one conformity/tradition core value andhe chooses stimulation as his new primary value
and takes “having an exciting and varied life” ashis first new core value. After three Inspiration
awards for that core value, he chooses “being
daring.” Three more Inspiration awards for“being daring” later, he is now considered aCinereal character (having the primary values of
benevolence and stimulation). He then chooses
the self-direction primary value and the core valueof “choosing one’s own goals.” He gets three
Inspiration awards and then picks “being curious”
as his last new core value. After three Inspiration
awards for this one, he’s a Spessartine character.

Shadow Traits
Each heroic alignment has a Shadow Weakness which charts a path for their degeneration if they begin
to stray from their heroic ideals. The table below shows each alignment’s Shadow Weakness and the
Shadow Flaws that are acquired when Degeneration Levels I through IV are reached.
HEROIC ALIGNMENTS
Alignment
Shadow Weakness
Alabastrous
Curse of Martyrdom
Atramentous
Curse of Vengeance
Ceruline
Curse of Fanaticism
Cinereal
Curse of Apathy
Erubescent
Lure of Power
Porphyric
Lure of Pleasure
Spessartine
Curse of Anarchy
Viridescent
Lure of Principle
Xanthic
Lure of Purity

I
Resentful
Spiteful
Resentful
Idle
Resentful
Unreliable
Unreliable
Resentful
Resentful

II
BrutalBrutalArrogant
Aloof
Arrogant
Self-CenteredSelf-CenteredSelf-Centered
DemandingIII
Sanctimonious
Cruel
Cruel
Uncaring
Overconfident
Hedonistic
Deceitful
Sanctimonious
Sanctimonious

IV
Martyrlike
Murderous
Dogmatic
Apathetic
Tyrannical
Nihilistic
Anarchic
Vigilantic
Puritanical39

SPELL RESEARCH AND MAGICAL ITEM CREATION
Spellcasters can research new spells and create
magical items.
Any spellcaster wishing toresearch new spells or create magical items musthave a sanctum. A spellcaster’s sanctum takes aform suitable to their own magical tradition. A
sanctum could be a laboratory, a library, a shrine,a series of interconnected rooms with hidden
passageways, a hidden grove, the possibilities arenearly endless. For game purposes, the sanctum
is a place where spellcasters can research spells
and create magical items.
Sorcerers can conduct magical research to learn
new spells. Thaumaturgists can research new
spells to add to their spell list. Wizards canengage in spell research to add spells to theirspellbooks. The spell research rules found in the
AD&D Dungeon Master’s Guide (pages 115 and116) are suitable for use with this ruleset.
Spellcasters can create magical items suitable totheir class, traits, and features. The DM should
determine if a given type of magical item can beconstructed by a given type of spellcaster.
Constructing a magical item can be as simple as
outlining the required gold piece expenditure andthe amount of time for creation. The DM canalways add additional rules, such as the need tohave a laboratory text or formula for the magicalitem, requiring special ingredients for theconstruction process, percentage chances ofsuccess, sacrifices that must be made, etc. For
example, researching a magical item formula
could be handled under the rules for researchinga spell, treating the “spell level” as one-half theminimum spellcaster level for constructing themagical item in question (retain the fraction).
A spellcaster can make a protection scroll, rod,
staff, wand, or miscellaneous magic item if theirspellcaster level is at least 5 + the magic item

Experience Point Value divided by 1,000(rounded up). To make a magic ring, thespellcaster level must be at least 5 + the magic
ring Experience Point Value divided by 500(rounded up). For potions, the spellcaster levelmust be equal to or greater than the Experience
Point Value of the potion divided by 100 (roundedup). Spell scrolls require a spellcaster level equal
to that required to cast the spell (i.e., the spelllevel times two, minus 1). To make magic armor,
magic shields, and magic weapons, you musthave a spellcaster level equal to three times thebase "plus" for the armor, shield, or weapon. For
items without a defined "plus" read the description
and use the highest "plus" found and add one.
For items with differing "plusses" add one-half thedifference between the higher plusses and thebase plus, rounding up. For example, a sword+1, +4 vs. reptiles would be 1 + 1.5 = 2.5,
rounded up to +3.
Creating a magical item costs half of the magicalitem’s G.P. Sale Value (consult the Dungeon
Master’s Guide) and takes a number of days equal
to:Days = 90 × G.P. Sale Value ÷ (2,500 × Level)
For example, a 20th level wizard wishes to makea staff of the magi. The minimum spellcaster levelto make this is 5 + (15,000 XP ÷ 1,000 XP).
Since our wizard is 20th level, he can constructthis item. The cost to construct the item is half of
the G.P. Sale Value (DMG, page 122) which is
75,000 g.p. ÷ 2 = 37,500 g.p. The time to makethe item is 90 × 75,000 g.p. ÷ (2,500 g.p. × 20),
for a total of 135 days. The DM could rule thata gold piece expenditure coupled with theconstruction time is enough to make the item or
could impose additional requirements if desired
for the needs of the campaign.

MINIMUM SPELLCASTER LEVEL FOR MAGICAL ITEM CREATION
Magical Item
Minimum Caster Level
Potion
X.P. Value ÷ 100
Scroll - Spell
Spell Level × 2 – 1
Scroll - Protection
5 + X.P. Value ÷ 1000
Ring
5 + X.P. Value ÷ 500
Rod, Staff, and Wand
5 + X.P. Value ÷ 1000
Miscellaneous
5 + X.P. Value ÷ 1000
Armor and Shield
3 × “Plus”
Weapon3 × “Plus”

40

A SKILL SYSTEM
The skill system assumes that every hero has
broad knowledge and abilities not requiring an
extensive “skills list” or prior determination ofareas of proficiency of any sort.
The d12 is used as the primary die with the skill
system as it approximates the d6 (which is usedin many cases) but provides more granularity.
The basic skill roll is 1d12 + appropriate ability
score modifier or applicable bonus. This result iscompared to a target number (abbreviated TN)
representing the difficulty of the task.
SKILL DIFFICULTIES
Difficulty
Nearly Automatic
Very Easy
Easy
Average
Hard
Very Hard
Nearly Impossible

Chance6-in-6
5-in-64-in-63-in-62-in-6
1-in-60-in-6

TN
1
3
5
7
9
11
13

The Chance shows the chance of success for acharacter having a +0 ability score modifier. The
default Target Number is 7 if the DM doesn’t
specify or consider any other number. Only one
bonus normally applies to a roll (do not use anability score modifier and an additional bonus, justthe higher of all applicable bonuses).
Some rolls from AD&D can be converted to skill
rolls.
Surprise
Surprise is normally a 2-in-6 chance, so theTarget Number for surprise would be 9.
Characters attempting to surprise an opponent
would roll 1d12 + Surprise Bonus. Charactersthat have altered chances of being surprised or
surprising opponents would have a Surprise
Bonus (such as rangers). Rangers would get a +2
Surprise Bonus that would apply to their own rolland this bonus would raise their own Target
Number of being surprised by two (TN 11 insteadof 9).
Monks are less likely to be surprised as they
increase in level. This progression is 32% at 2ndlevel and -2% for each level thereafter. Thismeans their surprise TN would be 10 at 6th level,
11 at 10th level, 12 at 14th level, and 13 at 18th
level.

A party that is surprised has a number of rounds
of inactivity equal to one round plus the result of
the roll minus the TN divided by two (drop thefraction). For example, if the TN to surprise agroup of orcs is 9, a roll of 9 or 10 would indicate
one round of surprise, a roll of 11 or 12 tworounds of surprise, and so on.
Finding Secret Doors
The normal chance is 1-in-6. This would indicate
a TN 11 for finding secret doors. Elves and halfelves have a 2-in-6 chance, so this would translate
to a +2 Secret Door Bonus.
Any character with the Find and Remove Traps
thief ability should be able to use this ability to findand open secret doors.
Dwarven and Gnomish Detection Abilities
Assuming that it would be impossible (TN 13) for
other races to detect and determine what dwarvesand gnomes can detect more easily, the following
bonuses are given to dwarves and gnomes.
DWARVEN AND GNOMISH ABILITIES
Ability
Dwarf
Gnome
Detect Grade or Slope in+9+10Passage*
Detect New Construction+9+8Detect Sliding or Shifting+8-Walls or Rooms
Detect Traps (Pits, Falling+6-Blocks, etc.)
Determine Depth+6+7
Underground
Determine Direction-+6
Underground**Halflings of pure Stoutish blood get +9 for detecting
grade or slope and +6 for determining direction
underground.

Elven and Halfling Surprise Ability
Assuming it is hard (TN 9) for other races to movesilently and surprise opponents like elves andhalflings (without training), the following bonuses
would be given to elves and halflings.
ELVEN AND HALFLING ABILITIES
Ability
Surprise Bonus (No Portal)
Surprise Bonus (Portal Opened)

Elf
+4
+0

Halfling+4+0Note that elven rangers would not be able to stacktheir bonuses in this system. They just use thehigher applicable bonus.

41

Skill Checks
To resolve some action not covered by anotherrule and it is desired to determine success or
failure with a random roll, have the player roll
1d12 and add one applicable bonus (usually an
ability score modifier). Compare the result to thepre-determined difficulty level (if difficulty level is
not chosen, assume the action or task to be of
Average difficulty, TN 7). If the Target Number
is met or exceeded, the action or task is
successful.
For example, each player character needs tojump across a 10’ wide chasm and there is room
for a running start. The DM determines thisaction to be of Average difficulty and assigns atarget number of 7. The DM determines that theplayer can choose to use either their character’sStrength or Dexterity ability score modifier for theroll. Each player will roll 1d12 adding theircharacter’s Strength or Dexterity ability score
modifier. If the result is 7 or greater, the character
leaps across the chasm. If the result is 6 or less,the DM determines the result (falls to their death,manages to grab onto something but five feetbelow the ledge, etc.).
Use the rules to determine what actions or tasks
would fall under which abilities.
The
Dungeoneer’s Survival Guide and Wilderness
Survival Guide shows the primary abilities foreach skill in later AD&D.
Elegia Skill List
This skill list is taken from a great game called
Elegia or Retro Phaze by John Higgins (Relative
Entropy Games). Is it simple and covers a lot ofareas.
ELEGIA SKILLS
Skill
Possible Uses
Athletics
Climbing, tumbling, running,
swimming
CivicsBureaucracy, law, politics,
statecraft
Craft
Building, brewing, repairing,dismantling
Diplomacy
Negotiating,persuading,bluffing

42

ELEGIA SKILLS (CONT.)Entertain
Acting, playing music, giving
speeches
Knowledge
Lore, sciences, humanities,
languages
Medicine
Healing, anatomy, surgery,
psychiatry
Outdoors
Animals, plants, tracking,ridingPerception
Searching, listening, reading
people
Pilot
Driving,flying,sailing,
navigating
StealthHiding, sneaking, sleight-ofhand
Trade
Business,
economics,
accounting

Example Skill List
This example skill list is taken from the AD&D
Dungeon Master’s Guide. Randomly determine
a character’s skill(s), if any, by rolling d% andconsulting the table below.
SECONDARY SKILLS TABLE
Dice Score
Result01-02
Armorer/Weaponsmith
03-04
Bowyer/Fletcher
05-10
Farmer/Gardener
11-14
Fisher (netting)
15-20
Forester/Logger
21-23
Gambler/Con Artist
24-27
Hunter/Fisher (hook and line)
28-32
Husbandman/Herdsman
33-34
Jeweler/Lapidary
35-37
Leather Worker/Tanner
38-39
Limner/Painter
40-42
Mason/Carpenter
43-44
Miner/Smelter
45-46
Navigator
47-49
Sailor
50-51
Shipwright52-54
Tailor/Weaver
55-57
Teamster/Freighter
58-60
Trader/Barterer
61-64
Trapper/Furrier
65-67
Woodworker/Cabinetmaker68-85
No skill of measurable worth
86-00
Roll twice ignoring this result

ADDENDA AND OPTIONAL RULES
This section contains amplifying explanations,previous omissions, or variant rules that can be
employed in the game.
Alternate Ability Score Generation
Depending on the needs of the campaign, analternate method of ability score generation iscertainly permissible. The various methods foundin the Dungeon Master’s Guide and otherpublications can be used.
As a novel alternative, players can generate theircharacters’ ability scores by rolling 2d4+1d6+4
for each ability. This gives a minimum ability
score of 7, a maximum of 18, a mean of 12.5,
and a standard deviation of 2.33.
By
comparison, the 4d6 method has a minimum of
3, a maximum of 18, a mean of 12.24, and astandard deviation of 2.85. It is still possible toget abysmal scores with the 4d6 method but notwith the 2d4+1d6+4 method.
Saving Throws
As an option, you can allow saving throws to belowered by two at a cost of one point just as
saving throws are lowered by four at a cost of two
points. At a cost of one point, two different
saving throws could be lowered by one point
each. At any rate, saving throws may only belowered by four maximum. This allows for amore granular improvement of saving throws.
IMPROVING SAVING THROWS
Cost
EffectLower one save by one point½
1
Lower two saves by one each
1
Lower one save by two points
2
Lower two saves by two each2
Lower one save by four points
Gaining Weapon Proficiencies
If a player decides to spend XP to have thecharacter gain a weapon proficiency, you canallow the penalty to become -2 when one-third of
the XP have been spent, -1 when two-thirds ofthe XP have been spent, and +0 when the fullamount has been spent.
Buying Features
Any of the entries in the FEATURES section ofthis document can be purchased for two points(i.e., two times the character’s level multiplier) at
the discretion of the Dungeon Master. Somefeatures should only be purchased once per level.

Ability Score Increases
Although ability score increases can be gained asa feature, in campaigns where the ability score
generation system relies on single 3d6 rolls foreach ability, the Dungeon Master may wish toallow the players to raise one or two ability scoresby one full point at each level break (or at every
other level, every third level, etc.). Continue to
use the character’s maximum ability scores as a
top limit.
Altering the Level MultipliersSome DMs may not like the fairly odd level
multipliers for character levels 7 and higher. In
this case, use 4,000 for 7th level, 8,000 for 8th
level, and 16,000 for 9th level an higher.
Required experience point totals will be higher but
the totals will be less strange.
Altering the Classes
First, the various names for classes in the section
BUILDING CLASSES FOR ADVANCED
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS are fairly arbitrary
and can be changed to meet the needs of various
campaigns.
Secondly, the class traits themselves can bechanged if desired. Simply note the difference inpoints between the listed class and the revised
version of it and construct the experience point
table appropriately. For example, if it is desired
to make Bards have d6 hit dice with a +1 / 2
levels attack progression, then lower the point
total from 22 points per level to 20 points perlevel. This has the effect of having the Bard use
XP Chart 3 with 2,500 XP needed for 2nd level.
Also, the Dungeon Master could tie appropriate
feature progressions to one or more classes.
Perhaps all Rangers must take the Giant Killer
feature every level or Paladins must take the Holy
Warrior feature every level.
If a cleric class is desired, take the thaumaturgist,
reduce the spell list to cleric only (-2 points), raise
hit dice and hit points to d7 and +4/+3 (+1 point),
and raise attack bonus to +2 / 3 levels (+1 point).
The advancement table remains the same.
For a “zerth” (fighter/sorcerer), use the gish but
switch wizardry with sorcery (-4 points), raise
attack bonus to +1 per level (+2 points), and raise
hit dice and hit points to d10 and +5 (+2 points).
The advancement table remains the same.
43

Simple Initiative
If the Dungeon Master wants less to keep track ofduring combat, simple initiative can be used.
Under this system, each player describes what
their character will do at the beginning of every
round. Party initiative is rolled after using a d10.
Each player applies their character’s initiative
modifier to this result. Characters getting a resultof 5 or lower act before the opponents.
Characters getting a result of 6 or higher act after
the opponents have acted. Actions occur ininitiative order with the monsters always having a
5.5 for initiative.
Spellcasters successfully
damaged by opponents before acting have theirspells disrupted (but see the War Caster feature).
Shadow
It is assumed that the Dungeon Master will be
employing the rules for Shadow found in the
Adventures in Middle-Earth series of supplements
for D&D 5e to simulate the dangers of embracing
villainy.
However, if these resources are not available, use
the following simple system. Characters gain
Shadow points by committing acts that are
antithetical to the heroic ideal. The number ofpoints gained per act should not exceed five. The
table below gives some examples of misdeeds.
MISDEED EXAMPLES
ActionViolent threats
Lying purposefully
Cowardice, theft, plunder
Unprovoked aggression
Torture and murder

Shadow Gain
1
2
3
4
5

The table above provides only a few examples,
applicable to the Middle-Earth setting. The DM
should determine what constitutes misdeeds intheir own campaign (for example, “theft” is notnormally a big deal in most dungeon-crawling
AD&D campaigns).
Once these points exceed a character’s Wisdom
ability score they gain the Miserable condition. A
Miserable character has disadvantage on all d20
rolls (i.e., they roll two d20’s for each roll and takethe lower of the two). If any d20 roll produces anatural ‘1’ the DM temporarily takes the character
over and describes a bout of madness thecharacter undergoes. After this bout of madness,
all temporary Shadow points are eliminated, theylose the Miserable condition, they gain one
permanent Shadow point, and the character’sdegeneration level increases by one. They gain
44

the Shadow Flaw for that degeneration levelappropriate to their alignment. The character canthen gain Inspiration by acting upon their Shadow
Flaw and they gain one Shadow point each timethey do so. Thus, the slide into darkness
continues. If a character with a degeneration levelof 4 undergoes a bout of madness, the character
becomes a DM-controlled NPC.
Inspiration
When a character has Inspiration, the player may
spend it to affect the outcome of a d20 roll. The
player announces that they are spending theircharacter’s Inspiration and two d20’s are rolled.
The player chooses which d20 to use for the roll(typically the die with the higher result is used).
The DM may also devise other methods ofspending Inspiration depending on campaign
needs.
Daily Hit Point Recovery
Various editions of Dungeons & Dragons handle
daily hit point recovery differently. Under theserules it is recommended that characters receive
one-seventh of their maximum hit point total fora night’s rest. Round all fractions up to the next
whole number. In this way, characters areguaranteed to recover all hit points after a fullweek’s rest (or less).
Maximum Hit Points per Die
For particularly challenging campaigns or when
the number of player characters in the party islow, the Dungeon Master may rule that eachcharacter receives the maximum die result on all
hit dice when determining the maximum hit point
total.
Game Resources for Spells
The default references on spells for the characters
are the AD&D Players Handbook and AD&D
Unearthed Arcana. However, later editions andversions of the game are similar enough thatspells can be drawn from other sources as well.
Differences between editions regarding the samespells can be chalked up to researchidiosyncrasies. In this way, multiple versions of
the same spell can exist in the game world.
AD&D 2nd Edition is compatible with AD&D, forthe most part. The basic versions of D&D (B/X
and BECMI) are similar too. Avoid using any
system that changed the maximum cleric spelllevel to 9th (such as D&D 3e) as these editions
are too dissimilar to be used with AD&D. The
AD&D 2nd Edition Priest and Wizard Spell
Compendiums may be useful.

ThAC0 and Saving Throws
Some modules show each monster’s ThAC0. To
convert ThAC0 to Attack Score:

be used for lower level spells. For example, a 5th
level wizard could use a 3rd level spell slot tomemorize a 1st level spell.

Attack Score = 30 – ThAC0

If this rule is adopted, sorcerers may learn a spellof lower level than what they are entitled to when
they gain an experience level. For example, if asorcerer advances to 5th level, normally thatsorcerer would gain one 3rd level spell. Under
the Flexible Spell Slots rule, the sorcerer may gain
a 1st or 2nd level spell instead, if desired.
Furthermore, a sorcerer may spend a spell slotthat is of a higher level than the spell they wish to
cast (i.e., the spell slot doesn’t have to be exactly
for the spell’s level but can be higher).

If a creature’s saving throws are listed, thesesaving throws can be converted to Save Scores:
Save Score = 22 – Saving Throw
To convert on the fly, based on player rolls:
Defense Roll + ThAC0 ≥ 30 (Foe Misses)
Power Roll + Saving Throw ≥ 22 (Foe Fails)
In this case, the DM can forego using the Monster
Attacks and Saving Throws table and just use theThAC0-based attack score and the actual AD&D
saving throws for the creature.
The Negative Ten Rule
Any damage that would take a character’s
positive hit point total to -1 or below causes thehit point total to become -1. The character goes
unconscious. The next round, the character
makes a saving throw versus death. If the save issuccessful, the hit point total remains at -1. If thesave is failed, the hit point total is reduced by one(i.e., to -2) and the character must make anothersaving throw versus death the next round. This
process continues until the character’s hit point
total stabilizes (by making a save vs. death) or thecharacter’s hit point total reaches -10. A
character dies if their hit point total reaches -10.
If any other character takes one full round to
bandage the dying character (or even just checkon them for a full round), the hit point loss stops.
Any magical healing applied to a character with anegative hit point total (but who isn’t deadoutright) will raise the character’s hit point total toone (and they will become conscious). If damage
reduces a character’s hit point total to exactly
zero, the character goes unconscious and is
automatically stable (i.e., the character does not
lose one hit point per combat round). A characterwith a negative hit point total that takes damage
will take the full amount of the damage. If thetotal reaches -10 or lower, the character dies.
Flexible Spell Slots
Normally, only a spell of the appropriate level canbe placed into a spell slot (for thaumaturgists andwizards) or used to cast a spell (for sorcerers).
With this option, a spell slots of higher levels canThaumaturgists and wizards may use higher level
spell slots to memorize lower level spells. For
example, a 3rd level wizard could memorize three
1st level spells instead of two 1st level spells andone 2nd level spell.
It is important to note that spell slots cannot be“cashed in” to make multiple lower level spell
slots. One 3rd level spell slot can be used for one
1st, one 2nd, or one 3rd level spell. A 3rd level
spell slot does not count as three 1st level spell
slots.
Wizard Spell Acquisition
Although not expressly stated in this rule set,characters with wizardry gain read magic at 1stlevel and one spell of a level they can cast eachtime they advance in experience level. These
spells are recorded in their spellbooks and are“free” (do no cost points). See Spells Beyond
Those At Start in the Dungeon Master’s Guide,
page 39 for more details.
Partial Thievery
The Thievery progression costs four points perlevel and gives all primary, secondary, and tertiary
functions of the AD&D thief class. Somecharacter concepts may not call for the full
panoply of thiefly activity. To support this, eachpercentile thief function (pick pockets, open
locks, find/remove traps, move silently, hide inshadows, hear noise, climb walls, and readlanguages) costs ½ point per level. Also, theFootpad feature can be used to grant four thieffunctions at the full level of capability. For
example, a character emulating an AD&D 2nd
Edition ranger may take the Footpad feature eachlevel and choose move silently, hide in shadows,
hear noise, and climb walls as their four functions.
45Partial Thaumaturgy
A thaumaturgist may choose spells from thecleric, druid, and illusionist spell lists. If acharacter concept only calls for having access to
one or two of these spells lists, then the cost forthaumaturgy can be decreased by one (if two spell
lists are available) or decreased by two (if only one
spell list, either cleric, druid, or illusionist, isavailable).
Controlling Undead
The MATRIX FOR THAUMATURGISTSAFFECTING UNDEAD on page 22 is set up forthe turning of undead (because, in most cases, thisis what the player characters will do). However,it should be noted that evil thaumaturgists andother such characters typically control, rather
than turn, undead. In this case, the results are
modified somewhat. A successful turn attemptagainst mindless undead (such as skeletons andzombies) allows total control. A successful turnattempt against free-willed undead brings about
an effect similar to a charm person spell (Player’s
Handbook, page 55). A free-willed undead
creature that is controlled with a ‘T’ result will notobey obviously suicidal commands. However, if
the chart result shows a ‘D’ or ‘D*’ this indicatesthat all orders will be obeyed, even ones resulting
in the creature’s destruction.
Cantrips and Orisons
If the DM desires, cantrips and orisons can bemade available to thaumaturgists and wizards.
Cantrips for wizards are found in Unearthed
Arcana. The cantrips that are available toillusionists in Unearthed Arcana should beavailable to thaumaturgists. Dragon Magazine
issues #108 and #119 have orisons for clerics
and druids, respectively. These orisons should beavailable to thaumaturgists.
Rather than have spellcasters dedicate spell slots
to cantrips and orisons, it is suggested that theseminor magics be considered mastered andavailable to be cast at all times. Thaumaturgists
have access to the full list of cantrips and orisons(all available to clerics, druids, and illusionists) andwizards have access to the full list of cantrips formagic-users. Sorcerers, due to the limited natureof their spell list, are allowed to choose a numberof cantrips equal to their Charisma score. Eachtime a sorcerer gains knowledge of another spell(due to level advancement, the Spell Knowledge
feature, independent research, etc.) they may alsochoose four new cantrips and/or orisons to add
to their known spells list.
46

It is worth discussing a few of the cantrips andorisons that could cause problems in the
campaign if allowed to be cast an unlimited
number of times per day.
The unlock cantrip has potential for abuse(Unearthed Arcana, page 51). This cantrip
should only be allowed to affect locking
mechanisms that would not require a thief tomake an open locks roll but would offer 100%
success. Thus, only the simplest of security
devices would be affected (diary locks, small bolts
on shed doors, window latches, etc.).
The cure minor wounds orison (Dragon
Magazine, #108, page 28) should only be able toaffect a creature once per day. Thus, athaumaturgist can use it on each party member
only once during the day and not an unlimited
number of times. This spell is good for stabilizing
characters that have gone to negative hit points(and you don’t have to waste a higher level spell).
The petition orison (Dragon Magazine, #108,
page 29) is only usable once per day. Repeatedattempts will not bring results and may anger the
caster’s patron.
A new cantrip that should be available to wizards
is magic blast. The magic blast cantrip allows awizard to use a magical focus (typically a wand) tocast a blast of magical energy (like a magic missile)that does 1d3 points of damage. A successful
ranged to-hit roll is required, the wizard’s
Dexterity ability modifier is applied to the attackroll, and the wizard is considered to be proficient.
The range is 20’/60’ for this cantrip (normal
attack roll up to 20’ and at disadvantage > 20’ to60’). The casting time is two segments. This
attack is subject to all of the limitations of themagic missile spell (for example, a shield spell canblock a magic blast). The magic blast cantrip
creates only one blast per combat round (thenumber of blasts does not increase withexperience level like the magic missile spell).
Wizards also have acid splash, crystal dart, fire
blossom, frost ray, and shock bolt cantrips withsimilar statistics that do acid, earth-based, fire,
cold, and electricity damage, respectively.
If the DM finds that any other cantrips or orisonsbecome a problem during the game, restrictions
can be instituted immediately.

Heroic Alignments and the AD&D System
For the purposes of spell and magical items, it
may be useful for the DM to know how the heroicalignments presented in this rule set fit in with thenormal AD&D alignments. Given that there arenine heroic alignments and a continuum ofdegeneration, these alignments could be thoughtof as an “alignment cube.” This alignment cube
distinguishes between those heroic alignmentsthat are lawful versus chaotic (in the normal
AD&D sense) and those which are “light” versus“dark” (not good versus evil, as all are heroicalignments).

You will note that “good” and “evil” are notshown in the alignment cube. This is because thealignment components of good and evil aredependent upon the character’s location upon thelight/dark axis and their degeneration level.
In AD&D, “good” characters are almost always
considered to be heroic while “evil” charactersand creatures are almost always considered to bevillainous. The AD&D alignment chart would fit
into the cube as a two-dimensional plane with the
top boundary running from law to chaos at theheroic level (the upper left boundary of the cube,from A to D), the left boundary running from theupper left corner to the bottom central corner(from A to B). From there, the bottom boundary
runs from the bottom central corner to the bottom
right corner (from B to C). The right boundary
would connect the bottom right corner to the top,
back, central corner, completing the plane (fromC to D).

The illustration below shows the concept. The
heroic alignments occupy the top face of the
cube. The Xanthic, Ceruline, and Erubescentalignments are lawful in the AD&D sense while
the Viridescent, Spessartine, and Porphyricalignments are chaotic. Alabastrous, Cinereal,and Atramentous are neutral with respect to law
and chaos. Likewise, the Xanthic, Alabastrous,
and Viridescent alignments are “light” and the
Erubescent, Atramentous, and Porphyricalignments are “dark”. The Ceruline, Cinereal,and Spessartine alignments are designated “gray”(being neutral with respect to light and dark).

Given this superimposition, it is a relatively easytask to then relate a character’s heroic alignmentand degeneration level to an orthodox AD&Dalignment. Simply imagine how the character’salignment on the cube would be projected
perpendicularly onto the AD&D alignment chart.
Wherever that point falls is the AD&D alignmentof the character in question. The table on thenext page gives all possibilities using this methodof determining correspondence.

Each column represents its alignment andcorresponding degeneration level. Degenerationlevels increase from top to bottom. As acharacter moves from degeneration level 1 to 2,
they would become anti-heroic as opposed toheroic. Degenerating further to level 4 indicatesthat villainy has been attained.
D

A

C

B

47

Admittedly, it takes some imagination to
distinguish between an Erubescent hero (whowould be considered lawful neutral in AD&D) anda Xanthic villain (who would also be consideredlawful neutral in AD&D). The Erubescentcharacter would be like a lawful evil who has
decided to join the forces of good and fightagainst demons, devils, and other evil creatures.
This combination of being personally “evil” butfighting on the side of “good” would make themneutral with respect to good and evil in the AD&D
sense. However, a lawful good priest who has
become corrupted and perhaps unknowingly aids
the forces of Hell would also rank as lawful neutral
as their personal goodness is being compromised
or exploited in some fashion by the forces of evil.

In the heroic alignment system, a character atdegeneration level 4 who undergoes a bout of
madness becomes a non-player character
controlled by the Dungeon Master regardless of
their equivalent AD&D alignment. However, nocharacter will be “good” at that point but they canbe morally neutral (a consequence of having a“light” alignment coupled with villainy). Many
characters will also shift toward along thelight/dark axis long before that making it more
likely that they will be “evil” as well.
As always, the DM is the final arbiter of how thissystem, if employed, will interact with the normal
AD&D alignment system for the purposes of thecampaign.

HEROIC ALIGNMENTS AND ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ALIGNMENTS
Alignment
HeroicAnti-Heroic
Villainous
Alabastrous
Neutral Good
Neutral (Good)
NeutralAtramentous
NeutralNeutral (Evil)
Neutral Evil
Ceruline
Lawful Neutral (Good) Lawful Neutral
Lawful Neutral (Evil)
Cinereal
Neutral (Good)
NeutralNeutral (Evil)
ErubescentLawful Neutral
Lawful Neutral (Evil)
Lawful Evil
Porphyric
Chaotic Neutral
Chaotic Neutral (Evil)
Chaotic Evil
Spessartine
Chaotic Neutral (Good) Chaotic Neutral
Chaotic Neutral (Evil)
Viridescent
Chaotic Good
Chaotic Neutral (Good) Chaotic Neutral
Xanthic
Lawful Good
Lawful Neutral (Good) Lawful Neutral

AD&D ALIGNMENTS WITH TENDENCIES
LG

NG(L)

NG

NG(C)

CG

LN(G)

N(LG)

N(G)

N(CG)

CN(G)

LN

N(L)

N

N(C)

CN

LN(E)

N(LE)

N(E)

N(CE)

CN(E)

LE

NE(L)

NE

NE(C)

CE

48

The traditional AD&D alignments
are shown to the left along withtendencies in parentheses.
For
example, NG(L) indicates Neutral
Good with Lawful tendencies while
N(C) is Neutral with Chaotic
tendencies. N(LE) would be Neutral
with Lawful Evil tendencies andN(CG) would still be Neutral but with
Chaotic Good tendencies.
The Heroic alignments appear in the
top three rows (LG to CN), the Antiheroic alignments in the middle
three, and the Villainous alignmentsin the bottom three rows (LN to CE)

Traditional Class Advancement
The Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game
traditionally limited demi-humans to a few classchoices but allowed multiclassing while restricting
humans to advancing in one class only. This ruleset does not limit characters in this manner.
However, some campaign settings (most notably
the World of Greyhawk setting) assume that its
denizens adhere to the AD&D class andmulticlass limits. If desired, DMs can encourage
players to create characters that fall within
campaign norms. Rather than using hard
restrictions or the “stick” mentality, the “carrot”
mentality is employed. Players will be encouraged
through an experience point bonus. Charactersadhering to the traditional AD&D norms will beable to take advantage of a percentage increaseon all earned experience points. Use thefollowing guidelines for each race.

•

Dwarves•

Hill and mountain dwarves normally advance inthe cleric, fighter, thief, and assassin classes.
Multiclass options include cleric/fighter andfighter/thief.
Any hill or mountain dwarf
character gains a +10% to all earned experience
as long as all of these statements are true:••••

The dwarven character has no thaumaturgy
progression that includes druid or illusionist
spells (see Partial Thaumaturgy above).
The dwarven character has no mystic,
sorcery, or wizardry progression.
The dwarven character does not have boththe thaumaturgy and the thievery
progression.
The dwarven character has no feature thatconsiders the character to be a member ofa traditionally prohibited class or multiclasscombination.

ElvesHigh elves normally advance in the cleric, druid,
fighter, ranger, magic-user, thief, and assassinclasses. High elves are able to combine any two
broad class choices into a multiclass option (i.e.,
no cleric/druid, fighter/ranger, or thief/assassin
combinations but all others being permissible).
They may combine the cleric, fighter, magic-user,
and thief classes into a multiclass option
encompassing three of these classes (i.e., CFM,
CFT, CMT, or FMT). Any high elven character
gains a +10% to all earned experience as long as
all of these statements are true:••

The elven character has no thaumaturgy
progression that includes illusionist spells.
The elven character has no mystic orsorcery progression.
The elven character has no feature thatconsiders the character to be a member ofa traditionally prohibited class or multiclasscombination.

Gnomes
Surface gnomes normally advance in the cleric,fighter, illusionist, thief, and assassin classes.
Surface gnomes can combine any two of these
options into a multiclass (except forthief/assassin). Any surface gnome character
gains a +10% to all earned experience as long as
all of these statements are true:••

The gnomish character has no thaumaturgy
progression that includes druid spells.
The gnomish character has no mystic,
sorcery, or wizardry progression.
The gnomish character has no feature thatconsiders the character to be a member ofa traditionally prohibited class or multiclasscombination.

Half-Elves
Half-elves of high elf descent normally advance inthe cleric, druid, fighter, ranger, magic-user, thief,assassin, and bard classes. Half-elves may takeonly the multiclass options that elves may take.
Any half-elven character (of high elf descent) gains
a +10% to all earned experience as long as all ofthese statements are true:•••

The half-elven character has nothaumaturgy progression that includes
illusionist spells.
The half-elven character has no mystic orsorcery progression.
The half-elven character has no feature thatconsiders the character to be a member ofa traditionally prohibited class or multiclasscombination.

Halflings
Halflings normally advance in the cleric, druid,
fighter, and thief classes. Halflings may combine
any two of these classes into a multiclass option(except for cleric/druid). Any halfling character
gains a +10% to all earned experience as long as
all of these statements are true:

49

•
•
•

The halfling character has no thaumaturgy
progression that includes illusionist spells.
The halfling character has no assassin,
mystic, sorcery, or wizardry progression.
The halfling character has no feature thatconsiders the character to be a member ofa traditionally prohibited class or multiclasscombination.

Half-Orcs
Half-orcs normally advance in the cleric, fighter,
thief, and assassin classes. Half-orcs can combine
any two of these options into a multiclass (except
for thief/assassin). Any half-orc character gains a+10% to all earned experience as long as all ofthese statements are true:•••

The half-orc character has no thaumaturgy
progression that includes druid or illusionist
spells.
The half-orc character has no mystic,
sorcery, or wizardry progression.
The half-orc character has no feature thatconsiders the character to be a member ofa traditionally prohibited class or multiclasscombination.

HumansHumans are able to advance in any class choice.
They may not be multiclass characters. Any
human character gains a +10% to all earned
experience as long as all of these statements are
true:
•

•

The human character has no progressions
or only one progression. The exception tothis rule is that a human character can haveboth the mystic and thievery progressions.
The human character takes no features thatwould indicate that they are a multiclasscharacter (such as features defining them asa ranger but taking wizardry as their one
progression).

The bonus experience point requirements forother subraces (gray dwarves, dark elves, deep
gnomes, etc.) can be created by the DM as theysee fit using the guidelines and conventions
above.
The exact percentage can be changed from +10%
to any bonus the DM desires, as well.

50

Traditional Level Limits
This rule set does not use demi-human level limits.
However, human characters may be given the
racial trait of “fast advancement.” If desired, theDM can grant an experience point bonus tohuman characters equal to +100% (effectively
double). If this rule is used in conjunction with
Traditional Class Advancement, then humancharacters get +100% if they meet therequirements of that section (not +10%) and they
still receive +50% even if they do not meet therequirements of that section. The DM may also
lower these percentages if they seem too high.
However, if demi-human level limits are desired,the following limits can be used. In this case, do
not use the bonus to experience points given tohumans (+100%).
RACIAL LEVEL LIMITS
Race
Dwarf
Elf
Gnome
Half-Elf
Halfling
Half-Orc
Human

Level Limit
10th
12th
8th
12th
8th
10th
Unlimited

These racial level limits can be used in thefollowing ways (choose one):•••

All advancement stops after reaching thelevel indicated. The character does notcontinue to earn experience points.
All level advancement stops after reaching
the level indicated. The character continues
to earn experience points and can spendthem a la carte to buy traits and features.
Experience points cannot be used toadvance in level.
The character continues to earn experience
points and continues to advance in level but
receives only one-half, one-third, or onefourth of the awarded experience points
that the character would normally receive.
The DM chooses the fraction and may
distinguish between race and level (i.e., theDM could decide, “elves get one-half XP up
to 15th level and then one-quarter after” or“every race gets only 25% XP after theyreach their max”).

The Dungeon Master can also change the level
limits as desired for particular campaigns andgame settings.

NOTES

51

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