my favorite is the Rules Cyclopedia -- it's the final edition of the original series. I am glad people are starting get interested in continueing this D&D rule-set now as I have always preferred it over the AD&D rule-set.
I dig the race as class thing. It reminds me of the original Star Wars aliens where the character exists as the representative of that race as a whole. Like Chewbacca is not the wookie pilot/archer. He's the Chewbacca.
Great observations! I have all of these and enjoy them immensely. I very much agree with your viewpoint on Race-as-Class. It makes for unique races and allows players to play them in a unique manner (without reference to skill options). B/X Options was not used for OSE; it came out after OSE, as I recall. B/X Options is about building classes in the mold of B/X. OSE is, according to the designer, a copy of the original B/X rules in a more user-friendly format. OSE later added "Advanced Options" for the game, which were 1st Edition game options back-fitted into B/X.
Great to see, Stephen. B/X D&D is my system of choice too. It’s perfect for building an interesting campaign world. I was gifted the PDF of BX Options by the author who is a follower of my campaign. I’m inspired to purchase a POD copy after seeing it here.
I fear I am too young to have played B/X or BECMI/Rules Cyclopedia, having been about 5 when TSR cut the line in favor of 2nd edition Advanced, so my first edition was 3.5. That said, the older editions have always interested me, and I have discovered BECMI/Rules Cyclopedia and fell in love with it...Always did find it a little odd that there are too many Retroclones of B/X to count (Labyrinth Lord, Old School Essentials, Basic Fantasy...Lamentations of the Flame Princess...just to name a few), but only one (Three if you count the edition that had all the creator's house rules and the edition that was halfway in-between the two) of the Rules Cyclopedia (Dark Dungeons).
because B/X appears to be one of the most favorite versions out of all the different rules sets that TSR published. It is so simple and allows for the DM and the players to really let their imagination soar without a lot of complicated rules to get in the way. It is also my favorite version to run and play.
around the 11:00 mark, did you mean to compare the Barbarian and the Bard? I figure with the assassin it was like for like but you caught me off guard with the two different ones.
A bard class that insists on granting a party wide bonus. However, with a small penalty of letting the whole damn dungeon know precisely. Where exactly your located. If more bard begin singing and playing along. Then, the greater the bonus. Never mind those pesky enemies that by DM fiat. They that may very well earn that bonus as well.
@@mstephenjoy Yeah you're welcome. To be honest I am partially commenting on your videos to appease the algorithm gods. I know it helps small channels so when I find one I like it's a way I try to help out.
I'm watching the excellent Halls of Arden Vul 3D6 Down the line Lets play and am loving it.... OSE at its finest. However there is no way in hell I would play months and years of sessions roll playing: gathering and tracking treasure, problem solving around getting back to town, all to justify levelling up.... I'm playing Symbaroum with milestone levelling, and we haven't turned into murder hobos... Our game is rich with quality play. Treasure for XP is a Gigax idea and not required.... I deal with numbers at work, I'm not into more accounting while gaming... Having stated that, the great thing about the sheer breadth of rpgs is the style of play available. Great to see your passion here in the videos...
I began during the era just after B/X…the Mentzer era of BECMI, etc. But, the first books I ever owned were bought from a friend…which was B/X. I imagined newer was better so when I got the RC, I thought I’d finally had the greatest. Once I hit my late 30s (around about 2010), I realized just how well B/X is constructed! I really love clones of OD&D a lot (things being simpler and more open)…but….B/X is SO super solid and wonderfully structured but super easy! It’s ready to go! SO much! And still SO easy to deal with house-rules-wise! ❤
Thank you for the comment and I couldn't agree more. In my case players in my game were unwilling to play B/X once AD&D was discovered. It made me sad since I love B/X but when in Rome.
Yeah, I started with B/X too. Also still a favorite edition. We then moved to AD&D 1e, but we always kept a bunch of stuff we preferred from B/X, so our game is something of an amalgam homebrew. 40+ years later and we are still playing it. :-) And btw... the Basic book takes you through third level, not fifth.
@@mstephenjoyYes I know what order they came in, I owned and still own both and they aren't all that different. Mentzer just rebooted it to fit with going farther. You want to stop at 14 and not do the other stuff okay.
