RPG OSR Review: Moldvay Basic D&D - Part 1
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 ธ.ค. 2020
- This is part 1 of a two parter. Part 1 is a retrospective look at the Tom Moldvay edition of Basic D&D, and Part 2 will look at the Dave 'Zeb' Cook edition of the Expert set.
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Please don't ever change your intro & music. It's iconic.
When I hear it come up on my play list, I drop everything 'cause know it's your videos.
Agreed =)
I have no plans to change it. You are not alone in your feelings. My subs would revolt!
The music makes me think of the photos of the softcover books, and it fills me with such reminiscence joy that the non-gamers around me ask, "What?...What?..."
I love it, too. I always forget to mention it. I also love the icon change to the players handbook cover art - maybe my most favorite AD&D image.
Opening up your videos you anticipate that music. Maybe tweek it but don't alter it fundamentally.
I started with Moldvay's edition of D&D in 1982, but like a lot of people I went and bought Mentzer's reboot a year later anyway before being brow beat into AD&D by all the older kids who played it. I always maintained that Moldvay's iteration of the rules, and by default Mentzer's as well, is the truest form of the game that Gary Gygax originally envisioned. Like a lot of people I imagine, I became steeped in AD&D because that was by default what everyone else around me played when someone said, "We're playing D&D this weekend." In my neighborhood in Southern Ontario back in the early eighties, the pejorative "Basuck" was attributed to BX/BECMI by those older kids, and I was one of the only holdouts who still bought modules and supplements for BX/BECMI, while still doing the same with AD&D.
Yeah, me too. Loved B/X even after everyone moved to AD&D.
The only two books you ever need. They have served me well for 40 years!
Poor Black Dougal. I remember the very earliest days of my playing, characters were almost disposable and dropped like flies. One bite from a spider and a failed saving throw, done. Later, you started "caring" about your character more, and thus the "resurrection" spell.
Indeed. One of the biggest drawbacks of basic is that a character is dead at 0 hit points. Considering how dangerous any encounter can be at 1st level you are lucky if your character survives their first adventure most of the time.
@@braxxian I enjoy that fundamental point, PC's are fragile for a long while.
I remember buying the Moldvay red book box set in a hobby store circa 1981. Twelve year old me had no idea what D&D was, but I thought the name was really cool. So I bought it with my paper route money. Got it home, and after the first read through, I was completely and irrevocably hooked. Soon after, I moved on to the AD&D books, but this set will always be my first love. I still have the original box set I bought all those years ago. It's carefully preserved and on display in my home office as a "museum piece".
The Basic and Expert boxes snagged me as an elementary school kid - I was 10, so the plan must have worked. Oh, the days when Elves and Halflings were classes! I was/am also quite fond of the morale system. I think sometimes we can forget that the monsters just might give up and instead we just keep throwing them all at the players. Codifying that aspect of their behavior is helpful.
I don't use it but if most of the time when most of them lie dead on the ground I make the rest run away. They don't want to die after all (and I don't like to drag combat out when the players have pretty much won already)
This was my first introduction to D&D. I still laugh at myself when I remember opening the box and wondering why there was a white crayon in there 🤔 😂
I remember that. I was like What is the deal with the crayon?? lol
Same!
Yep!.. although I still have several of the dice (with embedded white wax), the crayon sadly is no longer with me...
My first set was the Holmes set (crayons!), but the classic red and blue sets lit my imagination on fire. My friends and I would have been 10 in 1980, so we were just the right age for this when it appeared.
One thing I distinctly remember is that we rapidly incorporated the AD&D books into our games and never really treated them as separate things. Whatever it was we made from smashing the two together, it was always a great time.
I love the art in these books
Yes, me too! That Erol Otus cover will forever be iconic.
@@captcorajus I think I need to create a backstory for that picture...and an adventure for my group to investigate what happened to that blonde magic-user and bearded fighter as they never returned from that dungeon. Now that would be worth investigating! 😅
@@captcorajus I always assumed that dragon on the cover was just a Green Dragon, and I marveled that those 2 characters were foolish...err...willing enough to attempt to fight it! LOL
Love the Moldvay morale rules - one of the reasons this edition is still my go-flavor of D&D to this day. Not only does it add a nice bit of unpredictability as you mentioned, but it also adds to character survivability and strategic planning as often an encounter isn't about wiping out an entire enemy force but instead trying to get that force to a morale breaking point. Such a subtle but significant effect on the game for such a simple rule. (And making some usually mundane monsters - like lizard men with their morale of 12 - far more engaging - pun possibly intended! )
Absolutely hitting the nail on the head. When to check is clearly define and if you stick to it it fundamentally changes the game and in a positive way IMHO.
Displays of magic would often unnerve a band of monsters -- unless one of their number dressed weird with shaman stuff and old bones woven into his fur and crap...
@@Dracopol Oh yeah, that's when you knew you were in trouble. lol
Old AD&D was easily adapted to morale by any DM willing to put a little thought into it.
@@Dracopol I definitely think many gaming groups fail to take into account just how frightening displays of magic would be to most creatures.
Our DM was very kind to us when we played Basic and always let us play with max hit points level 1-3. It was petty much the only way we survived to make it to Expert. The not so subtle hits that we should run away helped as well.
I remember going to my neighborhood hobby shop and picking up my brand new copies ( albeit they are tattered and battered- they are still with me) that was such a wonderful time, saving up my grass mowing money (or driveway snow shovelling ) and other chore money to jump on my Kuwahara BMX bike and head off to the hobby shop. buy a module, or miniature, and grab some tires for my slot cars whilst there too, stop at the local arcade play a game or two and head home. everyone and I mean everyone seemed to play D&D in those days. I had a Friday night group at a friends house, and also a Saturday group at the city library. but these two sets launched us into the realm of D&D. - what a great time it was to be a kid in those days!
Well said!
I never played Basic, just Advanced, so I've never played with morale as a simple stat worth using, but it seemed sorely missing to me. I really like what I see here, especially that it gave purpose to charisma.
I started with Advanced in 81/82 as well despite being a member of one of their target demographics. I've run it a few times since then as a "throw back," for those who never played. Even then, never used Morale. Always forgot
I lament that morale isn't hard coded into the game anymore. It's just common sense that a intelligent being doesn't always fight to the death.
Everyone should use common sense and realize that in RPGs, if an encounter leads to a fight at all, it won't be a fight to the death. Even for the winner, that's too much work.
--Squintlings: small, warty, cowardly creatures. They only get confident enough to attack if they out-number the Big Folk three-to-one. If things go bad, or in a display of magic, they will lose their nerve and run away.
--Model T$7.99 Cyborg Assassin from the Future: His steel skin cares little for your swords and arrows. He won't eat, he won't drink, he won't sleep until you all are dead!
I think the disappearance of the morale mechanic went hand-in-hand with the shift from XP for gold to XP for murder. DMs would award only partial experience at best for making a monster flee or surrender.
Why do you lament? Read beginning of Basic book of B/X. It's your game. House ruling is part of it. That's why I never considered nothing past AD&D 2nd a true D&D game. AD&D 2nd was already overdone, but... It didn't change mechanics so drastically as 3.0. It's not a free form toolkit like originals. And personally I don't like that. Once simple combat - with morale - became atatcks of opportunity, feats and so on. Even combat should be creative and GM is for making call when it comes to rules. No 2 situations are alike.
@@Dracopol "Everyone should use common sense and realize that in RPGs, if an encounter leads to a fight at all, it won't be a fight to the death."
Wrong. In that case there's no drama. Which means there is no reason fight should exist at all. Why even fight? Let just smoke peace pipe.
Few funny situations.
You can make a stupid decision and your character will simply die because of it. You can stumble on a guy who's on 'steroids' that puts him in berserk mode. A girl can be under mental spell that tells her to kill. She won't stop until killed. Your character drank that weird potion. Went berserk.
You took a fight agains small opponent. The rest of team realised it was an illusion and you are fighting a giant.
Fights are dangerous. Fights are lethal. Fight are adventurous!
@@Dyrnwyn Take a look at other systems. Like Warhammer Fantasy Role Play 1s edition. No xp for fights, unles you - as a GM - make it so. You gain xp by roleplaying and overecoming obstacles. As a GM you decide what is such obstacle.
When I began playing, we played a mish-mash of Red Box and AD&D. We did not have a complete set of either.
Because of this, one of my favourite modules will always be "The Secret of the Keep and the Caves of Chaos of Bone Hill on the Borderlands!" :)
Love your content. Thank you, always.
Ha ha!! I would have LOVED to have played in that!!
I had one called McDungeons: Over 60 Minions Serve.
I started on Moldvay basic. Such fun times!
My first D&D... my best, and the one I still play 40 years later!
I bought the PDFs as well. What I like about those editions is how clean and simple they are and everything is explain with enough flavor to feed your imagination but not so much to the point you can't find the rules you need to play. A single saturday afternoon of reading is enough too comprehend the rules. And honestly, it shouldn't take any more than that.
I used to own these! Oh the agony! I wished I never lost these!!! 😩😩😩
I still have them, but not the Expert module nor the dice you had to crayon the numbers onto. :(
You can get pdf's of them on rpg drive throu
I roll morale on 2d6 no matter what edition I'm running. It adds an extra element to combat and makes it less predictable. It also means we're less likely to get bogged down in a boring slog combat where you know the party will win eventually but it takes forever.
I use Morale for 5e AND use it for the PCs as well. All PCs get a Morale of 12 and they may add their Proficiency Bonus to the 2D6 roll. Fail a roll and your PC panics and runs away for 1D6 rounds before coming to their senses. This drives certain "special snowflakes" crazy as they rant about "player agency" to which I reply... "have you ever been REALLY Scared? Have YOU ever been shot at (I'm a Vet)? You'll do all kinds of strange things when you are REALLY scared."
@@swaghauler8334 Black Hack 2nd Edition has a panic mechanic, where PCs may panic and run away if the lights go out, and that's an OSR game, so I think having PCs do morale checks during combat is perfectly fair. Plus, many monsters can make PCs save v fear, which is very similar. Or think about games like Cthulu, where PCs might lose their shit whenever they encounter something otherworldly.
@@robertgroves5339 Yeah. That's when diapers comes in handy.
It ... It would help 5e mundane combat end in a reasonable time.
This was also my first D&D/Gift from from Santa (Level 30 Cleric) in 1981. I also modded Keep on the Borderlands for NWN. It was my first ever mod, how could I not? Awesome vid, Cap.
I got it that Christmas too!
A version of D&D so simple, even the kids from STRANGER THINGS could learn it!
They were using the Mentzer rules, though.
@@joshjames582 Ack, you are right. The series starts in Nov. 1983.
@@joshjames582 I haven't watched the series, but doesn't Demogorgon feature heavily in it? Isn't he AD&D only?
I cut my teeth on this edition of basic & expert D&D. This really broke down D&D basics and hooked me for life. I also started my kids on this game a few years ago before upgrading them to D&D 3.5, then DragonStar, and now D&D 5e.
Good on you. I just started playing this with my 12 -year old niece and nephew who saw B/X D&D on TH-cam and became fascinated. They were bored during the Covid lockdowns and this has opened up a whole new world of entertainment for them. They got slaughtered early on but are quickly adapting to such a dangerous and unforgiving game world. 😅
Simply awesome. Such a small rulebook led to so many grand adventures. THIS is OSR! 😁
I love the use of "morale." Both for monsters as well as retainers. I use "insanity" to check the condition of players psychological state when encountering monsters. That functions as a kind of "morale" for them as well.
In my humble opinion, this is still the best set ever produced. Easy to learn, fluid combat and game play, fantastic classic modules....what else does one need?
Between all of the various random dungeon stocking tables, encounter reaction rolls and the morale check - I just love what B/X D&D does for DM enjoyment of the game. As you say, it’s fun to be surprised as the DM. The dice not only resolve actions, but become an equally important storytelling tool as well. I have not had this DMing experience replicated by any other edition of the game frankly.
july 20th, 1982.....got the moldvay edition and it changed my life lol......always much love for this version
I found both Basic and Expert books at a used bookstore many years ago. I think I spent $10 on the pair. It was the best $10 I ever spent on the hobby.
This was my first rule-set. I love the simplicity and approachable nature of the game. The moral system is great. I would have loved to see a Moldvay-styled book going to higher levels with some of the added stuff from KotBL. I know they did that with other Basic books, but I love how Moldvay did things. And yes. I would have loved to have Race and Class separate things.
Oh well, there are Retro-clones for that. ;)
I think morale is a good idea although admittedly I don't use it as much as I should. Sometimes it just makes sense for the monsters to run, if they lose half their number in a round. It's still fun with or without the morale rules!
Agreed
My second rpg and first that I owned in 80's. Never regretted it, playing it & expert the most until moving to AD&D in senior high.
10:30 - agreed! random events and seeing the connections is what i love most about DMing.
I love these sets. The world is an adventure and a +1 sword was a treasure because you had to fight to get it and not know what it is till you brought it home.
My first D&D set ever. Still my favorite. From the art (especially the cover) to the sample dungeon it’s all brilliant.
Always wished the B/X books got their ow Companion Set.
I don't think they needed it. YOU are the "companion set".
1981 for me, grade 4 primary, The Keep on the Borderland. I was shortly after obsessed with The Lost City (and then I3 Pharaoh... Guess it had something to do with pyramids!).
Yes, I have fond memories of playing Keep on the Borderlands and then The Lost City as well. Good times!
@@RobertWF42 Isle of Dread as well. Just bought the Googman Games Classics version. Good stuff.
One small tweak I'd make to the B/X rules would be to add a page or two of different skills that include the search rules and thief skill tables.
Your videos are a great way for me to get to know the things I saw on the shelf as a kid but couldn't afford
Or that I had as a kid but lost in a house fire
Thanks!
I started with a mish-mash of these books, as well as basic and AD&D adventures - and no dice set! The ensuing chaos, as we all wanted to play really badly clearly informed my love of game system design and homebrew.
I remember when we used to play BECMI, our DM never used Morale and I couldn't make it out why! It was a very simple yet realistic rule made out of good sense
Well, its actually integrated into the rules. When you get into the expert set, there are spells like the reverse of 'Bless'.. 'Blight' that causes a negative modifier to morale checks. So its actually hardwired into the system.
I ran Keep on The Borderlands for my group in 7th grade back in ‘87. Classic hack and slash.
Loved my AD&D for years! Hated all the D20 Wizards of the Coast editions and still won't play them.
Why do you *hate* them?
@@spudsbuchlaw Not a fan of D20 and dislike the generic aspect of the classes.
Oh a B/X review! What a great Christmas Present! Thank you for all your hard work this year.
This vid brings back great memories. Thanks for doing this one!
Ah, the start of it all.
For whatever reasons, I always really enjoyed those sample adventure read-throughs they included in various rule books.
Yes! Me too!
If anyone should be asked to do a T.E.D talk on Dungeons and Dragons, it should be you !
That would be awesome. I'd LOVE to do that.
Got the magenta boxed set for Christmas in 1981. Created my first character, Persimmon the Elf, on New Year's Eve. So my 39th D&D anniversary is right around the corner. And we've recently swung back to B/X via OSE. We like it because it's just much quicker at the table and to be honest, the race classes, especially the new ones added in OSE, are pretty fun to play. I also find it a snap to write my own material for B/X. Nice to have monster stat blocks that don't look like the tax code. And yes, we love using morale, as it can significantly affect the course of adventures and really help low level PC's in particular.
The first D&D rulebook I ever owned and still my go-to version to this day. I will admit that I use the Advanced Labyrinth Lord tome over my originals nowadays, though.
10:26 Morale rules...AWESOME! Then you can get away from the stupid "balanced encounter" b/s that 5e has. Players have to be a lot smarter in that kind of environment, and avoiding fights is a good idea (so it cuts down on murder hoboism and other such psychopathology). Plus, as you say, it's fun to see what happens next and can lead to interesting situations -- chases, later meetings for revenge, surrenders, etc.
I have yet to use the 'encounter builder' for 5E and have been running two multi-year campaigns since the game was release.
You are absolutely right about sticking to the morale rules and ending up in interesting situations you didn't expect or plan on. Especially if you roll as soon as an ally dies. Sometimes that's all it takes, and they are breaking.
Of course you've got to moderate things with reason, but letting the dice assist your decision making is frequently a lot of fun.
There were balance mechanics even in AD&D 2nd if I'm not wrong, but it all started with such an umpf for balancing when 3.0 hit the shelves. I never balanced encounters. Either players, or their characters are wise. Or they simply die in uneven combat. Choice is always theirs. It's rpg after all. It's them who decides what their characters will do.
@@hadeseye2297 I never played 2e. I played mostly AD&D (1e, if you will). I think that the game went downhill when WOTC got hold of it, although they were able to popularize a version of it more successfully than TSR, to the point where the stigma was gone, but that might have just been the "nerds are cool" stance that took off in the past 10-20 years that allowed them to do so, plus we were beyond the Satanic Panic. In any case, people can do what they want when they play...i just prefer something where you are forced to play your game token (i.e., your character) smartly and work as a team with your fellow players, just in order to survive...i.e., the more 'grim' style where magic is actually scary.
@@BTsMusicChannel Well, you're talking about Warhammer.
@@hadeseye2297 maybe...i just made up my own home brew to make it happen...stole mechanics from various places and made up the ones I needed that don't exist...there are other systems that do the trick...DCC for example...the last thing I want is a non-thematic D&D world/setting that allows players to make very bad decisions without consequence -- which is what straight D&D has become. You can learn a lot more about rpgs by reading the fantasy lit that you want to emulate more than studying D&D and reading fantasy lit with D&D mechanics in the story.
Perfect time of the year for OD&D!! This review warms my heart ❤. Thanks Cap, and Merry Christmas 🎅
Merry Christmas! The EXPERT set review will be out before Christmas too!
@@captcorajus EXCELLENT 👍🤘
I've had this boxed set and some ADnD stuff that was my brother's all this time. This helped me to understand several things about them.
I still have my well worn out copies of these two books from my grade school years. I wish there was a print on demand or wizards woould rerelease these old boxes. It's a must buy.
It may not be possible to get hardcopies exactly as before. Wizards is starting to put disclaimer stickers on their old products that say they were RACIST and SEXIST, and they probably will start censoring paragraphs that some demented young fluorescent-haired sensitivity reader deems racist or sexist.
The price is $28+change .
For some reason TH-cam wouldn't let me correct it
Times indeed are tough. Donated a bit through your PayPal. Wish you the best thank you for these wonderful videos. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.
They are tough, and yours and others donations during this time have been amazingly timely and helpful! Thank you.
Great channel, great video, as always
Great video, and very timely! I'm running some B/X in 2 hours!! :D
got the box for christmas in 1981...i had no idea what it was and was a bit skeptical...reading it sent me down a life-changing path, for sure...i am not always playing D&D and in fact have not played in couple years with a group, but it got me into the game and game design and, above all, fantasy lit. certainly d&d made me a more creative person with a much better vocabulary than i would have had otherwise...this particular book has a special place in my heart, for sure. it was a great christmas gift....and you are right about keep on the borderland - i still borrow a lot of ideas (esp. the rumor table idea, which i have modified) from this module...i also like the idea of the home base with adventure site nearby, that you must travel to and you don't know what you'll run into on the way...have a good christmas cap'n.
Thanks for the Christmas Wishes! you too!
Terrific video my friend. Basic, and its love letter, BFRPG, is absolutely my go to for everyone from veteran dms to newbies all over, and it never fails to impress!
I got my set at The Busy Box in 1981 at the ripe age of 9! (Thanks Mom!!). I still have it (even have several of the original dice that came with it). I too cut my teeth on The Keep on the Borderlands! First cave our party entered was the Labyrinth of Minotaur, where my DM informed me that I had forgotten to purchase bolts for my crossbow! 2 dead party members and one ad-hoc crossbow-turned-club later, I had a shiny new +1 Spear! (I never used a crossbow again LOL!)
Many years later I got the pleasure of thanking Gary Gygax in person for all of the wonder he provided me with throughout my life. Now 42 years later I still play whenever I can, joined by my wife and 2 sons (both are now DMing their own adventures in college!).
This was a wonderful review and a great introduction to your channel! you earned the Sub! :)
My cousin decades ago gifted me a large cardboard box containing this and the Holmes box set along with several adventure modules and 1e books. I spent many an hour unpacking its wonders, drawing my own Magic the Gathering cards based on its monster manuals, and Final Fantasy-like dungeons and wildernesses. I exhumed it this past year when our 5e group visited a magic OSR temple and while inside their character sheets changed edition! Luckily, they all survived...
Over the years of DM'ing, I found it far easier to just assess combat and make decisions, instead of always looking up a rule, so with morale, while I agree that it's well written and makes sense, I found it easier as a DM to just think like the monster and determine what they might do under the circumstances.
Bugbear: We're losing this fight. I don't want to die. I'm fleeing.
Yes, having a rule of roll the dice and let fate decide also works, but sometimes it's just easier to make a decision on your own.
Ah, I actually played the boxed set version, but I managed to snag a copy of the expert book and loved using it. (and the artwork) Even after we started using the Expert Boxed set.
Started playing this in 3rd or 4th grade!!!
In 1981, it was Moldvay, not Gygax, who first showed me the way. As I appreciate simplicity, I still prefer D&D to AD&D in many ways, though I combined the two systems into a hybrid that worked just fine for me as DM. I am a big fan of Morale checks in the game, and use them in all kinds of situations - which got me taking randomness much further with rolling.
can't wait to se the second video, thanks
Death was a constant in D and D and retainers were a requirement ! Don’t get too attached to that level 1 magic user because he probably isn’t going to make it thru the dungeon. Morale was a fun part of this game and i think applies to any version you play. Great video as usual !
You'd think they would realize magic-users are too valuable to lose and they would train them physically to be tougher on some kind of Bruce Lee ENTER THE DRAGON island or something before sending them out in dungeons. 2 Hit Dice of d4s at least! It's insulting to roll just 1 Hit Point, lol!
@@Dracopol I agree. That one hit point was just impossible to survive any dungeon . I always had the DM play the magic users as NPCs so if they died didn’t bother me.
This was the version I discovered when it came out. I was thy only person in my area who had ever heard of D&D! From about 12 to 18 I ran a character through the whole system with my brother (who became an engineer/musician class character in real life) as DM. I'm in my mid 50s And I still feel nostalgia for my character who was building a castle on lands he was granted by Alphatia and had just started using the mass combat set. We all got the AD&D books over time and blended the two systems, which actually worked quite well. Still have my old lead miniatures. I've only done a few short adventures since then. The DM is everything. (edit) Oh, I remember the Satanic Panic Years. Half of our group was forbidden by their parents to play.
i have several original copies of this set. Though AD&D (1st edition) is my favorite version of the game... this set was a set i referred to for variations in my home brewed game. A great version of the game in my opinion. Great review as always captcorajus!
Love your videos! Thanks a lot for your hard work. Appreciate it! Cheers.
My pleasure!
Thanks for this! I like how you emphasized some of the advantages of this rule set. I did always wish that B/X were written together as one as I found myself writing my own tables and cheat sheets. Over the course of almost fifteen years of play I never really understood that Basic and Advanced were meant to be different. We more or less played to the Advanced books but kept morale, the B/X round vs turn, and other differences. When my son got interested and I started again fifteen years later it was B/X for sure. I gave away my Advanced books about two years ago - way too much text and too many baroque explanations.
P.S. It's a crying shame that Arneson was cut out of all those license revenues.
Thanks! This was another great review.
I started as an AD&D (1E then 2E) player and my homebrew rules draw mostly on them. However a copy of this book came into my possession one day and I very quickly adopted its simpler ability score rules. Love the symmetry of them and the absence of 18 / 00 strength.
I agree. The 18/ 00 strength rules for fighters was a bit weird. It begs the question, should wizards get 18/ 00 for intelligence? Clerics for wisdom? Thieves for Dexterity? Its a rabbit hole complication that the basic rules avoids with logical symmetry.
That was my first D&D game and I loved it.
Thanks for this video (and your entire channel). I just wish the nostalgia for early 80’s D&D wasn’t so paralyzing. 😁
This was the first Dnd game I played...it is awesome.
Morale is essential. The unpredictability is key. My criticism is that morale should also be applied to player characters.
WOO, thanks for comparing 0d&d,Holmes,b.x moldvaycook basic dnd and also the revised one. They are pretty confused me when I dive into and research them. Great video 😊🎉❤
Spot on! Re. morale, I also use reaction rolls and morale in my Swords & Wizardry game. Without it, calls on such things can become arbitrary. Allowing players and monsters to flee/surrender alters the dynamics of the game strategically, narratively and ethically. And I wish we could push for PoDs of BX and BECMI.
I didn't own the box sets, but I have the books which they sold separately back in 1981 with holes already punched in them. Great for hiding in a school notebook for reading during class. The funny thing is I never played the basic D&D game with this rule set as we were already playing AD&D in middle school and had cut our teeth on the Holmes basic edition back in 1980. I still have the books on my gaming bookshelf in the binder that I had from back in middle school. After seeing this video I might just have to dust it off and read through them. For nostalgia sake. :)
About morale : this rule mechanic is very common in miniature games. Even modern games like Frostgrave use it in an almost identical manner.
basic dnd morale is genius many games should have something similar
I love the intro music too!
I saw a copy of the Moldvay version at a store, when I went back a while later it was gone, but there was a new version out so I picked up the Mentzer version. Looking back I don't really regret missing it, the Mentzer has long been one of my favorite versions of D&D.
I heard something about how for the Mentzer edition, TSR hired non-gamers who were educators and who understood programmed learning, so they made the little solo adventure and organized things in a way a gamer could not, for learning impact. The boxed games could more effectively teach games rather than rely on word of mouth and demonstration, and gave the best possible start with how-to tips. But I could be incorrect; were programmed learning methods incorporated in the Moldvay/Cook edition?
The Moldvay rules are straight rulebooks. They simply present the rules. Its well done and well organized, but it is absolutely a reference work. You are correct about the programmed learning in the Mentzer version which has you playing a solo adventure as soon as you open the box.
@@captcorajus D&D evolved from a loose collection of ideas from the wild days of Wargaming into a basic comprehensive version by Holmes. The Moldvay version is an attempt to create a full stand-alone version distinctive of AD&D that would match the requirements of the deal with Arneson. While the earlier versions were a huge step up from the scattershot ODD, the Mentzer version was the first to take new players by the hand and guide them through the mechanics of the game, earlier version simply assumed you were either already a wargamer familiar with all the basic concepts or that you would find a group who would teach you D&D, leaving people to continue playing basic or move onto AD&D. Mentzer had one huge advantage, it provided a well-framed game at every possible level, while AD&D assumed that most gamers would not make it past level 5 and level 10-ish was understood to be the general cap and most monsters in AD&D were framed around that idea, even the dragons were not really a match for a higher level party, while you could still expect to find monsters capable of going against a level 36 party in the Mentzer version as per the Master Expansion.
And ya, I'm one of those people B/X is my favorite version no question, started at 3.5, played 4th, went back to 3.5 lol, 5E came out and I jumped on board hard, the group I was with, we played and bought everything from the started set, which we beat then went on to play and beat every module up to Tomb of Annihilation (Except Princes of the Apocalypse, didn't like it even then) and I ... Became so 🥱 bored I just wasn't enjoying myself so I started researching and decided to move backwards, picked up 3.0 and 2nd edition AD&D played a few games and checked them out, I enjoyed it but now I was enjoying checking out other versions and experiencing "history" to some extent and I jumped into 1st AD&D and well.. I was actually starting to have alot of fun 😊 I was excited to show up and actually run but then I ended up sitting back and reading through OD&D, Holmes, and B/X I had a huge adventure to make it here and I don't make my choice lightly, I have gotten to experience many versions and other tabletop games at this point in my life and this version is what I want to run when I run, it's what I want to play when I'm a player and Old-School Essentials is everything B/X is, just put together better and their adventures are some of the absolutely best current adventures/modules
Now you have just got to do the B/X Companion cap!
Please!!!!!
One of the better books out there.
@@MrRourk Funny; I dislike it intensely. If we go past 14th level I'll just grab my Rules Compendium.
@@sunsin1592 D&D was never really meant to be played at Higher Levels. TSR and even the WOTC have no idea of what to do at higher level play. Now Arduin or Arcanum. Those games work at the higher levels.
This is the best thing I ever saw.
I love the basic editions. Had a set if each in HS and college. Gave them up, bought 2.5 (89 deamon light version). I recently picked up the pdfs of both the Modavey (sp?) and Metzger (sp?), editions. Found a pdf of the rules compendium. Am thinking of running some games from basic. Hoping to get my 2E group ready after the new year. Thanks for the review.
Best version ever !
No doubt the best blueprint to everything.
The first version I played.
I really like morale, I like the random encounters from this system, surprise as well, I like the use of the D6 in the system for these types of situations-- i feel like as a DM the tools are clean and simple. There are some great refinements now in 5e, though i prefer the older systems- but 3 places: ascending AC, advantage/disadvantage rolls, and using difficulty class make better use of the d20. I actually am working as a DM to in my own games codify bringing this simplicity in design to the table where PCs use the D20 to determine success and failures for character actions, then DM rolls an outcome. Using the the PC's d20 roll modifying a 2d6 outcome roll. This gives variation to the results for the DM, often resulting in things i might not have considered and adding a lot of variety to encounters. Applying this to surprise, reactions, finding hidden doors and so on. Yes this adds 1 extra roll, but the roll is valuable to quickly determine outcomes as a DM and it gives the plays a lot of possibly encounters. I find 5e lacks this kind of thinking and resolution for DMs, and I get fatigued DMing 5e straight, which doesn't happen if i dont have to make every granular decision.
I loved using Morale and was not happy when it was removed. It was a very simple and handy mechanic
Morale was the best thing that wasnt included in advanced D+D. The sequence of play was also good. These need slight modifiers applied based on the situation eg casting time. I try to recapture the essence of basic in my advanced dnd games. This review is perfect 10/10
Definitely pro morale, xp for defeating not necessarily killing, opens up opportunity for interrogations :)
I'm a 5e player, but the history of D&D fascinates me. I like the morale stat, But I also feel like this is something that could be easily kept up by the DM. I know my DM would usually have monsters flee when they're greatly outnumbered, although a lot of the time we would finish them off before they would have a chance to flee.
While technically true there are two consequences to consider by having the rule. 1: even if you don't roll the check a numerical rating is assigned that can help the referee gauge a creature's moral at a glance. 2: the moral rule has 'triggering' conditions, which if followed might have the creatures fleeing sooner or staying longer than the DM might think... which as a DM is very cool... at least for me. I LIKE being surprised like that, and find it enjoyable.
@@captcorajus Ah I see! I agree, that would certainly spice up combat a bit and maybe even make combat a little bit easier in certain instances!
@@TheDoughboy1917 Absolutely true!
It's worth pointing out that for another $4.99 each, you can also buy Keep in the Borderlands and Isle of Dread... but you have to buy them separately. Getting the full experience on pdf is ~$20.
That's really interesting. I've never heard of any player from back in the day talking about "callers." I don't think you were alone in not using that rule Capn'.
Regarding morale, I think that such an idea is so good that losing it is the single biggest tragedy of edition 3-5. In point of fact it is one of the main reasons I would want to play an older edition at all (along with reactions). I hope that one day WOTC brings it back as a core concept. The satisfaction of the enemy losing heart and fleeing the field is so neat. And all the more notable when you fight something like undead which never surrender and fight until they are utterly destroyed.
yeah, by 2nd edition AD&D the concept had been abandoned in the rules.
I certainly was part of the demographic TSR viewed this edition sold to, I was in middle school when this edition came out and I got started in the game, getting both this and the Expert set. I played it all through middle school, but by early high school had moved to Advanced D&D. I recall the moral rules, but not sure I used them too extensively when I played basic/expert D&D.
Imagine your teacher besting this out every Friday and having a pizza party if the whole class made no less than a B on Monday's pop quiz
My first exposure to DnD, will watch the video later today....expecting it to be great
Cant wait to learn how to get a POD. My holmes basic POD from lulu is incommoding ;)
Incommoding is not an English word. Do you mean "inconvenient"?