Brendan and I are having a discussion over at his blog, Untimately, about a rerelease of Original Dungeons & Dragons (OD&D), and the value this has. You might be interested, especially if a favourite game or faction has ever been left hanging, as with some GW IP.
If the terminology is new, OD&D was the first edition of the game. It was published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules (TSR) as a supplement to the wargame Chainmail, and it's often referred to as 'White Box'. It was revised by in 1977 as the Basic set (Blue Box, Holmes), the year Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) was released, revised again in 1981 into the Basic and Expert sets (B/X, Moldvay, Cook) and revised a third time in 1983 to begin the new series of Basic, Expert, Companion, Master and Immortal (Mentzer, BECMI).
The so-called 'retroclones' - many free - offer recodifications of the early rules using the Open Game License, making it easier to publish openly compatible products. They've been a driver of the OSR - often the Old School Renaissance - a movement focused on the early game that blurs the line between player and creator.
For D&D the best known retroclones may be OSRIC, Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game (BFRPG), Labyrinth Lord (LL), Swords & Wizardry (S&W) and Microlite74. Systems like Lamentations of the Flame Princess (LotFP), Dungeon Crawl Classics (DCC) and Adventurer Conqueror King (ACKS) can be thought of as part of a 'second wave' offering other interpretations. RPGNow is an online store where most if not all can be found.
Any corrections gratefully received of course.
The so-called 'retroclones' - many free - offer recodifications of the early rules using the Open Game License, making it easier to publish openly compatible products. They've been a driver of the OSR - often the Old School Renaissance - a movement focused on the early game that blurs the line between player and creator.
For D&D the best known retroclones may be OSRIC, Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game (BFRPG), Labyrinth Lord (LL), Swords & Wizardry (S&W) and Microlite74. Systems like Lamentations of the Flame Princess (LotFP), Dungeon Crawl Classics (DCC) and Adventurer Conqueror King (ACKS) can be thought of as part of a 'second wave' offering other interpretations. RPGNow is an online store where most if not all can be found.
Any corrections gratefully received of course.
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