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Message: <blockquote data-quote="KirayaTiDrekan" data-source="post: 6278344" data-attributes="member: 6755061">Dungeons & Dragons 3-Volume SetOriginally published January, 1974Version being read and reviewed: <a href="http://smile.amazon.com/Premium-Original-Dungeons-Dragons-Roleplaying/dp/0786964650/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1427579093&sr=8-5&keywords=Dungeons+and+Dragons+Premium" target="_blank">Original Dungeons & Dragons RPG - Original Edition Premium Reprint</a> (November 2013)Book 3: The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures"Rules for Fantastic Medieval Wargames: Campaigns Playable with Paper and Pencil and Miniature Figures"  by Gary Gygax & Dave ArnesonThis one starts off a little odd, at least in comparison to later guides for DM's designing their own adventures.  Dungeon building is handled first by means of an example, along with anecdotes from Castle Greyhawk (it apparently had a bowling alley for 20' tall giants).  The example dungeon has a lot of what we might call "gotcha" tricks nowadays, with a lot of shifting walls and changing rooms designed to challenge (or frustrate) the group's mapper.  It seems that the assumption back then was that players would delve into the same dungeon numerous times.  The booklet gives advice about revising and restocking dungeon levels between excursions to keep things from getting boring.  Another interesting tidbit - the wandering monster tables include level titles from the character classes.  So, a superhero (the title for a Level 8 Fighter) appears with trolls, minotaurs, and wyverns on the 5th level dungeon wandering monster table.  The example of play makes me twitch as it seems the caller (the player designated to make decisions for the group and inform the DM), seems to be running the show with nary a peep from the other players, even dictating the actions of their characters.  Was the game really played like that back then?  I've never seen or heard of such a thing.The rules for wilderness adventuring consist of discussions of the types of castles and stronghold members of each character class are likely to possess and wandering monsters found in the wilderness.  The world outside the dungeon is a very unforgiving place it seems since the tables don't make any distinction based on level.  Your 1st level characters are just as likely to run into a dragon as your 10th level characters.  There's another offhand reference to the work of Edgar Rice Burroughs with the wandering monsters table for deserts indicating that it can also be used for Mars.  We then delve into the costs of building strongholds and hiring various retainers for both the stronghold and other areas (ship captains, assassins, etc).  Players are referred to Chainmail if they want to play out larger scale battles involving strongholds and such.  Aerial and naval combat are covered, however, in some detail.  Taken together, these three booklets don't feel like a complete game, at least to me.  Abundant references to Chainmail and some gaps in the rules here and there make this original version of D&D feel like a reference work for those already "in the know" among the authors' wargaming club.  My assumption, then, is that when the game suddenly became popular, only then did they consider organizing the rules in a fashion designed to introduce new players to the game. Play-Through ReviewSince originally writing this review I have experimented with creating characters and running a few sessions.  My current groups consist of my wife's character and her henchmen and my family's characters (wife playing a second character and our four kids), both of which are members of a mercenary company hired to clear out an abandoned city.  I'm basically running the city like a large dungeon crawl, as befitting the general focus of these rules.  I have, however, house ruled the game fairly extensively, using the D&D Rules Cyclopedia for combat tables and the like.  The kids are fairly unhappy with the limited character options (they were introduced to D&D via 3.5 and have played a lot of 4E and Pathfinder as well).Next up: Supplement I: Greyhawk</blockquote>

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