Episode 87 – Interview with Allan Grohe

Hello Dan and James: I’m a new fan. I just discovered your videos and those of Dan Thompson on YouTube. It is uncanny how you two, especially Dan, reflect my own interpretations and opinions about 1st edition. I discovered 1st AD&D through a Dungeon Dwellers (Citadel) blister of skeletons (they were lead) in 1980. I was told they were for a new game and then picked up the core books in a B.Dalton’s at Queen’s Center Mall in NYC. I got the Otus Basic Set for my 9th birthday in January of 1981….

Specific question for now: I was always a big fan of Gnomes since reading module S4. I recently came back to reading the core books, similar to what Dan says about his journey. Regarding a gnome Ill/Thief: I understand the averaged hit points formula and that once they max out at Ill level they then only get a d6 for the thief levels as they go up, but what about the first 5 levels? That is, depending on XP earned, the thief will likely progress faster than the Ill. My understanding is that I’d roll the 6d+d4 and average each time a level is gained until the Ill reaches 5th. Then after that, only a d6 as the Thief level increases. Or, since the Ill is limited, is it that only 5 averaged rolls are made each time the Ill gains?

Would really appreciate to hear your thoughts. I am impressed with you guys and your videos. I’d love to attend GrogCon in the future.
Joe Zemaitis