| | Ref | Ouvrage | Question | | Reponse |
|---|
| 490. | DR053 | Dragon #53 | My monk with a dexterity of 15 was hit in the leg by an arrow.
The DM said there would be a temporary loss of 3 dexterity
points, and later he said that one of those points would be lost
permanently. He took away half of my experience points (the
character was first level) and said I’d have to change classes
because the character no longer met the minimum requirements
for being a monk.. Is this proper? If I change, would I keep
any of the abilities of the former class? | | It sounds like you’ve willingly accepted the “fact” that you
have permanently lost a point of dexterity from a relatively minor
wound — yet that’s really the heart of your problem. It seems as
though your DM was determined to find a way to keep you from
playing that character as a monk. This sage doesn’t have ESP, of
course, and it’s impossible to know the details of this incident,
but any DM who decides to have such a tragedy befall a firstlevel
character had better have a very good reason for acting
that way.
There is nothing in the AD&D rules to suggest that a character
has to abandon his or her chosen class because of a drop in an
ability score anyway. Ability scores are not infrequently raised
or lowered by various magical means, and by certain types of
psionic attacks. The life of a character or a long-running campaign
would be thrown into disorder if characters were forced to
change classes every time an ability score fell below the minimum
number originally needed to qualify for membership in
that class.
If it were mandatory for a character to change class whenever
an important ability score was lowered during the course of an
adventure, what would be the fate of, for instance, a character
rendered feebleminded by a psionic blast attack? Such a character,
with (by definition) a combined intelligence and wisdom
score of 0-5 for the duration of the feeblemind effect, technically
doesn’t qualify for any class of adventurer.
There are certain types of magical attacks which cause the
loss of a point of strength or some other attribute. Losses of this
kind are sometimes only temporary (the strength drain of a
shadow, for instance), and even so-called “permanent” changes
can be counteracted by different magical means at a later time.
There may be occasions when a character has lost so much of
his original attribute score that it is not practical or healthy to
continue in the same class: A human fighter who has his
strength reduced to, say, 6 points is risking ruin if he sets out on
an adventure in that condition, and the character might stand a
better chance of survival in the long run if he decided to take up
magic-using (assuming a sufficiently high intelligence to do
that). But the choice should belong to the character and player,
not to the DM.
In the descriptions of the fighter, paladin and thief player
character classes in the Players Handbook, the rules state that
certain minimum ability scores are needed to “become” a
member of that class. The same reasoning should be applied to
those classes where the same wording is not used. In other
words, minimum requirements have to be met when a character
begins a career in a class, but not necessarily at all times thereafter
while that profession is being pursued. |
| 491. | DR126 | Dragon #126 | My players want to roll their own
dice. Do I have to let them? | | No. The DM is free to establish whatever
“table rules” he wishes. Most players
will enjoy the game more, however, if they
are allowed to make their own die rolls. If
you are worried about cheating, you can
still allow players to make their own rolls
but require any roll to be witnessed by at
least two other players. |
| 492. | DR126 | Dragon #126 | My regular D&D gaming group has
grown to 12 players. Do you have
any suggestions on how to handle
so large a group? | | The key to handling any group of that
size is organization. Make sure that you
have a summary of each character’s statistics,
spells, and items at hand. This quickreference
material will eliminate delays.
When a melee develops, ask each player in
turn (using some form of PC initiative
system or by simple round-robin selection)
for his character’s actions. Don’t allow the
players to speak out of turn. Using figures
to illustrate the party’s marching order
and each character’s position when melees
occur will also help. |
| 493. | DR076 | Dragon #76 | Numerous modules refer to a game called knucklebones. How
is this played in terms of the AD&D game? | | See the DMG, Appendix F, for a brief description of gambling
games that could be used within a scenario. |
| 494. | DR043 | Dragon #43 | On the cover of the Monster Manual there is a
creature flying just above the centaur and the unicorn. What
is it? | | According to Dave Sutherland, the artist who painted the
cover, it is a red dragon. |
| 495. | DR048 | Dragon #48 | Once a character drops a
class to switch to another class, can
he/she ever gain levels in his/her former
class? | | No. According to page 33 of
the Players Handbook, “...no progression
in the original class is possible” after a
character decides to switch to a different
profession. Note that this is different
from a multi-classed character, who
holds two or more professions simultaneously
and gains experience in more
than one class at the same time. Also
note that only human characters can
“drop a class” and take up a new one. |
| 496. | DR034 | Dragon #34 | One of my crazy friends has a Cleric/Fighter/
Magic-User who also happens to be a human. In the Players
Handbook under “human,” it says that humans are not limited as to what class they can become. Under the section on multi-
classed characters, it says that only half-elves can be Clerics/
Fighters/Magic-Users. Am I right in saying that his human
can’t be a multi-classed character? | | Yes, you are. Humans can become dual class, but not
multi-classed. Only demi-humans can be multi-classed. I suggest that
you have your friend read the sections on multi-classed characters and
a character with two classes on pages 32 and 33 of the Players Handbook.
This should clear up all of his misconceptions. |
| 497. | DR033 | Dragon #33 | One of my friends has a Cleric/Magic-User/
Fighter who is human. In the Players Handbook it says that
humans are not limited as to what class they can become.
Under the section on multi-class characters it says only halfelves
can be Clerics/Magic-Users/Fighters. I say his human
cannot be multi-classed and he says he can. Who is right? | | You are. Humans can only be one class at a time unless
they opt to change classes. For instance, a 7th-level Fighter decides that
she now desires to become a Magic-User. She must not pick up her
sword and use it again until she is a 7th-level Magic-User or she will lose
any experience she would have gained in that adventure as a Magic-
User. Once she reaches her level as that of a fighter, i.e. 7th-level
Fighter, and 7th-level Magic-User, she may now use her sword, but she
cannot wear armor and cast spells. Humans may become dual class
and they are not limited as to how far they can advance, as are the other
races who can become multi-classed. |
| 498. | DR126 | Dragon #126 | One of my players wants to have a
baby; what should I do? | | Your question had me momentarily confused. If one of your players wanted to
have a baby, you, the DM, should be the
last person she should talk to.
I take it that you mean that one of your
players would like his or her player character
to have a baby — an event that certainly
requires the DM’s involvement. I
suggest that you handle it discreetly “offstage.
” There is no reason to play out
having a baby; just assign a percentage
chance each game month that the mother
gets pregnant. The chance should never
be higher than 36%; you can increase the
chance slightly if one of the parents is an
orc or half-orc, and you should decrease it
if one of the parents is an elf of any type.
Once the mother is pregnant, you must
determine how long before the child is
born. The gestation period for humans is
nine months. This is the proper period for
most man-sized creatures. Gnomes and
halflings might require shorter lengths of
time. In nature, the length of gestation
depends on the birth weight of the baby,
not on the lifespan of the species. The
mother will have to refrain from adventuring
during the last half of the pregnancy,
and adventuring after the birth will
be difficult at best.
You may decide to introduce a few random
factors such as a survival percentage
for mother or child, or the possibility of a
miscarriage. You’re on your own there —
just keep the chances small, if you use
them at all. |
| 499. | DR121 | Dragon #121 | Oriental Adventures : Can a gajin character learn martial
arts or Oriental weapons? | | Western characters can learn martial arts if they can find an Oriental teacher
and if they have a weapon proficiency slot
available. Most martial arts masters will be
unwilling to take on a gajin student, however.
Gajins can learn to use Oriental
weapons that are similar to weapons
allowed to their classes. A mage, for example,
could use a proficiency slot to learn to
use shurikens, as these weapons are
similar to darts. |
· 
· 41.9 42.9 43.9 44.9 45.9 46.9 47.9 48.9 49.9 50.9 51.9 52.9 53.9 54.9 55.9 56.9 · 
· 