.. title: Old-School Essentials Classic Fantasy Rules Tome
.. slug: old-school-essentials-classic-fantasy-rules-tome
.. date: 2021-09-06 16:04:34 UTC-04:00
.. tags: rpg,d&d,b/x d&d, basic/expert d&d,ose,old-school essentials,classic fantasy
.. category: gaming/rpg/dnd
.. link:
.. description:
.. type: text
[I actually finished reading this back on July 9, 2021, but forgot to
finish this post, so it is appearing now.]
I finished reading the `Old-School Essentials Classic Fantasy Rules
Tome` from cover to cover and I am very impressed.
As I say in my terse Goodreads review:
.. raw:: html
Old-School Essentials Classic Fantasy: Rules Tome by Gavin Norman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Excellent restatement of the class Basic/Expert D&D (B/X D&D) rules from 1981. Exceptionally clear presentation in wording, typography, and layout. Excellent physical production quality. I liked the use of full page or 2 page spread color artwork, and the black and white art included on the other pages. Excellent range of artwork.
View all my reviews on Goodreads
To expand on this:
I've said elsewhere_ that I started playing with first edition AD&D.
As far as I can remember, we often simplified things: I don't remember
using segments, spell components, weapon speed factors, or armor class
adjustments, and I'm not sure we used anything like the actual
official combat sequence.\ [#addict]_ I never picked up the
Moldvay/Cook/Marsh Basic/Expert Sets, unfortunately, since I foolishly
thought “Advanced” meant better than “Basic”.
I think `Old-School Essentials Classic Fantasy` is an wonderful way
for someone to learn the rules of classic D&D, and for running classic
D&D campaigns. I wish it had been around when I started playing D&D.
I'd recommend it today for anyone learning to play, or anyone who
prefers the classic rules.
..
See DMG p. 61, “Encounters, Combat, and Initiative”.
.. _elsewhere: link://slug/roleplaying-games#how-i-got-started
.. [#addict]
The rules on Initiative on p. 62–63 of the Dungeon Master's Guide
(DMG) sound simple, but there are further elaborations elsewhere in
the DMG (“Simultaneous Initiative” on p. 66, for instance) and
other AD&D 1E rule books.
It takes a 20 page document, `Advanced Dungeons & Dragons®
Initiative and Combat Table`, compiled by David M. Prata, (I1_ or
I2_) to come anywhere near compiling and explaining the actual
first edition AD&D initiative and combat sequence.
I'm not entirely convinced that there **is** a completely
consistent interpretation of the rules, but people have spent a lot
of time and effort trying to figure one out.
Oh, here's a brief but clear discussion of the `AD&D Initiative
Controversy`_, (mirror_ on archive.org) describing both The
A.D.D.I.C.T. Method and the OSRIC method.
.. _I1: https://idiscepolidellamanticora.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/addict.pdf
.. _I2: http://knights-n-knaves.com/dmprata/ADDICT.pdf
.. _AD&D Initiative Controversy: https://www.knights-n-knaves.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=15891
.. _mirror: https://web.archive.org/web/20210706181418/http://knights-n-knaves.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=15891
*Last edited: 2021-09-13 17:13:50 EDT*
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