D&D Basic Set (3.5E)

[Orius]

Yeah, I'm guessing this is probably aimed at getting new players into the game as well. Ever since the middle of the 2e days or so, they've always come out with some sort of stripped-down intro product like this. I think it's also a good idea for them to be sticking a dragon mini in, even if it's of a low-powered dragon, cause everyone knows dragons are cool.

 

[MerricB]

Ever since the middle of the 2e days or so, they've always come out with some sort of stripped-down intro product like this.

Try since before AD&D was released!

The first edition of Basic D&D (edited by J. Eric Holmes) was released in 1977. I think there are quite a few people on these boards who came into the game with that set. (No, not Diaglo... )

That was a rulebook, a module, plus polyhedral dice (if you were lucky, the early sets had chits that you had to put into a cup and draw!)

In recent years, they've been moving more towards miniatures/tokens in the basic sets. This may well be partly because of games such as HeroQuest, although with 3E there is a more miniature-centric approach to D&D.

Cheers!

 

[Melan]

From what I've read about it (remember those GAMA slides I transcribed a while back?), it's a bridge product between boardgames and RPGs, with elements of both. The first couple of scenarios are likely to be very board-game like, but more and more RPG elements are introduced as you go along.

The thing I really hope it does is bring more DMs into the fold. The core books are daunting for players... how do you think they are for DMs?
[snip]

Ah, but is this a good thing? I am doubtful: while the core books may be "daunting to new players", the concept of RPGs is most definitely not. Witness the success of the old Moldvay and Mentzer sets - both full blown RPGs without "board game" elements... And yet both were wildly successful, attracting many new gamers to the hobby - more than later, more token/toy-oriented releases.

Isn't WotC shooting itself in the foot? The main draw for RPGs when I first encountered them was the fact that they were so completely different and divorced from the boardgames I played before - indeed, they opened a whole new world of imagination and adventure. By trying to pass this off as a boardgame, with tokens, playing boards and less emphasis on "complicated" concepts (which we could grasp when we started just good - in fact, I am sure so could the newest generation*), there is less reason to really try this out. Instead of separating itself from other products in a toy store, the game is trying too hard to appear as "one of them", when it actually isn't.

I also predict that the introductory scenarios will lack the open-endedness of EGG's Keep on the Borderlands - and, ironically, its action as well.

To be honest, I don't think it will be a success... Too bad, because I'd like to see it succeed, but almost 14 years of quietly floundering boxed sets tell me otherwise.

*The potential fan base? Smart kids. Geeks. NEVER underestimate their intelligence... Because they are smart enough to recognize it.

 

[Doc_Klueless]

...we could grasp when we started just good - in fact, I am sure so could the newest generation...

I think that it is difficult to compare us (who started back way when pre-1985) to kids today simply because they have such a plethora of other more visual, instant-gratification forms of entertainment. Entertainment that we really didn't have: cable TV, PC games, console games, etc. You not only have to get their attention, but you have to keep their attention.

 

[Melan]

Couldn't that be accomplished by a "game unlike any other", though? After all, it gives you something even computer/board games can't - and, paradoxically, straying closer to them means this edge is decreased.

 

[MerricB]

Back in the early 80s, D&D enjoyed a huge "fad" status, attracting new players just because everyone else was playing it!

I don't think the packaging of the game had all that much to do with it. Moldvay's edition is glorious, no doubt about it. However, if reprinted today as it was, I don't think it would be as popular. By today's standards, it looks cheap.

I remember not buying Traveller back in the early 80s for that reason: 3 small booklets? That's awful! (Certainly compared with the AD&D books!)

Cheers!

 

[Orius]

Try since before AD&D was released!

The first edition of Basic D&D (edited by J. Eric Holmes) was released in 1977. I think there are quite a few people on these boards who came into the game with that set. (No, not Diaglo... )

That was a rulebook, a module, plus polyhedral dice (if you were lucky, the early sets had chits that you had to put into a cup and draw!)

In recent years, they've been moving more towards miniatures/tokens in the basic sets. This may well be partly because of games such as HeroQuest, although with 3E there is a more miniature-centric approach to D&D.

Oh, I'm well aware of the existance of Basic D&D. There was the original Basic D&D, the Basic to Immortal sets, and the Rules Cyclopedia. I started with the black box, one of the last Basic sets released, it had rules from levels 1-5, a set of dice and a bunch of stand up cardboard counters, instead of minis. I'm talking more specifically about intro sets released after the Basic rules went out of print, sets meant to be intros to AD&D 2e, not separate rules.

Also, my guess is that they're calling this the Basic Rules, out of homage to the old Basic sets, just like many of the hardcovers have the same names as classic 1e (and some 2e) books.

Yeah, I know Diaglo didn't start with Basic D&D, he goes all the way back to the original rules that were released in 1974, yadda yadda yadda.

 

[Wormwood]

D&D, meet my annoying little eleven-year-old nephew.

Annoying little eleven-year-old nephew, meet D&D.

 

[MerricB]

sets meant to be intros to AD&D 2e, not separate rules.

That pretty much sums up the original Basic D&D, although it was intended to be an introduction to D&D/AD&D, not 2E.

It wasn't until Moldvay that the rules diverged so markedly from AD&D.

Cheers!

 

[MerricB]

Here's the updated list of contents:

16 minis:

1x Regdar, Adventurer (from Dragoneye?)
1x Lidda, Adventurer (from Harbinger?)
1x Aramil, Adventurer (from Giants of Legend?)
1x Eberk, Adventurer (from Giants of Legend?)
1x Medium Black Dragon (from Dragoneye)
1x Troglodyte (from Dragoneye)
1x Dire Rat (from Giants of Legend)
1x Wolf Skeleton (from Harbinger)
2x Warrior Skeleton (from Harbinger)
2x Orc Warrior (from Harbinger)
2x Kobold Warrior (from Harbinger)
2x Kobold Skirmisher (from Dragoneye)

4 double-sided map tiles
4 character cards
7 dice
Quick-start Rulebook
Adventure Book
Expanded Rulebook

Cheers!