A few questions concerning 74 basic

[Lived]

Hi there!
First of all thank you for taking the time to put this together.
Although I know, that GMs are encouraged to make their own rules/bend the existing ones if they see fit, I would still like to know, how several parts I'm not so sure about were intended:

1. The saving throws seem to be alot harder to make, than in other retroclones/OD&D itself. A first level wizard without any statbonus (not too unreasonable to assume) would need to roll a 18 or higher if I'm not mistaken (class bonus+level/2+d20 roll), whereas he would only need like a 16 or something along those lines in OD&D. Is that intentional?

2. How do saving throws work for monsters? The text seems to imply, that it is a static number (10+level), but I'm not sure how that should work. The other way I could see it working is d20+10+level, but that seems to make monsters save a lot more than they should.

3. How do saving throws work for spells like fireball or lightning bolt? Does a successful save negate all damage or only halfe of the damage? Do I use a mindsave or a reflexsave?

Thanks in advance.

[admin]

1. The saving throws seem to be alot harder to make, than in other retroclones/OD&D itself. A first level wizard without any statbonus (not too unreasonable to assume) would need to roll a 18 or higher if I'm not mistaken (class bonus+level/2+d20 roll), whereas he would only need like a 16 or something along those lines in OD&D. Is that intentional?

It is more or less intentional. Converting the saves to a simple formula that that had close to the effect at higher levels as 0e meant that very low level characters end up with slightly worse saves than they would have in 0e. You can always fiddle with it for your campaign or use the more 0e-like saves from the M74 Companion Volume I.

2. How do saving throws work for monsters? The text seems to imply, that it is a static number (10+level), but I'm not sure how that should work. The other way I could see it working is d20+10+level, but that seems to make monsters save a lot more than they should.

Monsters save vs magic (or anything else if such a save is needed) as characters do using hit dice as their level. The 10+level is a typo. It is supposed to be 1d20+level. Yes, this means high die monsters tend to save. You can elect to cap the level bonus at +15 if you wish (like attack bonuses).

3. How do saving throws work for spells like fireball or lightning bolt? Does a successful save negate all damage or only halfe of the damage? Do I use a mindsave or a reflexsave?

Save for half damage is traditional in older editions. You can whichever save makes the most sense to you. REF if you think of it as dodging out the the way (or ducking behind something) or WIL if you think it is pure "magical" resistance.  You could even use REF for non-casters saving and WIL for casters.

[Lived]

Thank you. A few more questions if you don't mind:

- What is the use of having a two-handed weapon instead of a shield and a one-handed weapon? I was just wondering about it, because the fighter can choose to start with a two-handed weapon.

- Why do you have to roll higher then the DC and not equal to or higher, which is how it works in most other clones and the original if I'm not mistaken?

[admin]

- What is the use of having a two-handed weapon instead of a shield and a one-handed weapon? I was just wondering about it, because the fighter can choose to start with a two-handed weapon.

Mechanically? There's not much difference. Using a shield increases the character's AC. Using a two-handed weapon doubles the character's damage bonus (if any) due to strength and class.

- Why do you have to roll higher then the DC and not equal to or higher, which is how it works in most other clones and the original if I'm not mistaken?

Because that's the way we played it: "beat the number". If you want to use greater than or equal two, increase all DCs by 1.