I got the Rules Cyclopedia

[WayneLigon]

A correction, here. Basic D&D is NOT a simplified rules set of AD&D. It is a different game, that started before AD&D, and evolved in parallel....Find out more by checking out The Acaeum.

Corrected; thanks. I'd forgotten about the Acaeum. Bummer. Most of my old stuff really isn't worth squat I thought it might fetch at least twice what I paid for it, by now. Save for the first eds of the main core books, it looks like nothing brings much at all. Oh well. Maybe I'll try to sell some of the single digit Dragons on eBay and see what I get.

 

[Remathilis]

I finally got my Cyclopedia 2 years ago, along with some modules.

Reminds me of old times

 

[johnsemlak]

RE classes in OD&D

In addition to the Fighter, Magic User, Cleric, Thief, Dwarf, Elf, and Halfling, (and optional Mystic and Druid), the Companion set had rules for a Paladin, Knight, and an Avenger (anti-paladin) class. Basically, a Fighter could become one of those at 9th level.

A ranger class could easily have been made along the lines of the Paladin.

Several optional classes were presented in the GAZATTEER series: Dervishes (Ylarum), Dwarf-Clerics (Rockhome), Merchant (Darokin & Minrothad Guilds) and Shaman (Enthenger Khanate)

A new halfling class was presented in The Five Shires but I never had that. Was that a halfling thief varient, by any chance?

the Glantri gazatteer had a great system for magic users to become specialists. I still think this was much better than the wizard specialist system in 2e/3e. It gave a lot more detail on what a specialist would be like, and a lot of special powers. Something like Mongooses Elementalism book.

Oh, and the Headsman/Thug was basically an NPC class, (Like an Assassin).

 

[Chingerspy]

Great book, I picked it up in the old days (for me) after playing the D&D box set for a while and picking up some great modules for it. I saw this on the gaming shelves and thought, mmmm good place to start playing DnD properly rather than jump into AD&D. Glad I did!

Never looked back, looked sideways a good few times though
Still got the hardback book in pristine condition, top shelf now though as it never gets used.

Tone

 

[Bran Blackbyrd]

I have a copy of the Rules Cyclopedia too. I never used it. It's in perfect condition on the inside, but the "coating" has been rubbed off on the corners a bit. A word of advice, never loan your books to anyone...

I want to get rid of it but I've been too lazy thus far.

I have some of the boxed stuff too (no complete sets, just bits and pieces). They weren't mine originally, so they aren't all in the best shape...

 

[Geron Raveneye]

Re: RE classes in OD&D

A new halfling class was presented in The Five Shires but I never had that. Was that a halfling thief varient, by any chance?

Nope, that was the Keeper of Blackflame, a sort of mix between wizard and druid, got his own spelllist and a few cool powers to handle the artifact of the halflings.

By the way, as far as I remember, the Keeper as well as the other alternative classes were classes you could take instead of your normal class advancement. Can you say prestige classes?

 

[Remathilis]

Fighters were like 1e fighters
Magic Users were 1e magic-users, the could not specialize and were restricted to dagger only (optional weapons were available)
Clerics were like 1e clerics, but got spells starting at 2nd level and didn't get bonus spells.
Thieves were like 1e thieves, but Find and Remove Traps were seperate skills, Read languages was a flat 80% at 4th level, and they had d4 HD

I'm not sure about the Gazetteer Classes, but Paladin, Knight Druid and Avenger (the original Blackguard) were basically prestige classes. (Like bard in 1e).

Paladin: lvl 9 lawful fighter, sworn to Lawful Church. - Minor cleric spells and turn undead (I think), detect evil
Knight: lvl 9 Neutral fighter, sworn to lord of the land - Land, shelter in kingdom, etc
Avenger: lvl 9 chaotic fighter, loose alliance with chaotic church - most the same powers as a paladin
Druid: lvl 9 neutral cleric, trained under another druid. - Spell spell list, no metal weapons/armor, no turn undead. No shapeshifting.

Mystics were AD&D style monks, limited to 16th level of advancement. Powerful suckers though.

Dwarves were fighters with better saves, trap detection, infravision.
Elves were fighter/mages, limited to 5th level spells. Could cast in armor. Infravision and secret doors.
Halflings were fighters, but had benefits for being small (bonus to hit, AC, initiative) and hide in woodlands (90% chance, IIRC) but used a d6 hd and had to use small or medium weapons

The conversion area discussed the posssiblity of race/class combos and gnomes as a PC class.

BTW: I heard there was a bard and ranger class in Dragon for Basic/OD&D. Is this true? What issue was it? (so as to find them in My Dragon Archive)

 

[Geron Raveneye]

Well...

...there was kind of a ranger in the "Dawn of the Empire" boxed gazeteer, the "Forester", basically a human trained by elves to be able to use some nature-related spells and have some basic outdoors skills.

Can't remember about the bard, but Gaz 9 had the "Merchant-Prince", and the darokin Gaz had the "Merchant", both mercantile classes that had their own small spell selection, and even a few prerequesites before you could join

 

[Remathilis]

Re: Well...

...there was kind of a ranger in the "Dawn of the Empire" boxed gazeteer, the "Forester", basically a human trained by elves to be able to use some nature-related spells and have some basic outdoors skills.

Can't remember about the bard, but Gaz 9 had the "Merchant-Prince", and the darokin Gaz had the "Merchant", both mercantile classes that had their own small spell selection, and even a few prerequesites before you could join

I'd LOVE to see those stats! Too bad both sets are difficult to find and or expenssive.

 

[johnsemlak]

Elves were fighter/mages, limited to 5th level spells. Could cast in armor. Infravision and secret doors.

The Alfheim Gazatteer provided rules that allowed Elves to advance as spellcasters in a different way than human magic users. They could cast 9th lleve spells, and gained access to some clerical spells.

quote:Originally posted by Geron Raveneye
...there was kind of a ranger in the "Dawn of the Empire" boxed gazeteer, the "Forester", basically a human trained by elves to be able to use some nature-related spells and have some basic outdoors skills.

Can't remember about the bard, but Gaz 9 had the "Merchant-Prince", and the darokin Gaz had the "Merchant", both mercantile classes that had their own small spell selection, and even a few prerequesites before you could join

I'd LOVE to see those stats! Too bad both sets are difficult to find and or expenssive.

If you don't mind PDFs, maybe the ESD is for you. You can get all the gazatteers, I believe.