D&D Player's Handbook: Then and Now »
Posted By Wil 1 year, 4 months ago in Arts & EntertainmentGeekdad Z writes, "With my shiny new Player’s Handbook at the ready, I trekked into the attic to locate my trusty dice. Obviously, I rolled a natural 20 on that particular perception check because, in addition to locating those polyhedrals, I also spied my well-worn copy of the classic AD&D PHB, circa 1978."
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Wil
I was a Propeller Scout, and I ran the Geeks Group. AOL sent me to the land of Wind and Ghosts, though, so I don ...
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GregD1 year, 4 months ago
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I have played D since 1979-1980 in various incarnations. I had about $5000 worth of D material (books, modules, lead figures, etc.) that I had amassed throughout high school and sold it all for $250 when I had to buy tires for my car.
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I now peruse eBay and buy up all the old D books I can find. Now if I could just find some people to play. -
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hipsterplease1 year, 4 months ago
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In an odd bit of nerd synchronicity, I join Wil's Geeks group only to find he'd submitted my Wednesday post from GeekDad! :)
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In addition to the classic AD texts mentioned in the article, I also have a D Blue Box set. I really love looking through those old books; it makes me feel like I'm peering into the primordial sludge of geekdom.-
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Wil1 year, 4 months ago
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I started with the red box (basic) set. I wish I still had my original one, complete with drawings I made in 6th grade, but it was lost to the evils of a garage sale when I wasn't there to protect it.
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Many years ago, I went to a game shop, and bought replacement copies of all my AD\ books, including the much-loved Fiend Folio (did you know Charlie Stross invented the Githyanki?) and the PHB.
I haven't actually played with them, though, because I'm afraid that the 36 year-old me won't have the same experience with those adventures and rules that the 12 year-old me had, and I don't want to risk tarnishing the memories.
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Dorklord1 year, 4 months ago
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As I commented above, I recently ran some young gamers through the Basic DandD classic "Keep on the Borderlands", using the Basic rules from the pink box set (the one with the wizard on the cover). There was some leeriness at first, but DandD breaks down all barriers; soon there was much hacking and slashing and laughing to be had.
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I went through cycles of keeping, then getting rid of, then getting back the various editions of the DandD game over the years. I still have my main books from all the editions, starting with the SCE white box put out just before the switch over to the larger format. Currently, I am a DandD librarian and collector of sorts; I enjoy reading back over the old modules and game systems (anyone remember Hollow World? I do...), spending time with the hobby's roots.
I'm not saying it was all good, on the contrary. But there is more wheat than chaff with the old stuff. It is no accident that, at its heart, 4th ed returned to some very Basic roots of the game we all love.
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