D&D General My thoughts on The Making of Original Dungeons and Dragons and a Query...

[GreyLord]

So, I finally got through this massive tome. I originally decided to get it when I heard that they would have the complete reprints of the Original Books plus supplements (note: They don't, though they do have most of it).

As I occasionally run OD&D (fewer and farther between these days) I thought this could be a better way to give players the rules to look at then letting them peruse my original booklets and set. A few years back I got the reprint...and have used that for them...but that's even getting worth a pretty good amount of coin these days (plus, it's missing a thing or two from the originals).

I thought I could use this book instead...plus as most of them are used to hardbacks for PHB's and such these days...why not?

This thing is massive. I'm still going to use it as intended, but it's not as light as the PHB. In fact, I think it's heavier than the Core Pathfinder PHBs (1e and original 2e).

It has a few things that are DIFFERENT than the Booklets I have.

Biggest item...I've never seen the booklets printed out this big. As each scan of each page of the booklet equates to a page in the book, it's actually LARGER (IMO...though not sure if you could have one that actually is different and be honest about it) than the originals. I've never seen it printed out...this big.

They have the original draft and the Twin Cities draft in here (I've never seen either of those). It has corrections marked on those drafts of what would be changed.

For those who have never seen the original printings and instead have later printings, it has a few added items they may not have seen before replacing what they have seen (for example, hobbits and ents).

I think this will do okay for a replacement to use instead of the booklets. It has all the original 3 booklets plus the supplements of Greyhawk (the most important one to me), Blackmoor, and Eldritch Wizardry.

It has a scan of the First Strategic Review and excerpts from the ones that followed (but not all of them). I have copies of the Strategic review, but never really used it in games. With this volume I suppose I could start using some things from it as they ARE in the volume (such as the Ranger, Illusionist...and surprisingly an easier and better to use Bard than what was in the AD&D PHB). I don't think I've actually READ the Strategic review for some years.

It does not have Gods, Demi-Gods, and Heroes. It HAS a scan of the Chainmail rules (which I never owned myself and have never had a copy until now...if you count having scans in the book as having a copy). IT does NOT have, though, and ironically, Swords and Spells, which is more of the D&D mass combat/skirmish ideas). It does not have a full copy of outdoor survival (though it has a small part, and even a very small, unusable picture of a map) in it.

Overall, the rules are usable as I intended to use them. However, it has me thinking. Years ago I made a 5e version to adapt OD&D, BECMI, and AD&D to 5e rules.

5e Old School and Oriental Adventures

I'm thinking that what I would REALLY like is to have all these various rules from the booklets, supplements, and Strategic reviews found in one place in a more orderly fashion. Obviously, I probably cannot do that (though I like OSR, I'm not sure I'm saavy enough to make something completely OD&D and stay within the confines of what I'm allowed to do with the CC or OGL rules). If I did that though, it would NOT use the chainmail combat system, but instead use the Alternate combat system (basically similar to what was in AD&D and more like what we have now as well than Chainmail) and Greyhawk rules for classes, monsters, and other things).

However, I think I COULD make a reasonable adaptation to 5e with ALL the rules and classes and monsters, or much of it, put together (so we'd have the original Ranger, Illusionist, Monk, Assassin, Druid, Paladin, and Bard) as well as various other things that could play as OD&D.

Are there those who may be in favor of this? I've included a poll just to see if there would be interest, or if I did something, if there was enough interest in making me actually gather it together and make it available to others rather than just me and mine.

Anyways, those are my thoughts on looking through it. It looks like it will meet the purpose I originally had for it, so I have a new book to bring around with me for when I want to play OD&D with others.

(PS: Some may not agree with this, but first thing I did was strip the Dust Jacket off as that would get torn so easily with how I'll be travelling with it. The cover isn't as satisfactory as others, but it's still probably more durable than that Dust Jacket would be. It also includes a Character Sheet in the plastic unattached to the book, not bringing that around either).

 

[Stormonu]

As a side note, having just discovered how easy it is to put together a book through LULU, if you need a "work" copy of the OD&D books for yourself (so you can keep your originals pristine) and you have the PDFs from the likes of DriveThru, you could make a copy for yourself for everyday use.

Unfortunately, I came into D&D with Holmes and B/X was really my first big foray into the game. I missed the days of OD&D, and having played it only once (at a gaming convention), it never inspired me to seek it out and try it, and it would not interest me to try and convert it to 5E.

 

[Nikosandros]

I'm not sure what you mean by "adaptation to 5e", because in the rest of the post you seem to be talking about collating the OD&D material together. Have you looked at Swords & Wizardry, which is the most popular OD&D clone?

 

[Yaarel]

5e already contains all the elements of Original D&D. For example, for the Elf play a High Elf Eldritch Knight.

For 5e, Original D&D becomes a setting. Decide which options are in play, and which options to ban.

 

[TerraDave]

So there is Swords and Wizardry...

But what is the proposal? What does "5e" mean in this context? There is certainly room for something stripped back or more old school in flavor, but what would it be?

 

[GreyLord]

I'm not sure what you mean by "adaptation to 5e", because in the rest of the post you seem to be talking about collating the OD&D material together. Have you looked at Swords & Wizardry, which is the most popular OD&D clone?

I have.

Originally whoever was making S&W didn't know what they were doing (made it closer to BX than OD&D). I remember viewing an early copy and writing a message to them that OD&D was NOT BECMI or BX. Now, though they have something closer to it now, it still is probably closer to BX in several ways and doesn't really provide the OD&D experience (for example, a very easy terminology is the Fighting-Man, which last I looked at the S&W rules, did not exist. They have the Fighter...) that I prefer, and in some ways have leaned more towards BX than OD&D or AD&D went, even with the Greyhawk and other supplements.

They have a nice system, but when I say OD&D compilation, it would be more...OD&D. I mean...almost like straight OD&D...not made for a more modern stance, but with the OD&D isms of old.

It's something, even with my other document (Linked above), I hadn't gotten bold enough in presenting.

I would be more in talking something with the original rules and stats. The hardest things to convert to 5e would be how to do it skill less and converting the combat to a more OD&D style and way of doing things.

It would be more of almost a straight-up copy and paste of the OD&D rules, but adapted to 5e. Similar to S&W in that it is categorized (so instead of looking at all the supplements and strategic review to find the different classes, they'd all be in one section, the same with monsters and spells and such).

So there is Swords and Wizardry...

But what is the proposal? What does "5e" mean in this context? There is certainly room for something stripped back or more old school in flavor, but what would it be?

Basically OD&D, but a version that you would need 5e to use as the base game. For example, adapting 5e combat rules and such, but with the OD&D playstyle and rulesets.

Basically, I want OD&D together all in one document, without having to go through multiple booklets and articles. The book has almost everything in it, but it's still not organized. I'm looking where everything needed is in one document to play OD&D, but organized so you have all the classes in one location, all the monsters in another, all the alternatives in another...etc....etc...etc. However, with DMsguild, that by nature requires it to be 5e, which means I'd have to figure out a way to adapt all of that to the 5e rules...somehow.

I'd love to do a straight up pure OD&D document, but I'm not as Saavy as some of these others who work with the copyright stuff, (and perhaps that's why S&W is not a straight up copy or even what I'm looking for in a clone, it's not legally doable) and so not sure how I'd actually pull that one off.

 

[Parmandur]

Hot take: having read both bow, B/X was mostly just a more clearly written and presented version of OD&D, so S&W resembling B/X makes a lot of sense.