Earlier D&D: did you use supplements/expansions?

[Quasqueton]

Those who played (or currently play) earlier editions of D&D:

Did you use any supplement/expansion book rules, or any official magazine rules in your game? Or did you just use the core rules?

OD&D had 5 supplement book[lets] plus official rules articles in The Strategic Review and The Dragon magazines.

B/ED&D didn't really have supplemental books unless you count the Companion, Master, and Immortal rules. But there were official rules articles in The Dragon/Dragon magazine.

AD&D1 had a dozen or so supplement books plus hundreds of official articles in The Dragon/Dragon magazine.

AD&D2 had dozens (plural) supplement books plus hundreds of official articles in Dragon magazine.

Plus, many adventure modules of their times had supplement/expansion rules that could be used in the main game system (In Search of the Unknown had bend bars/lift gates. In the Dungeons of the Slavelords had swimming/holding breath rules. Etc.)

Plus again, there were some "non-official" game books by other companies for use with the D&D rules of their time. (Judges Guild, Role Aids, Etc.)

Did your early-edition games stay core-only, or did you expand/supplement your games with non-core items?

Quasqueton

 

[TerraDave]

Those who played (or currently play) earlier editions of D&D:

Did you use any supplement/expansion book rules, or any official magazine rules in your game? Or did you just use the core rules?

OD&D had 5 supplement book[lets] plus official rules articles in The Strategic Review and The Dragon magazines.

B/ED&D didn't really have supplemental books unless you count the Companion, Master, and Immortal rules. But there were official rules articles in The Dragon/Dragon magazine.

AD&D1 had a dozen or so supplement books plus hundreds of official articles in The Dragon/Dragon magazine.

AD&D2 had dozens (plural) supplement books plus hundreds of official articles in Dragon magazine.

Plus, many adventure modules of their times had supplement/expansion rules that could be used in the main game system (In Search of the Unknown had bend bars/lift gates. In the Dungeons of the Slavelords had swimming/holding breath rules. Etc.)

Plus again, there were some "non-official" game books by other companies for use with the D&D rules of their time. (Judges Guild, Role Aids, Etc.)

Did your early-edition games stay core-only, or did you expand/supplement your games with non-core items?

Quasqueton

Yes I used Unearthed Arcana. It was fun at first, and taught me a lot about RPG rules...and the danger of things that look too "kewl".

(and in 2nd edition gobs of suplements at different points, which taught me other lessons)

 

[Kanegrundar]

I never used much for AD&D1, but I only played it for a while until switching to 2E. (Even then I still used bits from 1E in my 2E games.) For 2E I used bits and pieces from Dragon and some of the splat books, not to mention pulling together pieces from various campaign settings and online sources. However, I didn't use as many supplements that I do now with 3E. I think the reason for that is there is more to use and the overall range of interesting products with D20 is a lot larger than during the 2E days. (At least from my standpoint.)

Kane

 

[JoeGKushner]

We had...

• Companion
• Arduin
• Dragontree Press
• Plantmaster/others
• Dragon
• Dungeon
• Role Aids
• Carse/Tulan/Jonril

 

[drothgery]

When I played 2e, we used pretty much any supplement we could get our hands on. But since my 2e gaming group was my fellow starving college students, that didn't amount to much. And with no d20 license/OGL stuff out there, we considered everything in TSR sourcebooks "official" (the complete X handbooks, player's option, ...)

Now, I buy a lot more stuff (because, well, I've got some money to spend), but it's not at all guaranteed that I'll be able to use it in a game.

 

[Steel_Wind]

Going bacl to Original D&D, yeah - we used the supplements and a few from SR and The Dragon. I recall using the gunpowder rules from SR.

1st Edition - bought all the books and used a lot of supplementary material in Dragon (Good hits and Bad misses #39 and the Deryni Psionic issue were well copied and well worn).

2Ed - Sorry guys. By the time 2Ed rolled around I was long gone from the AD&D fold. I sat that edition out in its entirety. I did buy the 2E CD Rom - but never actually used it in any game.

3E - I use virtually everything from time to time - except Unearthed Aracana which have a bunch of rules and variants I don't like and it's easier with my group to just "ban" the book in its entirety then pick and choose.

 

[MonsterMash]

With OD&D(1974) we used the Strategic Review stuff, Greyhawk, Blackmoor, Eldritch Wizardry and Gods, Demigods and Heroes. I had Judges Guild stuff, but it was mainly settings rather than rules - CSIO, Wilderlands of High Fantasy.

I remember using some rules stuff from White Dwarf and the Underworld Oracle too.

 

[Voadam]

Basic: can't think of any supplements we would have used, were playing different things when the supplements like the lycanthrope and mystara books came out.

1e: used stuff from UA, DSG, OA, and stuff from dragon

2e: used stuff from the complete books, tome of magic, FRCS, GH adventures, Legends and Lore, dark sun boxed set, but never from the player's option stuff, though I was considering the split stats with normal racial max caps.

 

[rogueattorney]

I believe for pretty much any rpg, not just XD&D, that the more supplemental rules you're using, the less enjoyable the experience. Generally the core rules and the very first of the supplements are the most concise, work together the best, and retain the same flavor and intent. I've come to this conclusion after many years of pain playing a 1e/2e/BECM hybrid game where everything but the kitchen sink was fair game.

Currently, I play both B/X D&D and AD&D1.

In my B/X D&D games, I use just the 1981 Basic and Expert as my core. I use the Rules Cyclopdia's Mystic class for my 'monk' and also refer to it for some spell clarifications. If I ever have characters get that far who are interested, I'll use the RC's dominion rules, as well. I've adopted a paladin, ranger, druid, and illusionist from the OD&D Supplements and magazine articles. I've also added half-elves and demi-human thieves of my own devise. Spells, monsters, magic items, and so on drip in from all sorts of sources, and I've placed most of the artifacts from Eldritch Wizardry somewhere in my homebrew campaign.

My AD&D1 games are as by-the-book as humanly possible. I really only use the three core books and the 1983 Greyhawk box. I've often thought of adding FR and Lankhmar to the campaign world, but that's remained theoretical to this point. Again, monsters spells, and magic items from all sources are fair game, but I tend to do much less of this in my 1e games. I have a list of items from UA that I might cherry-pick, but have never done so. Pretty much anything of substantive rules from after 1985 are right out the window (Survival Guides, Manual of the Planes, etc.).

R.A.

 

[Scribble]

Yes...

Played AD&D 2e but mixed in lots of stuff from 1e. (spells and demons and stuff.) Which can kind of be considered suppliments at that point right?

Psionics

Tome of Magic

Lots of Dragon articles (like that one about the various different colored Unicorns and their range of powers... that was cool. )

My players tended to use the kit books more then I did... Too much complication for npcs...

that forgotten realms adventures book for the spells..

Wilderness survival guide and dungeneers survival guide (for the tips and tricks in it, not so much for the rules...)

Towards the end we started using the skills and powers and combat and tactics stuff... but then I stopped playing for a few years.

Not sure if I use more extras now... Mainly I just use the spells and magic items (or buy them for the spells and magic items, then forget to actually use them...)