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<blockquote data-quote="KirayaTiDrekan" data-source="post: 6274473" data-attributes="member: 6755061"><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>Dungeons & Dragons 3-Volume Set</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong></strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong></strong><span style="font-size: 10px">Originally published January, 1974</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-size: 10px">Version being read and reviewed: <a href="http://smile.amazon.com/Premium-Original-Dungeons-Dragons-Roleplaying/dp/0786964650/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1427579093&sr=8-5&keywords=Dungeons+and+Dragons+Premium" target="_blank">Original Dungeons & Dragons RPG - Original Edition Premium Reprint</a> (November 2013)</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-size: 10px"><strong>Book 2: Monsters & Treasure</strong></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-size: 10px">"Rules for Fantastic Medieval Wargames: Campaigns Playable with Paper and Pencil and Miniature Figures" by Gary Gygax & Dave Arneson</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span> Open up this booklet and one is confronted by a table full of stats right away. Unlike later editions where each monster had its own little (and not so little) "stat block" here we get all the stats up front with descriptions following. There only 57 entries on the table, though some of those encompass a number of different critters (dragons, lycanthropes, etc). The monsters are roughly evenly split up between humanoids (goblins and orcs and such), undead (skeletons, zombies, etc), mythological critters (dragons and so forth), and oozes.</p><p></p><p>Odd observations - Descriptions are pretty brief, usually no more than a paragraph per monster. Orcs get a bit more detail with class levels noted for leaders. The rock-throwing ability of giants has its origins as giants being effectively treated as catapults in the Chainmail rules evidently. Dragons, of course, get a decent amount of page space, with a good portion of it devoted to subduing and selling them on the open market. Only six age categories are noted - Very Young, Young, Sub-Adult, Adult, Old, and Very Old. Notably absent are what we now consider some of the iconic D&D monsters - Beholders, Rust Monsters, Yuan-Ti, etc. There is a note about other types of monsters the DM might want to use or come up with on their own, including robots, golems, and androids. </p><p></p><p>Following the monsters, we have the treasure section. Another table relatively similar to the tables in later edition Dungeon Master's Guides with random chances of various types of coinage, gems, jewelry, and magic items. Interestingly, bandits, nomads, and pirates are noted as having prisoners as part of their "treasure" hoards. </p><p></p><p>Magic swords are apparently always intelligent and have properties beyond the simple "+1." The rest of the magic items hold no surprises, being nearly identical to their later edition counterparts. Artifacts are mentioned briefly but not given stats.</p><p></p><p>Final thoughts: The gendered language is even more pervasive here with "men" used in a generic fashion to refer to humans and even non-human humanoids like orcs and goblins. While I don't necessarily want to turn this into a criticism of the gender bias of the time, I'm really glad I didn't start with this edition and that current RPGs have done away with the bias for the most part.</p><p></p><p>Next up: Dungeons & Dragons 3-Volume Set - Book III: The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="KirayaTiDrekan, post: 6274473, member: 6755061"] [SIZE=3][B]Dungeons & Dragons 3-Volume Set [/B][SIZE=2]Originally published January, 1974 Version being read and reviewed: [URL="http://smile.amazon.com/Premium-Original-Dungeons-Dragons-Roleplaying/dp/0786964650/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1427579093&sr=8-5&keywords=Dungeons+and+Dragons+Premium"]Original Dungeons & Dragons RPG - Original Edition Premium Reprint[/URL] (November 2013) [B]Book 2: Monsters & Treasure[/B] "Rules for Fantastic Medieval Wargames: Campaigns Playable with Paper and Pencil and Miniature Figures" by Gary Gygax & Dave Arneson [/SIZE][/SIZE] Open up this booklet and one is confronted by a table full of stats right away. Unlike later editions where each monster had its own little (and not so little) "stat block" here we get all the stats up front with descriptions following. There only 57 entries on the table, though some of those encompass a number of different critters (dragons, lycanthropes, etc). The monsters are roughly evenly split up between humanoids (goblins and orcs and such), undead (skeletons, zombies, etc), mythological critters (dragons and so forth), and oozes. Odd observations - Descriptions are pretty brief, usually no more than a paragraph per monster. Orcs get a bit more detail with class levels noted for leaders. The rock-throwing ability of giants has its origins as giants being effectively treated as catapults in the Chainmail rules evidently. Dragons, of course, get a decent amount of page space, with a good portion of it devoted to subduing and selling them on the open market. Only six age categories are noted - Very Young, Young, Sub-Adult, Adult, Old, and Very Old. Notably absent are what we now consider some of the iconic D&D monsters - Beholders, Rust Monsters, Yuan-Ti, etc. There is a note about other types of monsters the DM might want to use or come up with on their own, including robots, golems, and androids. Following the monsters, we have the treasure section. Another table relatively similar to the tables in later edition Dungeon Master's Guides with random chances of various types of coinage, gems, jewelry, and magic items. Interestingly, bandits, nomads, and pirates are noted as having prisoners as part of their "treasure" hoards. Magic swords are apparently always intelligent and have properties beyond the simple "+1." The rest of the magic items hold no surprises, being nearly identical to their later edition counterparts. Artifacts are mentioned briefly but not given stats. Final thoughts: The gendered language is even more pervasive here with "men" used in a generic fashion to refer to humans and even non-human humanoids like orcs and goblins. While I don't necessarily want to turn this into a criticism of the gender bias of the time, I'm really glad I didn't start with this edition and that current RPGs have done away with the bias for the most part. Next up: Dungeons & Dragons 3-Volume Set - Book III: The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures [/QUOTE]
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