Confessions of a Wee Tim'rous Bushi

Here’s a guideline I've been working on for XP to be awarded per session in 1st edition AD&D. Before we continue, please note that this guideline is not a milestone system by another name. Rather, I've introduced it into my own Greyhawk campaign in order to provide:  (1) a baseline against which I can check whether the XP actually being awarded in an adventure, in accordance with the DMG, is commensurate with the challenges being faced and the desired rate of advancement; and/or  (2) a recommended XP to be awarded per session to ensure a graduated rate of advancement based on the average party level. Here, average party level is worked out by adding the levels of all party members; e.g., a party of seven characters, consisting of three level 5s, two level 6s, one level 7 and one level 8 would have an average level of 6 ((5+5+5+6+6+7+8=42)/7= average level of 6). As a rule of thumb, I'd treat multi-classed characters as being one level higher than their highest level....

Old-School Essentials (OSE) and 1980s "basic" D&D restrict magic-user spell acquisition to mentoring and research, as described here: https://oldschoolessentials.necroticgnome.com/srd/index.php/Spell_Books Notably, magic-users cannot learn new spells from scrolls or spell books that they obtain, as is the case in AD&D. At my group's OSE table, however, we've adopted the Advanced Rules for this part of the game, and have rejected the common idea that magic-users obtain a new spell upon advancing a level. As such, I've hammered out some rules of thumb for spell acquisition with the player running the magic-user . Returning to the Classic Rules for a moment, we know that researching a new spell costs 1000 gp per spell level (taking 2 weeks per spell level), whereas recreating a lost spell book requires that each spell be rewritten at the cost of 1000 gp per spell level (taking 1 week per spell level). Presumably the costs involve materials for special inks, p...

We're currently making some rules changes relating to spell acquisition and magical research in our Old-School Essentials and AD&D games. The most notable of these changes would allow spellcasters to switch spells during play.  According to the Dungeon Masters Guide for 1st-edition AD&D, it takes 15 minutes per spell level to memorize each spell at the beginning of the day. I intend to use this time requirement to allow players to switch spells that have not been cast . This means that spellcasters faced with a problem during an adventure can hit their spell books or meditate in order to prepare the right spell for the job. It is my belief that, without this, many limited-utility spells simply will not be memorized or come into play, and that players are less likely to come up with interesting magical solutions to their immediate problems.  I feel this doesn't undermine the "feel" of Vancian magic, nor does it provide unlimited access to magic. After all, once...