OD&D So where did Basic D&D end up?

Carlsen Chris

Explorer

• Jul 21, 2019

• #1

My experience with Basic D&D was pretty limited. Old red book, black boxed set, Rules Cyclopedia. My group eschewed it very quickly for AD&D once we could discern the difference between them. I'm a pretty huge Mystara fan, though and I've always been curious what Basic D&D ended up looking like by the end of the line. I remember reading somewhere a while ago that by the end it looked a lot like AD&D--still "race as class" but also elf magic-users etc. Is there somewhere online or a Basic D&D book of some kind that details the line's endgame? Thanks in advance.

 

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Zardnaar

Legend

• Jul 21, 2019

• #2

Rules Cyclopedia is essentially its final form. The last BECMI product came out 1994 iic and the line was canceled 1996 iirc.

 

Carlsen Chris

Explorer

• Jul 21, 2019

• #3

Guess what I heard was false then.

 

Zardnaar

Legend

• Jul 21, 2019

• #4

I could be wrong it's what I remember. There's clones of B/X that separate race and class. There was some boxed sets after the RC but afaik the differences are fairly minor.

The game has evolved via third party. This is a little gem.

https://www.basicfantasy.org/downloads.html

The new stuff isn't by TSR/WotC.

 

Last edited: Jul 21, 2019

H

happyhermit

Adventurer

• Jul 21, 2019

• #5

There is a free online PDF of the Basic Rules of D&D, which is just a pared down version of 5e, maybe that was the confusion.

 

Carlsen Chris

Explorer

• Jul 21, 2019

• #6

I don't think so. Must be just remembering it wrong because what I read was years before 5e.

 

Zardnaar

Legend

• Jul 21, 2019

• #7

The clones have been around for 15 odd years give or take.

He might not have been talking about them or it may be a B/X and AD&D mashup.

 

S

Shiroiken

Legend

• Jul 21, 2019

• #8

Carlsen Chris said:

Guess what I heard was false then.

Click to expand...

Not necessarily. The original purpose of Basic D&D was a simple introduction for new/young gamers. After they played levels 1-3, they'd have an idea of how the game worked and could transition into either OD&D or AD&D. However, many people liked the simple format of Basic, so they created Expert as a way to allow people to continue that format for more levels. Eventually it expanded out with Companion, Master, and finally Immortal, becoming a product line of its own, and realistically replacing OD&D. By the time the Rules Cyclopedia came about, the entirety of the system was almost as complicated a system as core AD&D was.

 

ccs

41st lv DM

• Jul 21, 2019

• #9

Christmas 1980-'82 we played Basic, then added Expert.
Sometime in '82 we began blending in AD&D.
In '83 we'd moved to almost completely AD&D rules & using assorted B/E modules. Now & then we'd play a "Basic" game (meaning B/E).
1984 - the Companion set arrives. We play a bit of it with our long standing Basic characters. We use some of it's kingdom/army rules in our AD&D games.
1985 the Master set came out. We read it, but don't ever actually use it. Our games are all AD&D. Though a few of the modules have seen use over the decades since....
We never touched Immortal or Compendium beyond leafing through them. I only have those because they came in an EBay lot I bid on.

In the years since I've only played in 2 Basic games. The most recent a 7 week one shot adventure at the FLGS about 10 years back, the other a 4 hour game at one of the first GenCons I attended (about '93 I think).

So where did "Basic" ended up?
Resting in peace in a corner of my bookshelf.
All the booklets, BE/CMI, are stored in the Companion box (the Basic & Expert boxes didn't survive my childhood) right beside a copy of OD&D + a Rules Cyclopedia.

 

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lowkey13

Guest

• Jul 21, 2019

• #10

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