D&D 2E [COMPLETE] Looking back at the leatherette series: PHBR, DMGR, HR and more!

[Voadam]

These days, when people think of AD&D CD-ROMs, they think of the Dragon magazine archive that got WotC into trouble with Kenzer Co. Not many people remember that there was also an AD&D 2E Core Rules CD-ROM which bundled the PHB, DMG, MM, and DMGR3 Arms and Equipment Guide along with several digital tools for character-building, treasure-generating, and other features. Of those who do, even fewer remember that there was a 2.0 release of that CD-ROM which added in the Player's Option series. And of those who remember that, even fewer remember that there was an expansion CD-ROM that added in a whole bunch of the PHBR series. And among those people, even fewer remember that there was a downloadable expansion for the expansion that added The Complete Book of Necromancers.

Yes I knew about and got the Dragon Archive CD. Yes I knew about the Core rules CD but passed on it as making characters out of the books was fine for me. Yes I knew about and got the 2.0 CD-Rom for the PHBR and PO and DM books in RTF format which was fantasitc.

WAIT! THERE WAS A DOWNLOADABLE EXPANSION FOR COMPLETE BOOK OF NECROMANCERS?!!! I really wish I had known this when the download was available.

I had a roommate with the CBoN and it was a really nice dark magic D&D sourcebook. A highlight of the series.

 

[Bedrockgames]

The Complete Book of Villains is probably the single best of the DM splats.

Yeah, it's advice, but it's a lot of solid practical advice, and the book includes photocopable worksheets for the DM to use in developing his campaign. The advice is pretty varied, and it not only edition neutral, but possibly even system neutral to some degree. IIRC, Applecline's overview of the book on DriveThru notes that even professional fiction writers have used the book to help sharpen their writing skills. It doesn't just cover individual villains, but also villainous organizations and rivals for the PCs, as well as advice for structuring a campaign. There's some random dice tables in the back on villain methods and motivations which I think got at least partially lifted for the 5e DMG.

The warlord Bakshra is a pretty damn memorable villain, even if he's little more than a bunch of examples here. The other lesser villains given as examples are all pretty good too.



Your loss. This book really is as good as I said it was.

I remember loving this book (ad warlord Bakshra has always been something I remembered from it). It has been ages since I read it. No idea what my response would be if I re-read it today. But back when it came out and I was in high school, that thing was one of those purchases that added so much to my GMing. It definitely helped me think differently about villains.

 

[Stormonu]

I absolutely hate the complete Necromancer book. It came out at a time we had the likes of the Diablo II Necromancer, so its condencending attitude and limiting it to being a "blue book" ticked me off. I very much found the 3.5 Secret College of Necromancy book to be a much, much better rendition.

 

[Alzrius]

I absolutely hate the complete Necromancer book. It came out at a time we had the likes of the Diablo II Necromancer, so its condencending attitude and limiting it to being a "blue book" ticked me off. I very much found the 3.5 Secret College of Necromancy book to be a much, much better rendition.

Well, there was always the necromancer class from Diablo II: The Awakening.

EDIT: Interestingly enough, the first Diablo game (January, 1997) wouldn't come out until almost two years after The Complete Book of Necromancers was released (March, 1995). Diablo II - which was the first game to have necromancer be a playable class (the original game's only classes were warrior, rogue, and sorcerer, with the Hellfire expansion adding the monk) - didn't come out until June of 2000.

 

[Alzrius]

WAIT! THERE WAS A DOWNLOADABLE EXPANSION FOR COMPLETE BOOK OF NECROMANCERS?!!! I really wish I had known this when the download was available.

If you still happen to have your AD&D 2.0 Core Rules CD-ROM and the Expansion CD-ROM, you can still get the download for The Complete Book of Necromancers via a Wayback Machine cache of WotC's website (it's a viable download, I checked).

EDIT: Hm, trying to run the executable file is turning up a "part of the file is missing, might be corrupted" error. So it looks like this one might be out of reach after all.

Wait, no, the download from this archive works!

 

[Sithlord]

Just goes to show mileage varies. The Gnome and Halfling book is one of my faves and I even recommended a current 5E player in my group playing a gnome read some of it for flavor.

I don't remember much about the humanoid book, but the one I remember being the worst was the Priest's book.

I loved the last gnome kits for illusionists. Very limited access to schools. Only 3 if I remember correctly. But I enjoyed playing the very illusion specialized version of the illusionist class.

 

[Sithlord]

In

Sadly, their attempt to bring back the Monk into 2E (I think in the Complete Priest) was woefully inadequate. I think eventually some Greyhawk supplement (focusing on the Scarlett Brotherhood) brought back a better version.

There was also, of course the Complete Ninja...

I was always disappointed that the Complete Necromancer was a blue DMG book instead of a brown PHB series. Frankly, the TSR code of conduct policy really made that book toothless, especially for players interested in getting something out of it.

As for the green books, Charlemange's Paladins (Charlemange!), Vikings (Vikings & Trolls!) and A Mighty Fortress (Guns!) were the three I liked best, but I do also have a bias when it comes to Charlemange anyway...

I still adore the scarlet brotherhood to this day.

 

[Voadam]

If you still happen to have your AD&D 2.0 Core Rules CD-ROM and the Expansion CD-ROM, you can still get the download for The Complete Book of Necromancers via a Wayback Machine cache of WotC's website (it's a viable download, I checked).

EDIT: Hm, trying to run the executable file is turning up a "part of the file is missing, might be corrupted" error. So it looks like this one might be out of reach after all.

Wait, no, the download from this archive works!

Cool, thanks for looking that up. I vaguely remember it now. I only had the 2.0 expansion CD so I only have access to the rtf versions of the sourcebooks and the CBoN download was for the core rules software and did not provide an rtf.

 

[Alzrius]

Cool, thanks for looking that up. I vaguely remember it now. I only had the 2.0 expansion CD so I only have access to the rtf versions of the sourcebooks and the CBoN download was for the core rules software and did not provide an rtf.

I went and re-installed my copy of the Core Rules 2.0 and the Expansion on my computer last night (which, to my shock, worked on Windows 10 despite having been made for Windows 98), and installed the CBoN update as well; I can confirm that there is an RTF file of the book in there ("NecroBk.rtf").

 

[Greg K]

Unfortunately, I did not get the Core Rules 2.0 Expansion.