Just thought I'd share some thoughts on my AD&D 1st edition campaign..
So I thought to fill space I'd share some thoughts I having about my ideas for an AD&D 1st Edition campaign.
Races:
Humans - by far the most numerous, in every nation and state
Elves - like Tolkein, they are disappearing, their time has past. Mostly present in the Pagan enclaves (they helped stop the advances of Clovis and Charlemagne)
Dwarves - most strongly represented in the Scandanvian countries, although there are clans in other places. Since they're non-magical by nature, they tend to mess with the most advanced technologies ( Greek fire, steam cannons, et al )
Halflings - Most shires will be located in the South of France, trying to get a climate similar to Tolkein's shire.
Gnomes - not having any, since to me you've got all the small burrowing races tied up with Halflings and Dwarves
Half-Elves - not having any of these either. To me the Half-elf was to much of trying to get the best of both worlds. You're either a human or an elf, pick one dammit!
Half-Orcs - I will be allowing these for one reason - it allows for some interesting back story into the true origins of the orcs.
Classes:
Fighters - these will be the infantrymen (and women) of the medieval world. I'm giving them double-weapon specialization (including pole-arms) and the ability to strike lower hit dice enemies more times as they go up in levels. I really want the fighter to stand out as someone used to fighting in large-scale infantry battles.
Cavaliers - definitely including these, they will be the knights of the world, horse soldier par excellence. They can be either Christian or Pagan. I will be using the corrected Cavalier for Dragon magazine though, as the Unearthed Arcana one is way overpowered.
Paladins - not necessarily a horse mounted soldier, they are any man or woman at arms who has taken sacred vows to defend the faith. I leaning toward making them Christian only, but I might have a few Pagan ones allowed, say for the goddess Brigid, or the god Thor.
Barbarians - these will be coming from more "primitive" cultures that focus on warriors, not soldiers. So think Mongols, Vikings, Picts, etc. Will be using the corrected version from Dragon magazine as well.
Rangers - yep, they'll be there. No real change.
Clerics - Pretty much standard, they will mostly be Christian, but I might allow a few pagan ones, from more heirarchical temples, like ex-patriots from the Roman Temples, like Jupiter, et al.
Druids - these will be the Pagan priest/esses by default. Pushed into the deep forests or Pagan enclaves, they not only defend Nature, but the Old Faith. I will be including the ability to use healing herbals, as healing is not really the Druids speciality, more the Clerics.
Thieves - Not much change here, except they can set traps not too, and become thief / acrobats after a few levels.
Assassins - don't know, I'm thinking about dropping them. They really overshadow the Thief. Maybe I'll just drop the Assassination ability? Make them more like Spies/Infiltrators.
Magic-Users - not much change here, except for allowing them to wear some armor, with a corresponding rise in chance of spell failure for type worn.
Illusionists - not much change, see above for magic-users.
Bards - oh yeah, gotta have 'em. Will be using the revised version from Dragon Magazine.
I'm trying to make every class useful in and of it self. So to that end, I'm using the rules from Unearthed Arcana ( 1985 ), Dungeoneers Survival Guide, Wilderness Survival Guide, and some issues of Dragon Magazine. So this make it imperative that I have this "primer" printed out and sheets for each class, so all these rules are in one space together, and players aren't having to grab over lots of books.
Ok, I think I'm done with my daily post....