For me it was the fighting fantasy books in primary school that got me interested and then AD&D 1e in secondary school. Ahhh the good old days, a bunch of kids with next to no responsibilities all sat round a table playing rpg's for hours. Good stuff man.
RULES CYCLOPEDIA D&D needs a 2nd ed version called RC Gold edition 2025 , 650 pages, all the errata fixed and many optional rules added from past old school articles. And I want Grim Jim to write it!!!! The hardcover version of RC Gold will be the last D&D book you would ever need. --------- get to work Jim, ( I'll talk to Wizards to make it happen )
In my advanced age, I've acquired a renewed appreciation for Basic D&D and Rules Cyclopedia. Although I agree with your assessments, it's a bit dense and clunky but a charming artifact.
Thanks for your take on this. So much gets wrapped up in nostalgia. Even though I was one of the kids that started with Warlock of Firetop Mountain (through the primary school book club), Red Box Basic D&D taught me how to GM - when all I had was pre-teen enthusiasm, some basic stationery and a few lads I knew who wanted to play. So, for me, BECMI - and its mental Known World (Scottish liches and werewolves alongside Spanish elves in Glantri, and Polynesian tourism nextdoor to Imperial Rome with Irish jockeys and Teutonic human race-supremacists fighting a magiocracy of addicted lotus eaters etc… etc…) stood me in good stead for later GMing Dragon Warriors, Call of Cthulhu, Paranoia, Toon (which I acquired as a swap for a Marillion cassette!) and so on, into the seemingly boundless variety we have currently. It's tricky to be objective with it.
Oh wow - Totally different read from me. The Cyclopedia was amazing when I was starting out. It was fab! And in recent years, I've been playing more BECMI more than 5e or 3.5e D&D. I found it an interesting and compelling game.
The reason B/X was the progenitor of BECMI, here's the break down, Gary had a falling out with Dave, Dave was still entitled to royalties to the D&D name, So Gary created AD&D to cut Dave out, but had to keep a line of D&D (B/X) around else Dave would have grounds to sue Gary, so Gary in a marketing genius called his version Advanced under the idea that kids would prefer to play the more adult version of the Game, while kind of treating the B/X series as the for children version. And it worked. AD&D was wildly successful. To give you an idea of why AD&D existed the way it does was because under American Copy wright laws, you have to make enough alterations to make something distinct enough to cut them out of royalties. This is why AD&D has classes for every one, and the 9 point alignment system, and several other alterations, such as using a different chart for saving throws and how the To Hit Armor Class 0 system worked, or how the Fighter gained multiple attacks the various version, and other changes.
The writer of that game worked on Rune Quest, and got permission to use the rule system from Chaosium to create his own version from the BRP rules line.
The thing that really shocked me about the BECMI rules cyclopedia is the utter lack of the excellent Elmore art that's in the original boxed sets. Utterly mind-boggling.
The older I've become, the appreciative of the hard work diligently thought out. Unlike a huge bit of the stuff that followed after. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy the absurdly broken things in mechanics between all editions, especially Monte Cooke stuff..
I started playing ADnD "1e" in the earliest hours of the 80s. I may have tried one of the boxed DnDs for a few sessions: when I first started playing not all the ADnD books (DMs Guide, Players Handbook, etc) had yet been published. I think my first DM used the Basic box, and replaced parts of it whenever a new book came out. I always assumed that ADnD was the superior game to "Basic" DnD, of course. I mean, it was "advanced" after all. Said so in the title. Lol.
Just last week I downloaded all 5 box sets of the line: B.E.C.M.I. i might purchase rules cyclopedia at some point because it apparently organizes all of it as a single unit, better than did the boxes line. And that way i can hold the book in my hand for less eye-strainee perusal. But i wanted to look at the Immortal rules, so the others were there too, so i just snagged them also.
I’ve been trying to find a BECMI game to join for a couple years now. Not sure if anyone really plays it anymore, favoring other editions like B/X when it comes to OSR stuff
Is this a drive thru RPG reprint? MY first game was RED box, i found it in my friends closet hanging my coat one day when i was about 11. and rather that explain it, we just played a game, he handed me a character sheet I made a wizard, and then died to the first rat the party ran into lol. Later i found out we were playing T1 The village of Hommlet. That was the start of my addiction.
![[Full] 4 ต่อ 4 Celebrity EP.920 | 3 พ.ย. 67 | one31](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/KwiW2M_kAg4/mqdefault.jpg)
![[LIVE] นาทีนี้ต้องพี่ทนาย | ทนายแก้ว vs ทนายไพศาล | #คุยให้เด็กมันฟัง EP.47 (02/11/67)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/HmquaO-PL_M/mqdefault.jpg)
For me it was the fighting fantasy books in primary school that got me interested and then AD&D 1e in secondary school. Ahhh the good old days, a bunch of kids with next to no responsibilities all sat round a table playing rpg's for hours.
Good stuff man.
a trip down memory lane
Love this book!
On my shelf and will never be got rid of.
5e hit the dumpster fire.
Boxed sets were for learning/initial playing. Rules Cyclopedia is for reference.
RULES CYCLOPEDIA D&D needs a 2nd ed version called RC Gold edition 2025 , 650 pages, all the errata fixed and many optional rules added from past old school articles. And I want Grim Jim to write it!!!! The hardcover version of RC Gold will be the last D&D book you would ever need. --------- get to work Jim, ( I'll talk to Wizards to make it happen )
In my advanced age, I've acquired a renewed appreciation for Basic D&D and Rules Cyclopedia. Although I agree with your assessments, it's a bit dense and clunky but a charming artifact.
still easier rule book to use and a better game to run than 5th.
Thanks for your take on this.
So much gets wrapped up in nostalgia. Even though I was one of the kids that started with Warlock of Firetop Mountain (through the primary school book club), Red Box Basic D&D taught me how to GM - when all I had was pre-teen enthusiasm, some basic stationery and a few lads I knew who wanted to play.
So, for me, BECMI - and its mental Known World (Scottish liches and werewolves alongside Spanish elves in Glantri, and Polynesian tourism nextdoor to Imperial Rome with Irish jockeys and Teutonic human race-supremacists fighting a magiocracy of addicted lotus eaters etc… etc…) stood me in good stead for later GMing Dragon Warriors, Call of Cthulhu, Paranoia, Toon (which I acquired as a swap for a Marillion cassette!) and so on, into the seemingly boundless variety we have currently.
It's tricky to be objective with it.
Oh wow - Totally different read from me. The Cyclopedia was amazing when I was starting out. It was fab! And in recent years, I've been playing more BECMI more than 5e or 3.5e D&D. I found it an interesting and compelling game.
The greatest D&D book ever published.
The reason B/X was the progenitor of BECMI, here's the break down, Gary had a falling out with Dave, Dave was still entitled to royalties to the D&D name, So Gary created AD&D to cut Dave out, but had to keep a line of D&D (B/X) around else Dave would have grounds to sue Gary, so Gary in a marketing genius called his version Advanced under the idea that kids would prefer to play the more adult version of the Game, while kind of treating the B/X series as the for children version. And it worked. AD&D was wildly successful. To give you an idea of why AD&D existed the way it does was because under American Copy wright laws, you have to make enough alterations to make something distinct enough to cut them out of royalties. This is why AD&D has classes for every one, and the 9 point alignment system, and several other alterations, such as using a different chart for saving throws and how the To Hit Armor Class 0 system worked, or how the Fighter gained multiple attacks the various version, and other changes.
Drakar och demoner were mine first rpg..
The writer of that game worked on Rune Quest, and got permission to use the rule system from Chaosium to create his own version from the BRP rules line.
Weapon Mastery came up in the Master Set (1985-ish?). General Skills were a Gazetteer development from 1987-onwards
Great overview Jim.
The thing that really shocked me about the BECMI rules cyclopedia is the utter lack of the excellent Elmore art that's in the original boxed sets. Utterly mind-boggling.
Allow me to officially advocate for more videos like this, by which I mean videos featuring uilleann bagpipes in the background music.
Interesting. Just watched a review of OSE vs BX on Hexed Press. Same comment about OSE is also a summary without context.
The older I've become, the appreciative of the hard work diligently thought out. Unlike a huge bit of the stuff that followed after. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy the absurdly broken things in mechanics between all editions, especially Monte Cooke stuff..
Bard Games 'Atlantis' rpg was my favorite Alterative to D&D. Also, the horribly named Role Aids line had really awesome adventures & Magic Items.
Monogamy has never been for TTRPG's!
I started playing ADnD "1e" in the earliest hours of the 80s. I may have tried one of the boxed DnDs for a few sessions: when I first started playing not all the ADnD books (DMs Guide, Players Handbook, etc) had yet been published. I think my first DM used the Basic box, and replaced parts of it whenever a new book came out. I always assumed that ADnD was the superior game to "Basic" DnD, of course. I mean, it was "advanced" after all. Said so in the title. Lol.
Just last week I downloaded all 5 box sets of the line: B.E.C.M.I. i might purchase rules cyclopedia at some point because it apparently organizes all of it as a single unit, better than did the boxes line. And that way i can hold the book in my hand for less eye-strainee perusal. But i wanted to look at the Immortal rules, so the others were there too, so i just snagged them also.
Have you looked at / reviewed OSRIC, which I think is AD&D 1e rewritten with a view to improved clarity and comprehensibility?
Maybe the real reason the immortals set wasn't included, was maybe because most of the Immortals stuff read to me like a trolling kinda thing.
I’ve been trying to find a BECMI game to join for a couple years now. Not sure if anyone really plays it anymore, favoring other editions like B/X when it comes to OSR stuff
What system would you say is a good example of a distinctly British game?
Dragon Warriors, Fighting Fantasy, WHFRP
@@PostmortemVideo thank you
Is this a drive thru RPG reprint? MY first game was RED box, i found it in my friends closet hanging my coat one day when i was about 11. and rather that explain it, we just played a game, he handed me a character sheet I made a wizard, and then died to the first rat the party ran into lol. Later i found out we were playing T1 The village of Hommlet. That was the start of my addiction.
Yes it is.
AD&D fans call Rules Cyclopedia the Gnostic Gospels. 😂
No,no we dont.maybe you do...
It doesn’t sound like you are speaking from experience. When did you actually start playing D&D?
Started roleplaying around '82, '83, didn't touch D&D until '86, '87 or so