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Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons and Dragons Basic Rules
Fantasy games
64 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1981
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
January 26, 2014
*** HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY D&D!!! ***
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! I was given the "basic set" aka "the red box set" for my 9th birthday and I couldn't have been happier!
It was the early 80s and Dungeons and Dragons was the game everyone was talking about, for better or worse. My two older cousins, who I idolized, already owned it and had been talking up big-time this crazy new kind of game ("So it's not a board game? How does that work?" I remember asking) where you could be a wizard, warrior, elf, halfling ("What's a halfling?"..."A hobbit."..."Oh."), dwarf, thief, cleric ("What's a cleric?"..."It's like a priest."..."Oh," I said, still not really understanding why a priest would be called a cleric and why in their right minds anyone would waste their time playing one.) and once you created this character you then went adventuring off to some old ruined castle where you would find monsters in the dungeon which you'd kill and take their treasure. Brilliant! Sign me up!
Well, easier said than done. After the birthday party was over, I opened the box, admired the funny shaped dice, flipped through the pre-made accompanying adventure The Keep on the Borderlands and then I turned to the actual rulebook...and then over the next few hours I steadily turned from pink to blue to purple and red with rage and frustration that I couldn't make heads or tails of it. Soon after followed desperation as I feared I would never figure it out and thus would never be able to play the game.
The issue with novices learning how to play D&D back then was that the available version at the time did not walk you through a how-to play the game introduction. There were no step-by-step instructions like a board game has. No, when you flipped the Basic rulebook open it essentially said, this is what's in this book, now go create a character! I guess I was stubborn. I wanted a full explanation of the game from start to finish. Hahahaha! What I didn't realize was that creating a character was the start of the game and that - unless that character died - there was no end to the game. Honestly, I was too young and ignorant of many of the ideas and concepts one needed to understand D&D. Ah, but in swept mom (not dad, who has never understood fiction/fantasy in any form...well, except for maybe porn) to save the day! She got me over the hump on a few stumpers and off I went! Within a short while I was at my cousin's and we were killing goblins and wererats in "The Haunted Keep" mini-module (a pre-made adventure) that came with the rule book.
And thus began years worth of fun and celibacy through out my teens!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! I was given the "basic set" aka "the red box set" for my 9th birthday and I couldn't have been happier!
It was the early 80s and Dungeons and Dragons was the game everyone was talking about, for better or worse. My two older cousins, who I idolized, already owned it and had been talking up big-time this crazy new kind of game ("So it's not a board game? How does that work?" I remember asking) where you could be a wizard, warrior, elf, halfling ("What's a halfling?"..."A hobbit."..."Oh."), dwarf, thief, cleric ("What's a cleric?"..."It's like a priest."..."Oh," I said, still not really understanding why a priest would be called a cleric and why in their right minds anyone would waste their time playing one.) and once you created this character you then went adventuring off to some old ruined castle where you would find monsters in the dungeon which you'd kill and take their treasure. Brilliant! Sign me up!
Well, easier said than done. After the birthday party was over, I opened the box, admired the funny shaped dice, flipped through the pre-made accompanying adventure The Keep on the Borderlands and then I turned to the actual rulebook...and then over the next few hours I steadily turned from pink to blue to purple and red with rage and frustration that I couldn't make heads or tails of it. Soon after followed desperation as I feared I would never figure it out and thus would never be able to play the game.
The issue with novices learning how to play D&D back then was that the available version at the time did not walk you through a how-to play the game introduction. There were no step-by-step instructions like a board game has. No, when you flipped the Basic rulebook open it essentially said, this is what's in this book, now go create a character! I guess I was stubborn. I wanted a full explanation of the game from start to finish. Hahahaha! What I didn't realize was that creating a character was the start of the game and that - unless that character died - there was no end to the game. Honestly, I was too young and ignorant of many of the ideas and concepts one needed to understand D&D. Ah, but in swept mom (not dad, who has never understood fiction/fantasy in any form...well, except for maybe porn) to save the day! She got me over the hump on a few stumpers and off I went! Within a short while I was at my cousin's and we were killing goblins and wererats in "The Haunted Keep" mini-module (a pre-made adventure) that came with the rule book.
And thus began years worth of fun and celibacy through out my teens!
August 4, 2008
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I'm a geek.
When I was seven years old my Dad got me this book in a boxed set -- or more accurately, the one with the Larry Elmore warrior-versus-dragon cover. It came with a player's book, Dungeon Master's book, and a set of pale blue dice with a little white crayon that I had to color in myself.
Gary Gygax passed away several months before this writing, and I attended his services -- including "Garycon" that took place in Legion Hall. (I only hope that upon my passing that my friends throw a huge kickass gaming party in my honor.) When the world lost Gary it made me think about the huge impact that what he and Dave Arneson created had on the world.
Tabletop role playing games may be becoming increasingly niche, which is something that makes me sad both as a hobby gamer and as a guy who makes his living off of creating such products. But the impact of RPGs on the world at large is too great to easily measure. The entire video game industry would be something completely different were it not for the concepts of RPGs, and ideas that are completely ingrained in modern culture are a result as well.
My first character ever created with this book was a Magic-User named Winston. (My son went on to create a fighter named Walter when he was seven. This book sparked my imagination in a completely new way, because with a normal book it's a somewhat passive event. Someone else tells me a story and my imagination gives it life. But with D&D I was in the story, and none of us knew exactly how it might turn out.
I fought orcs, kobolds, gelatinous cubes, trolls, displacer beasts, and black pudding (stupid Winston tried the lightning bolt). I fought with spells and with the help of brave companions ... though the thief did not detect the trap which ended poor Winston's career.
The rules have changed and evolved. We're up to 4th Edition now (really 5th or 6th Edition, but that's another story) but the basic idea is the same. Create a character and jump in the middle of a story filled with action and adventure. Eat pizza, drink Dew (or perhaps something a little stronger), and have some fun.
I literally can't imagine my life if my Dad had not purchased me this book from the local game store. I might have gone on to become a concert pianist, a leader in mainstream business, or a college History professor.
Thank you, Gary.
July 3, 2014
Back in autumn of....I think 1978 I bought the "boxed basic set" of Dungeons and Dragons (later referred to as D&D First Edition). I was a long time fan(addict) of fantasy books and stories. About a year before I'd seen mention on a talk type TV show of a game called Dungeons and Dragons. Since I lived in a fairly small city (or large town) at the time finding the books or the boxed game wasn't "in the cards" at home. The next year I was out of town and....daa,daat, ta, DA! found it. I bought the boxed set (and also the DM Guide. Later I found I needed the Player's Handbook to get the core rules for what was at that time called "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons" or "AD&D").
Then, back at home I put together the "group" and from there I've played D&D ever since. I suppose most of the time I've been the DM (Dungeon Master [referee and game master for the layperson]) though I've also played as a player in other DM's games.
This book/set holds a place of nostalgia in my heart/mind and it gave hours of fun for me and also for the first group I put together (and we played together for years). This was back in the time when all the warnings were out and D&D was supposed to tempt people down into the depths of depravity, rot minds and lead to things like dancing, playing cards and going to movies. Just so you know...I'm a minister, I mean a real Christian one. Really.
Oh well, anyway...lots of good memories and hours of gaming enjoyment.
Then, back at home I put together the "group" and from there I've played D&D ever since. I suppose most of the time I've been the DM (Dungeon Master [referee and game master for the layperson]) though I've also played as a player in other DM's games.
This book/set holds a place of nostalgia in my heart/mind and it gave hours of fun for me and also for the first group I put together (and we played together for years). This was back in the time when all the warnings were out and D&D was supposed to tempt people down into the depths of depravity, rot minds and lead to things like dancing, playing cards and going to movies. Just so you know...I'm a minister, I mean a real Christian one. Really.
Oh well, anyway...lots of good memories and hours of gaming enjoyment.
March 9, 2014
This is where it all began. This is where my imagination was encouraged to run wild.
I loved playing this game in my teens. Amongst my group of friends most of our mums (not mine, she believed the "evil D&D" nonsense being spouted by the media), liked us to play because they knew we were inside the house, behaving ourselves.
I loved that fact that every player had to think on their feet. As long as you remained within the framework of the rules, anything could happen, and (unfortunately for our poor DM) usually did.
I loved playing this game in my teens. Amongst my group of friends most of our mums (not mine, she believed the "evil D&D" nonsense being spouted by the media), liked us to play because they knew we were inside the house, behaving ourselves.
I loved that fact that every player had to think on their feet. As long as you remained within the framework of the rules, anything could happen, and (unfortunately for our poor DM) usually did.
January 17, 2021
Arguably the best version of DnD. I really like 5th edition but its still not quite my capstone tier tabletop. Between this and 5th it was all....either outright bad (3rd, 3.5) or underwhelming and overly crunchy (2nd, 4rth).
Sure, in the end I play and run DnD because its the game that everyone else plays, and the odds are that I wouldnt run it or play much at all if not for those factors, but if I have to run it I will give my players two options, Basic or 5th. And if we are doing 5th were still simplifying and house rules-ing it.
Sure, in the end I play and run DnD because its the game that everyone else plays, and the odds are that I wouldnt run it or play much at all if not for those factors, but if I have to run it I will give my players two options, Basic or 5th. And if we are doing 5th were still simplifying and house rules-ing it.
June 17, 2019
When I was a kid I started playing with the 1989 "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition" but over the years I tried lots of new editions and tried more and more complicated, "simulationist" rules I have decided to go back to the basics, the 1st Edition circa about 1983. I'm surprised to find that I hardly miss any of the more advanced rules. Simple is way more fun.
May 16, 2014
I think this is the best edition of the game. It is simple and well organized and easy to run and house rule. Wonderful game.
July 16, 2021
Para muchos la edición definitiva de D&D, desde luego chorrea encanto y es sencilla, ágil y fácil de jugar. Yo no puedo recomendarla más. Es una gozada.
June 25, 2012
Ahhh the good old days...
February 15, 2017
This book made me a gamer.
January 15, 2018
You hear a lot about how an RPG is "old school", but what does that mean? The best way to find out is to read the original.
I read this book about 34 years after its release. I'd had experience with 5e and 3.5 (well, Pathfinder), so my experience with D&D proper is very modern. I'm used to amazing artwork, full-colour glossy pages, hardcover rulebooks that are about 33.3% lore and 66.6% mechanics. I'm used to D&D being about the world and the characters within it, and not really about dungeons OR dragons. In fact, in all my D&D/Pathfinder gaming experience, I don't think I've entered a proper dungeon, and I've probably only encountered one or two dragons.
Take all that, invert it, and you have the original D&D rules. Early D&D was clearly all about literal dungeons, traps, wandering monsters, and loot. Illustrations were minimal, done in heavy ink with no colour. The entire DM guide fits within 48 pages. Graph paper and dungeon design were top priority. THIS is exactly what people are talking about when they say "old school". It's relatively simple, focused on a finite space for exploration, and most conflict is well defined. It's beautiful and inspiring, because it shows that you can have a great tabletop experience with a relatively simple setup. There are modern RPGs that are even simpler (Dungeon Delvers is one page) but it all stems from this, and that's cool.
Well worth a read, if you're interested in the history of RPG.
I read this book about 34 years after its release. I'd had experience with 5e and 3.5 (well, Pathfinder), so my experience with D&D proper is very modern. I'm used to amazing artwork, full-colour glossy pages, hardcover rulebooks that are about 33.3% lore and 66.6% mechanics. I'm used to D&D being about the world and the characters within it, and not really about dungeons OR dragons. In fact, in all my D&D/Pathfinder gaming experience, I don't think I've entered a proper dungeon, and I've probably only encountered one or two dragons.
Take all that, invert it, and you have the original D&D rules. Early D&D was clearly all about literal dungeons, traps, wandering monsters, and loot. Illustrations were minimal, done in heavy ink with no colour. The entire DM guide fits within 48 pages. Graph paper and dungeon design were top priority. THIS is exactly what people are talking about when they say "old school". It's relatively simple, focused on a finite space for exploration, and most conflict is well defined. It's beautiful and inspiring, because it shows that you can have a great tabletop experience with a relatively simple setup. There are modern RPGs that are even simpler (Dungeon Delvers is one page) but it all stems from this, and that's cool.
Well worth a read, if you're interested in the history of RPG.
July 2, 2015
I'm not sure if it's even this version I'm rating, but I got bought a starter set for Xmas and just got around to going through it.
Sometimes an idea is so perfect it just fits. I don't know why I never went this way before. We used to do Warhammer and stuff growing up, and this is cheaper and more advanced in terms of imagination etc.
The rules can be as simple or as complex as you like and I loved the Mines of Phandelver campaign idea for getting you started. It's lasted 40 years and that's a testament to how good this is. I can't praise it enough!
Sometimes an idea is so perfect it just fits. I don't know why I never went this way before. We used to do Warhammer and stuff growing up, and this is cheaper and more advanced in terms of imagination etc.
The rules can be as simple or as complex as you like and I loved the Mines of Phandelver campaign idea for getting you started. It's lasted 40 years and that's a testament to how good this is. I can't praise it enough!
February 9, 2016
The original D&D Basic Set literally changed my life. It gave me a chance to be creative, learn leadership, teamwork, learn creative writing, story telling and math. The things I learned playing tabletop games are still used in my day to day life, more than 30 years later.
November 1, 2009
The red box that started it all. Sure, the later editions improved on it but this is where RPG began. Thank you Gary and Dave.
March 18, 2018
This was a great friend to so many youngsters. Sadly there were idiots that thought anyone playing this was a satanist, really! The most I ever done was to sew buttons onto cotton shirts never owned a satin shirt in my life, but after lots of ritual saving I eventually got a two piece satan suit... SORRY satin suit or was it.
Mwaha ha ha ha ha. }:)
Mwaha ha ha ha ha. }:)
October 3, 2018
My first box set. And favorite set of rules for the Basic Set.
Still play it today!!
Still play it today!!
December 27, 2017
Ah, Dungeons and Dragons! I will never forget how my dad screwed me over by letting me and my younger siblings and nephews choose a mysterious drink when we came across a rare pub that was tucked away in the catacombs (in which the waiters were actually Dalmatians walking on their hind legs, but that aside). I was the only one choosing the potion resembling a coke instead of the ones resembling chocolate milk (as the evil bastard knew I would), and its magic powers just so happened to prevent me from opening my mouth for the rest of the game. Grmbl.
October 10, 2013
My rating is based on my views when I read it more than my opinion on it today, although I have had the opportunity to browse a PDF of it recently, and I think it's still a game worth playing. This was my first ever RPG, and it was a good one. I think it was probably the best RPG ever put out by TSR, especially when combined with the Expert Rules.
July 4, 2013
I don't have this particular book. I have to put a review somewhere to say I used to play and use the reference books we did have way back then. And stayed friends as much as possible with elfs and such as we grew up -- older. D&D was fun for boys and girls alike, and some still play.
March 11, 2019
If you've ever thought to yourself, "why did they ever stop THAC0?", this book is the trip down memory lane you need. Why is elf a class? Why are so many things they way they are?
"I like my casters like I like my copyrights, weak." --Gary Gygax, probably as he worked on these rules.
"I like my casters like I like my copyrights, weak." --Gary Gygax, probably as he worked on these rules.
February 20, 2012
The original red box! Its the first RPG I ever played and I still love it!
March 25, 2012
I have been into role playing games for nearly 30 years and honestly think this is the best I have ever played. Easy, imaginative and old school. Small investment and years of fun here.
July 3, 2012
The game that got me into gaming. Remember the wonderful blue dice? (I still have some.)
March 29, 2013
This was the first book I read & it started my 30 year (so far) love affair with Role-playing Games. What more could I say?
June 14, 2013
The original starter's kit for D&D..classic.
May 17, 2021
As I work my way through the earlier editions of D&D during the closing days of the pandemic (whoo hoo! Second shot!) the stark simplicity of this edition has a strong appeal. Text wise it's a place between AD&D 1E and 2E in terms of trusting the reader, but it's also still very clearly a Game. The mechanics still revolve around going into the dungeons to bring up treasure, but the slide to the fight being the reward rather than the fight being a real and deadly things that you're best off avoiding hasn't happened yet. Character creation is fast, classes have no flourishes, and if you're killed it's 20 minutes to get back in the game with a new 1st level PC.
The dynamics around that really define game play. Plus this edition feels _more_ designed than OD&D and AD&D 1E because Moldvay was taking everything that had come before and was try to systematize it as much as possible - the bonus curve was the same for every stat, the weapon damages were simple and clear., etc. I really do wish that any one of these games had a space where the designed stopped and explained the base assumptions of play goals and mechanical designs, but those assumptions were so basic as to be invisible, and when put into the wild were so invisible as to be ignored. (Or, for many mechanical designs, had been ad hoc rules to begin with and were living untested in the rules.) Rereading this it's clear why there are so many retro-clones of these editions.
The dynamics around that really define game play. Plus this edition feels _more_ designed than OD&D and AD&D 1E because Moldvay was taking everything that had come before and was try to systematize it as much as possible - the bonus curve was the same for every stat, the weapon damages were simple and clear., etc. I really do wish that any one of these games had a space where the designed stopped and explained the base assumptions of play goals and mechanical designs, but those assumptions were so basic as to be invisible, and when put into the wild were so invisible as to be ignored. (Or, for many mechanical designs, had been ad hoc rules to begin with and were living untested in the rules.) Rereading this it's clear why there are so many retro-clones of these editions.
November 27, 2022
Moldvay/Cook might be the best repackaging of the original D&D rules into an easily-understood basic game - sure, sure, the planned Companion rules had to wait for the Mentzer-penned revision of the basic game, but in practice the game always functioned best at the dungeons-and-wildernesses levels covered by B/X. The main downside here is that Basic only goes to 3rd Level and incorporating the material from Expert requires a bunch of cross-referencing. Full thoughts on this and other TSR-era D&D editions: https://refereeingandreflection.wordp...
May 9, 2021
Another trip down memory lane, full of awesome ideas and a very simplistic rule set that has everything you need to run a fantasy world. Has some rules that wouldn't fly with most modern players (race as class) but is so quick and easy to run with a competent referee. This plus the expert rules and a bountiful imagination are all you need to have fun with friends for years to come.
March 28, 2019
Il classico gioco di ruolo, adattabile a tutto e utilizzabile in mille avventure! I suoi punti di forza: innovazione, semplicità, flessibilità. Punti deboli: nessuno è perfetto, e alla lunga le avventure diventano un po' ripetitive.
September 15, 2021
Not as good as the advanced version of the game, but this simplified things so that many of us could begin running our own dungeons. Also important for having introduced the Known World, which later became the Mystara franchise.
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