OD&D The OA Theory- When OD&D Became Second Edition

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Nah, I loved that book back then, I love it now. It brought whole new worlds of adventure to the game. I'd argue that raiding a Gith fortress for their silver swords is just as old school as an old-fashioned dungeon crawl. And that Jeff Easley cover, with internal Fabian illustrations!

I will concede that Oriental Adventures does not play nicely with the rest of AD&D at that time. When I was preparing to run a 1e campaign a few years ago I looked at allowing the OA stuff as well. Only to realize that none of it fit together, that all of the OA classes were overpowered when benchlined against the standard PHB classes. The OA classes worked okay-ish with just themselves, but those two streams were not designed well enough to cross.

Also, I remember liking New Coke at the time. But take that with a grain of salt. It's probably been close to 20 years since I've had a Coke or Pepsi.

Then, everything that sucked.
1987 Manual of the Planes

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Yes to the Crystal Pepsi, no to the John Tesh. My taste is questionable, but not that questionable.

What, are you going to say that you also were fond of Crystal Pepsi and the musical stylings of John Tesh?

 

[Deleted member 7015506]

For me OA was a game in itself. Right from reading it the first time, I thought, that it was probably not meant as an add-on to existing AD&D campaigns, but as a kind of stand-alone game. I remember thinking about integrating it into my own campaign back then, but when a very good friend (to these days) also read the book, he simply remarked, that it probably wouldn´t work, I dropped the idea.
I largely agree with the said timeline but personally I deeply enjoyed The Manual of the Planes and the DSG wasn´t so bad compared to the WSG. UA felt a bit strange, but still not too bad.

 

[Azzy]

Yeah, I have a love/hate relationship with OA.I'm inclined to put OA in the same category as UA. Some interesting things in an otherwise mixed bag of hack.

 

[Xenonnonex]

I KNEW IT!

I think we are moving from half-baked to AT LEAST three-fifths baked.

WE ARE COOKING WITH GAS NOW!

Alright Gramps time to take your meds now.

 

[Mercurius]

This feels like the bar of a pub where all the old guys hang out, slouched over their watered down ale, grumbling when loud 20-somethings come in through the door to play darts or pool, musing about Ye Olde Days. I love it.

But my only question is: Did anyone actually own 1st edition Legends and Lore, and if so, why?

Which got me thinking: the demise of Classic D&D were the orange spines. And the more professional art stylings of Easley, Elmore, Caldwell, and Parkinson - the Four Horesmen of the Apocalypse who ushered in a new era of capitalist professionalism. Sure, there was Monster Manual 2 and Oriental Adventures, but these were dead cat bounces. Or rather, the demise took a few years, beginning in 1983 and ending two or three years later.

 

[Mercurius]

p.s. I like the OP - not as a factual account, but as what (I think) it is meant to be: an improvisational, idiosyncratic, and unabashedly subjective quasi-historical re-imagining of Things Long Past.

My only issue is that I think MotP deserves mention as a bit of an island in the morass of late 1e. I remember buying DSG and WSG and liking them because they were D&D books--mostly because only one or two came out a year back then--but also wondering how I'd ever use them or what the real point was. I loved DA because I loved Dragonlance at the time, but the book was quite limited (no setting info, IIRC), and GA was all filler (although zero-level characters were cute). But MotP was a lot of fun and added depth and dimensionality to the AD&D universe.

p.s. OA is a really good show, although haven't seen season 2 yet.

 

[DND_Reborn]

(1974) OD&D -> Holmes Basic -> 1e (1977)
Within 1e, you see the classics of the genre:
1977 Monster Manual
1978 Player's Handbook
1979 DM's Guide
1980 Deities & Demigods
1981 Fiend Folio
1983 Monster Manual II
1985 Legends & Lore
October 1985 Oriental Adventures
December 1985 Unearthed Arcana
1986 Dungeoneer's Survival Guide
1986 Wilderness Survival Guide
1987 Manual of the Planes
1987 Dragonlance Adventures
1988 Greyhawk Adventures

So, other than Legends & Lore and Greyhawk adventures, I still own at least one copy of each of these. I would place the decline beginning in 1984 myself. MMII was the last of the really good books IMO. However, I got a bit of something out of all the other books except Dragonlance adventures (never used it or played in it).

Of the later books, my favorites were OA (when will 5E make this???), UA, and MotP. The two survival guides were okay and dragonlance was interesting. But unlike many here (apparently) I am in the minority that I LOVE UA! Love the new classes, love more magic items and spells, love it all.