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Message: <blockquote data-quote="an_idol_mind" data-source="post: 3453821" data-attributes="member: 43749">To paraphrase Mentzer's introduction to the 1983 B/E set, oD&D was created by hobbyists for hobbyists. It is obscure in terms of rules, and assumes you'll make things up and change the rules as needed to fit your game. This is true of every edition of D&D to an extent, but it was a necessity in oD&D. No two games of oD&D were alike. Every single one had its own house rules, different uses of the supplements, and rules they just plain dropped from play.Due to legal struggles between Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson over the ownership of D&D, TSR had Holmes create the first basic set in the late 70s. AD&D was just being introduced, and oD&D was still in print at this point. The basic set by Holmes was designed to be an introduction to both AD&D and oD&D. Its rules are not 100% compatible with either version, but with some work, it can be made to fit with any old version of D&D.By the 1980s, D&D had become so popular that it was now its own genre of game -- it wasn't just an offshoot of wargaming anymore. A new basic set was written by Molvay in 1981 to serve as an introduction to a broader audience. This set, while called Dungeons & Dragons, was really the most drastic departure from the game to date. It simplified a lot of the rules, eliminated subclasses like the paladin, illusionist, and ranger, and bundled the core races (elf, dwarf, and halfling) into classes themselves. This version is really not oD&D at all. It's something completely different, but interesting and fun in its own way.In 1983, Menzter re-edited and expanded the 1981 set, creating the "red box" edition of D&D. This set was written for a younger audience, and included a pair of solo adventures to introduce people to play. The set was broken into five boxes. Basic covered the introductory levels of 1-3. Expert covered levels 4-14, and introduced the concept of wilderness adventures and exploration. Companion covered levels 15-25, and introduced the notion of stronghold building and rulership. Master was levels 26-36, and covered extremely high-powered games, including plane-hopping adventures. Finally, Immortal was for levels 36+, and deal with your character becoming a god-like being. These sets also greatly expanded upon the Known World, which would become known as the Mystara setting.By the 1990s, AD&D 2nd edition had come along, and basic D&D's was dropping in sales. To revive the secondary line, TSR released "The New, Easy to Master D&D." This was a large black box, and the most board-game like of all the sets. It included Dragon Cards, which walked a new player through the rules while running him through a solo adventure. The expansion to this set was meant to be the Rules Cyclopedia, which compiled all of Mentzer's books (except for the Immortal set) and served as a complete sourcebook for D&D. The Rules Cyclopedia was and still is the only time that all the rules for a complete D&D campaign has been contained in one hard-bound book.In 1994, the 1991 black box was re-released as the Classic Dungeons & Dragons set. This was identical to the 1991 set, but didn't have the Dragon Cards to serve as a tutorial for new players. It also included plastic minis.Finally, in 1998, WotC gave the D&D basic set one final hurrah with "The Adventure Begins" boxed set. I don't know much about this set, beyond the fact that basic D&D was done with for good after this one.To summarize, the game basically involved in two different ways. The oD&D rules were mostly compiled and revised in AD&D. The Moldvay and Mentzer sets began a whole new version of D&D, which evolved parallel to AD&D. Meanwhile, the Holmes set stands as a sort of bridging point to the two. In 2000, WotC squashed everything together to create the current edition of D&D, which combined elements of basic D&D and AD&D, while adding new rules of their own.</blockquote>

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