Which Basic?

[Jack Daniel]

Denning. Not the original broad black box (TSR1070, "New Easy-to-Master D&D Game"), but the smaller reprint (TSR1106, "Classic D&D Game"). It was the version with everything in a single thick booklet and a normal DM's screen, instead of the "dragon cards" that fit into the little red screen. But both versions of the game had all of the same stuff. Zanzer Tem's dungeon, Axel's funny dice, Jerj the hobgoblin, Dimitrij the minotaur, that blasted gold ball-and-chain on Gorgo with the curse... and of course Stonefast dungeon and Kamro the white dragon. Good times.

It was better than Moldvay or Mentzer, too, because Denning went up to 5th level instead of 3rd. My friends and I played the hell out of this boxed set for months and months, back when we were in high school. Best starter set ever, in terms of sheer utility and playability.

EDIT: I've just suddenly noticed something. When talking about classic D&D, the recieved names for these editions are "OD&D" or "LBB" for the initial set, "Holmes" for the revision, "Moldvay/Cook" and sometimes Marsh for B/X, "Mentzer" for BECMI, and then just "RC". Why aren't they all named for the authors? Gygax/Arneson, Holmes, Moldvay/Cook/Marsh, Mentzer, Denning/Allston. That seems logical to me. It's only slightly less ambiguous than using the years (D&D '74, '77, '81, '83, and '91).

 

[dagger]

AD&D 1st Edition....moved to 3/3.5, then to 4e, now we have dropped 4e and moved to Pathfinder

 

[Jan van Leyden]

Moldvay/Cook was my first. Four weeks later I ordered the AD&D 1e DMG, because I took exception on the race=class paradigm. What's more, weapon damage as a function of the weapon type was an optional rule. What could be more primitive?

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Holmes edition first, but just to tide us over until the AD&D books, which we knew were out there, were available in our area.

 

[occam]

Browsing through the Monster Manual at the local B. Dalton was what piqued my interest in D&D, but Moldvay/Cook is what got me playing, in 1982. By the following year we were playing AD&D, which might still account for more of my playing time than all other editions, combined.

 

[Agamon]

My copy of Basic is Moldvay/Cook. My buddy had the Expert rules, by the time I got them, they were the Mentzer version. I also have the Master rules (again, buddy had Companion, so never did pick them up, was never interested in Immortal, hated epic rules even back then, lol) and eventually got the Rules Cyclopedia, which is what I would like to play if I were to revisit the system.

 

[Remathilis]

Is this a poll about the version you STARTED with, or the one you PLAYED THE MOST?

I'm asking because my answer would be quite different, depending on the basic thread assumption.

Either; its what you think of when I say "Basic D&D".

 

[Uder]

EDIT: I've just suddenly noticed something. When talking about classic D&D, the recieved names for these editions are "OD&D" or "LBB" for the initial set, "Holmes" for the revision, "Moldvay/Cook" and sometimes Marsh for B/X, "Mentzer" for BECMI, and then just "RC". Why aren't they all named for the authors? Gygax/Arneson, Holmes, Moldvay/Cook/Marsh, Mentzer, Denning/Allston. That seems logical to me. It's only slightly less ambiguous than using the years (D&D '74, '77, '81, '83, and '91).

For me, ODD/LBB, B/X, BECMI, RC, 2e, etc. are easier to type than the developers' names. Likewise Holmes is quicker than Blue Book. As far as I'm concerned the authors for all of them are Gygax/Arneson anyway... the other names are just the employees that repackaged the work for different products. 3E and 4E are slightly different stories, since they are different game engines piggybacked onto the original framework... and I'm definitely not going to call those Tweet/Williams/Adkison/Baker/Cook or Heinsoo/Wyatt/Schubert/Mearls/Pardo/Chilton/Kaplan/Collins editions.

 

[Remathilis]

Mentzer.

I'm pretty certain (that is, 100%) that is was Companion rules, and not Challenger.

Aaak! You're right! Challenger was the tagline for 1991 Basic Supplement items, like the DM Screen and the Creature Catalog.

Its been fixed in the original post.

"I started in AD&D, in 3e, or later" - I'm puzzled by this option too. AD&D was published in 1978. First Ed anyway. Is it covered by this option? The "later" seems to mean "AD&D 2nd edition", though it's not mentioned. It's confusing, to me.

It meant you never played Basic; you began in either AD&D (1e or 2e), or in D&D 3e, 3.5, or 4e.

Denning. Not the original broad black box (TSR1070, "New Easy-to-Master D&D Game"), but the smaller reprint (TSR1106, "Classic D&D Game"). It was the version with everything in a single thick booklet and a normal DM's screen, instead of the "dragon cards" that fit into the little red screen. But both versions of the game had all of the same stuff. Zanzer Tem's dungeon, Axel's funny dice, Jerj the hobgoblin, Dimitrij the minotaur, that blasted gold ball-and-chain on Gorgo with the curse... and of course Stonefast dungeon and Kamro the white dragon. Good times.

It was better than Moldvay or Mentzer, too, because Denning went up to 5th level instead of 3rd. My friends and I played the hell out of this boxed set for months and months, back when we were in high school. Best starter set ever, in terms of sheer utility and playability.

EDIT: I've just suddenly noticed something. When talking about classic D&D, the received names for these editions are "OD&D" or "LBB" for the initial set, "Holmes" for the revision, "Moldvay/Cook" and sometimes Marsh for B/X, "Mentzer" for BECMI, and then just "RC". Why aren't they all named for the authors? Gygax/Arneson, Holmes, Moldvay/Cook/Marsh, Mentzer, Denning/Allston. That seems logical to me. It's only slightly less ambiguous than using the years (D&D '74, '77, '81, '83, and '91).

I started on the Long-black box, but I OWN the "Classic D&D" game. I've even used Zanzer Tem's dungeon as a start point for a campaign once. So Axel, Zanzar, Stonefast, and the like are my first D&D. After Stonefast, we went onto Keep on the Borderlands! Good times.

 

[wingsandsword]

I started on the Long-black box, but I OWN the "Classic D&D" game. I've even used Zanzer Tem's dungeon as a start point for a campaign once. So Axel, Zanzar, Stonefast, and the like are my first D&D. After Stonefast, we went onto Keep on the Borderlands! Good times.

That same black box is where I started with, bought at Toys R Us around 1992. I remember trying to figure out the rules and having lots of fun with my friends when we were about 14.

Lost it in a move a few years later. Would kind of like to have Zanzer Tem's dungeon for the nostalgia, I'd love to update it to 3.5 and use it to start a campaign over again.