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<blockquote data-quote="Ariosto" data-source="post: 4897962" data-attributes="member: 80487">I was never really concerned with &quot;playing an edition&quot; from TSR -- it was all just &quot;D&amp;D&quot; to me -- so I'll go with what is literally my favorite book:1977 &quot;blue cover&quot; Dungeons &amp; Dragons, a.k.a. &quot;Holmes Basic&quot;The 1st ed. Dungeon Masters Guide gets a lot more reference from me these days, containing as it does such a mind-boggling wealth of useful material.Still, the Holmes book never fails to refresh and inspire me when I turn its pages. Nostalgia is a significant part of that pleasure, although not when I pick up the little brown books (my introduction, and what I have used most as DM) or the hard-bounds (representative of most of my experience as player). There's something neat about a book that's just 48 pages, yet opens up whole worlds of adventure. From this latter-day perspective, it's cool to notice distinctive little rules and hints of &quot;paths not taken&quot; in later developments. The encouragement to &quot;do your own thing&quot;, and the informality in addressing the reader are a nice change of pace (also notable in Tunnels &amp; Trolls).It takes me back, not so much to a point in time as to a place of understanding. When I have wandered too far into complications, Holmes brings me back to the real basics. Oh, yeah! This is what the game is all about! Lightning strikes again, and I am re-energized.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Ariosto, post: 4897962, member: 80487"] I was never really concerned with "playing an edition" from TSR -- it was all just "D&D" to me -- so I'll go with what is literally my favorite book: [b]1977 "blue cover" [i]Dungeons & Dragons[/i], a.k.a. "Holmes Basic"[/b] The 1st ed. [i]Dungeon Masters Guide[/i] gets a lot more reference from me these days, containing as it does such a mind-boggling wealth of useful material. Still, the Holmes book never fails to refresh and inspire me when I turn its pages. Nostalgia is a significant part of that pleasure, although not when I pick up the little brown books (my introduction, and what I have used most as DM) or the hard-bounds (representative of most of my experience as player). There's something neat about a book that's just 48 pages, yet opens up whole worlds of adventure. From this latter-day perspective, it's cool to notice distinctive little rules and hints of "paths not taken" in later developments. The encouragement to "do your own thing", and the informality in addressing the reader are a nice change of pace (also notable in [i]Tunnels & Trolls[/i]). It takes me back, not so much to a point in time as to a place of understanding. When I have wandered too far into complications, Holmes brings me back to the real basics. [i]Oh, yeah! This is what the game is all about![/i] Lightning strikes again, and I am re-energized. [/QUOTE]

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