Hacking Low-Level Lethality in OSR

Character demise is a constant in OSR Dungeons & Dragons. It’s practically a mark of pride. I remember a magic-user I played when I was probably twelve years old getting cut down in one stroke by a stray wandering goblin. Grognard.

While I can appreciate the simple stat-block character and the deadly funnel (and it’s how I usually run my home games), I like the fact that characters in later editions are less squishy at low levels. I’m one of those people who was brought up with Moldvay/Mentzer who really enjoys 4th edition. When I’m running old school, sometimes it’s nice not to need a raft of new characters to offset the deadliness of, well, anything in the dungeon.

I read plenty of ideas for toughening up low-levelers. You can start them at a higher level, give them max hit points, implement some kind of death save, and the like – all good suggestions, btw. The option that I like the best is to give more hit points at first level, and here’s how it works:

• Allow your PCs to roll for hit points using the HD for 2nd or 3rd level, adding Con modifier as usual. So, your thief apprentice (1st level) might start with 3d4 hit points.
• Set a minimum of max 1 HD worth of hit points. Your apprentice can’t end up worse off than 4 hit points – which is one solid chop away from death.
• When the PC levels up, re-roll hit points according to the classic rule: roll the appropriate hit dice for the level, add Con modifier, and take the result only if it’s better than the original. When your apprentice graduates to footpad (2nd level), she’ll roll 2d4 and add Con, just like they would’ve done normally, but only apply it if it’s at least 1 point better than what they have already.

Example: Meriam rolls up a fighter. At 1st level, she rolls 3d8 and gets 18 hp (solid!). At 2nd level, she rolls 2d8 and gets 4, so there’s no change. At 3rd level, she rolls 3d8 and gets 10, which still doesn’t warrant an increase. At 4th level, she rolls 4d8 and gets 13, so she sticks with her original roll. At 5th level, she rolls 5d8 and gets 21. Since this exceeds her current maximum of 18 hp, she increases to 21 hp!

This toughens up those new characters, so they can survive in a more punishing environment. It cuts down on the OSR character death churn. It allows for smaller parties to explore dangerous dungeons. Because they’re still 1st level characters they still fight like newbs, cast like newbs, and everything else that’s fun about playing at low levels. They’re just a lot more likely to survive that random swing of a wandering goblin’s sword.