Is 1st ED AD&D dead and buried?

[kenjib]

Hi there!

Isn't Hackmaster by Kenzer virtually 1st Ed. D&D too?

http://www.kenzerco.com/rpg/hackmaster/

So really 1st Ed. is alive and well!

Naw, Hackmaster is 4e.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Does anyone still play 1st ED AD&D? I'm sure this ones been asked before, but I have been gone for a while. I have been invited by a fellow DM to sit in on some 1st ED games and I have to admit it is a fascinating idea. It’s probably been close to 15 years and might be fun, that is, if I can dig up an old Players Handbook and wipe a decade of different rules from my head.

http://www.dragonsfoot.org/

 

[Psion]

Heck, I and many of my friends, still have the books.

Oh, I still have the books. Sometimes, old ideas are still good ideas, and it's nice to have a little salvage yard.

 

[AFGNCAAP]

Oh, I still have the books. Sometimes, old ideas are still good ideas, and it's nice to have a little salvage yard.

Very true. Back in the end-days of 2nd ed. AD&D, the sample dungeon in the 1st ed. AD&D DMG (the one which was reproduced in the 3E DMG, as used in a Dungeon adventure) served as a nice 2nd level for a dungeon I created (the 1st level of said dungeon was the mini-dungeon from the Basic D&D player's book--the same one for the solo adventure).

 

[Korgan26]

I actually bought a primo comdition 1st ed Ad&d phb for $7.40 at half price books last night.

 

[Particle_Man]

I have friends (now I've moved away, alas) that started with 1st ed and never left it. They saw no reason to spend the extra money when they liked the game they were already playing.

With these guys, the original Unearthed Arcana was looked at with deep suspicion and scrutiny. Eventually barbarians were allowed, and half-elves allowed to be paladins, but cavaliers were banned.

I keep telling them that 3e (and now 3.5e) is great, but they aren't buying any new books, period.

 

[Wombat]

I know a small group that still plays pre-AD&D, in other words the Three Little Books.

There are fan clubs for all sorts of "dead & forgotten" games, making them neither, which is marvelous

 

[JRRNeiklot]

Since the travesty of 3.$, my group has returned to 1e and Hackmaster as our games of choice.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Since the travesty of 3.$, my group has returned to 1e and Hackmaster as our games of choice.

Because Hackmaster's all about the players - they're not interested in money at all! I mean - why else would they publish a monster manual that comes in 9 parts, all fairly priced at $19.99!

 

[kenjib]

Because Hackmaster's all about the players - they're not interested in money at all! I mean - why else would they publish a monster manual that comes in 9 parts, all fairly priced at $19.99!

I think your rant info is slightly out of date:

Hacklopedia of Beasts: Field Manual

K&C2010
ISBN 1-889182-31-1
$19.99, paperback

What do you get if you take a selection of popular monsters from all 8 volumes of the Hacklopedia of Beasts, collect them all in one volume, and include new variants on these classic dungeon dwellers, as decribed in the Monster Matrix? Well, you'd get the Hacklopedia Field Manual, what's what! Includes a selection of monsters at various power levels to throw at your players and keep them on their toes.

One book is good enough now - and it's two thirds the msrp price of the 3.5e monster manual. Plus, from what I've heard the stats are similar enough that you could also still use the old 1e or 2e monster books with almost no work. That means you could just use the old dog-eared 1e monster manual sitting on your bookshelf.

But yeah, of course Kenzer needs to make money. However, unlike many companies they have been known to take on vanity projects like the Kalamar Atlas and the Hackmaster/Kalamar DM Screens for which they didn't really expect to make much, if any, profit. Compare that to the extensive marketing research that WotC uses to guide product planning.