This post is part of a series describing the rule changes I've made for my current fantasy role-playing campaign. "Kenton's Dungeons & Dragons," or "KD&D," is a full-fledged variant of the 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game initially released in 1977. Feel free to use some or all of these rule changes for your own D&D gaming, no matter what edition you play.
After many years of role-playing retirement, I started, in 2020, running a 1st Edition AD&D campaign at the request of my neighbors and family. Coming back to the game, I’ve realized that, while it’s still my favorite, the mechanics of it can be clunky and difficult, and that some parts are lame.
To make what I consider to be improvements to the core rules, I’ve borrowed ideas from issues of Dragon magazine and later D&D editions, as well as come up with a few of my own. My operating motto for re-tooling the game is to make it, “Simpler & Better.”
Thus far in this series, I’ve talked about:
- Going back to AD&D instead of using the current, 5th Edition D&D;
- “Simpler & Better” character races;
- “Simpler & Better” character classes;
- The basics of making combat “simpler and better;” and,
- An in-depth look at “simpler and better” combat.
As a follow-up to the previous post, let’s talk weapons. I’m happy with almost all of the weapons and their characteristics—speed factor, damage, etc.—listed in the Players Handbook (PHB) and the Unearthed Arcana (UA) books. There are a few, however, that I feel need to be adjusted.
Much of what follows is drawn from the Second Edition Player’s Option: Combat and Tactics book (POCT). I wasn’t (and am still not) a fan of Second Edition, but this sourcebook was excellent (you can purchase a PDF of it here).
Here are the weapons I changed for my campaign:
