TSR Am I The Only One Buying Up the DMs Guild Reprints?

[Retreater]

I had The Night Below back in the day - it was one of the casualties of the basement flood. I've never been overly excited about that one for some reason. I'm also not a huge fan of mega dungeons, so that might have something to do with it.

I'm sorry to hear about that flood.
I never really thought of it as a megadungeon (even though it's on the box). It feels more like a subterranean sandbox with several factions involved. Lots of overworld stuff going on too.
My interest in it is mostly academic, since it's considered a classic adventure - sometimes put up there with The Enemy Within. I was trying a 5e conversion of it until COVID stopped our group.

 

[cfmcdonald]

Also, Dragonlance Classics Vol. 1, 2, and 3.

How's the print quality on these? There are quite a few complaints in the comments about poor scans for these, but sometimes the scans are updated later.

I have bought a lot of the PoDs, with mixed results. The Planescape products in particular seem to suffer from the PoD process, because it can't reproduce the light yellow header text very well. Also poster maps are effectively unusable in bound printed form. It would be so cool if they could PoD a 22x34 sheet. In a sense I feel like the flaws of the PoDs have whetted my appetite for real secondary market items.

 

[Darrin Drader]

How's the print quality on these? There are quite a few complaints in the comments about poor scans for these, but sometimes the scans are updated later.

I have bought a lot of the PoDs, with mixed results. The Planescape products in particular seem to suffer from the PoD process, because it can't reproduce the light yellow header text very well. Also poster maps are effectively unusable in bound printed form. It would be so cool if they could PoD a 22x34 sheet. In a sense I feel like the flaws of the PoDs have whetted my appetite for real secondary market items.

I agree, the map situation is annoying. For example, with Spelllammer - War Captain's Companion, they just reprinted the parts of the big poster that came with it in sections. They also reprinted the hex map - page by page by page. Obviously, this stuff should be formatted differently or just left out altogether.

The reason this doesn't bother me much is because independent map makers have created their own versions of practically every map ever made by TSR and posted them online. If I need a better map, I just use Google.

 

[GreyLord]

How's the print quality on these? There are quite a few complaints in the comments about poor scans for these, but sometimes the scans are updated later.

I have bought a lot of the PoDs, with mixed results. The Planescape products in particular seem to suffer from the PoD process, because it can't reproduce the light yellow header text very well. Also poster maps are effectively unusable in bound printed form. It would be so cool if they could PoD a 22x34 sheet. In a sense I feel like the flaws of the PoDs have whetted my appetite for real secondary market items.

I'm not super picky, so I may not be the best judge.

I don't think it is as crisp looking as a copy from a printer, but it is readable and the pictures are discernible.

 

[Darrin Drader]

I'm not super picky, so I may not be the best judge.

I don't think it is as crisp looking as a copy from a printer, but it is readable and the pictures are discernible.

Exactly. As long as it's a reasonable facsimile of the real thing, I'm happy. It's also worth noting that these are done by Lightning Source, which is the same company that does a lot of first-runs for the various RPG companies who do print on demand through DrivethruRPG. The prints also seem to be better on the whole than the PDFs of the same titles.

 

[Musing Mage]

I have been quite happy with the PoD copies I've received. My only complaint, is that in the case of maps, Especially larger foldout maps, like in Night Below, I wish they'd actually print up a poster sized map. It would probably add to the cost - so perhaps an option to do so in the very least...

But the quality of text, especially for the price in many cases, aren't disappointing.

 

[deganawida]

I got the 2nd edition PHB back in January. Was disappointed it was the 1996 one with the horrible orange color scheme and the lesser art.

 

[Voadam]

I got the 2nd edition PHB back in January. Was disappointed it was the 1996 one with the horrible orange color scheme and the lesser art.

I really wish they had the earlier version too. The fact that they recently came out with the 1e Legends & Lore PDF in addition to the 1e Deities & Demigods version gives some hope on that front. Their slow pace of putting out any new ones and the fact that they still have not put out the 3.0 core books means I won't be holding my breath though.

 

[el-remmen]

I’ve gotten a few to fill some gaps in my collection of originals that were too expensive to get earlier printings of. However, I am holding off on getting more until after my current face to face group chooses the theme/setting of our next campaign (probably near the end of the year), at which point if they choose a War of the Lance redux I will be getting the DL classics volumes 1, 2, and 3.

 

[Darrin Drader]

I really wish they had the earlier version too. The fact that they recently came out with the 1e Legends & Lore PDF in addition to the 1e Deities & Demigods version gives some hope on that front. Their slow pace of putting out any new ones and the fact that they still have not put out the 3.0 core books means I won't be holding my breath though.

Is that Deities and Demigods with the Lovecraftian and Melnibonian mythos, or is it just Legends and Lore with the earlier cover?

I managed to acquire a copy of the Deities and demigods that has the forboden material in the mid-90s, but I'm sure it would be of interest to some people.