RPG OSR Review: Cook Expert D&D - Part 2
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ต.ค. 2024
- This week I finish up my retrospective look at the Tom Moldvay/ Dave Cook Editions of the Dungeons and Dragons Basic set!
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Hey everyone! The EXPERT SET is now available for POD at Drivethru RPG. Its a great scan and I have it. Here's an affiliate link for ya, if you'd like a copy!
preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/110792/d-d-expert-set-rulebook-b-x-ed-basic?affiliate_id=118139
after mountains of rule books bought, iv always come back to b/x. Its the easiest and fastest way to run a system. It can be updated very easily as well. Im 50 years old and still playing b/x
Still the best!
Tim Kask said that AD&D was really just for tournaments at gaming conversions. That was where they made most of their money. BUT, they also knew that even the casual at home players was going to buy the books. They made a killing. But you don't need it. b/x is the way to go.
@@josephgioielli I recall an interview by a TSR staff member (Mentzer?) stating in an online interview that BECMI (specifically the first two boxes) were the all time best sellers at TSR. It was in toystores, Sears catalog, comic book ads. Sold in the millions.
@@lastsonofkrypton3918 I bought my basic and expert d&d box sets at my local Farm Fresh grocery store in the book section .
I was out mowing lawns at 11 years old on the weekends for money to buy both sets at the same time .
I already had beat up copies of the little brown books my friends older brother gave me because he picked up new ones so I was hooked on the game
It's so easy to play. We could add 5 kids on the spot and be playing in 10 minutes. I've introduced hundreds to Basic D&D! 😃
Here's what made gave pause for thought: "If you only have the 1977 blue book, here's some charts to help you get by". Can you imagine a publisher in this day and age that didn't force you to buy their new product? Ah, the good old days.
I love that old DnD commercial in the beginning. Some of those players are so old-school, they don't even need character sheets in front of them.
Probably cause they are all dead... I mean it is old school. 😂
I'm in middle school and I recently convinced my friends to play Dungeons and Dragons and Call of Cthulhu with me and we have been having a blast. I love your videos and they have taught me a lot about the history of D&D and CoC. Keep up the good work!
That's awesome. Thanks for the kind words!
happy to hear new generations are enjoying the classics....but man i feel old!
I've been playing this game since 1981, and as far as I am concerned, those two books right there are the real Dungeons and Dragons.
Man, the nostalgia is killing me!
BX is the true heart and soul of DND
The major contribution for me as a teenager with B/X was it was the first “playable” version of the game we had. We went from playing (and I use that word loosely here) OD&D, which for my group was essentially unplayable and made little sense to us, straight to B/X which was soooooo much clearer and easier to understand. In hindsight, Holmes would have done the same thing for us but for whatever reason the hobby shop in my home town (there were no such things as “game stores” back then) carried OD&D which was eventually replaced by Advanced D&D and the B/X boxed sets. No Holmes boxed set was ever in that store and I have no idea why. After struggling and failing to understand OD&D, we were left with the idea that the game sounded infinitely cool, we just didn’t understand how to play from the OD&D books. Then when AD&D appeared in our hobby store we thought, “we can’t understand OD&D this supposed simpler version of the game, how in the hell are we going to understand the ‘Advanced’ version of the game,” so we didn’t buy the ADYD books when they first came out. I did buy Moldvay when it first came out because it was the “basic” game and after reading it cover to cover it was like a miracle. The book taught us how to actually play the game and before long our characters (after many PC deaths) were 3rd level knocking on the door of 4th, so I bought the Expert set. After getting our characters to about 6th level we decided we were ready for the “Advanced” version of the game and the three hardback books were quickly ours. Sadly, we did not return to B/X until many years later.
B/X is, and always will be, my favorite version of the game. Without Moldvay I am not sure I would have had the years of enjoyment I have had from playing rpgs of all types.
Thanks for including the commercial at the beginning. I’ve never seen that before. Growing up in TN there was very little promotion of D&D. It was mostly a word of mouth game until the cartoon came out. Sad that the animation on the commercial was better than the cartoon
Same!
Same here. Grew up in Knoxville and I have never seen this commercial before, and I started playing in 1981!
They had boxes of these at Sears. I remember when I got Basic thinking "Man, 3rd Level! That'll take YEARS to reach that" Well I learned it's easy with a party of 6 in the Caves of Chaos. I remember my Expert box was totally flat as each corner had finally torn. I just threw it away. I still have the my battered book and module and dice. I colored many of the pictures though. I always keep an eye out thrifting as I found both Moldvay and Mentzer versions in great shape in the box at Goodwill. We got up to like 9th level in Expert and jumped to AD&D.
This rule set always brings with it a fond nostalgia. This was the set my mom got me one birthday when it was released, and is easily the reason I am the DM I am today. I credit this set with the fact that my own book was released this year as well. Sadly, mom passed away in April, months before it was published.
This set features artwork by three names that will forever live in my heart: Bill Willingham, Jeff Dee and Erol Otus. Willingham and Dee influenced my own art, while Cook, Moldvay and Gygax affected my writing. D&D for Life!
My first D&D rule sets back in 81, the cover art still stirs up that early excitement I had. I was obsessed with it.
Love the commercial at the beginning . The ad's in Marvel comics were great . The full page ad's on the back were the best . I still have a " Fantastic Four" with a sweet Basic set ad.
I never realized that all the ads connected to tell a story until I had the opportunity to read them one after the other. Thanks Internet! lol
@@captcorajus me neither, because each "chapter" would print in multiple comics.
Ive also happily collected all the DC Spelljammer and Dragonlance comics, stuff I barely even saw on release
Rules for strongholds and followers is one of the best things ever. Getting out of the Dungeon and building a legacy is what I love.
OMG that commercial! Best DnD video opening bit ever!
Perfect timing for these two last reviews Cap'n, because they are analagous to Christmas time 39 years ago in my life... After I received the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set for Christmas in 1981 and read through the material, I was soon hungry for more even though I had not yet played the game. Within a couple weeks I went out to the B. Dalton Bookstore and bought the Expert Set box. I wound up consolidating all the material in the box for the Basic Set and, sadly, threw out the box for the Expert Set. it did save a little space on the shelves in my bedroom, at the time... :/ ... I got a lot of DM chops from these sets! The modules "Keep on the Borderlands" and "Isle of Dread" are awesome introductions to the different "games within the game" (e.g., town, dungeon crawl, and simple travel vs. hex crawl mechanics). There is a lot to learn here! I didn't play these two games much, even though I loved reading them, because I joined an AD&D group in late January 1982, but still loved DMing those modules on the side. These are great tools for learning how to "sandbox" (instead of more in vogue WOTC method of the DM being solely responsible for creating a story arc), which I find far more satisfying and fun -- true collaborative story telling in which no one knows where it's going until the story unfurls as the DM presents situations, the players choose what to do, and everyone waits for the dice to figure out the result...rinse and repeat. These two sets changed my life...Yet, as you say it is not nostalgia that attracts me to this game -- I have tried the later WOTC games and found them unsatisfactory to my taste. As you say, it is not all of the mechanics (e.g., tedious combat charts), but the feel. Certainly, mechanics can affect the feel of the game, but it is easy to take some of the more streamlined modern versions of some of the mechanics to improve the game's flow without negatively affecting the atmosphere and kinds of feelings it generates in the players. There is more to it than feelings of nostalgia -- it is the feelings that the players experience vicariously as they immerse themselves into the strange, fantastic setting and feel wonder, awe, fear. I don't get those feelings from playing 4e and 5e (never played 3e/3.5e)...I agree with you on Old School Essentials (less clunky than Gonnerman's game, although I applaud him for making it).
Thanks. OSE with the Advanced supplements has really become my go to preference. I totally put these out at this time for 2 reasons.. we're coming up on the actual 40th anniversary and I know MANY people got these rules as Christmas presents.
Wow, that's right...going to B. Dalton to find D&D stuff. Man, that brings back memories...looking through various retailers to find those elusive store displays and their gold.
Now I need to do a bad impression of Orson Welles/The Brain during session introductions.
That would be great! lol
@@captcorajus "Yes!!!" -The Brain
After 42 Years of playing D&D starting with Moldvay and Cook's B/X, I have come full circle and am running a B/X campaign.
Started With Mentzer but I have the older books, acquired used and 3 holed punched :(
It may be nostalgia for some, I think its the concise yet open nature of the rules.
Basic Fantasy: awesome value for the price of one modern core book (5th/PF2) you could outfit a whole game table with books, and dollars tree stores have "fantasy dice" . Old school Essentials is the gold standard, I love the layout and editing.
Man, those pics at the end really hit the feels with a 20. I thank my lucky stars that I lived through the Golden Age of D&D in my childhood.
Thanks. I won't lie, I was totally going for the feels. :)
That commercial is pure gold. Loved it. This is my favourite version of the rules, it just runs the smoothest out of all of them.
Thanks for these reviews. I printed the pdfs from drive thru at the library for around $8 put the copies in some protector sheets and tossed them in some red & blue 3 ring binders! No need to cut up ✂️
Man your ending was awesome on this video..... So many memories. Thank you!
Regarding AAC vs DAC, it's basically just how newer editions view AC as the difficulty number instead of it as more of an adjustment/modifier to the attack roll. In OSR, THAC0 is basically the character's difficulty number to hit. For example, a character basically receives a +5 bonus to their attack roll when attacking a target with an AC of 5 when using THAC0...and a -5 penalty when attacking a target with an AC of -5. Counter-intuitive? Perhaps. But, not if you think of AC as a modifier instead of a base number to hit. It's a hard argument to suggest DAC as being better than AAC. AAC is clearly easier to understand and more intuitive for most people, but both are actually very simple if you approach them with the appropriate mindset.
I still have the catalog. I probably sent that survey in, but I don't remember it at all.
I was a late comer to D&D, I only joined in 1991 and even by then the game seemed old yet exciting because you got to create it. I still dust these off and run them in my 5e game. I hope none of you are afraid to blend old and new, the only limit should be your imagination.
My first 5e campaign was a mashup of "Cult of the Reptile God", "Secrets of Saltmarsh" and...one other. Don't remember the third. Maybe "Village of Homlet"? I think it might have been that one...
Definitely fun to run the old modules!
I remember seeing Moldvay box sets for $3 , and in some quantity, in many stores - about the time that 2E was released, and for years afterwards. It all seemed so quaint and dated to us at the time, and the race-classes were so polarizing that many gamers never even read the B/X rules or modules, which I think encapsulated the OD&D charm and possibility far more succinctly than Granddaddy AD&D's more arcane approach. I did not buy the sets then, but am happy with what remains on my shelf from those days, including my originally-purchased Mentzer Expert book.
Very nicely done! Let's all keep rolling dice while we're still mostly vertical.
True that!!
Have 3 games going on Roll20
Conrad's Fantasy we are maxed at 10 players. Vampire the Masquerade we are maxed at 7 players. The AD&D 1e Greyhawk we are maxed at 7 players.
Thanks for reviewing the Basic D&D sets and also how the OSR systems compare to them and what they bring to the table.
you're my favorite youtuber. Though dmitall introduced me to OSR, you made me really wanna join in on the fun. Thanks for the great content, keep it up!
You're welcome, and thank you for the kind words.
He was my introduction!
I didn’t know about all of this until a few months ago. My first DND experience was with Bargle and Aleena. I had given up on DND after trying every edition since ADND 1e.
I got got OSE Advanced Fantasy and couldn’t be happier.
That's Ken Nordine from "Word Jazz" game on that TV spot leading this video. If you want to study voice and the effects you can imply with some technique; look up Nordine's work.
B/X is one of my favorites. I was 11 and went in whole hog!
Capt, you rock! Great two part review of these box sets. I missed out. I only played in the school yard with a DM, but no rules or dice. I did paint a few miniatures, but soon my family moved and I left this cool world. No one at the high school I went to played, that I knew of! I now, all these many years latter, have started painting miniatures during co-vid and reading old rule sets. Thanks and keep making these videos!
Captain, you mentioned up front that the allure of OSR is simplicity of play with a focus on storytelling. That’s the reason my group has returned to playing 1/2e for the last 2yrs. Not that we haven’t played and enjoyed 3.5, Pathfinder, and 5e. The nostalgia, simplicity, and even the sometimes goofy arrangement of the rules has brought us back.
I feel 1/2e is more complicated then 3.5. Earlier editions seem like a hodge podge of different systems and logic put together into one ruleset it lacks the uniformity that the 3rd edition brought with it. I would argue they are actually much less simple then 3.5 or pathfinder where it seems if you understand the basic premise of roll d20 higher=better and that of simple and reconciled stat modifiers you can more or less understand the whole thing and just jump into the game.
You certainly COULD argue that.
I would argue that the various minor systems in earlier D&D are way easier to keep track of than how the various feats interact with each other, and at higher levels in pathfinder (or is that Mathfinder?) and 3.5E the multiple attacks, and modifiers for those characters, whos attack rating exceeds +30 and more in a game system that uses a d20 for an attack die. Sorry, but after about 7th or 8th level 3.5E/ Pathfinder seems to fundamentally break down under the weight of its own complexity and character options.... but if that's what you're having fun with, Game on!!
@@captcorajus tell us how you REALLY feel Cap. 😊 I totally agree though, I played 3.5 and Pathfinder the most and it is SO mathy and bloated. I like the basic challenge system roll the dice and don't overshoot your attibute score versus the skills table in 3.5.
The most time consuming thing is character building and progression. Any system that can do those things quickly and efficiently is my go to.
Great vid Cap!
@@Johnny_Nitro Don't get me wrong, like you I like the core concepts of the system. DCs vs a d20 roll. Inverted ACs make a lot of sense. There's some good things there.
But then you end up with a fundamental conflict in game design with a system based on a d20. You can only level so high before the system breaks down under its own weight, and if you add more and more abilities and modifiers at every level, you EXCEED modifiers of over 20, when really, any modifier past +10 is basically meaningless.
5E addressed this with bounded accuracy. Moldvay/ cook addresses this by not going past level 14.. even if it wasn't intentional. In 40 years of playing I generally start a new campaign once characters get to around level 13 or 14 anyway. :) Of course, in my campaigns it takes 3 or 4 REAL years to get to that level.
We love how saves, AC, and Feats are handled as well as the standardization of spells, but as a DM I was getting overwhelmed by the complexity of generating unique NPCs and foes. That’s why we jumped back to a home brewed 1/2e. Combat systems are simpler, in general, and lends to speedier resolutions.
I'm playing, right now, my first D&D campaing. I laugh a lot because I'm a level 1 thief with 17 dex. He said to me after watch this video that he was thinking in becoming a assassin rather than a trap searcher... Lol. Very good video. Thank you.
Another reason these games still endure is that people who used to play them with their local gaming group from high school or college, can still easily do so with Roll20 or other virtual gaming sites. The Internet gives these old games a dose of new life. This also gives new gamers a chance to experience a flavor of old-school gaming regardless of where they are.
Orson Wells' performance in this is only topped by his (not COMPLETELY drunk) 'Dark Tower' commercial. th-cam.com/video/cxrY7MWEkwE/w-d-xo.html
I had and loved Dark Tower! Knowing what I know now, that would have been an excellent B/X adventure campaign
Wells also banged out this gem in an intoxicated stupor th-cam.com/video/o5LkDNu8bVU/w-d-xo.html
@@MrSteveK1138 Steam has a Dark Tower mod for their 'Tabletop Simulator' game and I believe there is a Kickstarter campaign to bring back the actual game itself.
Well Done Cap. Nice Finish.
Thanks for the many smiles I will have reflecting on your review and the death of your first character.
The Mentzer red box was my introduction to D&D, but from there it was this edition that introduced me to the expert rules. Young me didn't have the cash for that fancy new blue box, but a buddy sold me this rulebook and Isle of Dread since he found he wasn't really into it. And wow was this rulebook packed.
It's true an expert set can get expensive on eBay, but I find it's the box that drives up the price as finding a good condition one can be hard. The rulebook alone can often be had for $25 or less.
Great review as always!
This video is one of the best in the whole osr youtube, Cap. The usual high level of informations provided are here, but there’s also the comments on your favorite retroclones, pros and cons, and that part in the end where you tell about your story and talk so beautifully about our hobby without bragging about one style over another. Perfect video. I have to say I bought OSE (with the advanced classes) thanks to one of your videos and I’m planning on running it for my friends on New Years Eve. I play RPGs for over 20 years now, but I never played or DMed anything before 2nd edition AD&D. Let’s hope I’m good enough for the challenge of running an old school game. Cheers and happy new year!
Thank you for the kinds words! My sincere belief is that the best edition is the one you're having fun playing. I only try to present why I enjoy old school style play and invite others to at least give it a try. To me, that's the only way the OSR will continue on.
I miss those old days playing AD&D. My first was the old red box' some 40 ish years ago.
Great stuff! As a gamer that got started in the late 70s/early 80s I really like your channel. Great focus on the old classics! It's cool to see the 'old school' games coming back into vogue.😁👻🧙♂️
My DM had that book and we played, using it for years.
Ahhh the keep on the borderlands now that brings back some fun times.
Old School Essentials goes on sale at DriveThruRPG regularly. I paid less than 20 bucks (usd) for the complete rules (meaning all of the different pdf's) and printed them out. The hard part for waiting for the components to go on sale, but they do; so be patient. It is an awesome rule set! 🎅
My print out of the original rule sets are scans I made of my originals and then mixed together. When I scanned them in 2009, you could tell I scanned 28 year old rule books! My favorite rule set of them all! 😍
I remember opening the box to basic having little idea what I would find and the excitement and joy that I got from that. It wasn’t so much a rule book as a portal!
Nice review! I did not know that the booklets were meant to be cut-up and re-arranged into a binder.
While I started in the late '80s with Moldvay's Basic rule book (along with the AD&D DMG and MM), I did not get to see the Expert set until the 2000s with pirated PDFs. At one point (early '90s) I did get the Black Box set with Zenzar Tem's Dungeon that expand the game up to 5th level and filled me in on some things like reverse spells, but early D&D for me was a bit difficult being limited to 3ed level, and the confusing information between the Basic and Advanced rules (e.g. I used to assume AC 9 was clothed and AC 10 was naked or scant). But I did my best and make a lot of mistakes, but I was really determined to play. No too long after that, I got the 2nd AD&D PHB and I was able to use that rule set until the 3ed ed. rules came out.
Also, there is a small but game-braking error in page X24 that threw off all the Dwarf/Halfling saving throws numbers for all other "Basic" sets afterwards. Based on the rules for OD&D, Dwarves and Halflings save as Fighters four levels higher, but the Expert rules made it seven levels higher. This was never corrected... ever!
Another reason to play an OSR like old school essentials that takes into account the errata! :)
Thank for sharing your childhood memory of playing dnd. I didn't meet that day, hope to see someone who really playing 1981 moldvaycook dnd in live stream or recording video on youtube 😅😊🎉❤
I laughed so hard about your first characters death. My first gaming session was the exact same. My thief, a halfling based on Bilbo, dying in that pit. So much excitement and build up just quashed in an instant. Still question that particular dungeon design feature to this day.
Lol.. the sheer volume of character deaths attributed to that pit alone.
Absolutely loving your videos, man. The nostalgia feels are so good and I love how you present each of the products you review. Keep up the great work!
Very eloquent video! I especially love the end you sum up the enjoyment of the role playing hobby very well!
B2 was my first intro into D&D too. I died in Cave E.
I too have been playing for some time and find that simplistic play is best, especially when playing with new players who are far more interested in play-time than in rules 'crunch'.
Is that the full back-cover D&D comic posted?
a Google search of 'D&D comic ads' should get you there. :)
There seem to be 8 back covers, so yes that is the complete comic book in your video.
Well done, once again! Thank you for sharing, not just your review of the rules set, but also your insight and nostalgia.
Glad you enjoyed it
What beautiful talk words. Thank you for this.
Again, I recall getting this set to expand my options after I had pretty much played through the Keep on the Borderlands multiple times with low level characters. It was a very nice way to expand the game. Level limits die always sort of bother me. And the negative armor class is odd in hindsight, though at the time it was just the way it was, lol.
It's odd that so many refer to the Expert set as "Cook Expert" when nobody refers to Moldvay basic as "Cook Basic". Cook was the editor of both books and he did contribute some of the wilderness section to the Expert set, but it was Steve Marsh who wrote the bulk of it. It really ought to be Marsh Expert if we want to be consistent with labeling.
I dunno, man. A lot of us at the Dragonsfoot forums used to refer to them as “Moldvay/Cook” for quite a while until the “B/X” ‘name’ became a common ‘thing’ years later at around about 2010 or so.
@@machfront Yep, I remember. Actually it's in the DF Q&A with Marsh where he talks about writing the X.
Lost mine in Elementary school, Im on Ebay buying my childhood. Always liked it better than Advanced, it just moved quicker. Thanks.
Did anybody here ever play Gygax's "Dangerous Journeys"? I remember seeing it as a competing system to AD&D back in the day, but was so heavily vested in AD&D at the time that I didn't take much stock in it. I'm curious what Gygax did differently with Dangerous Journeys compared to what he and Arneson did with D&D.
Subbed for sure! Love Moldvay/Cook... it's the best! Also, thank you SO MUCH for the Peecho link. Submitted mine today and I'm really excited about receiving them soon. 👍
To be honest all you need is b/x for dnd. Low level play is more interesting... probably best 4th to 9th level
I don't know, I liked the transition when you gained a keep into more political conflicts, controlling your domains etc.
I've probably "retired" the bulk of characters I've ever played around 7-8 level.
@@derpreusse A lot of people do the same. Assuming there wasn't a party wipe or something we usually kept the campaign going to 15+ going into companions set, rarely to masters only once to immortals. Nowadays its more based on who is running it and how long they keep at it. we play until the current DM needs a break or wants to stop the story.
Definitely...high level play becomes tedious to DM; across the board PC's become too overpowered, takes the fun right out of the game for players and DMs alike...
Very High-Level D&D Play:
"I say, Sir William! It's a fine morning in the dungeon, but where are the servants?"
"Good Morning, Mage Drusilla! I fear the servants unspiked the door before rousing me, and got slaughtered by orcs, the same ones who are waylaying us now."
"Oh, bother!" [flicks her fingers and kills 3 orcs at once] "Who will make me my fruit smoothees now?"
[Hacks 4 more orcs with a mighty blow from his two-handed sword, yawns] "We may have to return to the village early and recruit more."
Mentzer's Basic gets the most love, but a while back I asked him if there was thing he would do differently, what would it be. His answer? To cap levels at 20. 36 was way to high. So in that regard, Moldvay's lower level limit was better. And I agree. Most campaigns end by level 10ish anyway, so I've always held B/X as my standard, even if BECMI was extremely well written and presented.
ABSOLUTELY. I just found progression to level 36 to be a bit... dare I say.. silly. The system uses a d20. Level 20 should be the max IMHO.
Great video! Another box set I owned and regret not keeping track of it! 😩 I think I’ll get the print version of rules cyclopedia from drive thru rpg.
Cool. I did go back and watch the other video you did covering BECMI. I wonder if you've thought you might have more to say about covering Companion or Master sets in their own videos like you did with this video on Expert or the other one on Basic?
Pretty cool video (probably, haven't watched it all yet
Edit: watched full video, can confirm, very cool and informative
Awesome video. I’m running Stonehell Dungeon using B/X and it’s great. Should the group attain high level I’ll be using the B/X Companion by Jonathan Becker. 😎
Merry Christmas!!!
Yes, I cut up my original sets like you did. But have you ever made a video on the board game 'Dungeon!'. I would kill trolls and grapple them to see a video of that.
Really good episode - you went beyond Expert and beautifully tied everything old school and D&D together! Thanks! All the best in the New Year to you!
A very important correction needs to be made: the entirety of all of the OSE rules are available on Necrotic Gnome’s website for free via the OSE PRD, including a number of table generators.
The SRD is handy to be sure.
I’ve seen that commercial a million times and for some reason I only now noticed it has the BECMI box sets 😜
The commercial initially came out for moldvay Basic. But was used even after Mentzer was released. If you look at the table, the the rulebook is Moldvay.
My group adventures in the day probably were low levels with highest being 7th level. While in my own personal world, I had pc's turn into npc and advance, bluild strongholds and meet other pcs in future adventures.
YES! That's always a thrill for players when their former high level PCs become the 'quest givers' for the next batch of PCs. Also that's just great world building, and shows that the player characters really have an opportunity to affect their setting.
Just got my basic and expert books from peecho. Fantastic prints. You'd think TSR was back in business with how these turned out. I'd definitely second the recommendation for peecho.
Yeah, mine both turned out amazing.
@@captcorajus Went on peecho to test out some pdf pricing. I could not find the option to switch to media mail, and standard shipping was $61 usd. Any help?
@@baronzoltar Without seeing the screen you're looking at I can't help you. However, the Peecho customer service is very good. I emailed them and got answers back quickly.
My personal opinion is that the OSR style rules creates more creativity with the player choices. Instead of looking through a few dozen skills and asking if they can try something, my OSR games end up with more creative actions.
I agree. Unfortunately, adding the cool abilities and skills leaves players with the impression that if its not on the character sheet they can't do it.
17:20 The Expert Rules are now available as POD, so I think the Basic Rules will come in a few weeks. Most likely for the anniversary next year...
I think it’s innovation and adaptation that lets us learn and gain levels faster than the Demi-humans
Mages fear what the dreaded bookworm can do to their spell-books, while DMs rightly feel the same way about cheetos and soda. :P
The advert at the beginning... pretty sure the girl with pig-tails is Jami Gertz.
My favorite OSR is Flying Swordsmen
The Stunt Die is genius.
This is a free PDF.
Excellent video.👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
ANother excellent video. Keep up the great work. Not sure if you've done it, but I'm wondering if you'd consider reviewing FASA's Star Trek game. I recall that you commented a while back that you liked it in its heyday. Take care and stay safe.
Yeah man, that has a proud place on the Shelf of Many Things, and I totally plan on reviewing it.
A ten-foot pole so you can say "I wouldn't touch that with a ten-foot pole". :)
More of a BECMI fan, but this is good stuff. Enjoyed the video. It may be said however that most of my BECMI games barely go past Lvl 14
You're definitely not wrong!
Marvelous conclusion. X3
To me character level caps makes sense because there tends to be a limit to how good u can get at something in real life. For example, I was in martial arts. Within 2-3 years, I was better than my instructors.
At work, similar deal. Within months, I was better than a lot of the veterans. And after a certain point, there just is no getting better. We all end up being around the same skill
Thanks for this.
I wonder whether they’d understand the interest in a reprint of these boxed sets?
The Expert Set is available for POD at Drivethru RPG, but not the Basic set yet.
As a teen and young adult, my gaming group of friends drifted towards the "more complicated, more better" ideology. 2E AD&D was good, but something like RoleMaster was better. Anything with the tag of "Basic" was just that, and was for children. To be honest, it was this constant need for rules to tie up the enjoyment that caused me to lose interest in RPGs for many years.
Now with decades behind me, I appreciate the Basic versions way more because they just don't get in the way. Sure, the other games out there (I mean, more rules heavy) can be a crap ton of fun, but now simplicity rules. That said, a book full of tables always brings the nostalgia butterflies.
As I have played something on the B/X spectrum (BECMI, OSE, Etc) for decades I have an explanation for level limits for demihumans.
First I don't really use them, but BECMI had a cludgy fix for the problem. But I do have most of the NPCs use them.
In my narratives it isn't that demihumans don't keep getting better at things, it is that those don't tend to be adventuring things. For Elves, there is a calling to the elven realms, for dwarves there is finally getting down to some of an "adult" job, such as being a master craftsman, and for halflings the whole point is getting enough money for the best of hobbit holes. If PCs keep going past 9th level the NPCs wonder "why are you acting so human" or pity that they have some task so important they cant give up their crap human like job.
I will be the first to admit that it isn't satisfactory for players to look at them and say, well that is as good as your character gets, but I have never done that. I do like the very human politics game of higher level play to be filled with humans, so I accept that MOST demihumans don't keep at it.
That is a good way of thinking about Demi humans and how they max out levels. I will have to remember that.
Another great video.
Somehow I managed to get my hands on a pristine copy of this around 2005. Thankfully I've held onto it. Sadly, I sold my Rules Cyclopedia in 2008 and I've never forgiven myself.
I'm right there with you. In the mid 90s my wife sold my pristine copies of the white box OD*D and all the supplements.
@@captcorajus F
What? How could you let her?
Hmmm...I see some things that OSE left out that are actually needed. I've noticed from my cheapest to more expensive osr books that they don't have full wildernes and dungeon exlporation guides.
I played this through the Satanic Panic years. Our party was cut in half without so much as a saving throw.
100th like from me! Keep up the great work!
RE: Commercial at the beginning. No one ever played D&D around a table that small
Lol, so true!!
What is the Basic Fantasy Expert Rules Expansion at 13.51 ? I didn't know it existed.
Amusingly, I apparently used my alteration JPG, that i printed out when I made up a note book with all the expanded options from the website. lol. ooops.
I will admit I don't have the nostalgia connection to Basic/Expert (I started with 1E but went through/ran more than one converted Basic/Expert adventure) and I'm not a fan of OSR because I like crunch and options. That said I still love your videos, listening to you spin your story and breakdown a lot of the adventures.
OSR has a TON of crunch, just not in the same way. OSR games require you to crunch the numbers of your equipment. Taking along things that are useful that will not burden your movement, that will come in handy in the dungeon or wilderness, and could be key to survival.
My biggest issue with newer sets, and minds you I've DM'd a LOT of 5E, is that magic is too pervasive, and removes much of the challenges. No threat of starvation because rangers can forage, or clerics can create a feast, and so on. Heck, if you have a warlock with you of a certain archetype, you don't even have to explore the Dungeon, the Imp will do all of that for you, invisibly. Having 'options' might be fun for players, but having to account for all of them when designing adventures quickly burns out DMs. :)
Hey, they listed halfling twice in the classes list. Separately listing halfling and thief is redundant.
Was Advanced D&D a mistake? The comparison to ADnD is interesting because Advanced changed a lot but Basic only got refined.
Hi, great review, do you have a link to the printing service used? Thanks
In the description!
Alas it isn't
@@captcorajus Thanks sorry might be missing something but can't find it
Sorry found it thanks