Bought red Basic D&D paperback. Info wanted!

[Maggan]

Hi!

I picked up a version of the D&D Basic Rules (Mentzer edition) that is a red paperback, 271 pages, the same cover by Elmore as the box and booklets but with interior illustration by Helen Bedford. I paid 5£ for it, which seems a good price.

On the back it says "This edition is not for sale in Canada or the USA".It says it's published by TSR UK, and the last copyright is from 1986, so it should mean that it was printed 1986 or something like that.

Does anyone know anything else about this book? The format intrigues me, and I wonder if there ever came an Expert book?

Cheers

Maggan

 

[Zappo]

271 pages and it should only be the basic rules? My red box edition was, maybe, a hundred pages top, and that's counting both the player book and the DM book! Are you sure that it isn't the Rules Cyclopedia?

 

[Maggan]

What is red and says "Basic Rules" on the cover?

271 pages and it should only be the basic rules? My red box edition was, maybe, a hundred pages top, and that's counting both the player book and the DM book! Are you sure that it isn't the Rules Cyclopedia?

LOL, yeah I'm pretty sure. I'll compare the two... hand on a sec...

Rules Cyclopedia, large hardback, cover by Easley, 304 pages... Basic Rules paperback... small book, 271 pages, red, illos by Bedford... nah, they aint the same thing.

I was very surprised when I found it, I've never heard it mentioned elsewhere. It's format is smaller than a folded A4 paper, so the page count is due to having a lot less space on each page to fit the stuff in. I don't think they added anything, haven't compared them yet.

Looks nifty.

Cheers!

Maggan

 

[Particle_Man]

Does anyone know anything else about this book? The format intrigues me, and I wonder if there ever came an Expert book?

Cheers

Maggan

One thing I know, that was never cleared up in any book in that series, up to the Rules Cyclopedia itself.

Halflings are not listed as being able to speak Halfling, even though Halfling is one of the languages that characters with high Int can learn.

Boy, it felt good to get that off my chest.

Oh, and did anyone else notice that the more books they added in the series (Companion, etc.) the more the low-level thief stats got lowered?

 

[JeffB]

You should head on over to The Acaeum and check over there in the foreign editions/printings section and inquire on their boards. Those folks will know the scoop.

 

[JeffB]

From the Acaeum website

Fifth UK print (1986). Same artwork as the Twelfth print US version, but consists of a single digest-sized booklet, 272 pages in length (roughly the size of a paperback novel). Published by TSR UK, but actually printed by Garden City Press. Content is nearly identical to the Twelfth print US version, with the Players Manual and DM's Manual compiled into the one booklet (although it does feature British spellings, and the fonts and layouts have been described as more professionally-rendered). Interior artwork is different from the US version. A section has been added to the beginning (pg 6), entitled "How to Use this Book", which mentions all the D&D Sets, from Basic to Immortal. An added section to the end ("What Now) describes the differences between the B-series, X-series, and B/X module, as well as the D&D Expert Set and the AD&D system. Has the phrase "not for sale in Canada or the USA" on the back.

 

[Maggan]

Thanks JeffB!

From the Acaeum website

I bookmarked the Acaeum! Great site! Thanks.

Cheers!

Maggan