Tell me about the 1E AD&D DMG

[David Howery]

Being the old timer ex-D&D player that I am, I naturally had this book... and used it until it literally fell apart. It was held together with rubber bands. Alas, I lost it when I was at Gencon, the same year 2E came out, so I didn't worry about replacing it...

 

[diaglo]

Being the old timer ex-D&D player that I am, I naturally had this book... and used it until it literally fell apart. It was held together with rubber bands. Alas, I lost it when I was at Gencon, the same year 2E came out, so I didn't worry about replacing it...

email me your address. i've got an extra copy or seven.

edit: it is the least i can do for your adventure: Trouble at Grog's...

i'm still using that one.

 

[cybertalus]

Inspired by this thread I dug out my 1E DMG today and had a flip through it. Definitely a lot of stuff in there that's still useful today. I particularly liked the table for random NPC personalities.

At the same time there was a lot of stuff that hasn't held up so well. Enough that I couldn't read the book without constantly remembering that it was written in an entirely different era.

Oddest thing I came across though was a line in the front: 13th Printing, July 1989.

I didn't pull my 2E books to double check, but I was certain 2nd Edition had been released or was about to be released by then.

 

[T. Foster]

Oddest thing I came across though was a line in the front: 13th Printing, July 1989.

I didn't pull my 2E books to double check, but I was certain 2nd Edition had been released or was about to be released by then.

Yeah, TSR printed 1E rulebooks right up until the moment 2E was released, and in a few cases continued to print new 1E books for as much as 2 years after 2E was released -- per The Acaeum the 17th printing of the 1E PH was in July 1990, the 12th printing of 1E Unearthed Arcana was in October 1991, and it looks like there was an (unnumbered) printing of 1E Oriental Adventures in 1991 as well (based on the presence of the "Gold Angled" logo which TSR didn't adopt until 1991).

 

[BroccoliRage]

The 1e AD&D DMG is the Julius Ceasar of RPG books. Get it. Discover AD&D, and I guarantee you'll be into it. The book is well written, with lots of room for the DM to customize. It also stresses the power of the DM as opposed to the power of rules lawyers and munchkins, which is really great. The book is pretty easy to understand, and the system can be learned within an hour of actual play.

Pick up a copy of the 1e PHB as well.

If you ever feel like running a well fleshed out AD&D campaign, which I'm sure you will after reading the DMG, you can match my library to give your players tons of options:

1e AD&D DMG
1e AD&D PHB
1e Monster Manual 1 and 2
1e Unearthed Arcana
1e Oriental Adventures
1e Fiend Folio
2e DMG
2e PHB
2e Montrous Manual
Basic and Expert Rulebooks
Hackmaster PHB
Hackmaster GMG
The Arcanum (Bard Games)
Dragonfist
As many Old School Modules as you can find (I have about fifty)


All I really want now is a Rules Cyclopedia. The most expensive books out of this whole collection were the HM books, and that was only about $25 each. All of this stuff is interchangeable with only minor conversion. All in all, I spent about $120 total.
Also, if you use Castles and Crusades, you can easily use all of these products as well as your current 3.whatever products. I don't do this myself, but alot of folks do. And the Castles and Crusades books are pretty cheap too.

I hope you enjoy your book, and welcome to the one true system. Even if you're only browsing.


IF you want a good online resource if you aren't understanding parts of the DMG, go to The Acaeum or dragonsfoot.org

 

[cybertalus]

Yeah, TSR printed 1E rulebooks right up until the moment 2E was released, and in a few cases continued to print new 1E books for as much as 2 years after 2E was released -- per The Acaeum the 17th printing of the 1E PH was in July 1990, the 12th printing of 1E Unearthed Arcana was in October 1991, and it looks like there was an (unnumbered) printing of 1E Oriental Adventures in 1991 as well (based on the presence of the "Gold Angled" logo which TSR didn't adopt until 1991).

Oriental Adventures I can understand, since there wasn't a 2nd Edition replacement, and they released a 2nd Edition Monstrous Compendium tie-in for it. But to keep reprinting the core rulebooks for a previous edition boggles me.

 

[Ringan]

BroccoliRage: Thanks for your list. I got 1e Oriental Adventures a few weeks ago and really liked it, so I will keep those other books in mind for the future

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

Oriental Adventures I can understand, since there wasn't a 2nd Edition replacement, and they released a 2nd Edition Monstrous Compendium tie-in for it. But to keep reprinting the core rulebooks for a previous edition boggles me.

Yeah, kinda strange. Maybe they weren't sure if 2E was going to take? (It sure didn't with me.)

 

[Lidgar]

Dungeon Dressings, Including Creamy Ranch!

There is nothing like the tables of the 1st Edition DMG.

Remeber the "racial relations" table?
Reputed properties of gems?
Dungeon smells?
Color descriptions?

These little details gave the DM invaluable tools to paint the campign world as well as sparking his/her imagination. There is evan a list of recommended fantasy reading material!

 

[RFisher]

Oriental Adventures I can understand, since there wasn't a 2nd Edition replacement, and they released a 2nd Edition Monstrous Compendium tie-in for it. But to keep reprinting the core rulebooks for a previous edition boggles me.

They did it because the distributors demanded it.