The glory of OD&D

[Sleepy Voiced]

Wow, very enlightening thread. I never really knew what the difference between OD&D and Basic D&D was. This thread has inspired me to go back to my B/X D&D stuff, and I am really excited by the possibility of running the old game again. I love my 3.X, but I am starting to see the old D&D as a separate, great game in its own right, rather than as an less developed version of the current rules.
Thanks for the great thread!

 

[oldschooler]

For those who want the OD&D experience, but can't find/afford the original rules:

D&D Basic Set (Moldvay) and D&D Expert Set (Cook/Marsh) combine to be almost the same thing. All you'd be missing is much of the peripheral stuff from The Strategic Review and later supplements, plus a few spells, monsters and magic goodies from the Greyhawk supplement. Stuff few people really lean on anyway.

It should also be noted that AD&D's Monster Manual was written while OD&D was just D&D and still in print. You'll find the stats of those beasties to be written for OD&D, not AD&D ( )! For example, the AC ratings were made with 9 being unarmored, rather than 10.

 

[Voadam]

PDFs are, of course, available for ALL products (OD&D or otherwise), but only a few of those are available legally. If anyone were criminal enough, they could even find the entire run of The Strategic Review (first appearace for OD&D of such faves as the Ranger, Bard, Illusionist, Ioun Stones, Mind Flayer, etc..). But then, who among us would ever break the law?

I've got and have read PDFs of each of the TSRs. I have the compiled Dragon collection CD. Its too bad the OD&D is not legally available.

Its too bad they couldn't get the whole D&D collection onto pdf, I'd have much preferred my red basic set and blue expert set (the erol otis ones) D&D boxed sets to those elmore cover later editions.

I'd also have liked to get City of Greyhawk, From the Ashes, and Dragonlance Adventures but I'll have to stick with my physical copies.

 

[shaylon]

After meeting Diaglo and speaking extensively with Crothian I have agreed to play in an OD&D campaign for the first time ever. I cut my teeth on the red box, and never even saw the three booklets as a kid. I look forward to the new campaign, and I also look forward to Diaglo's conversion notes for Ptolus.

-Shay

 

[Odhanan]

OD&D is the one true game in the sense that all other modern RPGs are copies of the real thing. I dig this!

OD&D is a really cool game one can make his or hers. Another cool thread about was talking about why people like to play OD&D (1974). People who haven't seen it might be interested, I guess.

PS: Way to go Crothian! The first time I read the original post of this thread I too thought you were joking somehow. I'm happy you found a system that suits your gaming style the best!

 

[Crothian]

The first time I read the original post of this thread I too thought you were joking somehow.

Joking? Me? This was so not a joking thread that I envisioned at Gen Con, planned with other people, and then had that part mostly fail. Sigh, best laid plans and all that.

 

[Razz]

Blech, OD&D? That "Stone Age" game? My friends and I, no offense, laugh at old D&D edition players. Honestly, we had a debate with one OD&D player and, well, he really couldn't give a legitimate reason for OD&D other than he enjoyed just "kick-in-the-door dungeon bashing" gameplay. Which isn't what D&D should entirely be about, it's a RPG first and foremost.

We started in 2E, and we noticed it was only somewhat better than 1E when we looked into that, but 2E didn't become fun for us until all the Player's Option books came out. And now that we're in 3.5E, heck, we wonder why D&D was like 3.5E in the first place. It can't get any better.

Yes, we're the new, hip, liberal gamers of D&D as opposed to the old, conservative D&D gamers with their rotary phones and the Atari game of Pong. You can get the 1E feel of D&D with 3E just fine, what exactly is it with 3E that is preventing one from playing it like 1E?

 

[Crothian]

Which isn't what D&D should entirely be about, it's a RPG first and foremost.

What it should or shouldn't be about is immaterial and I'm not sure you or I are qualified to determine that for the millions of D&D gamers. All that matter is what is is about. And I see more old school players that role play then the new kids. Also, we don't dfo edition wars here. Take that to CM.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

My friends and I, no offense, laugh at old D&D edition players. Honestly, we had a debate with one OD&D player and, well, he really couldn't give a legitimate reason for OD&D other than he enjoyed just "kick-in-the-door dungeon bashing" gameplay.

Well, it is settled for all time then. The arbiters of legimacy, Razz and his friends "debated" a single fan of OD&D. The OD&D fan was doomed from the start, he was up against the Razz and friends who laugh and old edition players.

Poor OD&D fan. It would have been a kindness for him to have been alerted to what he was up against...

 

[Felon]

Well, it is settled for all time then. The arbiters of legimacy, Razz and his friends "debated" a single fan of OD&D. The OD&D fan was doomed from the start, he was up against the Razz and friends who laugh and old edition players.

Poor OD&D fan. It would have been a kindness for him to have been alerted to what he was up against...

Lord knows I'll regret defending Razz's flamebait almost immediately, but nothing he said is any more full of hot air than declaring OD&D 'the one true game".

I've skimmed the five pages of this thread, and I have yet to see what it was that Diaglo said that turned Crothian from indifferent to diehard convert in the space of one conversation (or so it sounds).

Did I just miss it?