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Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons and Dragons Rules Cyclopedia
Provides all of the Dungeons & Dragons expert, companion, and masters rules for players up to level thirty-six
304 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 1991
9 people are currently reading
153 people want to read
About the author
Aaron Allston
174 books374 followersAaron Dale Allston was an American game designer and author of many science fiction books, notably Star Wars novels. His works as a game designer include game supplements for role-playing games, several of which served to establish the basis for products and subsequent development of TSR's Dungeons & Dragons game setting Mystara. His later works as a novelist include those of the X-Wing series: Wraith Squadron, Iron Fist, Solo Command, Starfighters of Adumar, and Mercy Kill. He wrote two entries in the New Jedi Order series: Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream and Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand. Allston wrote three of the nine Legacy of the Force novels: Betrayal, Exile, and Fury, and three of the nine Fate of the Jedi novels: Outcast, Backlash, and Conviction.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
February 4, 2020
I am not generally a fan of class/level systems. I prefer the freedom of a skilled-based, point-buy system and am willing to put up with a few odd corner cases and the chance of players being over- or underpowered to get it. Despite that, if Alien Space Bats appeared before me and told me that they were exiling me and some of my friends to the prison planet Salusa Secundus and that I could only bring a single RPG book from my collection, this is the one I would bring.
It has it all. There's enough packed in here to take characters from starting out as callow youths staring fearfully into the stone-arched door leading into the depths of the earth to leaders of armies to plane-hopping multiversal powerbrokers. There's lists of cleric andwizardmagic-user spells, advanced classes to adopt at higher level like paladins for fighters or druids for clerics, a skill system, and full lists of monsters and magic items, including rules for building them--and for building flying castles, which is a classic fantasy staple that gets a place in the corebook here. From how to build a populate a dungeon to proper placement of towns--hint: near water--to a reminder that the GM should play fair and not change the rules in the middle of a game, to discussions of campaign premises and the importance of making sure all the players and the GM are on the same page when starting a game, there's a lot of great advice that would get a prospective GM on the right foot.
Unlike a lot of other versions of D&D, the Rules Cyclopedia also clearly lays out an assumed power path and the points at which the game change. Modern versions of D&D tend to assume that the PCs will be wandering adventurers from levels 1 to 20, and the only difference is that at level 1 they're fighting kobolds and at level 20 they're fighting demons. Here they follow the old path of the BECMI boxed sets, starting out the dungeon before venturing into the wilderness, attaining their own feudal domains at level 9 (or Clan strongholds, if non-human) and taming the land or warring with other domains, and then leaving the Prime Material Plane behind for planar adventures at higher levels before finally deciding to quest for immortality. There's a whole set of domain-rulership, tax collection, and mass combat subsystems to facilitate the battles between warring domains and a list of the ways to achieve immortality. The only thing missing is much discussion about what exactly is on the other planes. There's a chapter about it, but it wasn't enough for me to really understand why I would want to go to the Elemental Plane of Fire, especially since I can't breathe plasma.
The classic disparity between fighters and casters that afflicts most editions of D&D is still present here, but to a much lesser degree. Part of that is just that there are very few spells overall--magic-users have 13 to choose from per level, and clerics have eight, with four more if they become druids. Fighters get a "smash" option that requires them to go last during a combat round and take a penalty to hit, but lets them add their entire strength score to their damage. Considering that anything with over 100 hit points is an extremely powerful opponent, probably a dragon, demon, or a high-level fighter who got very lucky on their HP rolls, that's a very useful ability.
Thieves are still terrible, though. Only as many hit points as a magic user and they don't get even odds to succeed in their thieving skills until double-digit levels, and since almost all poisons instantly kill you, I expect that any starting party will be going through quite a lot of thieves until one gets lucky and survives.
There are a lot of setting assumptions baked into the rules that might be odd for people coming to the book for the first time. The Rules Cyclopedia goes with the sword-and-sorcery idea that non-human races are mostly on the fringes of civilization and the major powers are all humans, and thus has dwarves, elves, and halflings living in small Clans rather than building nations themselves. It also limits their level advancement to 12, 10, and 8 respectively, though there are optional rules later to let them advance to level 36 like everyone else. The domain rules assume a generically-European feudal social structure with barons, counts, marquises, dukes, and princes and have no way to account for a country modeled after the Roman Republic or Greek city-states.
Some of the monsters are also different in small ways from their portrayal in other editions of D&D. For example, medusas are native to the Elemental Plane of Earth, where they appear as writhing balls of tentacles and eyes, which is certainly a novel take on the medusa. The rock toad has a hypnotic gaze. Unicorns can teleport. Harpies can charm with their songs. They're mostly minor, but enough that they could be confusing for people who come to the Rules Cyclopedia with a lot of preconceptions.
If there are disadvantages, it's that the Rules Cyclopedia is very focused on a particular mode of fantasy and can't easily be generalized to other types. I wouldn't use this to run a game based on Conan the Barbarian or The Lord of the Rings but on the other hand, in not trying to be all things to all gamers it's managed to do an excellent job of fitting into its niche. If you want a game of dungeon crawling and domain ruling where adventures go from absolute zero to epic hero, then this is one of if not the best choices for that end.
It has it all. There's enough packed in here to take characters from starting out as callow youths staring fearfully into the stone-arched door leading into the depths of the earth to leaders of armies to plane-hopping multiversal powerbrokers. There's lists of cleric and
Unlike a lot of other versions of D&D, the Rules Cyclopedia also clearly lays out an assumed power path and the points at which the game change. Modern versions of D&D tend to assume that the PCs will be wandering adventurers from levels 1 to 20, and the only difference is that at level 1 they're fighting kobolds and at level 20 they're fighting demons. Here they follow the old path of the BECMI boxed sets, starting out the dungeon before venturing into the wilderness, attaining their own feudal domains at level 9 (or Clan strongholds, if non-human) and taming the land or warring with other domains, and then leaving the Prime Material Plane behind for planar adventures at higher levels before finally deciding to quest for immortality. There's a whole set of domain-rulership, tax collection, and mass combat subsystems to facilitate the battles between warring domains and a list of the ways to achieve immortality. The only thing missing is much discussion about what exactly is on the other planes. There's a chapter about it, but it wasn't enough for me to really understand why I would want to go to the Elemental Plane of Fire, especially since I can't breathe plasma.
The classic disparity between fighters and casters that afflicts most editions of D&D is still present here, but to a much lesser degree. Part of that is just that there are very few spells overall--magic-users have 13 to choose from per level, and clerics have eight, with four more if they become druids. Fighters get a "smash" option that requires them to go last during a combat round and take a penalty to hit, but lets them add their entire strength score to their damage. Considering that anything with over 100 hit points is an extremely powerful opponent, probably a dragon, demon, or a high-level fighter who got very lucky on their HP rolls, that's a very useful ability.
Thieves are still terrible, though. Only as many hit points as a magic user and they don't get even odds to succeed in their thieving skills until double-digit levels, and since almost all poisons instantly kill you, I expect that any starting party will be going through quite a lot of thieves until one gets lucky and survives.
There are a lot of setting assumptions baked into the rules that might be odd for people coming to the book for the first time. The Rules Cyclopedia goes with the sword-and-sorcery idea that non-human races are mostly on the fringes of civilization and the major powers are all humans, and thus has dwarves, elves, and halflings living in small Clans rather than building nations themselves. It also limits their level advancement to 12, 10, and 8 respectively, though there are optional rules later to let them advance to level 36 like everyone else. The domain rules assume a generically-European feudal social structure with barons, counts, marquises, dukes, and princes and have no way to account for a country modeled after the Roman Republic or Greek city-states.
Some of the monsters are also different in small ways from their portrayal in other editions of D&D. For example, medusas are native to the Elemental Plane of Earth, where they appear as writhing balls of tentacles and eyes, which is certainly a novel take on the medusa. The rock toad has a hypnotic gaze. Unicorns can teleport. Harpies can charm with their songs. They're mostly minor, but enough that they could be confusing for people who come to the Rules Cyclopedia with a lot of preconceptions.
If there are disadvantages, it's that the Rules Cyclopedia is very focused on a particular mode of fantasy and can't easily be generalized to other types. I wouldn't use this to run a game based on Conan the Barbarian or The Lord of the Rings but on the other hand, in not trying to be all things to all gamers it's managed to do an excellent job of fitting into its niche. If you want a game of dungeon crawling and domain ruling where adventures go from absolute zero to epic hero, then this is one of if not the best choices for that end.
February 6, 2018
This is a pretty cool book because it's basically a one volume version of classic D&D. Compiling the Basic, Expert, Companion, and Masters box sets from the 80s, this gives you everything you need to run a campaign from levels 1 to 36 with the classic essentials of D&D fantasy. It's interesting to see what's chosen for inclusion because in a way this represents what the author (and those of the material being compiled) feels is the essence of Dungeons and Dragons. In terms of classes, it's the classic fighter, wizard, thief, cleric, with the important note that only humans have that diversity. The "demi-human" halfling, dwarf, and elf are a single class that mix racial abilities with normal class features. Thus halflings and dwarves are special sorts of fighter, while the elf is a fighter and a magic user, and all are limited to relatively low levels as a balancing factor (though there are rules in the back for extending this). There's an optional skill system similar to nonweapon proficiencies from 2E and a complex weapon mastery system that leads to fighters being fairly powerful. The equipment and spell selection are fairly standard, though equipment includes details on sailing ships and magic has only a handful of direct damage spells alongside neat utility stuff (including spells for magically making wood, stone, and metal for construction projects).
The game rules include the obvious stuff for exploration and combat, with the classic sometimes odd aspects of old school rules like different distance scales indoors and outdoors (feet versus yards). Players of clerics and wizards should know that getting hit by damaging attacks will automatically cancel spellcasting, another good way of maintaining class balance. There's also rules for mass combat and domain management, as this edition expects characters to shift from crawling through dungeons and wildernesses to run their own fiefdoms around the time they hit double digits. The domain rules especially seem a bit handwavey, but I like having both as resources because they make it easy to emulate all sorts of adventures and characters from fantasy fiction.
Monsters and treasure obviously both take up a pretty big chunk of the book. The monsters are an interesting selection with a lot of classic D&D stuff like goblins, dragons, beholders, liches, etc. Some have interesting twists from my perspective, like the kobolds, which lack the association with dragons they gained in 3rd edition. There's a complete lack of demons and devils, and given the emphasis on Immortals rather than gods, I get the feeling that this is meant to be a relatively more family friendly edition. There are some new things, or at least new to me, like massive energy draining worms, a minotaur but with an elk head, and the blackball, which is akin to a Sphere of Annihilation but possibly alive. Plus the elemental creatures here, and the associated brief discussion of the elemental planes, is the coolest version I've seen outside of 4th edition. Treasure includes classic magic weapons and armor, complete with rules for intelligent swords (something I've never quite understood the appeal of), as well as a selection of random other stuff. There's some neat new ones like a slate that can be used to identify magic items and the classic Deck of Many Things replaced by a Wheel of Fortune. There's also a set of rules for creating new magic items and researching spells, as well as for making larger things like flying castles. A great sign of the ridiculous fun stuff that can appear in this edition is that one of the examples is making a magical submarine, complete with wands of magic missile to act as torpedoes.
The book wraps up with an overview of the Mystara campaign setting, including a number of detailed hex maps of the core countries. It's kinda cool, and this world is a pretty big part of the Basic version of the game, but I still wonder if some of that page count could've been better used for other purposes. Also, there are a few flaws here in general. As always, I'm not sure how to feel about this game's version of the monk class, called the mystic, as it always feels like dropping an Asian archetype into an otherwise European fantasy setting. Also, as somebody who has read a bit of Moorcock, I like the idea of the lawful - neutral - chaotic alignment system, but chaotic is all too often used as a synonym for evil, and I wish the game had just used the two axis alignment system instead.
Still, this is a pretty cool book overall. Yeah, it has some clunky rules thanks to being an old school edition of D&D, but to me that's part of the charm. And it's neat to have all sorts of rules for various situations from normal combat to all out warfare to exploring other planes. Even though it's a rather old edition at this point, and in some ways D&D 5e might do a better job at being a "perennial" D&D, I could definitely see myself using this book for a game. I think it'd be a lot of fun and as old school editions go, this one is pretty well organized and laid out which helps a lot. Plus, the Mystara setting seems interesting from what's shown here and I'm definitely going to check out more of it. It's taken me forever to finally read this from cover to cover, but I'm very glad I have.
The game rules include the obvious stuff for exploration and combat, with the classic sometimes odd aspects of old school rules like different distance scales indoors and outdoors (feet versus yards). Players of clerics and wizards should know that getting hit by damaging attacks will automatically cancel spellcasting, another good way of maintaining class balance. There's also rules for mass combat and domain management, as this edition expects characters to shift from crawling through dungeons and wildernesses to run their own fiefdoms around the time they hit double digits. The domain rules especially seem a bit handwavey, but I like having both as resources because they make it easy to emulate all sorts of adventures and characters from fantasy fiction.
Monsters and treasure obviously both take up a pretty big chunk of the book. The monsters are an interesting selection with a lot of classic D&D stuff like goblins, dragons, beholders, liches, etc. Some have interesting twists from my perspective, like the kobolds, which lack the association with dragons they gained in 3rd edition. There's a complete lack of demons and devils, and given the emphasis on Immortals rather than gods, I get the feeling that this is meant to be a relatively more family friendly edition. There are some new things, or at least new to me, like massive energy draining worms, a minotaur but with an elk head, and the blackball, which is akin to a Sphere of Annihilation but possibly alive. Plus the elemental creatures here, and the associated brief discussion of the elemental planes, is the coolest version I've seen outside of 4th edition. Treasure includes classic magic weapons and armor, complete with rules for intelligent swords (something I've never quite understood the appeal of), as well as a selection of random other stuff. There's some neat new ones like a slate that can be used to identify magic items and the classic Deck of Many Things replaced by a Wheel of Fortune. There's also a set of rules for creating new magic items and researching spells, as well as for making larger things like flying castles. A great sign of the ridiculous fun stuff that can appear in this edition is that one of the examples is making a magical submarine, complete with wands of magic missile to act as torpedoes.
The book wraps up with an overview of the Mystara campaign setting, including a number of detailed hex maps of the core countries. It's kinda cool, and this world is a pretty big part of the Basic version of the game, but I still wonder if some of that page count could've been better used for other purposes. Also, there are a few flaws here in general. As always, I'm not sure how to feel about this game's version of the monk class, called the mystic, as it always feels like dropping an Asian archetype into an otherwise European fantasy setting. Also, as somebody who has read a bit of Moorcock, I like the idea of the lawful - neutral - chaotic alignment system, but chaotic is all too often used as a synonym for evil, and I wish the game had just used the two axis alignment system instead.
Still, this is a pretty cool book overall. Yeah, it has some clunky rules thanks to being an old school edition of D&D, but to me that's part of the charm. And it's neat to have all sorts of rules for various situations from normal combat to all out warfare to exploring other planes. Even though it's a rather old edition at this point, and in some ways D&D 5e might do a better job at being a "perennial" D&D, I could definitely see myself using this book for a game. I think it'd be a lot of fun and as old school editions go, this one is pretty well organized and laid out which helps a lot. Plus, the Mystara setting seems interesting from what's shown here and I'm definitely going to check out more of it. It's taken me forever to finally read this from cover to cover, but I'm very glad I have.
May 29, 2018
everything you need to play original early 80s Dungeons & Dragons all in one book it is a player's handbook Monster's manual and dungeon Master's guide in a single book they're even things you could take from this book for a newer edition of the game. I know I will use it in my game.
March 14, 2023
If you want to play Basic D&D, OSE is an option, and a good one, but you can now get this masterpiece from the tail end of D&D's Golden Era on print to order from Drivethrurpg.com. Consider it. This is about as good as D&D gets.
April 11, 2018
the best version of dnd, this book contains everything you need to run a campaign in one cover, all beautifully presented.
June 19, 2018
This is not quite as easy to read as the original, I suspect (I have only seen the original in bookstores where I stupidly did not buy it) because of scanning fuzziness. Reading it with tired eyes or in low light requires reading glasses, at least for someone like me who was around when the original came out.
The original was almost certainly created with primitive page-layout software. Hyphenation is wacky, the kind of wackiness I would expect from hyphenation created by simple rules rather than by humans or using a hyphenation dictionary.
While my recollection is that people used this as a standalone rulebook, it was explicitly not meant as such. This is potentially reflected in its haphazard use of references such as, when rolling hit points “Look for the Bonuses and Penalties for Ability Scores Table and apply the appropriate number to the number of hit points rolled for your character.” No reference to a page number—sometimes such references have them, sometimes they don’t.
This is not quite the Basic/Expert that I grew up with. I had the Moldvay/Cook Basic/Expert set; I never picked up the Mentzer Basic/Expert nor Mentzer’s Companion, Master, or Immortals set. It’s the latter set of rules that this collects.
Having read these rules, I now have no idea where THAC0 came from nor how it could possibly work pre-AD&D 2e. In both this version of D&D and first edition AD&D, numbers repeat. In AD&D this happens at 20, and in D&D at 2, 30, and 40; the text says that 10 also repeats, but the tables don’t reflect this. This makes a simple calculation, like THAC0, impossible—but the book also mentions using that instead, which would not match the tables.
That said, this reprint is a great resource if you still occasionally play BX. It even has the wonderful maps of the Grand Duchy of Karameikos, the Known World, and the Hollow World. And except for the very minor fuzziness of the text, this is an exact duplicate of the original; the price for the book plus a searchable PDF is also very reasonable.
The original was almost certainly created with primitive page-layout software. Hyphenation is wacky, the kind of wackiness I would expect from hyphenation created by simple rules rather than by humans or using a hyphenation dictionary.
While my recollection is that people used this as a standalone rulebook, it was explicitly not meant as such. This is potentially reflected in its haphazard use of references such as, when rolling hit points “Look for the Bonuses and Penalties for Ability Scores Table and apply the appropriate number to the number of hit points rolled for your character.” No reference to a page number—sometimes such references have them, sometimes they don’t.
This is not quite the Basic/Expert that I grew up with. I had the Moldvay/Cook Basic/Expert set; I never picked up the Mentzer Basic/Expert nor Mentzer’s Companion, Master, or Immortals set. It’s the latter set of rules that this collects.
Having read these rules, I now have no idea where THAC0 came from nor how it could possibly work pre-AD&D 2e. In both this version of D&D and first edition AD&D, numbers repeat. In AD&D this happens at 20, and in D&D at 2, 30, and 40; the text says that 10 also repeats, but the tables don’t reflect this. This makes a simple calculation, like THAC0, impossible—but the book also mentions using that instead, which would not match the tables.
That said, this reprint is a great resource if you still occasionally play BX. It even has the wonderful maps of the Grand Duchy of Karameikos, the Known World, and the Hollow World. And except for the very minor fuzziness of the text, this is an exact duplicate of the original; the price for the book plus a searchable PDF is also very reasonable.
November 29, 2020
Ah. The original/classic D&D. Well, not really. It’s actually a collection of the so-called BECMI D&D boxed sets which were themselves minor revisions of the Mentzer D&D. Still, this is the version that was popularized and probably the most played until AD&D began to eclipse it. It’s also the edition that viewers see in Stranger Things Season 1 (specifically the Blue Box “Expert Set”).
Although definitely outclassed by pretty much all modern editions of D&D, it’s nevertheless surprising how will this classic edition holds up. It’s still very playable, if not a bit too lethal. I also appreciate the focus of stronghold management at the higher levels from just wandering adventurers killing monsters and getting treasure.
Still, the main value in this book is historical in nature. Actually running or playing in a classic D&D game would likely not be a fun experience for most people compared to say 4e or 5e. There is a reason why the gaming community has moved past its roots. Although the OSR movement is still fairly strong, this is really more nostalgia driven than any real strengths that BECMI D&D has to offer.
Although definitely outclassed by pretty much all modern editions of D&D, it’s nevertheless surprising how will this classic edition holds up. It’s still very playable, if not a bit too lethal. I also appreciate the focus of stronghold management at the higher levels from just wandering adventurers killing monsters and getting treasure.
Still, the main value in this book is historical in nature. Actually running or playing in a classic D&D game would likely not be a fun experience for most people compared to say 4e or 5e. There is a reason why the gaming community has moved past its roots. Although the OSR movement is still fairly strong, this is really more nostalgia driven than any real strengths that BECMI D&D has to offer.
November 27, 2022
Would you believe TSR took this long to do an all-in-one-book version of basic D&D? One might wish it didn't have some of the more janky additions Mentzer brought in to pad out the later levels, but still a very solid presentation of the system. Full thoughts on this and other TSR-era D&D editions: https://refereeingandreflection.wordp...
August 4, 2023
great as a reference or to just play, although there are some fiddly bits (druids and paladins being sub-classes that you have to work your way into and the Rules Cyclopedia thief being the absolute worst version of the class in any edition of D&D, for example).
July 26, 2019
I loved that the entire novel was really a letter, in a way. There’s a mystery at the center so I can’t say too much more. But this YA book was short and sweet. I really liked it.
May 18, 2019
I still prefer Moldvay's B/X over BECMI, but the gap isn't terribly high, and if you were to enjoy the latter over the former then this is the book to go with.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews