Into the OD&D

I've been thinking about how to OD&D with Into the Odd again, and I think you don't actually need any house rules. Just take these pregens, and make other similar ones as needed.

Fighting-Man (STR 15, DEX 12, CHA 11, HP 6, armor 1)
Heavy Metal Armor (Bulky, armor 1), Two-Handed Sword (d8, Bulky)

Magic-User (STR 7, DEX 9, CHA 12, HP 1)
Wizard Robes & Pointy Hat, Magic Book (Read Magic, Sleep, Fireball), Staff (d6, Bulky)
 
Cleric (STR 14, DEX 10, CHA 12, HP 5, armor 2)
Heavy Metal Armor (Bulky, armor 1), Shield (Bulky, armor 1), Mace (d6), Holy Symbol

Thief (STR 9, DEX 16, CHA 13, HP 3)
Short Bow, Water Arrows, Rope Arrows, Cudgel (d6, Bulky), Lockpicks

Elf (STR 12, DEX 14, CHA 16, HP 4)
Magic Book (Read Magic, Invisibility, Charm), Scimitar (d6), Bow & Arrows (d6)

Dwarf (STR 16, DEX 13, CHA 7, HP 6, armor 2)
Heavy Metal Armor (Bulky, armor 1), Shield (Bulky, armor 1), War Axe (d6)

Hobbit (STR 10, DEX 15, CHA 14, HP 3)
Sling & Stones (d6), Dagger (d6), Pipe & Magical Herbs

 
Magic Book - each can be understood only by its owner (though certain thieves have been known to trick magic books into believing they were, in fact, the owner, and steal the spells off of them). These are anchors for plasmic entities known as spells. In written form, they are dangerous and wish to be read out loud. Amateur magic-users will soon discover that reading a spell out loud without deep familiarity with the magic book and the spells within will result in terrible catastrophes as the entity is released from its aetheric binding and goes wild. The owner of the book has that deep familiarity and understanding, so he can actually spend a week (Long Rest if using classic ItO rules) doing one of these:

• Memorize and prepare each spell within the book for casting.
Prepared spells can each be cast once before they need to be memorized again.

• Copy a new spell from a scroll or other magic book into his own.
Scrolls crumble to dust after being used once, and other magic books are dangerous to use.

• Research a new spell of his own creation, having gathered the required ingredients.
Referees will tell you what ingredients are needed based on the spell's parameters.
Finding the ingredients is an (or multiple) adventure(s) itself, with the most powerful spells being worth months or more of play. As usual, adjust to suit your table's pace, though.

Comments

  1. Nice! Does the Cleric get to Turn Undead with their Holy Symbol?

    And what's a water arrow?

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  2. When a Cleric presents his Holy Symbol against the undead, they must check morale (maybe a CHA save, maybe a luck roll).

    A water arrow is a gadget from the old Thief PC game series. It's basically a water bomb propelled on an arrow, so you can shoot torches or other fire-based light-sourced from afar, for example.

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