OD&D: Balancing Demi-humans (Elves)

The Elf from Swords & Wizardry Core Rules

The concept of level limits, hotly debated in old school circles, does little to dissuade my players from choosing to play demi-humans at low levels. As the majority of my play happens in the levels 1-4 range, level limits aren't really relevant, and demi-humans end up being the obvious choice due to their myriad advantages over humans.

Using the Swords & Wizardry Core Rules as a base, I developed the following house rules in order to balance low level Elves against humans in my OD&D/S&W game:

Elf

Prime Attribute: Strength and Intelligence, 13+ (+5% experience bonus)

Hit Dice: Elves roll a d6 for their hit points, as opposed to the average of a d4 and a d8 that S&W uses. (This isn't so much a balancing mechanic as it is me finding the combined hit dice too clunky.)

Armor/Shield Permitted: Leather, ring, chain; shields

Weapons Permitted: Dagger, staff, longsword, and longbow

Elves can see in the dark (darkvision) to a range of 60 feet and generally have a 4-in-6 chance to find secret doors when searching, unlike the other races, which have a 2-in6 chance. Elves also have a 1-in-6 chance to notice a secret door even when they are not searching. They also cannot be paralyzed by ghouls.

Player-character Elves are Fighter/Magic-Users.* Elves are limited to 4th level Fighter (5th level with Strength of 17, 6th level with Strength of 18) and 8th level Magic-User (9th with an Intelligence of 18). Regardless of any further progression in levels as a Magic-User, Elves are able to cast magic spells only as high as 5th-level spells.

An Elf cannot cast spells while wearing non-magical armor, although magical armor does not inhibit spell casting.

Elves cannot make use of magical scrolls other than protection scrolls.

Elves are exceptional archers and do not suffer any penalties to hit for shooting beyond range when using a longbow. The weapon still cannot reach farther than twice its range.

Elf Advancement Table

				Number of Spells (by level)
Level	Experience Points Required for Level* (Fighter / Magic-User)	Hit Dice (d6)**	Saving Throw	1	2	3	4	5
1	0	1	14	1	–	–	–	–
2	1,500 / 1,875	2	13	2	–	–	–	–
3	3,000 / 3,750	3	12	2	1	–	–	–
4	6,000 / 7,500	4	11	3	2	–	–	–
5	12,000 / 15,000	5	10	4	2	1	–	–
6	24,000 / 26,250	6	9	4	2	2	–	–
7	– / 37,500	7	8	4	3	2	1	–
8	– / 56,250	8	7	4	3	3	2	–
9	– / 75,000	9	6	4	3	3	2	1

  *Any experience points received are divided evenly among both of the Elf’s classes, even when the character can no longer advance as a Fighter (in which case, those XP are simply lost). You still need to keep track, though, because it may be important for when you gain more hit dice (see below).

 ** A new hit die is not gained until the Elf has advanced a level in both classes. If an Elf reaches the point where the Fighter class is "capped," and the character cannot advance in that class any more, the character still only gains a new hit die when both levels would have been reached.

Rationale

These rules give the Elf immediate trade-offs for their versatility out of the gate at 1st level. Being restricted to chain, an Elf can never have a higher AC than a human Fighter in plate. Limiting access to the larger and heavier weapons ensures the Elf will never be able to do as much damage in melee as a human Fighter potentially could. Giving the Elf a d6 hit die keeps the human Fighter well ahead in hit points. I did however remove the range penalties for an Elf using a longbow to represent the archetype of the Elven archer.

Balancing the Elf against the Magic-User was a bit trickier. The Elf has a better hit die, is able to use melee weapons, and is able to cast in magical armor. To offset these advantages, I allow human Magic-Users in my game to create scrolls beginning at 1st level as in Holmes Basic (100gp per level of spell and 1 week of game time per level of spell); I do not allow Elves to use scrolls at all.

Elves use a magic that resides within; they spend their time honing the natural magical energies that flow in their fae blood. They do not prepare spells by memorizing gestures and incantations by rote as humans do, but rather attune themselves to inner thoughts and feelings which bring about the magical effects of their spells. Thus, magical scrolls are useless to an Elf.

The XP chart is simply the separate requirements of the Fighter and Magic-User classes, multiplied by .75 to give the Elf a bit of a break in lieu of these limitations. I otherwise use the advancement rules for multi-classed characters in the Swords & Wizardry Core Rules.

 *I do not use the Thief class in my game. Therefore, all Elves are Fighter/Magic-Users.