D&D General Wizards of the Coast releases pay-for-download PDF of the 1974 Original D&D Three Volume Boxed Set (including Tolkien references!)

[Nikosandros]

Wow, glad I grabbed my copy while it was up...

 

[overgeeked]

LOL. Why would they even bother. They can't have made much from a $10 PDF that was up for maybe 10 hours.

 

[overgeeked]

I hope this bodes well for the first printing of Deities and Demigods!

Not unless they get a new license to print the Elric stuff. Most (if not all) of the Cthulhu material is public domain.

 

[Greg K]

Damn, I was taking care of stuff and was going to buy it after I had lunch

 

[Stormonu]

Aaaand it's gone.

That was a fast 3 hours!

 

[Alzrius]

That was a fast 3 hours!

Well, it was actually up since sometime yesterday. Still, I wonder if the traffic this thread directed toward the product made it receive a second look, and so got it taken down faster than it otherwise would have been.

 

[Burnside]

So I actually have these physical booklets, with the Tolkien references intact:

Chainmail - rules for medieval miniatures by Gary Gygax & Jeff Perrin 3rd edition (it says copyright 1975) - this is different from the others in that it has a silver cover and black plastic spiral binding
Dungeons & Dragons - Gygax & Arneson - Men & Magic - Volume 1 of Three Booklets (copyright 1974)
Dungeons & Dragons - Gygax & Arneson - Monsters & Treasure - Volume 2 of Three Booklets (copyright 1974)
Dungeons & Dragons - Gygax & Arneson - The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures - Volume 3 of Three Booklets (1974)
Dungeons & Dragons Supplement I Greyhawk - Gygax & Kuntz (1976, THIRD PRINTING)
Dungeons & Dragons Supplement II Blackmoor - Dave Arneson (1975)
Dungeons & Dragons Supplement III Eldritch Wizardry - Gary Gygax & Bryan Blume (1976)
Swords & Spells by Gary Gygax for use with Dungeons & Dragons (1976)

No boxes, just a bunch of loose softcover booklets, a little yellowed & battered.

I notice that the term "Dungeon Master" doesn't seem to exist yet in the 1974 books or in Greyhawk or Blackmoor - the term "referee" is always used. "Dungeon Master" does appear in Supplement III Eldritch Wizardry and in Swords & Spells. The Tolkeinisms are present in all books.

Are these considered valuable?

 

[Greg K]

Well, I was briefly willing to give WOTC some money for the first time in a long while. I guess that will not be happening, again, for a long time...if ever.

 

[Davies]

So I actually have these physical booklets, with the Tolkien references intact:

Chainmail - rules for medieval miniatures by Gary Gygax & Jeff Perrin 3rd edition (it says copyright 1975) - this is different from the others in that it has a silver cover and black plastic spiral binding
Dungeons & Dragons - Gygax & Arneson - Men & Magic - Volume 1 of Three Booklets (copyright 1974)
Dungeons & Dragons - Gygax & Arneson - Monsters & Treasure - Volume 2 of Three Booklets (copyright 1974)
Dungeons & Dragons - Gygax & Arneson - The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures - Volume 3 of Three Booklets (1974)
Dungeons & Dragons Supplement I Greyhawk - Gygax & Kuntz (1976, THIRD PRINTING)
Dungeons & Dragons Supplement II Blackmoor - Dave Arneson (1975)
Dungeons & Dragons Supplement III Eldritch Wizardry - Gary Gygax & Bryan Blume (1976)
Swords & Spells by Gary Gygax for use with Dungeons & Dragons (1976)

No boxes, just a bunch of loose softcover booklets, a little yellowed & battered.

I notice that the term "Dungeon Master" doesn't seem to exist yet in the 1974 books or in Greyhawk or Blackmoor - the term "referee" is always used. "Dungeon Master" does appear in Supplement III Eldritch Wizardry and in Swords & Spells. The Tolkeinisms are present in all books.

Are these considered valuable?

Not really, see here for details. Without the box, you would probably not be able to get a good price for the three booklets.

 

[darjr]

Well I’m glad I got it!