Laying Down the Rules: In All Their Various Forms

As I mentioned, I've been collecting the rules for how we're going to play on the Portal Page itself, rather then just having people refer to Labyrinth Lord and a house rules document/page. The interesting side effect to that is the ability to "clean up" the rules and present them in a way that's easy to reference and recheck. Yes, I know that sucks some of the charm out of Old School products, were rules were often woven into exposition and descriptions were enough to get your started. However, we're playing online, so beyond the distance between us making it harder to quickly compare notes, I have no clue how distracted the players are while we play (if they're listening to music, if they have several web tabs up and browse things while we play, etc.), something that isn't an issue when at an actual table. Because of that, I think calling out each rule for ease of finding (and linking) helps keep the game flowing.

Another interesting side effect is that, in an effort to keep the rules as "proper" as possible I've been looking at the multiple versions of Basic Dungeons and Dragons to see each one's wording on a particular rule or class ability, from Labyrinth Lord to B/X to BECMI to the Rules Cyclopedia.I still use LL as the default, but I may take a description from B/X as a basis for my own flavor or a sentence from the Rules Cyclopedia if it clarifies how something works (getting both the flavor and gameplay rules for the cleric's Turn Undead ability is a good example of this). There are some very interesting differences between editions (which could have its own blog just to point out) and melding them into a set of rules I like and thinks works best will make for a version of the game that is not exactly like any one edition but still true to all of them. So, it's pretty much how everyone who sits down to play does it, we all have our own take on game or opinion on an official ruling, and I think that looseness to the rules is what makes Basic D&D great, this is not for tournament play, this is so you can sit down with your friends and have a good time.

Question: Other House Rule Ideas

Besides the house rules we've already used before and enjoy using as well as two other proposed house rules/game play ideas (still waiting on thoughts from the players on those), I have two more proposed house rules and curious to player's thoughts:

If casting a spell, a character is allowed no other actions, including movement. Should characters be allowed to move and cast spells or does that give an advantage to an already potent ability?

Should we use variable weapon damage or stick with the "every weapon does 1d6 damage" original rule? If we choose the standard damage across the board, two-handed weapons would always strike last but if a hit is made, the player would roll 2d6 and keep the higher result.

I'm off to cook and eat way too much, but more things to think about as the game comes together.

Question: Early Thoughts

Thoughts on two "house rules" an their inclusion in the campaign:

Do I use prebuilt maps and line of site/darkness via MapTool like earlier games? Or do we stick with the old school (and official ruling) of describing the areas and having the player's map them?

I've seen this house rule of "treasure = experience"out an about and kind of like the idea. As James from Grognardia puts it:
"I'll also note that the "Dave Arneson rule" for converting gold into XP is working beautifully. I only give XP on treasure that is spent. This means that every time they find gold or gems or whatever in the dungeon, they have to use it to buy things for themselves, whether they be scrolls, new gear, hirelings, or just a night out on the town if they want to gain experience points from them. This has served two purposes: 1) They must return to Adamas if they want to spend big sums of money and 2) They are perpetually poor. I am very satisfied with this, as I am with the campaign in general -- an excellent session overall."