Holmes vs Moldvay vs Mentzer

[RFisher]

Is there a link or can someone list/show what box covers = what set
Since it was over 20 years ago - I don't remember authors but I do remember the different box sets.

Does this help?

 

[kenobi65]

Moldvay

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...tBoxCover.jpg/175px-DandDBasicSetBoxCover.jpg

This is the one I started with. It came with those crappy dice that you had to color/crayon in the numbers.

Yup, that's the box from the Moldvay Basic game; I started with it, too. Same dice, too.

Parenthetical comment for all you yoots: Up through the mid-80s, most dice did not come pre-inked. You had to either use a marker to color in the numbers, or rub a crayon into the numbers, or use them uninked (led to much fudging of die rolls).

 

[kenobi65]

Does this help?

Nice summary line-up!

 

[T. Foster]

Originally Posted by T. Foster
Moldvay's single rulebook is divided into 2 books -- a player's book and a DM's book

I think you meant to type "Mentzer" here.

Nah, I just let brevty get in the way of clarity. What I meant was: "What had been a single rulebook in the Moldvay set is in the Mentzer set divided into two books..."

 

[Prince of Happiness]

Holmes edition also has the awesomeness that is Zenopus. Never forget Zenopus and his caged ape.

Also for the first reference I've ever read of Cthulhu (as a suggested god for PCs!!!). Little did I know that once I followed down that path of lore...

 

[Geoffrey]

Holmes edition also has the awesomeness that is Zenopus. Never forget Zenopus and his caged ape.

Also for the first reference I've ever read of Cthulhu (as a suggested god for PCs!!!). Little did I know that once I followed down that path of lore...

Yep, between that and the Cthulhu Mythos section in the early printings of the AD&D Deities & Demigods Cyclopedia, I've been following the same path...

 

[Glyfair]

Is there a link or can someone list/show what box covers = what set
Since it was over 20 years ago - I don't remember authors but I do remember the different box sets.

Others have given great links, but this link is much more detailed and has links to large close ups of the various covers. It even goes into such minutia as which printings have dice and which have chits.

 

[Prince of Happiness]

I still have to get my hands on the Monster & Treasure Assortment. I only have the Dungeon Geomorphs..."this man is an insane fiend who will attack the party."

 

[MerricB]

I think they'd like the provision saying almost anything can be used as a player character . . .

It's lifted almost directly from OD&D - Gygax there says there's no reason a dragon can't be a PC. How he changed his mind in the next 5 years!

Cheers!

 

[Gentlegamer]

It's lifted almost directly from OD&D - Gygax there says there's no reason a dragon can't be a PC. How he changed his mind in the next 5 years!

Yup . . . that was one of the precise reasons for the advent of AD&D. No two groups played D&D the same, at all. AD&D was meant to be a "stricter" base game to allow a meaningful discussion of the game, its rules, and experiences amongst playing groups. Of course, this was from a commercial standpoint. I think Gary has always said what you do in your game is your own business (his campaign wasn't by-the-book AD&D, either).

Of course, the part about playing anything you want in OD&D and Holmes Basic that 3e players may not like is that DM approval is required . . .