Why AD&D 1e?

Why AD&D?

When working up my next campaign, called “The Badlands”, I considered several different game systems: Basic D&D, Original D&D, Swords and Wizardry, my own “Return of the Trolls” homebrew, and others. I finally decided to use AD&D first edition. There are several reasons for this:

• With AD&D 1e, I can use all of the OD&D and basic D&D support material with minimal effort in conversion (for example, the Monster and Treasure Assortment sets, which are great for the Dungeon on the Fly).

• I like the variety of races and classes. I also prefer a human-centered campaign, and the level limits and class restrictions ensure a good supply of human characters.

• From experience, I know that D&D in general is about the best game for long-term campaigning.

• The material on dungeon and wilderness encounters and treasure distributions in the DMG is top notch, and all keyed to random dice rolls. In preparing adventures, I find that random rolls are immensely helpful. I don’t always bind myself to the result, but find that retro-actively rationalizing random results can be a great deal of fun.

• I am really fond of the variety and scope of both the spells and the magic items.

• First level PC’s are a little more useful than Basic or Original D&D. The slightly improved hit points are good, but more importantly most clerics in AD&D will have 3 cure light wounds in AD&D as opposed to 0 spells in OD&D, BD&D or Swords and Wizardry.