Learn about AD&D 1st Edition Monster Stat Blocks
Note Toggle section
What You Need to Know Right Now
AD&D is about exploring dangerous places, fighting monsters, and finding treasure. Your character will probably die. That’s normal. Roll up a new one and keep going.
Welcome to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition! This crash course guide is for brand-new players and Dungeon Masters. If the rulebooks feel confusing, don’t worry. This crash course teaches you the core basics so you can start playing right away.
Step 1: Make a Character
Roll Your Ability Scores
Roll three six-sided dice (3d6) for each of these abilities: Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma. Write the numbers down in that order. Normally, you can’t move them around. Bad rolls? That’s part of the game. But the official rulebooks do offer other methods if your DM allows it, like rolling more dice and choosing the best ones, or assigning scores where you want. This crash course sticks with the classic method.
Ability Scores
Strength (STR) is your muscle. It boosts your chances to hit in melee, adds extra damage when you connect, and lets you lug around more gear without breaking a sweat. Barbarians love it. Wizards pretend it doesn’t exist.
Intelligence (INT) is the domain of magic-users. It determines how many languages your character can speak, how complex their spells can get, and whether they can even understand the dusty old scroll they just found. Low INT? Hope you like grunts and single-syllable words.
Wisdom (WIS) helps clerics bring the divine smackdown. It gives bonus spells and helps you resist magical mind games like charm and confusion. It’s also the stat most players forget to respect until they’re mind-controlled into punching their party.
Dexterity (DEX) is for the nimble. It makes you harder to hit (lower AC), helps with ranged attacks, and is a thief’s best friend. High DEX means you duck, dodge, and deal damage before the ogre finishes tying his shoes.
Constitution (CON) keeps you breathing. More hit points, better saves vs. poison, and a longer life expectancy. It’s the stat that decides whether you’re mostly dead or all dead.
Charisma (CHA) is your social spark. It determines how many loyal henchmen you can keep, how NPCs react to your face, and whether those followers actually stick around after the third near-death dungeon dive. High CHA? You’re a leader. Low CHA? You’re lucky they don’t sell your gear and leave you for dead.
Together, these six stats form the bones of your character. How you use them determines whether you’re the hero of legends – or just another skeleton in the dungeon.
Deep Dive Ability Scores Toggle section
Choose a Race
You can be a Human, Elf, Dwarf, Halfling, and more. Each race gives you bonuses like better vision in the dark and limits, like how high you can level up.
About the Races Toggle section
What Is a Character Class?
In AD&D, your character’s class is their job or profession. It’s what they do best, like being a fighter, a magic-user, a cleric, or a thief.
Think of it like this: your class tells you what you’re good at and how you play the game. If you’re a fighter, you’re strong in battle and use weapons and armor. If you’re a magic-user, you study spells and cast magic to solve problems or fight enemies. If you’re a cleric, you use magic from your god to heal and protect. If you’re a thief, you sneak, pick locks, and find traps.
Your class affects how you fight, how you explore, and how you help your group. It also tells you what kinds of tools, weapons, or spells you can use, and how your character grows stronger over time.
So, choosing a class is like picking how you want to play the game. It’s your character’s role in the adventure!
Choose a Class – The Basics with Limits and Bonuses
Fighters wear lots of armor, use all weapons, and are best at surviving and fighting. They roll 1d10 for hit points. Fighters have no spellcasting but can deal with almost any enemy head-on. Most races can become fighters, and high Strength gives them big bonuses.
Clerics are holy warriors who fight undead and heal allies. They can’t use swords but can wear heavy armor. They start with no spells at level 1. Roll 1d8 for hit points. Clerics get bonus spells for high Wisdom, and turn undead based on level. Some races like dwarves and half-elves make great clerics.
Magic-Users cast powerful spells eventually but are very weak at low levels. They start with 1 spell per day. Roll 1d4 for hit points. They can’t wear armor and use only a few simple weapons like daggers and staves. High Intelligence helps them learn more spells. Only a few races can become magic-users.
Thieves are good at sneaking, picking locks, and finding traps. They use light armor and simple weapons. They use percent dice for skills like Open Locks. Roll 1d6 for hit points. High Dexterity boosts their success with skills. Thieves can be any race, and they improve faster than other classes at gaining levels.
More about Thieves Toggle section
Multi-Classing and Dual-Classing Toggle section
Subclasses in AD&D 1st Edition
In AD&D 1st Edition, most character classes have one or more “subclasses.” A subclass is a special version of a core class that follows the same general rules but has a different theme, abilities, or restrictions. You don’t have to choose a subclass, but if you want a more specific type of character, these are great options.
Cleric Subclass – Druid
The Druid is a nature priest. Instead of serving a god, the Druid serves nature itself and must stay Neutral in alignment. Druids are great in wilderness adventures and gain special powers tied to animals, weather, and plants. They also have their own spell list that’s different from regular clerics.
Fighter Subclasses – Paladin and Ranger
The Paladin is a holy warrior who must be Lawful Good. Paladins fight like fighters but also get some healing and protection spells later on, like a cleric. They also have special powers against evil.
The Ranger is a skilled hunter and tracker, perfect for outdoor adventures. Rangers get bonuses against certain enemies and can use some druid and magic-user spells at higher levels. They must be Good in alignment and are limited in how many can exist at once in a game world.
Magic-User Subclass – Illusionist
Illusionists specialize in tricking the senses. They focus on illusion spells that can fool or confuse enemies. Illusionists have their own list of spells that regular Magic-Users don’t use. They can’t use as many different magic items as Magic-Users, but their illusions are some of the most powerful tools in the game.
Thief Subclass – Assassin
Assassins are deadly killers who combine the stealth and skills of a thief with the ability to eliminate targets for money or cause. They must be Evil in alignment. Like thieves, they can sneak, pick locks, and disarm traps, but they also learn how to disguise themselves and use poison.
Monk – Special Class with No Subclasses
The Monk is a separate class, not a subclass. Monks use martial arts and mental focus to survive. They wear no armor, use no shields, and fight with their hands or simple weapons. Monks are fast, tough, and have special resistances, but they have no official subclasses in the game.
Choose an Alignment
In Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D), Alignment is your character’s way of thinking and acting. It’s a mix of morals (good vs. evil) and attitude toward rules (law vs. chaos). Alignment helps guide how your character behaves in the world and how they react to others. It’s a big part of roleplaying and helps shape your character’s story.
The Two Parts of Alignment Toggle section
How Alignment Affects the Game
Once you’ve rolled your stats and picked your race and class, you choose your alignment. Some classes require certain alignments:
Paladins must be Lawful Good.
Druids must be True Neutral.
Assassins must be Evil.
Your alignment tells you how your character speaks and acts. In the game, each alignment has a secret language. Your character knows one alignment language based on their current alignment. If you change alignment later, you lose the old language and learn the new one.
Talking openly in your alignment language is usually rude or suspicious, so most characters avoid doing that in front of others.
Changing Alignment Toggle section
Step 2: Get Your Gear Toggle section
Step 3: How to Play
Rolling Dice Toggle section
How to Fight
Combat is a key part of the game. Here’s how it works, step by step.
First, each side rolls a d6 for initiative. The side with the lowest number goes first. The DM might roll for each character individually instead, but usually it’s one roll per side.
When it’s your turn to attack, roll a d20. This is your “to-hit roll.”
To figure out what number you need to hit, you compare your attack ability (based on your class and level) to the enemy’s Armor Class (AC). In AD&D 1st Edition, lower AC means better armor.
Let’s say your character is a level 1 Fighter. At level 1, most Fighters need to roll a 20 to hit AC 0. If the enemy has AC 7 (like leather armor), then you subtract 7 from 20. You need to roll a 13 or higher on the d20 to hit.
Your DM may use the official attack tables in the Player’s Handbook or a shortcut called THAC0 (To Hit Armor Class 0), which simplifies this math.
If your attack roll is high enough to hit, roll the correct die for your weapon’s damage. A sword might deal 1d8. Subtract that from the enemy’s hit points. If the enemy drops to 0 HP, they die instantly. The same goes for your character.
How Attacks and Armor Class Work
In AD&D, your character has to roll dice to see if they hit a monster in battle. How hard it is to hit depends on your class (like Fighter or Thief), your level (how strong you are), and how much armor the enemy is wearing.
We use something called Armor Class (AC) to show how hard someone is to hit. A lower AC means better protection. AC 10 is easy to hit (like no armor), but AC 0 is really hard to hit (like heavy armor or a shield spell). Sometimes monsters even have negative AC, which is super tough!
To hit something, you roll a 20-sided die (called a d20). Your Dungeon Master (DM) looks at a chart to see what number you need to roll to hit the monster’s AC. This chart is different depending on your class and level. Fighters get better at hitting faster than other classes.
For Spell Attacks
In Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, when you cast a spell like lightning bolt or fireball, you usually don’t need to roll to see if it hits like you do with a sword or arrow. Spells follow different rules.
Most offensive spells don’t care about a target’s Armor Class. Instead, they ask the target to make a saving throw. A saving throw is like a last-chance defense. If the target makes their saving throw, they often take only half damage. If they fail, they take full damage. So when you throw a fireball into a room full of goblins, each goblin rolls to see if they dive out of the way fast enough to take only half the blast.
Spells usually happen at the end of a round, after weapons have swung. If the caster gets hit or distracted before the spell finishes, the spell might fizzle and be lost.
Some spells do work more like weapons. For example, if you’re using a spell that needs to touch someone, like cause light wounds, then you do need to roll to hit. It works kind of like trying to punch someone. If you miss, the spell fails. Another example is spiritual hammer. It creates a magic weapon that swings by itself, but it uses your level to see if it hits, just like if you were swinging it yourself.
So, to keep it simple: most spells don’t need a hit roll – they make the enemy roll to save – “saving throw”. But if the spell is trying to touch someone or acts like a weapon, then yes, you may have to roll to hit.
Saving Throws
Sometimes bad things happen to your character, like being hit by a magical spell, stepping into poison gas, or getting caught in a dragon’s fiery breath. When that happens, the DM will ask you to make a saving throw.
To make a saving throw, roll a d20. You are trying to roll equal to or higher than the number listed for your class and level on the saving throw table in the Player’s Handbook.
There are five kinds of saving throws:
Poison or Death Ray: For deadly poisons or instant death traps.
Wands: For magical effects coming from magic wands.
Petrification or Polymorph: For spells or effects that try to turn you into stone or something else.
Breath Weapon: For huge area attacks like a dragon’s breath.
Spells: For other kinds of magical spells.
Each class has its own saving throw numbers. At level 1, these numbers are high (around 13 to 17) because your character is inexperienced. As you level up, the saving throw numbers get lower, which means you get better at surviving danger.
If you roll high enough, you resist the effect. That could mean no damage, half damage, or avoiding a spell completely, depending on the situation. If you fail the save, the full effect happens.
Spells and Magic
Magic is powerful but limited. Clerics and Magic-Users cast spells, but they can only cast a small number each day.
Clerics start without spells at level 1. When they reach level 2, they gain the ability to cast one spell per day. Each morning, the cleric must pray to choose which spell or spells they will be able to use that day.
Magic-Users start with a spellbook that contains a few spells. At level 1, they can cast one spell per day. Each morning, the magic-user studies for an hour and memorizes one spell from their spellbook. Once they cast that spell, it disappears from memory until they rest and study again the next day.
Most spells only take one round to cast, but the effects can be very strong. Some spells affect enemies, some protect allies, and others can change the world around you.
For example, the spell Sleep can put a group of weak enemies to sleep instantly, with no saving throw. Magic Missile is another favorite; it always hits and deals a small amount of damage.
Spellcasters must stay safe in battle. If you take damage while casting a spell, you might lose it. And remember, Magic-Users cannot wear armor or they lose the ability to cast spells at all.
Choose your spells wisely. You won’t get many at first, but they can turn a dangerous fight into a quick victory.
Spell Combat Basics
When a spellcaster wants to cast a spell in combat, the timing and conditions matter a lot. Here’s how spell combat generally works in AD&D 1st Edition:
Declare Intentions First – Before initiative is rolled, players must tell the DM what their characters are doing. Spellcasters must say which spell they are trying to cast.
Initiative Is Rolled – Each side rolls a d6. The side with the lower roll acts first.
Casting Time Matters – Each spell has a casting time listed (usually in segments). There are 10 segments in a round. If something interrupts the caster before the spell finishes, it fails.
Being Hit Cancels Spells – If the caster takes damage from an enemy before their spell goes off, the spell is ruined. It is lost for the day and has no effect.
Spell Range and Targeting – The spell must reach the target based on its range. The caster must be able to see or otherwise target the enemy (some spells allow area effects).
Saving Throws and Effects – The target may get a saving throw if the spell allows it. If the save is successful, the spell might do nothing, or do half damage, or have a reduced effect depending on the spell description.
Armor and Spells – Magic-Users can’t cast spells while wearing armor. Clerics can, because their magic comes from divine power, not study.
Example of Spell Cast Attack
A Magic-User tries to cast Sleep at the start of a round. The player declares it. Initiative is rolled: the monsters win and attack first. One hits the caster before the spell finishes. The spell is lost. No effect. If the Magic-User had acted first and wasn’t hit, the Sleep spell would have gone off and possibly ended the fight before it even started.
How to Read a Spell Entry Toggle section
Special Cleric Notes Toggle section
Understanding Types of Magic (Schools)
In the Player’s Handbook, spells often list a type of magic (school of magic) in parentheses after the name. This is called the “school” of magic. It tells you what kind of magical power the spell uses. Think of it like the subject of the spell – what it’s trying to do or how it works.
These magic types are mostly helpful for understanding how spells work and how different magic-users might specialize in certain styles of spellcasting. You don’t need to pick a school when you create a character – AD&D 1st Edition doesn’t make you choose one. All spells come labeled with their school automatically in the book. You just learn spells normally for your class and level. The school label helps explain how the spell works or how it might interact with magical defenses, magic items, or other spells.
Explanation of the Type of Schools of Magic
Enchantment/Charm spells mess with people’s minds. They can make someone like you or follow your suggestions. Spells like Charm Person or Hypnotism use this school.
Conjuration/Summoning spells bring things into the world. That could mean calling up a monster, creating a magical effect, or even raising the dead. Examples are Bless or Animate Dead.
Alteration spells change things. They might make you bigger, turn someone invisible, or cause light to appear. Examples are Light and Enlarge.
Divination spells help you learn things. They might let you detect magic, find secret doors, or read minds. Detect Magic and ESP are examples.
Necromantic spells deal with life, death, and healing. Some heal the living, others control the undead. Cure Light Wounds and Animate Dead fall in this category.
Abjuration spells protect you or push away harmful magic. Spells like Protection From Evil or Dispel Magic come from this school.
Evocation spells make magic energy explode into the world. These are your direct-damage spells. Magic Missile and Fireball are perfect examples.
Illusion/Phantasm spells trick the senses. They make people see or hear things that aren’t really there. Phantasmal Force or Ventriloquism are part of this school.
Sometimes, a spell is in more than one school. For example, Glyph of Warding is both Abjuration and Evocation because it protects an area and can explode when triggered.
Spell Progression
In AD&D 1st Edition, spellcasters learn more spells as they level up. The higher the level, the more spells they can use each day. Here’s what you need to know:
Clerics
Clerics can start casting spells right at level 1. As they level up, they get access to stronger spells and more of them. Clerics pray to their gods for spells and usually don’t use flashy magic. Their spells include healing, protection, and turning away undead monsters.
At first, they get one simple spell per day. By the time they reach higher levels, they can cast many spells each day from seven different spell levels. The stronger the spell, the higher spell level it is.
Druids
Druids are like nature clerics. They don’t get spells until level 2, but after that, they work like clerics. They use spells related to nature, animals, and the weather. As they grow in levels, they get more and more spells each day, just like clerics, but their list of spells is a bit different.
Magic-Users
Magic-users are the classic spellcasters with pointy hats. They start with just one magic spell at level 1. As they go up in levels, they learn new spells and get to cast more of them each day. Their spells are powerful but often take time to prepare. Magic-users have access to spells all the way up to the 9th level, which includes some of the most powerful magic in the game.
Illusionists
Illusionists are a special kind of magic-user who focus on trickery and illusions. They start with one spell, just like magic-users, but their spell list is different. They specialize in spells that confuse or deceive enemies. They also eventually gain the ability to learn some basic magic-user spells.
What to Remember
Clerics and druids pray for their spells.
Magic-users and illusionists study and memorize their spells.
You get more spells as you level up.
The higher your level, the stronger your spells.
You don’t have to memorize exact numbers. Just know that your spellcaster gets better as they level up, and your spell list grows with them. When in doubt, just check your class chart or ask your Dungeon Master!
Step 4: How to Explore
Careful dungeon movement is 120 feet per 10 minutes. Running is three times faster but might make you miss things.
Torches last one hour. Lanterns last four hours. No light means you can’t see, and that’s a big problem.
Most doors are stuck. Roll a d6. You open the door on a 1 or 2, or on a 1 through 3 if your character is strong.
Only thieves can detect traps with their skills, but in caverns and dungeons dwarves have their abilities to find traps involving pits, shifting walls, etc. Other players can describe what they do, like poking the floor with a 10-foot pole or tossing a rock ahead.
Step 5: Earning XP and Leveling Up
In AD&D, gaining experience and leveling up are how your character grows stronger, smarter, and more dangerous to dungeon-dwelling creatures everywhere.
Characters start at 1st level with zero experience points. They earn XP through several methods, mostly by surviving dangerous situations and dragging back gold. Seriously. One gold piece equals one experience point. Slay a monster, find a chest full of coins, come home alive, and boom – XP.
The DM gives out experience after an adventure, usually once the group returns to town. XP comes from treasure (converted to gold value), defeating monsters (based on their hit dice, powers, and danger), and handling situations using class-appropriate skills. Killing stuff gets points, sure, but solving problems the clever way also counts.
If you sell magic items right away, you get XP equal to their gold value. If you keep them, the XP reward is minor, because the real benefit is, well, using magic. Also, if you crush weaklings (say, a 5th-level fighter slapping a lone kobold), the XP reward for treasure might get cut way down – overkill doesn’t impress the gods of advancement.
Monsters give full XP when captured or slain. Big monsters with lots of health, special powers like fire breath or gaze attacks, or strong magical abilities, all give bigger XP prizes. Capturing and selling monsters (if that’s your thing) earns XP too, based on the gold you make.
High stats can boost XP gains. Fighters with Strength 16+, Magic-Users with Intelligence 16+, Clerics with Wisdom 16+, and Thieves with Dexterity 16+ get 10% more XP. Some special classes have stricter requirements – Rangers need Str, Int, and Wis all over 15, and Paladins need a whopping 17 Charisma. Monks, poor souls, never get a bonus.
Henchmen only earn half the XP they’d normally get, and sometimes even less. They’re your backup crew, not the stars of the show.
Leveling up means gaining power. Each class has a different XP chart, so some level up faster than others. When you level, you roll another hit die to increase hit points. Constitution helps – a good bonus can mean the difference between getting smacked around or walking it off. Multi-classed characters roll for each class, add it up, divide by the number of classes, and round up.
Most people in the world are 0-level nobodies. They don’t get XP or levels. Player characters are the rare heroes destined for greatness (or hilarious failure). And yes, the DM controls how XP is handed out. Try not to argue. They hold the XP keys.
More About XP Toggle section
What You Need to Start Tonight
The DM needs a simple dungeon map with 5 to 10 rooms, some monsters and treasure from the rulebooks, and dice.
Players need paper and pencils for their characters, a set of dice, and a good imagination.
Start the game like this:
You stand in front of a dark cave. The villagers say goblins live inside. They’ll pay you 50 gold per goblin ear. What do you do?
Let the players talk. Ask what they want to do. Roll dice when it makes sense. Keep things moving and have fun.
