Anyone for D&D Basic: The Keepers?

My wife brought home orange tea monster, something ruthless and blissful to drink with distilled Polish rye. I got happy and quite nostalgic since my cousins in New Jersey and Miami were whatsapping me photos of the great 70’s and 80’s. Since tis twas the season and I had no idea what I was going to give myself at all, I decided to go to a google group called The Goblin Emporium.

Needless to say I pulled out of there with a copy of Moldvay’s D&D Basic and Expert Rules and a copy of the Rules Cyclopedia. I am so excited and nostalgic, for those basic rules hold a lot of strange memories for me as I passed from eighth grade to my freshman year in high school.

But alas, until my 2 year old son learns to roll dice instead of putting them in his mouth (just for fun I tried it and I confess a d20 feels pretty good) I have to put it on the back burner.

Unless, is there anyone out there interested in playing the very Moldvay Basic? I just went over the concise to the point rules (dang 62 pages!!!) and am pretty psyched. I will say it has been centuries since I DMed this (by centuries I mean mental centuries, which equates to about 25-30 years) so I would rather play but will happily dungeon-master.

Funny thing is, we don't need character sheets on GP, behold how simple they used to be...



I like that the image is distorted, reminds me of all that erasing I did.

If you'd be willing to supply me with the rules, I would LOVE to try it out. The furthest back I've gone is 1e AD&D

Actually this is after I think, 1980- send me an email.

Or feel free to trawl the internets

You're correct, there is a few years difference. Either way, it's a version of Basic D&D, which I've never tried. I can send you a private message, but there is no email that I can see in your account.

That sounds so cool! I still have my Holmes light blue cover basic book which came with a module (In Search of the Unknown?). It's like a time machine every time I open it. I'd be interested.

I meant your email I'll send you the pdf.

atkinsonnathanj@gmail.com

done, its on a third party website but not sure how Keleth would feel about posting the link.

I'm still in after perusing it. I find it odd that the classes only hit level 3, but I'm down to give it a shot :)

Let me know when you start a game and I'll join right up!

Expert rules take over after that I'll get that when w get to it.

Gotcha :)

Works for me, I'm excited. I've become kind of a fan of old school games lately

They're too basic!

Lol. Personal taste, of course. However, I really do think the best vintage D&D you can play is AD&D. Basic and Expert just didn't bring enough, imo, and AD&D itself was very straightforward to play.

I can definitely appreciate the nostalgia aspect, though. Put a lot of miles on those books, and really love the art from the Monster Manual, Deities and Demigods, etc. Setting up erasable table maps, being 15 and playing D&D from about 7:00 pm until 4:00 am. And the Dragon Bone dice roller was very nifty... so high tech :)

Wow this is where I started! Wish I had time, but sadly no. Good luck with it!

Ad&d is to crunchy for me right now. But alas it was not too crunchy at the time that it came out. I filled my brain with the stuff for years and years. But no, not now.

Knife got no time, no problem pop in, read, enjoy smile, relish in the tale and move on.

Just random minding here, but I think the synchronous rules in this category are Labyrinth Lord, for those that need to know.

I'd play. Was my intro to the whole genre way back when,

I just downloaded the latest Labyrinth Lord, and I must say, down to the tables, it is the same thing as Moldvay. I was just sad to learn that he died in 2007.

I am just going to ask, any objections to me running the classic Keep on the Borderlands? If not I can find another module, perhaps The Lost City? Had them, never played either.

I'd love to run a classic :-)

Keep would be awesome!!

Naat you want to run it?

If by "run it", you mean "be a player in", then yes :)

I'm not familiar with it enough to run it at this point (though it seems pretty simple)

No, i think I got this one. Though I may need tutoring.

Looks like we have four people right now? cmbrian, szemely, valdus, and I?

I hate my NEED to DM, I'm seriously considering starting a game of this as well...

Being only exposed to 5e I'm willing to try one of the originals

Got ahold of the Rules Cyclopedia. Has all of the rules contained in the original set of D&D Books. I'm actually falling in love with this book, there's SO MUCH in it to devour.

I know you guys are going with basic, but is there a chance it could evolve into 1st ed AD&D at some point? Perhaps at the point where you might want to expand the game a little and go past 3rd level? Personally, (my opinion here, not putting Basic down) I just feel like Basic will get boring at some point. I'm very interested, and playing a half-orc thief sounds pretty stellar right about now. This thread has me pretty nostalgic for some classic dungeon crawl RPing.

Keep on the Borderlands was awesome, an absolute classic in every sense of the word. Really gives you that classic dungeon crawl feel. Still have that one, along with some of my other favorites like White Plume Mountain, the Saltmarsh series. Those old modules are fantastic.

1st edition AD&D is a totally different game. Also, Basic only goes to level 3, but then you Have Expert, which is the same rules, but for higher level characters (4-14), then you have Companions (level 15-25), then Masters (26-36), then Immortals, which is basically becoming a god.

I do love me some 1e AD&D too though!

Basic isn't totally different, just far more limited in scope. One could very, very easily adapt a Basic game to Advanced.
Absolutely. The Dungeon Master's Guide (guide meaning all the info within is totally optional, mind you; it's not a 'rule book') gives the DM simple mechanics to resolve things in the game (rather than arbitrary decision making by the DM).

Ah well, to each their own. Not putting it down, Basic just has to many blank spaces for me. If someone does decide to play an AD&D circa 1980 rules, let me know. That would be an absolute blast.

Has my game (which has not started) been coup d'tated by an AD&D game? It seems so much like the 80's, when everyone wanted to play AD&D and no one wanted the basic stuff. I like vanilla, vanilla is tasty.

I will say this, I think I MIGHT switch to the rules cyclopedia, which is can be found here
Rules Cyclopedia
or you can get it over on Drivethrurpg, like everything else on the rpglanet.

Along with the basic and expert set by Moldvay, I grabbed a physical copy of the RC. So either are the same to me. When I get them I plan on writing the very strange relationship/odyssey I have with those basic rules.

Ezeriah, I never saw D&D and AD&D as basic and advanced as far as skill. Like graduation or something. AD&D is just much much more crunchy, and as I evolved in my rpg I found myself pulled towards gaming that made me rely less on the book. Thus I went from being a die-hard AD&D, thinking I was the cleric's symbol to, wow, D&D is nice, easy flowing and imaginative. At the time I saw AD&D as having a rule for everything, and I wanted something that was just, well, less. High School was bad enough.

Also, Ill be honest, D&D was cheaper- soft cover and easier to find.

BUT, ALAS YE SCURVY DOGS, I will tell you this, that this cover holds a very large part of my brain.



It is a deep dark place, of promise and treasure.

I hope it hasn't been hijacked! That was certainly not my intention! I am still hoping to play in this game. I've never gotten a chance to play it :)

Nope. Your mentioning Basic and 80 Modlvay got me thinking about classic AD&D.
It's not about skill, or like graduation, even though the designers, imo, created all of those boxed sets beyond basic and expert as a money grab, because in the end, AD&D was meant to be the 'final' tier of the game (no doubt there are plenty of gamers who progressed on the path from Basic to AD&D, viewing Basic as the beginner game). The naming of the sets even lends itself toward a marketing intention of getting the gamer to 'graduate' to AD&D (FFG does the same things with their Star Wars 'Beginner' games).

And I'm not sure how AD&D is so 'crunchy'. Remember, everything in AD&D is a guideline, hence the Dungeon Master's Guide. The preface of the DMG goes on and on for an entire page about how the DM should consider everything within the DMG as guidelines, and use and change whatever he sees fit.

I guess what I'm getting at is this: When the DM gets to that situation where there's an issue that needs to be resolved, like diseases, poisons, psionics, creating a sentient enchanted weapon, whatever said DM chooses to include in the game, there's a well made mechanic there for them to use if they see fit to do so. And, personally, I like to let the dice help decide how things turn out. It adds another level of fun to the game (e.g., "look, man, I didn't just decide to kill Borg off... you caught that disease in the swamps after the fight, and the group just couldn't afford the cleric").

The things is, without the dice and the mechanics provided by AD&D, I would feel to arbitrary as a DM just repeatedly deciding what happens to the characters.Having a reference with some well thought out mechanics designed around reasonable odds is nice; combined with some experience, an index, and a DM screen, and you're set. In sum, it's nice to have a great set of guidelines to use.

But again, to each their own. If simpler is your cup of tea, go with it. I'm only here because all that talk about '80 Moldvay got me thinking about '79 AD&D. And, honestly, I thought you guys might actually come to a point where Basic left you hanging too.

Nor was it mine. Again, all that talk about '80 D&D got me all nostalgic, and got me to remember the game that opened up an entire world of RP good times for me.

I did, however, invite you to my game for Temple of Elemental Evil in 1e, if you're interested!

Hey I didn't mean that WAAAAH someone is stealing my show! I am just happy that old (high) school is making a comeback here. More power to the geezers I say (myself included in that slur!)

Now let's see if Keleth can get us an old style D&D sheet.

So any thoughts- Moldvay I may wind up hosting the expert set, if we get that far OE move to the RC and have all the rules here

Rules Cyclopedia

Yeah, it's pretty cool. For those that haven't had the chance, it's a great way to see the roots of every RPG ever made. D&D is the source from which the rest of the RPG world drew from.

It has come! I am in posession of my childhood once again. I have the Keep on the Borderlands. I am thinking that we can begin a group of adventurers coming out of the keep and it becoming a center for adventures. Let me know one final roll call and I will make the group.

One thing I noticed looking over the rules. Alas, I am rusty, veeeery rusty on the whole dmness. I am much more about story and fun than rules, so I beg for your patience. I was never a rules- lawyer.

I'm still in!

Thanks Naatkinson- those others, roll call!

In!

Alas, we have two. May not be enough to start a campaign, perhaps a crawl?

I'd start the game and see who decides to join, sometimes people don't post their interest and will just apply anyway once it's started

I'm in but I've never played it before so I'll probably need some help

I've never played basic, but I'll give it a go if you'll have me.

It has been so long for all of us, that it will seem like a novice run for all of us. I know, that we for one, played from the cuff. We had one but one rule. If it did not fit in the brain, we ignored it. I never even heard of encumbrance until I started playing computer games.

DM Cuff, that's me.

Here ya go.

D&D Basic: The Keepers

Already applied! I'm in! Do you know how different the rules we will use differ from the 1978 Holmes edition of Basic? That's the one I saved from my origin story.

With my game it isn't really going to matter. Any discrepancies can be ironed out by story or what have you. But I found a treatise on the subject.

Differences between early D&D's

Here is what I can tell you by using this as a quote. I say which one I go with where it is pertinent.
For me rules to be considered is supreme, if it don't fit in my head I don't use it. I probably won't use it if I have to look in the book. One of the reasons why I left AD&D.

Hi there everyone! I was looking for some mystara/karameikos game, better some BECMI game. How different would this ruleset be if you have any idea? I would say not too much but i might be wrong, anyway if you're still looking I would be happy yo join!

I am interested!

I think I got one of you there and the other?

yep

Im super green when it comes to dnd, this would be my first game but super keen to play if you would have me mate