Diablo for Classic D&D

[Technomancer]

Talking about this.

Has anyone played or at least owned/read this? Is it any good? Is it actually compatible with classic D&D in any of its incarnations (BX, BECMI, RC)? How do the classes balance against regular D&D classes?

Are there any reviews anywhere? I looked around but most of what I found was for later editions of D&D or AD&D.

I know about Diablo products for 2E and 3E, but this is listed in the classic d&d section of the TSR Archive.

 

[VictorC]

I know about Diablo products for 2E and 3E, but this is listed in the classic d&d section of the TSR Archive.

It says Wizards of the Coast on the front.

 

[Voadam]

I seem to remember it came out around the same time as the 2e one. I only have the 2e and 3e ones though.

 

[Technomancer]

It says Wizards of the Coast on the front.

By gum, it sure does. Guess that rules out classic D&D.

 

[JustKim]

I used to have all the Diablo products, including that one. I can't tell you its exact contents anymore, but IIRC the boxed set was mechanically identical to the 2E Diablo books, only with some props and different specifics.

When they made a new Diablo product, they would reprint much of what'd come before for new players but then add things that weren't in the other products. It was frustrating for completionists.

Is any of it compatible with D&D? Not really.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I owned all the Diablo products for 2E and what claimed to be 3E (those latter were a mess mechanically, and clearly were converted to 3E at some point during the process, and not well).

The 2E book was great, but IMO, the boxed set was even better, as it laid out a nice mini-campaign and was the most clearly ready to use product that wasn't merely identical to what Blizzard had released (my complaint about the 2E book).

If I were going to use any of these materials for D&D, any edition, I'd use the 2E book and boxed set. There's a bit of conversion to do, obviously, but I think it'd be the most rewarding. You'd then have the Diablo I setting and new-to-gamers surrounding areas detailed, as well as a pretty decent dungeon with -- to me -- a real old school vibe.

Also look for the freebies on the WotC site, which were pretty good as I recall (I used one in my Five Shires halfling campaign, in fact, putting a portal to the minidungeon in a book a foolish halfling opened and fell into). No idea if they're still up, but hopefully they are.

In comparison, the 3E books don't really have much in the way of setting, as I recall, which is a shame, since Diablo II travels around and adds a lot of setting info. It also doesn't cover the Diablo II expansion, of course.

 

[DaveyJones]

i think that is diaglo with a g that you are thinking about when it comes to older D&D.

 

[Technomancer]

i think that is diaglo with a g that you are thinking about when it comes to older D&D.

Nah, he's not into that newfangled 1981 Moldvay stuff, or heaven forbid the '83 Mentzer set.

 

[Nyaricus]

It says Wizards of the Coast on the front.

That could mean as early as 1997, IIRC. WotC took over before 3E actually came out (since they needed the time for market researh, etc, plus the actual development of the game).

cheers,
--N (a huge Diablo II: LoD fan!)

 

[Ulrick]

I used to have that Diablo II Boxed Set. I know I keep all the dungeon tiles for it but I threw the rule books out (they weren't compatable with 3e). I was a little annoyed with the fact all the monster where simple tokens (somebody had told me that there were minis with the box). And then the boxed set got "outdated" by the softcover Diablo 2E rule book.

If I remember correctly, the classes are definitely more powerful than the ones in Basic D&D.

Overall, I remember being annoyed at the amount of money I spent for a product that lacked content. I still use the dungeon occasionally tiles, however.