Combining Original Dungeons and Dragons with Dragon Rampant

Get ready for the new DDR.

Most people know that the Original Dungeons and Dragons (hereafter OD&D or just D&D) game was based on a set of miniature rules. In fact, one of the listed recommended components in Volume 1: Men and Magic is the Chainmail miniature rules. Anyone who's perused the original booklets has seen the "Fighting Capability" column in the class level tables and wondered what the heck "Man+1, "3 Men or Hero-1", or "Superhero" meant. If you've never seen the Chainmail rules or any other miniature rules these make no sense, but in the context of any skirmish-type miniature system where one figure equals one man they actually do make sense. "Man+1" means "fights as one figure with a +1 bonus." A "Hero" in the Chainmail rules fights as 4 figures. A "Superhero" fights as 8 figures.

In addition, the stronghold rules (as well as the ship combat rules) in The Underworld and Wilderness Adventures volume clearly show a bent towards miniature wargaming, and are there to allow for "Surprises, intakings, and sieges to take place." Yet how many D&D campaigns ever were centered on battles, epic or small scale? Combat is almost exclusively individual, almost arena like. Yet so much of epic fantasy is about big battles, relief of besieged fortresses, etc. Gygax and Arneson took that for granted, but most later players (myself included) didn't come to D&D with a miniature warfare background (heck, I was like 13 when I got my copy of the OD&D back in 1977). We wanted to have epic battles but didn't have the tools. Back then Chainmail was out of print and miniature rules were hard to come by.

Fortunately, today there are many skirmish-level miniature rules out there. Not all are equally adaptable to D&D, though, mostly because they are structured so that it is difficult to adapt D&D characters to the rule sets. One rule set, however, is ideally suited for this purpose. That is Daniel Mersey's Dragon Rampant. While not similar to Chainmail in mechanics, it is similar to Chainmail in that the mechanism of casualties (strength points) is directly linkable to D&D class levels, and the system allows for enormous flexibility in magic and special abilities (the "Fantastical Rules" in Dragon Rampant) so that the OD&D rules can be overlayed or even substituted. What follows is my attempt to connect the OD&D to the Dragon Rampant miniature system. I used the first edition Dragon Rampant rules, and the original D&D books plus the Greyhawk supplement as the basis for these conversions.

Full disclosure: I have not play tested these suggestions! I'd be interested in hearing from someone who did, and what worked, what they needed to change or modify, etc.

On with the show!

Converting Characters

Characters can either be a part of a unit (usually a reduced model unit) or fielded as single figures with the number of strength points based on their level (more on that below). As a rule of thumb, fighters and clerics should be fielded as either Elite Riders (without the Wild Charge) or Heavy Riders (if mounted), or as Elite Foot or Heavy Foot (if dismounted). Magic users and thieves should be fielded as either Light Riders or Light Foot.

The determination of whether a character should be in a unit or fielded as a single figure is up to you, but generally a character with less than 6 strength points should be fielded as part of a unit. That unit would consist of the character and as many other figures as required to bring the unit up to 6 (or 12) strength points.

Characters in a unit should add +1 to morale rolls for the unit (the unit is motivated by the presence of the character). Characters fielded as a single figure don't get this bonus.

Determining Character Strength Points

Fighters are the easiest to convert. One level equals one strength point. This is exactly the Chainmail to D&D conversion.

Clerics get 3/4 of their levels as strength points, rounded down with a minimum of 1. Thus, a 3rd level cleric has 2 strength points, a Patriarch has 6 strength points, etc. (This fits nicely with the OD&D cleric fighting advancement of 4 levels for every 3 fighter levels).

Thieves get 2/3 of their levels as strength points (again rounded down with a minimum of 1), so a 6th level thief has 4 strength points; a 9th level thief has 6 strength points. (Although thieves in OD&D fight as clerics, they have the hit points of a magic user so I feel it's a fair compromise to give them a slightly lower conversion rate than clerics. If you feel differently you can convert them at the rate for clerics. Just be consistent!).

Magic Users get half their levels as strength points (rounded down with a minimum of 1). This is probably slightly more generous than the Chainmail rules which make a Wizard (11th level magic user) the equivalent of 2 heavy cavalry or heavy foot figures).

Special Abilities by Class

Fighters have no innate special ability beyond magic weapons and armor (see below).

Clerics (or any unit to which they belong) get the Cleric special ability. Clerics may also cast D&D cleric spells (see below), and may turn undead units as an Ordered Activation (use the Attack score) exactly as per the D&D rules; consider a result of "T" to require the undead unit to flee, a "D" result causes the removal of a number of figures equal to the number of undead destroyed on the unit.

Thieves fielded as a single model unit get the Invisibility special rule; otherwise they are merely light infantry though they may have magic weapons and/or armor as well.

Magic users may cast spells (see below).

Spell Casting

You may opt to use the magic system in Dragon Rampant, but the original D&D spell ranges and areas of effect are given in inches so are easily applied to the table top. If you use the D&D system, casting a spell is an Ordered Activation using a activation of 6+. You’ll have to track spells memorized and cast, just like in D&D. Most spell effects are relatively easy to convert to effects in Dragon Rampant. For damage spells such as Fireball or Lightning, simply roll the number of dice for shooting as per the level of the caster (figures unaffected are assumed to have made their saving throw). For damage spells that hit automatically (Magic Missile) simply remove one strength point from the affected unit per missile. For spells that affect groups without a save (like Sleep) simply remove the number of figures from the affected unit. If a save is required (e.g. Hold Person, Charm Person), roll the appropriate save once; if it is made no figures are affected; if it's not made, roll a die to determine the number of figures affected (1-3 for clerics, 1-4 for magic users). In the case of Charm Person, the charmed figure would move to the magic user's unit (this can be used as a way to "heal" unit casualties!).

Some spells (Cloud Kill) might require a template for the cloud; the simplest way to deal with the effect is to roll a single save for the unit; if made the cloud has no effect, if failed every figure under the template is removed (if an opposing magic user can cast cloud kill there's a very good reason to use the weather rules!).

You can figure out your own interpretations of how to use the D&D magic in Dragon Rampant; the only key is to be consistent.

Magic Weapons and Armor

The simplest way to incorporate magic weapons and armor into the Dragon Rampant rules is to use the existing rules modified as follows:

For magic weapons, use the Enchanted Weapon rule but for every additional plus after +1, add a plus one to the roll to see if the weapon is effective in that battle. Thus, a +1 weapon would activate on a 6; a +2 weapon on a 5 or 6, all the way up to a +5 weapon activating on a 2-6. In addition, any weapon that has a specific bonus (such as +3 vs. Trolls) is always considered enchanted when the character is fighting that type of unit.

For magic armor, use the Mystical Armor rule modified as follows; for every +2 bonus for armor and/or shield above the first, add one to the save to avoid the Strenght Point loss. Thus, if you have +1 armor and a +1 shield you need a 6 to avoid a strenght point loss. A bonus of +3 makes the roll needed a 5 or 6. A bonus of +5 makes the roll a 4, 5, or 6. Regardless of the bonus, a 1 should always be a failure.

Note that rings and cloaks of protection should be treated in the same manner, offering magic users (and possibly thieves) some additional protection in combat.

Other Magical Items

The plethora of wands, rings, and Miscellaneous Magic Items found in the D&D rules typically duplicate spell effects; in cases where they don't the effects are usually easily adapted. I can't list all the possibilities here, but you can figure it out!

D&D Monsters

Most monsters in original D&D that are not already covered in the Dragon Rampant rules are easily converted. The monster's hit dice should be the number of strength points for each figure, and this would determine if the monster would be fielded as a single figure or reduced model unit. Special abilities are treated either as spells or (like regeneration) require some bookkeeping.

Characters (and Monsters) above 12 Strength Points

Although it's unlikely (I never got a character above 12 levels when I was a kid and played D&D a lot), it can happen. Just field the character (or monster) as a single figure and remember that he (or it, if it's a monster) fights at -1 if it is reduced to half its original strength points.

Final Thoughts

That's it! If you have an OD&D campaign and are looking to incorporate epic battles into it, then I think the Dragon Rampant rules are perfect for that. They really capture the flavor of the old Chainmail Fantasy Supplement rule set. I hope you use what I have put down here as suggestions and certainly modify as you see fit. Enjoy!