3d6 in order (OD&D)

[rredmond]

So I've played a little OD&D (LBB with pieces of the supplements) and was talking to my daughters about 3d6 in order. We fooled around with a couple of six-sideds for a bit and then went outside. I was sitting at the table when I came inside and just rolled up a character with this method for kicks:
Strength: 13
Intelligence: 12
Wisdom: 17
Dexterity: 16
Constitution: 9
Charisma: 17



Since a Greyhawk supplement paladin is about the only time I'd play a paladin, but still this character can go anywhere. Makes me wonder if Palace of the Vampire Queen would make a good PbP.

Anyone have any good OD&D experiences?
What are/is the OD&D clone(s)?

[dmw71]

...3d6 in order...rolled up a character with this method for kicks:
Strength: 13
Intelligence: 12
Wisdom: 17
Dexterity: 16
Constitution: 9
Charisma: 17

Nice rolls! That beats many of my 4d6 in any order characters.

What are/is the OD&D clone(s)?

I'm thinking Labyrinth Lord will be the closest to what you're looking for. The following post had a good overview of the available retro-clones.

What retro-clone is closest to OD&D?

[rredmond]

Thanks Dave. I'll have to read. I'm never over at rpg.net though I may have an account there.
When I'm in front of a real computer, and not on my phone I'll have to relate the story of my first OD&D character, Holy Schmidt the cleric, who actually made it to second level before being done in! He had 1 HP!

[ToniXX]

I never played OD&D. The closest I got was the Holmes basic set, which was the first D&D I ever played.

[dmw71]

Sorry, I was a little rushed in my last answer. There are three primary clones that I'm aware of for the various editions of D&D:

Original D&D Clone (1974)
Swords & Wizardry
"The Swords & Wizardry game “clones” the original rules of the fantasy roleplaying game that started it all back in 1974, when it was published by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson."

Basic (B|X) Clone (1981)
Labyrinth Lord
"The Labyrinth Lord core rules emulate the rules and game play experience of the 1981 edition of the world’s most popular fantasy role-playing game. The 1981 version reorganized and clarified the rules from the very first version of the game released in 1974, so it is the best version to pick up and play with little prep time."

Basic (BECMI / Rules Compendium) Clone (1991)
Dark Dungeons
" The primary inspiration for Dark Dungeons is the 1991 Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia..."


***


Since the editions of D&D can be kind of confusing, especially since there was so much overlap with "basic" Dungeons & Dragons, I've gone through and created a visual timeline of the various editions.


Original D&D Set (1974)
"Contains three booklets (Men & Magic, Monsters & Treasure, Underworld & Wilderness Adventures) plus a Reference Sheets booklet."




***************************
* Original D&D Clone *
***************************
Swords & Wizardry
"The Swords & Wizardry game “clones” the original rules of the fantasy roleplaying game that started it all back in 1974, when it was published by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson."


***

"While AD&D was still in the works, TSR was approached by an outside writer and D&D enthusiast, John Eric Holmes, who offered to re-edit and rewrite the original rules into an introductory version of D&D.[4] Although TSR was focused on AD&D at the time, the project was seen as a profitable enterprise and a way to direct new players to anticipate the release of the AD&D game. Sold with dice and a module as the Basic Set, the first edition of Basic D&D, published in 1977, collected together and organized the rules from the original D&D boxed set and Greyhawk supplement into a single booklet, which covered only character levels 1 through 3."

D&D Basic Set (blue box) edited by J. Eric Holmes (1977)


**************************
* No Clone Available * <-- At least not that I'm aware of.
**************************


***

B|X (Tom Moldvay | Dave Cook) (1981)
"Once AD&D had been released, the Basic Set saw a major revision in 1981 by Tom Moldvay, which was immediately followed by the release of an Expert Set (supporting levels 4 through 14) to accompany the Basic Set. With this revision, the Basic rules became their own game, distinct both from original D&D and AD&D. The revised Basic rules can be distinguished from the original ones by cover colors: the Basic booklet had a red cover, and the Expert booklet a blue one."

B: D&D Basic Set (magenta box) edited by Tom Moldvay (1981)


X: D&D Expert Set (light blue box) edited by Dave Cook (1981)



******************
* B|X Clone(s) *
******************
Labyrinth Lord
"The Labyrinth Lord core rules emulate the rules and game play experience of the 1981 edition of the world’s most popular fantasy role-playing game. The 1981 version reorganized and clarified the rules from the very first version of the game released in 1974, so it is the best version to pick up and play with little prep time."


***

BECMI (Frank Mentzer)
"Between 1983 and 1985 this system was revised and expanded by Frank Mentzer as a series of five boxed sets, including the Basic Rules (red cover), Expert Rules (blue), Companion Rules (green, supporting levels 15 through 25), Master Rules (black, supporting levels 26 through 36), and Immortal Rules (gold, supporting Immortals - characters who had transcended levels)."

D&D Basic Rules Set 1 (red box) edited by Frank Mentzer (1983)


D&D Expert Rules Set 2 (blue box) edited by Frank Mentzer (1983)


D&D Basic Rules Set 3: Companion Rules by Frank Mentzer (1984)


D&D Basic Rules Set 4: Master Rules by Gary Gygax with Frank Mentzer (1985)


D&D Basic Rules Set 5: Immortals Rules by Frank Mentzer (1986)


***

"This version was compiled and slightly revised in 1991 as the D&D Rules Cyclopedia, a hardback book which included all the sets except Immortal Rules which was also revised and renamed Wrath of the Immortals. While the Cyclopedia included all information required to begin the game, there were also several editions of an introductory boxed set, including the Dungeons & Dragons Game (1991), the Classic Dungeons & Dragons Game (1994) and the Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Game (1999)."

D&D Rules Cyclopedia by Aaron Allston (1991)


Wrath of the Immortals by Aaron Allston (1992)



************************
* BECMI (RC) Clone *
************************
Dark Dungeons
" The primary inspiration for Dark Dungeons is the 1991 Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia..."


See also:
Editions of Dungeons & Dragons


Edit: Fixed images. Acaeum.com blocked "hotlinking" so I had to copy the images and host them on Photobucket.

[rredmond]

Cool! I have PDFs of all of these, as well as a hard copy or three. I know I have a ton of Holmes stuff - expansions though, not sure of clones. I'll check.
Rob "Thorkhammer" Pinnell is a huge Holmes fan and I was in his Holmes PbP over at DF while it ran. Our party picture ended up in some published module, forget where. I'll have to find that too.
Thanks again!

[Argennian]

... AWESOME...

Dave: that is a very well organized and informative post to be sure. Well done! I learned a few things I didn't know/realize.

So I've played a little OD&D (LBB with pieces of the supplements) and was talking to my daughters about 3d6 in order. We fooled around with a couple of six-sideds for a bit and then went outside. I was sitting at the table when I came inside and just rolled up a character with this method for kicks:
Strength: 13
Intelligence: 12
Wisdom: 17
Dexterity: 16
Constitution: 9
Charisma: 17



Since a Greyhawk supplement paladin is about the only time I'd play a paladin, but still this character can go anywhere. Makes me wonder if Palace of the Vampire Queen would make a good PbP.

indeed!

I started with that same method, Ron, and those rolls easily trump the best ones I ever managed or have ever seen rolled up. Well done, Master Paladin!

Anyone have any good OD&D experiences?
What are/is the OD&D clone(s)?

Dave pretty much knocks the second question out of the park, so...

I just realized that I mostly played the Holmes basic set, like what ToniXX did. Although I can't remember much of how or what we played specifically, what I do remember was good times!

You know, I did find most of my old original gaming stuff a number of years back and that was a really cool trip down memory lane. Although it was mostly Top Secret, Metamorphosis Alpha and Gamma World, the Holmes Basic and the B/X books were still in there. Even found a B1 Caves of the Unknown module that I fully stocked (in cursive writing) using the 1E MM back when I was 12 years old!

[dmw71]

Dave: that is a very well organized and informative post to be sure. Well done! I learned a few things I didn't know/realize.

Thanks! That, truthfully, was very helpful for me, too. Until sitting down last night to research and organize everything, I was often confused by the different editions that existed. I have a pretty good grasp on it now, though!

[ToniXX]

The images in Dave's post weren't coming up for me until now. Good stuff!

[dmw71]

The images in Dave's post weren't coming up for me until now. Good stuff!

Apparently, I was "hotlinking" to the Acaeum.com website and they blocked me. I just saved the images to Photobucket and linked to them instead.

[Vargr1105]

I hate it when that happens. It was not like you were stealing someone else's original art. If I had blog and uploaded the pic of a book cover I would have no problem with people hotlinking it.

[dmw71]

I hate it when that happens. It was not like you were stealing someone else's original art. If I had blog and uploaded the pic of a book cover I would have no problem with people hotlinking it.

At least they were nice about it and said "please" in their message:

http://www.acaeum.com/hotlink.html
"Hotlinking is illegal!

Please do not leech bandwidth from this site."

[dmw71]

******************
* B|X Clone(s) *
******************
Labyrinth Lord
"The Labyrinth Lord core rules emulate the rules and game play experience of the 1981 edition of the world’s most popular fantasy role-playing game. The 1981 version reorganized and clarified the rules from the very first version of the game released in 1974, so it is the best version to pick up and play with little prep time."

An additional find. The Labyrinth Lord rules also have an Advanced Edition Companion which introduces some of the 1E classes and races (as well as monsters and magic) into the B/X system.

http://www.goblinoidgames.com/labyrinthlord.html
...the Advanced Edition Companion is a player’s handbook and referee guide that allows the use of the array of advanced character possibilities from the 1978 (first edition) rules, and first edition monsters and magical items.


It sounds pretty cool! I actually just downloaded it (for free) and plan on giving it a full read-through.

[Vargr1105]

With Labyrinth Lord + Advanced Edition Companion you could run any BD&D or AD&D module with a minimum of fuss. The only thing missing to run AD&D modules is weapon damage for size (s-m/L). BECMI skills are easy as pie to emulate in LL and there is a Weapon Mastery PDF floating around for those that like to use it.

[dmw71]

With Labyrinth Lord + Advanced Edition Companion you could run any BD&D or AD&D module with a minimum of fuss.

It seems pretty cool. I had a chance to start reading a bit of it earlier today and right away they mention that the Advanced Edition Companion is not a standalone product. From the 'How to Use This Book' section:

"Advanced Edition Companion (AEC) presents character options similar to those in the "advanced first edition" of the world's most popular fantasy role-playing game rules, but for use with and adapted for the Labyrinth Lord core rules. As such this is not a standalone product, but should be considered an "advanced edition" player's handbook and referee's guide. This book will be used as a replacement for sections 2 and 3 in the Labyrinth Lord rulebook for players who want campaigns that feel more like a first edition advanced fantasy game."

The only thing missing to run AD&D modules is weapon damage for size (s-m/L).

I've personally never understood why the size of your opponent would have anything to do with the amount of damage dealt so I'm not overly concerned about its omission.