It's another BECMI Monstrous Monday. This is Expert Week and few creatures really exemplify the Expert experience to me (either B/X or BECMI) than sea monsters and dinosaurs.
As it turns out, the Field Museum agrees with me.
https://blockclubchicago.org/2020/02/28/move-over-t-rex-field-museum-is-bringing-in-ocean-dinosaurs-for-special-exhibit/
Or. At least they were going too. Back when I planned this posting Covid-19 had not yet hit.
Sea Dragons are some of my son's favorite creatures. As before I am going to go with the BECMI format for the monster stat block.
Dragon, Sea
Armor Class: 3
Hit Dice: 12**
Move: 30' (10') Sea dragons are slow and clumsy on land.
Swimming: 270' (90')
Attacks: 1 bite + 1 breath weapon (steam)
Damage: 5d8+5
No. Appearing: 0 (1d4)
Save As: Fighter: 12
Morale: 10
Treasure Type: H
Alignment: Neutral
XP Value: 2,700
Breath Weapon: Cloud of steam, 60' x 40'
Sea Dragons are an ancient type of dragon that some scholars believe are among the first of dragon kind. They are known to swim in the deepest of seas where they make meals of all but the largest of sea creatures.
Sea Dragons also attack boats that swim into their territory. They attack with a bite only and a dangerous breath weapon of superheated steam. The steam is stored in a pressurized organ in the dragon's body. This allows it to survive at depths that would crush other creatures. It also allows the steam to become hot enough to melt soft metals. Protection from fire, magical, or otherwise offers no protection from this breath weapon. Damage taken is equal to the number of current HP the dragon has, save vs Dragon Breath Weapon for half.
Unlike other dragons, Sea Dragons do not cast spells or speak. They can speak, but typically only to other dragons.
Sea Dragons keep treasure in undersea lairs, usually inaccessible to surface dwellers.
Sea Dragons are believed to honor ancient immortal members of their species called Apsû and Tiamat, representing the Sweet and Salt waters respectively.
Monday, June 8, 2020
Friday, June 5, 2020
Friday Night Videos: BECMI Special, Chart Action 83!
Since the Basic Set of BECMI came out in 1983 I thought it might be fun to pull out a play-list from 83.
But not just any play-list.
No, this one follows the line up of a cassette tape I bought back in 83, likely at the K-Mart. I remember getting it because it was the only tape I could find with my then favorite song "Shock the Monkey" by Peter Gabriel.
Of course, I can only mean K-Tel's "Chart Action '83!"
Does it have anything at all to do with D&D or BECMI?
Not at all! But it is what I was listening to then.
Here is the full cassette version playlist below.
What were you listening to in 83?
#FollowFriday BECMI Edition
It's another #FollowFriday here at the Other Side.
Since this is the first week of BECMI Month I thought some good old-school sites and accounts were in order.
Remember. It is often not just enough to join these sites, you need to engage with them as well.
Facebook
Let's start with the big one, the BECMI Facebook group.
Run by TSR Alum Bruce Heard it has been a treasure trove of BECMI information for me for years.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/BECMI/
Another is the BECMI D&D page on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/BECMI.DD/
Twitter
Want to see what is new in the BECMI/D&D world? Check out Twitter.
Bruce Heard
https://twitter.com/Ambreville
TSR in the World
https://twitter.com/DNDCollecting
Blogs
Let's go with a Bruce Heard trifecta, here is his blog, About Bruce Heard and New Stories.
https://bruce-heard.blogspot.com/
In particular, I am focusing on this post for my War of the Witch Queens campaign.
Revisiting BECMI Skills, https://bruce-heard.blogspot.com/2018/09/GeneralSkills.html
MeWe
Over at MeWe there are a lot of groups that need some more followers and people to interact.
Mystara
Dedicated to the B/X, BECMI and later AD&D 2nd Ed world of Mystara.
https://mewe.com/group/5bbbf54aa5f4e527d1dec722
Instagram
And this one I just found and his art is really fun.
https://www.instagram.com/justindrawscomics/
He also does a Keep on the Borderlands themed web comic.
http://thekeepontheborderlands.thecomicseries.com/comics/first/
Since this is the first week of BECMI Month I thought some good old-school sites and accounts were in order.
Remember. It is often not just enough to join these sites, you need to engage with them as well.
Let's start with the big one, the BECMI Facebook group.
Run by TSR Alum Bruce Heard it has been a treasure trove of BECMI information for me for years.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/BECMI/
Another is the BECMI D&D page on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/BECMI.DD/
Want to see what is new in the BECMI/D&D world? Check out Twitter.
Bruce Heard
https://twitter.com/Ambreville
TSR in the World
https://twitter.com/DNDCollecting
Blogs
Let's go with a Bruce Heard trifecta, here is his blog, About Bruce Heard and New Stories.
https://bruce-heard.blogspot.com/
In particular, I am focusing on this post for my War of the Witch Queens campaign.
Revisiting BECMI Skills, https://bruce-heard.blogspot.com/2018/09/GeneralSkills.html
MeWe
Over at MeWe there are a lot of groups that need some more followers and people to interact.
Mystara
Dedicated to the B/X, BECMI and later AD&D 2nd Ed world of Mystara.
https://mewe.com/group/5bbbf54aa5f4e527d1dec722
And this one I just found and his art is really fun.
https://www.instagram.com/justindrawscomics/
He also does a Keep on the Borderlands themed web comic.
http://thekeepontheborderlands.thecomicseries.com/comics/first/
Thursday, June 4, 2020
Review: B7 Rahasia (BECMI Special)
"Will you aid me?" she asks."
Module B7 Rahasia
B7 Rahasia is an adventure for the BECMI version of the Basic rules. Since module B5 the Basic modules all featured the new BECMI trade dress, but B7 Rahasia is an older adventure with some solid history in the D&D game. But I am getting to the middle of the story.
Back in 1979 Tracy and Laura Hickman wanted to play AD&D but needed money to be able to buy the Dungeon Master's Guide. So like so many after them they wrote an adventure to sell so the could afford to pick up the DMG. That adventure was Rahasia.
Later the Hickmans would go to work for TSR and here they would give us what is arguably one of the greatest adventures of all time, Ravenloft, but before that, they republished Rahasia in 1983 under the RPGA banner. In fact, RPGA 1 Rahasia and it's sequel RPGA 2 Black Opal Eye were the first two RPGA adventures for the new BECMI Basic game.
Rahasia is for levels 1-2 and then Black Opal Eye for levels 2-3.
These currently go for a lot of money on eBay now. RPGA2 Black Opal Eye is available on DriveThruRPG, but the RPGA1 version of Rahasia is not.
Rahasia would get a third printing again in 1984 as the new adventure module B7 Rahasia.
This new version was a combination of the two earlier editions.
For this review, I am considering the PDF from DriveThruRPG and my original print copy from 1984.
Module B7 Rahasia
Tracy and Laura Hickman. 32 Pages, color cover, black & white interior.
Cover art by Jeff Easley. Interior art by Jeff Easley and Tim Truman
Maps by Diesel & D.C. Sutherland Ill
This adventure is a primary example of what has been called "the Hickman Revolution" and while it was independent of the design of the BECMI rules, it does dovetail into the rules and feel rather well. The Hickman Revolution can best be explained with the original requirements the Hickmans set for themselves in their adventures.
- A player objective more worthwhile than simply pillaging and killing.
- An intriguing story that is intricately woven into the play itself.
- Dungeons with some sort of architectural sense.
- An attainable and honorable end within one or two sessions playing time.
These all exist in one form or another in this adventure. We have an evil cleric known as the Rahib, but is he really our "Big Bad" of this tale? No. But again I jump ahead.
The plot begins as a simple one. The characters agree to help an elven maid named Rahasia defeat a great evil that has come to her lands. This evil, the Rahib, has captured two elf maidens (Sylva and Merisa), Rahasia's father, and her fiancee. So the characters have to rescue the Prince this time! He has also taken control over a group of elven cleric/monks (essentially) known as the Siswa.
This is an important bit, so I am going to interrupt myself here. The Siswa are all mind-controlled, normally these are the elves that guard the temple, so they really should not be killed. In the Hickman Revolution simply killing things is never the way to go. This is true here. The characters need to find ways to incapacitate the Siswa, but not kill them.
Defeating the Rahib is fine, and getting to him is the first half of the adventure. The second half is discovering the REAL Big Bads. You might have seen them on the cover.
Part 2, or the part that was covered in Black Opal Eye, deals with the real villains of this piece. Here we learn that the Rahib had made a deal with the spirits of three dead witches, Karelena, Solorena, and Trilena. These witches have now taken over the bodies of the elf maids and want to get Rahasia for Trilena. They can accomplish this with the Black Opal Eye. When all three witches are freed they are much more powerful, so getting them before they can get Rahasia is the goal. Failing that any female character with a Charisma of 15 or higher is the target.
There are some traps, some false leads and some clues in the form of wine bottles. But all in all a very effective adventure with some nice twists. More importantly, it also gives us three (well four I guess) memorable NPCs. While the Rahib can be defeated, and ultimately forgotten about, the witches, Karelena, Solorena, and Trilena, are far more interesting and really should come back again in a future adventure.
There are maps, pre-rolled characters to use, and of course an elven princess who will be in your debt.
The adventure also features something that the "new" BECMI modules all would feature, new monsters.
Here we get the haunt, the water weird (an AD&D import), and the bone golem who will not see an AD&D rendition until Ravenloft.
Ravenloft Connections
I have often stated that I feel that Barovia, the lands of the mists featured in the Ravenloft adventure and line, came from the B/X & BECMI world of Mystara. Here is another connection. First, the idea of body-snatching undead witches is a strong horror trope. I am sure there are dozens of horror movies made before 1979 that feature this. I am sure I have seen at least a dozen or more of these myself.
Plus like Ravenloft, Rahasia was written by the Hickmans. Even in the 5e era the Curse of Strahd adventure for 5e lists Rahasia as an influence. Plus there are some other solid connections. Like finding the same wines in Rahasia's Wizard tower and in Ravenloft Curse of Strahd.
Thanks to the efforts of the Classic Modules Today group there is a conversion guide for B7 Rahasia. Classic Modules Today: B7 Rahasia (5e) is 10 pages and includes all the various stats you need to covert this adventure over to 5th Editon D&D. In truth the conversions are very straight forward but it is nice to have them all in one place. Plus for $1.95 it is really worth it. Given the Ravenloft connections, I could see this as an adventure for 1-3 level characters in Curse of Strahd very easily. You need the complete B7 module, that is not included here and there is no adventure information other than the stats. The Bone Golem and the witches, Karelena, Solorena, and Trilena get full stat blocks.
War of the Witch Queens
For me this is also a great starting module for my War of the Witch Queens campaign. Three dead witches combing back from the grave to possess the bodies of three others? If it can be done once, it can be done again and I have some great long term NPCs to harass my characters with. Plus the mere fact that they came back now points to the upheaval in the Occult world that this War is having.
It also makes for a solid case for this game to be run using the BECMI rules.
Now there is a thought...
Other Posts & Links
- Rahasia, Ravenloft and Witches
- Class Struggles: The Basic/BX/BECMI Witches
- War of the Witch Queens
- The Witches of Radlebb (on the Vaults of Pandius)
Wednesday, June 3, 2020
BECMI: They Keep Killing Aleena
Briefly, Women in Refrigerators is a trope where the plot of a male character is moved forward by the death (or disability or rape) of an associated female character. Also often the female character is not returned to the status quo; ie she stays dead or disabled.
This trope was masterfully, and somewhat depressingly, detailed by then comics-fan and now best-selling comic writer, Gail Simone (writer of Batgirl, Wonder
Woman, Red Sonja, and The Secret Six). The name comes from Green Lantern #54 where then GL Kyle Raynor finds his girlfriend murdered and stuffed into a refrigerator. So not just a murder, brutal one designed to antagonize the character by an enemy.
Now the issue of Green Lantern in question was from 1994. Gail put up her original website in 1999. If that was the only example one might excuse the writers a little. But it was far from the only one.
Simone compiled a list in 1999, simply called The List, of all the comic book women who have been killed, depowered, raped, or disabled. The list is long and sadly we could double it today. Or as comic writer Mark Waid has said:
Jesus H. Christ in a birchbark canoe, is that a list disturbing in its length. And, yes, there are even more male characters who could make up a similar list--but it would be a smaller PERCENTAGE of male characters than this is of comics' females. Brrr...Lots of comic writers do it. Lots of television writers do it. I spent a better part of the early 2000s (just prior to starting this blog) trying to draw attention to this trope and the damage it causes on television.
It's also lazy writing.
But What About Aleena?
Aleena, as many fans of the BECMI Red Box know, is the cleric in the first adventure who is designed to help the Character, and thus the Player, learn D&D. The adventure is a solo deal, so naturally, there is a little bit of a railroad. This can be excused because of the space needed and to serve the purpose of the text; It's not a "real" adventure, it is a teaching tool in the guise of an adventure. As a teaching tool, it serves this role well. As an adventure, it is a bit contrived, but that is excusable.
Overtly this is designed to give the character a buy-in to the "Life and Death Drama" that is D&D. Characters will die. In that respect, it worked. To this day you can find "Kill Bargle!" adventures and t-shirts[1][2] and other reminders of the fateful battle between Aleena and Bargle. She has her own Facebook page. I even contributed to a "Shrine of St. Aleena" adventure for 5th Edition. If the goal was to get buy-in to D&D then one can say it worked.
That doesn't mean it still not lazy writing.
I know that is going to blow some of my old-school cred, but everyone that uses this trope always defends why their use of it is right and appropriate. Granted this one was written in 1983, years before Gail ever wrote her essay or even before the Green Lantern comic appeared. But it was not before the trope itself was known. Often called "Disposable Women" it has had a lengthy history in all sorts of literature.
In fact, the one that hit me the most was not Alex, Kyle Raynor's girlfriend, but Gwen Stacy, Peter Parker's girlfriend in the Amazing Spiderman issues #121 to #122 from 1973. I remember reading these when I was a kid in the 70s. My barber had all sorts of great comic books in his shop so I would read these. Gwen's death bugged me. It was so pointless. Even then I could see the purpose was to enrage Spider-man, but he was already committed. He was going to go after Green Goblin anyway. I thought it was just dumping on the character and needlessly killing a character.
Another one was the original Batwoman, Kathy (not Kate) Kane in Detective Comics (Vol. 1) #485. This was 1979 and was right at the start of my D&D involvement. Her death also seemed to serve no purpose than to motivate Batman. Well Batman, like Spider-man, already had lost people what purposes did this serve? More to the point why bring a character out of retirement only to kill her? Unlike Gwen and Aleena, no one even remembers the sacrifice Kathy Kane made.
And don't even get me started on Batgirl/Barbara Gordon or Sue Dibny. Just to name two.
The point I am getting here is this. If a kid reading comics can see problems with this in the late 1970s and early 1980's, certainly others could too.
None of this is made any better by describing Aleena in the books using the language one uses for a girlfriend. Which, in this case, Aleena was the stand-in for Frank Mentzer's ex-girlfriend Aileen and written to die.
In 1987, after pretty much of all the old guard of TSR was gone, GAZ1 The Grand Duchy of Karameikos was published for the Basic D&D game. In it, there is an Aleena Halaran, a mace-wielding Lawful cleric. She is supposed to be the same Aleena, unless of course, you played through the Basic set, then she is Anielle Halaran.
 |
| Aleena and Baron Sherlane |
I ran a couple of adventures for my kids a while back using Bargle and Aleena. I ran T1 Village of Hommlet but included Aleena and Bargle and yes, she still died in it despite my personal objections. Morgan Ironwolf also made an appearance. I later ran The Shrine of St. Aleena for the Second campaign. The point here was to show that in this other campaign with the same players that somethings are "fixed points" in the multiverse. Something not lost on my players.
Later I contributed to the 5e conversion of The Shrine of Aleena. I guess I really can't change the past.
I guess to make my multiverse connections right I would need to have a raised from the dead Aleena show up in my third campaign, Into the Nentir Vale, and riff off of my 4e stats for her since that is my "4e converted to 5e" game.
IF, and that is a big IF, if I were going to change the intro adventure I would drop Aleena in favor of an older male wizard. More of a Joseph Campbell-esqe mentor figure. Someone of the Gandalf or Merlin mold to guide the new adventurer at the start of their own Hero's Journey. Indeed in the Hero's Journey the older mentor or supernatural aid dies so the hero can go on. Maybe even Bargle is a failed student of this mentor and you, as the "ego" character, take on this brave wizard's quest.
"But!" you say, "how can Bargle kill a wizard old enough to have an apprentice?" Well, the same way Bargle killed a cleric of at least 2nd level. Aleena does heal the player at one point so she has spells so is at least 2nd level and an average of 7 hp. That is still more than a magic missile can effect.
"But!" you say again, "Aleena needs to HEAL the player how is a magic-user going to do that?" to which I say the wizard has one, and only one, potion of healing. He GIVES this potion to you and you are healed. Going back to the purpose of this whole thing is to teach you how to play D&D you have now learned TWO things you didn't know before. There are magic items that can heal you (and the wizard can always lament the lack of a cleric here) AND that such items need to be managed carefully, ie resource management. The wizard gets to be heroic by giving you his last healing potion even though he needs more. A potion of healing even gets introduced at the end of the sample solo adventure anyway.
Bargle and this Wizard have history. So Bargle wants the wizard dead. The wizard wants to protect you because you are only first level. Another lesson learned! Protect the weaker members of the party, it is the right thing to do.
I would go as far as to say that a fighter and a wizard are much more iconic duo than a fighter and cleric. Look at the cover of Holmes Basic, look at the cover of Moldvay Basic. Look at the cover for Pathfinder. Having a wizard instead of a cleric makes far, far more sense to me.
Would it have had the same emotional impact? Hard to say. Hindsight is 20/20 and it is easy for me to point out these sorts of problems because I have been focused on them for so long. Less certain is the cultural impact this isolated scene would have had independent or the cultural impact as the whole the Red Box Basic had in total. For me, a wizard mentor falling battle would have had the same impact intended, because I have to say one of the big turn-offs for BECMI for me was this death. I had already at this time thrown out a copy of Lord Foul's Bane, I didn't have to spend my money here. So I didn't. Until now of course.
Morgan Ironwolf is mentioned in the same tones of reverence and often in the same breath as Aleena. But we know far less about her and she is, as far as I can tell, still "alive" out there in the worlds of Dungeons & Dragons.
I want to end with a comment made by Sarah Darkmagic about Aleena. She quoted me years ago and I would return the favor here. Sarah has said, " I pointed out that the D&D art I saw growing up didn't make me feel welcomed." this is combined with the entire treatment of Aleena did not make early D&D a welcoming place to women. I believe her. It wasn't. She was not there in the early days, but I was, and often times the only women playing were girlfriends of the players.
She also makes the claim that Aleena was not very empowering for her. Again I have no reason but to agree. Aleena is NOT empowering. She is cannon fodder. She is fridge material. She serves only one purpose here, to further the ends of a male character.
Simone said "if you demolish most of the characters girls like, then girls won’t read comics. That's it!" This is also true for every reader. And every gamer.
I am reminded of Whoopi Goldberg when she first saw Nichelle Nichols as Lt. Uhura on Star Trek. She went to her mother saying, "Come here, mum, everybody, come quick, come quick, there's a black lady on television and she ain't no maid!" What would have happened if Uhura had been "redshirted" after an episode? What would've happened then? What would have happened to Mae Jemison?
Granted this was years ago. Today it is different. Hopefully, it is better.
It bears repeating, but representation matters.
But I still look at this section as the weakest point of the BECMI books and really kind of a low point for D&D in general.
My Posts On Aleena
- Aleena, doomed cleric for D&D 4 Essentials
- Review: The Shrine of St. Aleena
- Next Stop, The Temple of Elemental Evil
- Back to Basics
- Back to Basics, Part 2
- They Keep Killing Aleena, Back to Basic Part 3
- Weekend Gaming: The Second Campaign
- Featured Artist: Larry Elmore
- Shrine of St. Aleena for 5e
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
BECMI: Other Versions and Homages
I don't think it is a stretch of the imagination to say that the BECMI Basic box is the Red Box that most people remember. Indeed, when you say "Red Box" this is the set that most people think of.
A large part of this is due to the number of units sold. It has been claimed that this was the best selling version of D&D at least up to the modern age of 5e. It was certainly one of the most widely distributed versions of D&D up to that date.
International
While I have seen French, German, Japanese, and more versions of this set, it was the one printed in England I wanted the most.
Reading this one is a neat little exercise in "what if."
What would this set have been like if it was a single volume?
The Japanese versions also looked great.
The French version seems closest to the American one.
Norway had a single volume version too, but their's appears to have been a hardcover.
Although I must admit I have always wanted the German version. If I had known it had existed back then I would have grabbed it. Sadly my German is terrible these days. Don't use it you lose it.
And some great pictures of Javier Murillo's Spanish editions.
In fact, Javier Murillo appears to be the leading expert on these foreign language editions.
There is an entire listing of the printed foreign editions at the Acaeum.
That is quite a legacy of print.
It should be no surprise then that the cover was often imitated.
Inspiration
Maybe more so than the AD&D Player's Handbook (or very close) no other version of D&D has inspired the look of other sets. In fact, it has become its own shorthand to nostalgia. Want to tap into those nostalgia dollars? Make your box red.
Of course, nothing irritates the old-school crowd more than when this is used for a game they don't like.
and of course the D&D Cartoon,
a puzzle, again from Javier Murillo,
and the early "skin" for DnDClassics.com, which now points to DMsGuild.com,
Not to mention a bunch of t-shirts.
That's an awful lot of red.
Now certainly someone in the old-school gaming community will say something stupid like "sacrilege!" or some other nonsense, allow me to remind you what TSR was doing themselves back in the day.
A large part of this is due to the number of units sold. It has been claimed that this was the best selling version of D&D at least up to the modern age of 5e. It was certainly one of the most widely distributed versions of D&D up to that date.
International
While I have seen French, German, Japanese, and more versions of this set, it was the one printed in England I wanted the most.
Reading this one is a neat little exercise in "what if."
What would this set have been like if it was a single volume?
The Japanese versions also looked great.
The French version seems closest to the American one.
Norway had a single volume version too, but their's appears to have been a hardcover.
Although I must admit I have always wanted the German version. If I had known it had existed back then I would have grabbed it. Sadly my German is terrible these days. Don't use it you lose it.
And some great pictures of Javier Murillo's Spanish editions.
In fact, Javier Murillo appears to be the leading expert on these foreign language editions.
There is an entire listing of the printed foreign editions at the Acaeum.
That is quite a legacy of print.
It should be no surprise then that the cover was often imitated.
Inspiration
Maybe more so than the AD&D Player's Handbook (or very close) no other version of D&D has inspired the look of other sets. In fact, it has become its own shorthand to nostalgia. Want to tap into those nostalgia dollars? Make your box red.
Of course, nothing irritates the old-school crowd more than when this is used for a game they don't like.
and of course the D&D Cartoon,
a puzzle, again from Javier Murillo,
and the early "skin" for DnDClassics.com, which now points to DMsGuild.com,
Not to mention a bunch of t-shirts.
That's an awful lot of red.
Now certainly someone in the old-school gaming community will say something stupid like "sacrilege!" or some other nonsense, allow me to remind you what TSR was doing themselves back in the day.
Monday, June 1, 2020
BECMI: Basic Set Review
How does one go about reviewing a game I know so well but in a book I know very little about? More to the point how does one review a classic?
Well as my oldest son says, "with determination."
In this particular case, I am going to review the actual boxed set I was able to pick up a few years ago, the PDFs from DriveThruRPG and I will compare it to the version printed in the UK.
Basic Set (1983)
The third set of books to be released as the "Basic set" was the Mentzer "Red Box" Basic that would become the "B" of the BECMI line. So many copies of this set have sold that it has become synonymous with "the Basic Set" and "the red Box" in D&D circles. The set itself contained two books, a Player's Book (to be read first) and a Dungeon Master's Book (to be read by the DM).
Already we have a departure from the previous Holmes (1977) and Moldvay (1981) Basic sets. While those older sets had one book for rules (48 and 64 pages respectively) and an included adventure (B1 and B2 respectively) this set only has the two books. This is not the issue it might seem at first since this set features a rather infamous solo adventure and a programmed adventure that can be used with a DM.
The box set also came with dice, a crayon for coloring in the numbers, and some information about the RPGA.
It is helpful to look at the books independently.
The Player's Book
The Player's Book is 64 pages, color art cover, black & white interior art.
This is the familiar D&D game. The title page tells us that this is Dungeons & Dragons created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The editor, though many will say the actual architect of the BECMI line, is Frank Mentzer. He is so tied to this edition that it is also called the Mentzer Basic book.
While Holmes did a good job of organizing the Original D&D game into something that could be used as and introduction to the game (or too AD&D maybe), it was the Moldvay edition that really tried to make an introductory game to new players. The Mentzer set takes this to the next level by giving us a true introduction to the game.
The target audience is 10-12-year-olds but it takes care not to talk down to the audience, there even seems to be a choice in language to try and educate as much as possible too. TSR expected their target audience to be young, educated, and (for better or worse) male. But I will touch on that later.
Up first you are taken on one of the most infamous solo adventures ever. You are playing a fighter and you have to investigate a dungeon. You meet a cleric named Aleena, and a goblin and an evil wizard named Bargel. The rest is a tale told in many taverns across the known world.
While I have a number of issues with the solo adventure, and I'll discuss those elsewhere, it is an effective tool for grabbing people and getting them into the game. The adventure explains aspects of your character and makes them salient in the situation. In the education biz we call this "situational learning" and it is an effective tool.
After the adventure, we get to the part where your character is explained to you. What the ability scores mean, what the saving throws are for, how to hit with weapons. It is the "what is Roleplaying" section of every other RPG book writ large.
There is another Solo adventure, with some nods to the two M series for solo dungeons.
So now that the player knows the basics of play the various character classes are introduced. Here we have the Cleric, Fighters, Magic-User, and Thieves for humans and Dwarves, Elves, and Halflings. The text is very, very explanatory. Great for a brand new player but feels wordy to me now. Granted, these were not written for someone with 40 years of experience. Heck, no one had even a quarter of that yet when this was written so my point of view is out of sync with the design goals of this game.
Looking over the classes I notice a few things. The class descriptions are very self-contained. Everything you need to know about playing a Cleric for example is right there. Including the Saving Throw tables WITH the class. A vast improvement over the constant flipping through pages we had to do with AD&D at the same time. Also, I noticed how weak the thief was then. No comparison to the Rogues of later editions.
The design elements of the self-contained class pages is something we will see again in D&D 4e and 5e. It is very effective and if you are like me and like to print out your PDFs then it also gives you flexibility in organizing your version of Basic.
There is a solid emphasis throughout the book on how playing together, and working together, as a group is the best experience. There also seems a little extra emphasis on how the Players are not the Characters. It feels wonderfully 80s when the was the moral panic that kids would start to act out like their characters and meet the fate of poor Black Leaf and Marci. Today people online refer to their characters in first person and laud their achievements as their very own. What a difference some time makes.
We get to alignment with a strong prohibition against playing Chaotic or Evil characters. Retainers and other topics. There is even a solid Glossary (I mean really who does this anymore? I miss them!) to help in supporting my point of view of D&D as a learning tool. There is even a small section on using minis, character sheets, and other aids. There is even a nod to AD&D to remind players that this game, D&D, is not AD&D.
All the basics are covered. No pun intended. Ok. Maybe a little one.
Everything the player needs to get started. They now just need a DM. Thankfully the next book covers all that.
The Dungeon Master's Book
The Dungeon Master's book is 48 pages, color art cover, black & white interior art.
This book follows the Player's book in terms of layout and scope.
The title page here is largely the same as the Player's Book, but it is a chance for us to reflect on how this game is really the direct descendent of the Original D&D game. Though there is a reminder that Players are not to read this book! Only DMs!
We get right into the roles of a DM here, after covering some brief introductory materials and some common terms and abbreviations. Looking over these were are still in a time that Pre-Dates THAC0 as a term.
There are checklists of things to do pre-game and during the game and during combat. It's a nice clear and spelled out version of the same material seen in the previous Moldvay Basic set. In fact, there is a lot of material here that looks and reads the same. This is natural since both sets are drawing from the same sources. It is a bit like reading something you are already very familiar with, but it is still somewhat different and new. Like trying to read Danish after learning German. Or maybe more accurately, reading American Spanish after learning European Spanish.
There is a built-in adventure for new DMs that serves the same purpose as the Solo one in the player's book. It is fine, but I think back to my time in running the Keep on the Borderlands and hoe much I learned from that.
The procedures and rules section is all laid out alphabetically. So "Elves" come before "Mapping" and "Time". Again, I am reminded of the layout seen in 4e and it is obvious that the designers of 4e were fans of this edition.
The next big section is on Monsters. This section reads very much like the same section in Molvay Basic, some even down to the exact same words. I don't find this a problem though. Some people went from Holmes Basic (77) to Cook/Marsh Expert (81) and some people will come from those earlier Basics to this. There needs to be a continuity of rules. Minus some organization and some clearer directions these are supposed to be the same games. Yes there are some differences. I find them to be minor at worst.
Back to Monsters, the section seems to have all the Usual Suspects, give or take a couple. I did notice that there is much less art here. I would have loved to have seen more versions of these classic monsters. An Elmore drawn Thoul? Yeah, that would have been great! Also, this has the only piece of recycled art I have found. The dragon breath diagram looks the same here as in Moldvay. That's actually pretty cool. All new art? TSR was putting their best on this. I'll talk more about the art in a bit.
Treasure follows and it is every 1st level character's dreams come true. Swords to hit those pesky magic monsters! Gold! Platinum! Potions of Healing!! 2-7 hp was all you needed back then to get back into the game.
A nice bit about creating and stocking dungeons with monsters and treasures. More direction than we got in Holmes or Moldvay to be sure.
We end with some tables for random monsters, saving throws, and a combined index!
Art
The art in both books is fantastic. Larry Elmore, Jim Holloway, and Jeff Easley at the very top of their game. They defined how millions view Dungeons & Dragons. Yes, yes I am a fan of the older stylings of Bill Willingham, Erol Otis, and Jeff Dee, but this was at a new level. The art was consistent throughout and all of it wonderful. Sadly it is also a little sparse compared to Moldvay, but I guess there are more pages to fill here.
The UK Edition
The UK edition is a single book about the size of a paperback. It has the same color (or should I say "colour") cover. The illustrations are sparse and in this case, all the interior art is by Helen Bedford.
The content is the same, just put into 272 smaller (4.75" x 7.5") pages. There is even a tiny character sheet that taxes the ability of my glasses.
It sold for £4.95 back in 1986 when my copy was printed.
Legacy
I am going to spend a lot of time this month covering the legacy of the Basic Set and the BECMI series as a whole. But this is the set. This is the one people think of when you say "Basic Set."
That's a pretty serious legacy.
Join me all month as I talk about all the BECMI books, boxed sets, and related topics.
This week is nothing but Basic.
Well as my oldest son says, "with determination."
In this particular case, I am going to review the actual boxed set I was able to pick up a few years ago, the PDFs from DriveThruRPG and I will compare it to the version printed in the UK.
Basic Set (1983)
The third set of books to be released as the "Basic set" was the Mentzer "Red Box" Basic that would become the "B" of the BECMI line. So many copies of this set have sold that it has become synonymous with "the Basic Set" and "the red Box" in D&D circles. The set itself contained two books, a Player's Book (to be read first) and a Dungeon Master's Book (to be read by the DM).
Already we have a departure from the previous Holmes (1977) and Moldvay (1981) Basic sets. While those older sets had one book for rules (48 and 64 pages respectively) and an included adventure (B1 and B2 respectively) this set only has the two books. This is not the issue it might seem at first since this set features a rather infamous solo adventure and a programmed adventure that can be used with a DM.
The box set also came with dice, a crayon for coloring in the numbers, and some information about the RPGA.
It is helpful to look at the books independently.
The Player's Book
This is the familiar D&D game. The title page tells us that this is Dungeons & Dragons created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The editor, though many will say the actual architect of the BECMI line, is Frank Mentzer. He is so tied to this edition that it is also called the Mentzer Basic book.
While Holmes did a good job of organizing the Original D&D game into something that could be used as and introduction to the game (or too AD&D maybe), it was the Moldvay edition that really tried to make an introductory game to new players. The Mentzer set takes this to the next level by giving us a true introduction to the game.
The target audience is 10-12-year-olds but it takes care not to talk down to the audience, there even seems to be a choice in language to try and educate as much as possible too. TSR expected their target audience to be young, educated, and (for better or worse) male. But I will touch on that later.
Up first you are taken on one of the most infamous solo adventures ever. You are playing a fighter and you have to investigate a dungeon. You meet a cleric named Aleena, and a goblin and an evil wizard named Bargel. The rest is a tale told in many taverns across the known world.
While I have a number of issues with the solo adventure, and I'll discuss those elsewhere, it is an effective tool for grabbing people and getting them into the game. The adventure explains aspects of your character and makes them salient in the situation. In the education biz we call this "situational learning" and it is an effective tool.
After the adventure, we get to the part where your character is explained to you. What the ability scores mean, what the saving throws are for, how to hit with weapons. It is the "what is Roleplaying" section of every other RPG book writ large.
There is another Solo adventure, with some nods to the two M series for solo dungeons.
So now that the player knows the basics of play the various character classes are introduced. Here we have the Cleric, Fighters, Magic-User, and Thieves for humans and Dwarves, Elves, and Halflings. The text is very, very explanatory. Great for a brand new player but feels wordy to me now. Granted, these were not written for someone with 40 years of experience. Heck, no one had even a quarter of that yet when this was written so my point of view is out of sync with the design goals of this game.
Looking over the classes I notice a few things. The class descriptions are very self-contained. Everything you need to know about playing a Cleric for example is right there. Including the Saving Throw tables WITH the class. A vast improvement over the constant flipping through pages we had to do with AD&D at the same time. Also, I noticed how weak the thief was then. No comparison to the Rogues of later editions.
The design elements of the self-contained class pages is something we will see again in D&D 4e and 5e. It is very effective and if you are like me and like to print out your PDFs then it also gives you flexibility in organizing your version of Basic.
There is a solid emphasis throughout the book on how playing together, and working together, as a group is the best experience. There also seems a little extra emphasis on how the Players are not the Characters. It feels wonderfully 80s when the was the moral panic that kids would start to act out like their characters and meet the fate of poor Black Leaf and Marci. Today people online refer to their characters in first person and laud their achievements as their very own. What a difference some time makes.
We get to alignment with a strong prohibition against playing Chaotic or Evil characters. Retainers and other topics. There is even a solid Glossary (I mean really who does this anymore? I miss them!) to help in supporting my point of view of D&D as a learning tool. There is even a small section on using minis, character sheets, and other aids. There is even a nod to AD&D to remind players that this game, D&D, is not AD&D.
All the basics are covered. No pun intended. Ok. Maybe a little one.
Everything the player needs to get started. They now just need a DM. Thankfully the next book covers all that.
The Dungeon Master's Book
This book follows the Player's book in terms of layout and scope.
The title page here is largely the same as the Player's Book, but it is a chance for us to reflect on how this game is really the direct descendent of the Original D&D game. Though there is a reminder that Players are not to read this book! Only DMs!
We get right into the roles of a DM here, after covering some brief introductory materials and some common terms and abbreviations. Looking over these were are still in a time that Pre-Dates THAC0 as a term.
There are checklists of things to do pre-game and during the game and during combat. It's a nice clear and spelled out version of the same material seen in the previous Moldvay Basic set. In fact, there is a lot of material here that looks and reads the same. This is natural since both sets are drawing from the same sources. It is a bit like reading something you are already very familiar with, but it is still somewhat different and new. Like trying to read Danish after learning German. Or maybe more accurately, reading American Spanish after learning European Spanish.
There is a built-in adventure for new DMs that serves the same purpose as the Solo one in the player's book. It is fine, but I think back to my time in running the Keep on the Borderlands and hoe much I learned from that.
The procedures and rules section is all laid out alphabetically. So "Elves" come before "Mapping" and "Time". Again, I am reminded of the layout seen in 4e and it is obvious that the designers of 4e were fans of this edition.
The next big section is on Monsters. This section reads very much like the same section in Molvay Basic, some even down to the exact same words. I don't find this a problem though. Some people went from Holmes Basic (77) to Cook/Marsh Expert (81) and some people will come from those earlier Basics to this. There needs to be a continuity of rules. Minus some organization and some clearer directions these are supposed to be the same games. Yes there are some differences. I find them to be minor at worst.
Back to Monsters, the section seems to have all the Usual Suspects, give or take a couple. I did notice that there is much less art here. I would have loved to have seen more versions of these classic monsters. An Elmore drawn Thoul? Yeah, that would have been great! Also, this has the only piece of recycled art I have found. The dragon breath diagram looks the same here as in Moldvay. That's actually pretty cool. All new art? TSR was putting their best on this. I'll talk more about the art in a bit.
Treasure follows and it is every 1st level character's dreams come true. Swords to hit those pesky magic monsters! Gold! Platinum! Potions of Healing!! 2-7 hp was all you needed back then to get back into the game.
A nice bit about creating and stocking dungeons with monsters and treasures. More direction than we got in Holmes or Moldvay to be sure.
We end with some tables for random monsters, saving throws, and a combined index!
Art
The art in both books is fantastic. Larry Elmore, Jim Holloway, and Jeff Easley at the very top of their game. They defined how millions view Dungeons & Dragons. Yes, yes I am a fan of the older stylings of Bill Willingham, Erol Otis, and Jeff Dee, but this was at a new level. The art was consistent throughout and all of it wonderful. Sadly it is also a little sparse compared to Moldvay, but I guess there are more pages to fill here.
The UK Edition
The UK edition is a single book about the size of a paperback. It has the same color (or should I say "colour") cover. The illustrations are sparse and in this case, all the interior art is by Helen Bedford.
The content is the same, just put into 272 smaller (4.75" x 7.5") pages. There is even a tiny character sheet that taxes the ability of my glasses.
It sold for £4.95 back in 1986 when my copy was printed.
Legacy
I am going to spend a lot of time this month covering the legacy of the Basic Set and the BECMI series as a whole. But this is the set. This is the one people think of when you say "Basic Set."
That's a pretty serious legacy.
Join me all month as I talk about all the BECMI books, boxed sets, and related topics.
This week is nothing but Basic.
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