D&D 2E [COMPLETE] Looking back at the leatherette series: PHBR, DMGR, HR and more!

[Greg K]

Kits, however, left me somewhat cold. My eyes quickly learned to shift immediately toward the end of each listing, where it outlined what mechanical benefits you gained and what drawbacks you had to accept in exchange for them. I also quickly learned to glance at the proficiencies section (both which ones you had to take in order to use the kit, and which ones it gave you for free), but the rest of it was quite secondary to my mind, and not just in terms of skills…that’s a pun, y’all (since each kit has a “Secondary Skills” section, in case you used those instead of proficiencies; both were technically optional under the AD&D 2E rules, but the former were quickly forgotten by almost everyone, while the latter kept inching their way closer to being mandatory parts of the game).

I found kits a missed blessing. I liked the basic concept and the idea behind several (perhaps, even most) of the Fighter kits, but the implementation left me cold (with the exception of recommended proficiencies). I felt they suffered from the hodge podge nature of D&D and the lack of GURPS 3e and Hero System's advantages/disadvantages.
When 3e came out with feats, I thought 2e Fighter kits could be better implemented under 3e. Unfortunatly, we got a deluge of PRCs, Jame's Drisoll's adaptations of the Complete Fighter's Handbook to 5e and his implementing kits through quickbuilds with recommended skill and tool proficiencies and recommened feats (some newly created for his document) worked much better for me than 2e kits.

I actually did make an effort to learn this book’s “punching, wrestling, and martial arts” maneuvers, absolutely none of which has stayed in my mind through to now. I can only assume I did this because my younger self saw “martial arts” and immediately dove in. As it stands, this was nothing like the wuxia-flavored fighters, ninjas, or monks that we’d see later (or, for that matter, in AD&D 1E). Even so, I eagerly lapped it up.

I gave the associated charts a look and, while they were simpler and, to me, more user friendly than their 1e counterparts, I was very disappointed. They might have been my least favorite part of the book

The same couldn’t be said for things like the hit location rules or the outline for tournaments. The former struck me as too cumbersome even then, and the latter just seemed boring. Why would my fighter be winning a jousting tournament instead of exploring ancient tombs and battling goblin hordes?

I remember being ok with the hit location rules, but I don't recall us using them (or, maybe, they came up once or twice). The tournament rules and jousing, however, were welcome for our group as we had moved out of the dungeon for much of our game. There were short dungeon crawls, but as much time was spent above ground and in villages, towns, and courts as was spent fighting both invading hordes (often undead) and a pissed of wizard's guild hunting the party.

 

[Stormonu]

I agree with @Orius - if there’s one place 2E fell down, it was that it tried to hew to close to the real world in its rulebooks and FR-linked “real world” settings like Kari-Tur, Horde, Maztica. Somehow, Al-Qadim seemed to mostly escape that treatment (or I somehow missed it). That really becomes apparent with the release of the Historical series*, and the Fantasy Europe they pushed in Dragon Magazine in the time. One of the things that always baffled me was how generic and unfantastic the cover of the original 2E PHB was - knights riding on horses through a canyon? This really typifies what D&D is about?

* Yeah, I know that the intent of the Historical line was to present real-world areas, but it really seemed like TSR had used them behind the scenes as bibles to inform and frame their generic rules.

 

[Orius]

Al-Qadim avoided some of those problems because they were going for a fantasy Arabia take on it. They say as much right in the intro to the Arabian Adventures book. They looked at not just historical Arabia and its folklore and legends and things like the Arabian Nights, but also some cues from Hollywood history like the old Sinbad movies. As a result, it's remembered as a fairly evocative setting. By contrast, the D&D Gazetteers gave us the Emirates of Ylaruam which was made into the cleric kingdom (possibly as a contast to Glantri) with a very tepid fantasy Islam flavor, and it's somewhat less interesting. I remember a letter in Dragon's forum from the mid 90s that criticized this approach saying that if Faerun had been treated with the same literal historicity as these settings, we'd have Elminster burned at the stake for witchcraft (which I'm sure the haters would have loved).

 

[Greg K]

I agree with @Orius - if there’s one place 2E fell down, it was that it tried to hew to close to the real world in its rulebooks and FR-linked “real world” settings like Kari-Tur, Horde, Maztica. Somehow, Al-Qadim seemed to mostly escape that treatment (or I somehow missed it). That really becomes apparent with the release of the Historical series*, and the Fantasy Europe they pushed in Dragon Magazine in the time. One of the things that always baffled me was how generic and unfantastic the cover of the original 2E PHB was - knights riding on horses through a canyon? This really typifies what D&D is about?

* Yeah, I know that the intent of the Historical line was to present real-world areas, but it really seemed like TSR had used them behind the scenes as bibles to inform and frame their generic rules.

Too each their own. I like Dark Sun (orignal boxed set), Al Qadim, and Ravenloft: Relams of Terror. However, I and most of my friends prefer the default being closer to the real world with magic, dragons and monsters. I'll take it over The Forgotten Realms, Planescape, Spelljammer, Eberron, Nentir Vale, and the D&D fantasy of 5e. It is also why I disliked the Dungeonpunk of 3e, late 3e, both Paragon Paths and Epic Destinies of 4e and dislike the vast majority of 5e subclasses

 

[QuentinGeorge]

Al-Qadim avoided some of those problems because they were going for a fantasy Arabia take on it. They say as much right in the intro to the Arabian Adventures book. They looked at not just historical Arabia and its folklore and legends and things like the Arabian Nights, but also some cues from Hollywood history like the old Sinbad movies. As a result, it's remembered as a fairly evocative setting. By contrast, the D&D Gazetteers gave us the Emirates of Ylaruam which was made into the cleric kingdom (possibly as a contast to Glantri) with a very tepid fantasy Islam flavor, and it's somewhat less interesting. I remember a letter in Dragon's forum from the mid 90s that criticized this approach saying that if Faerun had been treated with the same literal historicity as these settings, we'd have Elminster burned at the stake for witchcraft (which I'm sure the haters would have loved).

I was about to say that witch burning was more Renaissance than Medieval, but then realised that Forgotten Realms itself is more Renaissance than Medieval...

My belief is that because Al'Qadim had a good lot of MiddleEastern fantasy and mythology to lean into (ie, the Arabian Nights touchstone that everyone worldwide is familiar with) it was able to make a "Fantasy Arabia" to match the "Fantasy Europe" of Faerun, rather than adhere to "Historical with different names" of Kara Tur, Maztica and the Hordelands.

I still fault it for continuing the bizarre D&D shyness about modelling monotheism but that's a small complaint.

 

[Alzrius]

An interesting bit of trivia accompanies this next book: insofar as I can tell, DMGR3 Arms and Equipment Guide is the first sourcebook of its kind in D&D's history.

That was a bit of a surprise to me, since equipment books are part and parcel of so many tabletop RPGs now. But some checking seems to bear out that this was where it began as far as D&D was concerned. While AD&D 1st Edition's Unearthed Arcana had its infamous "pole arm section," and The Complete Fighter's Handbook likewise introduced a bunch of new weapons and armor, this was the first time we'd get a book wholly dedicated to the subject.

Subsequently, we'd get equipment books with regularity. Aurora's Whole Realms Catalogue would follow DMGR3, describing everything that wasn't weapons and armor. Third Edition would recycle the title with its own Arms and Equipment Guide, and 4E would have not only the Adventurer's Vault, but would follow it up with the Adventurer's Vault 2 and Mordenkainen's Magnificent Emporium.

On a tangential note, a conceptual overlap between "equipment books" and "magic item books" would be introduced after AD&D 2nd Edition. While DMGR3 and Aurora's Whole Realms Catalogue stuck to mundane items, leaving the magical ones to things like the two-volume The Magic Encyclopedia set (which was essentially a big index of magic items in the game) and the Encyclopedia Magica series, 3E and 4E would be more liberal with mixing magical items alongside the mundane ones, though books like the Magic Item Compendium would, as it says on the tin, deal with enchanted goods only.

Having said all of that, this first foray into the area of equipment-specific sourcebooks is very unlike what came later. I know I already played the "wow did I misremember this!" card, but I honestly thought this was more in line with its descendants in describing a truckload of new equipment for AD&D 2E characters.

Nope.

Rather, this book is chock-full of flavor text and illustrations describing the equipment that's already in the AD&D 2E Player's Handbook. Very little in the way of new mechanics are here, mostly in the way of minor expansions for things like helmets and the odd optional rule (the tables for barding, i.e. armor for mounts, are the exception). It's staggering how much this runs counter to contemporary expectations.

Each suit of armor (which, rather than alphabetically, are listed in order of how much they improve your Armor Class), for instance, is given a full page of descriptive text and a full-page illustration. So we not only get details of how leather armor can come from animals other than cows, for instance, but also get a picture of an adventurer stitching their leather armor up by the campfire.

That's not to say that what's here isn't useful; the pictures and expanded descriptions are helpful in fleshing out little details about some of the most ubiquitous parts of the game world. But make no mistake: that's this sourcebook's only major goal, and I find myself questioning if this was the best format for such an undertaking. As handy as this can be, did we really need a stand-alone supplement to let us know how long a long sword is, compared to how short a short sword? It's like seeing the world's most exquisite doormat; at some point you have to wonder if the utility of the thing warranted the level of effort that went into making it.

Overall, it's not hard to see why this format was abandoned in future supplements, and equipment guidebooks became about new equipment. It's a change that I heartily prefer.

Please note my use of affiliate links in this post.

 

[Stormonu]

of Those 2E supplements, Arms and Equipment is the one I still reference to this day, as well as Aurora’s (which, unfortunately, I misplaced my copy).

The item I most remembe that caught me off-guard was the Morningstar - I had a completely different mental image and expectation how it was used before reading the entry.

 

[Alzrius]

of Those 2E supplements, Arms and Equipment is the one I still reference to this day, as well as Aurora’s (which, unfortunately, I misplaced my copy).

It took me forever to get a physical copy of Aurora's Whole Realms Catalogue, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that once I got a chance to sit down and read it, it lived up to the hype. That's not something that happens very often.

The item I most remembe that caught me off-guard was the Morningstar - I had a completely different mental image and expectation how it was used before reading the entry.

I used to get the mace, flail, and morningstar mixed up all the time; I've since managed to learn which is which, something I still can't say for the various pole arms.

 

[Voadam]

I read the arms and equipment guide off of the 2e rules CD's rtf of the book, so no pictures. I don't remember anything particularly standing out. It probably lost a bit without the art.

 

[TwoSix]

I read the arms and equipment guide off of the 2e rules CD's rtf of the book, so no pictures. I don't remember anything particularly standing out. It probably lost a bit without the art.

The book was useless without the pictures. It's a coffee table book except you don't want to put it on your coffee table.