I grabbed the AD&D Monster Manual pdf and copied it into a spreadsheet. Now I have filtered searches by HD/HP, Att/Dam, and so on, so planning out encounters is very fast. With filter/query "combat cards" on a page make keeping stats for random or on the fly monster stats easy to prep and keep handy. Now I can cut the wear on my old books.
To be far, Oriental Adventures is renowned for it's sub-par binding - one could argue that if it *didn't* have a few loose pages, it's probably a forgery/reproduction! 🤣
Thanks for doing this video. I would love to see more of the quality of other 1e POD stuff if you have them. I am currently trying to figure out if I should get theses on dtrpg or used on ebay, but as you said, ebay is more expensive and worse condition usually. I am just a sucker for those core rulebook original covers. I wish they offered those as an option. I'm new to D&D. I started with 5E and just DMed my fifth session. I want to learn 1e now as I really like the look and feel of it. The hard part will be convincing others to play as it seems harder and less accessible. Am I correct in thinking that 5E is more simplified? It just doesn't sit right with me that the long 8 hour rest can magically heal users to full no matter what the damage. What about from a DM perspective, do you think I'm going to be doing more work as a DM if I go with 1e? Thanks
Thanks. The answer isn't simple. I've had 1e guys tell me that they can't make heads or tails of 5e, and vice-versa. The main factor there being What you already know, is easier because you already know it. There's a name for that. I think it's "Anchoring Bias"? For players, character generation is easier in 1e. Roll stats, pick your race and class, fill in the sheet and head over to buy equipment, which is the only hard part because it's ala carte, not "grab 2 weapons, 1 armor and your choice of 2 loaded packs". In 5e, you have to choose a background (which will have its own mechanics), race, class and often a subclass before you even get to equipment. For the 1e DM, you need a DM screen. Not to hide your dice rolls and your notes, but because you need quick access to charts. The 5e DM faces a different challenge. Trying to make combat challenging once players rocket up to 10th level or so. Especially when they've chosen "builds" over the internet to break the game and be otherwise antagonistic to the DM. There's a culture of the DM being an unpaid employee who plays out your character's pre-written backstory. 1e was unique in that it had a very thin PHB, and the bulk of the combat rules were in the DMG 2e, which was basically a rewritten 1e had a PHB/DMG ratio similar to the 5e PHB/DMG. If you want to get 1e in 1 book, look up the OSRIC (Old School Reference and Index Compilation) RPG. It's 1e compiled by a fan. Or "For Gold And Glory" if you want to try 2e. Overall, 1e will be a bit harder to run mechanically, but it was written by someone who had faith in his DMs to run it. If your players are dead-set against playing another edition where they can't one-round-kill dragons at mid-level, I'd suggest you check out DMG chapter 9, p267. "8hr short rest, 7-day long rest" option under the Gritty Realism rule.
@@dm_curt Thanks for the reply. I will check out that chapter. I saw OSRIC and wanted to get it printed but I'm in the UK so getting it printed and shipped is super expensive. Shame though because it looks really good.
If the maps are printed on multiple 8.5 by 11 pages. They can be printed from a pdf, or photocopied. Then, trim the margins off with a paper cutter, or exacto knife. Line them up side by side. The scale should be the same. If done properly in both original print and your copy.
I went with Castles & Crusades waaay back when some online RP'ers introduced me to it on Fantasy Grounds. As its a redone 1e/2e with 3e Ascending AC version, with NEW books and better layout/design and availability... its what I gravitated to. The DTRPG is awesome, as long as the scans are good I can replicate the book with my B&W laser printer. (And I have coil binding tools at hand as well). I always check the comments/reviews to see if the scan is good before purchasing.
I remember C&C. I feel like it's a great gateway drug to the OSR. I couldn't really get into it due to the overly extensive weapon and equipment system that was non-the-less pretty historically inaccurate (kinda like AD&D 1E), but that's mostly a pet peeve of mine, being a history pedant. Very good production value overall though and perfect for a more casual roleplayer who's used to new-school games but tired of the overwhelming rules bloat (3rd edition was Hell).
I'd add that retroclones are also an option. OSRIC is pretty faithful to AD&D 1e for example. Other non-retroclone OSR products have their own value in putting new spin on the old systems. I really want to play or run in a Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperboria game one day, and that system is pretty close in terms of core rules to AD&D 1st.
There's definitely a lot of options. So far, I've looked at Lion & Dragon, 5 torches deep, Kobold Press' Midgard, 5E Hardcore Mode, Colony of Death and 5e Ancient Adventures. I prefer 5e's rules mechanics, but 1e's culture, if that makes sense. Things like: Alignment matters, start with a human-centric or LotR-ish world before you go to other planes, pre-gunpowder worlds, no mass use of magic to create analogues of 21st-century inventions, etc.. So, no Ravnica or Ebarron.
@@dm_curt 100% agree on humanocentrism, and broader old school culture (I have my own gripes with the 9-fold alignment, but that's a different discussion). I think both 5e mechanics (simplified new-school, unified mechanics) and old school mechanics (ad-hoc, ununified mechanics, emphasizing rulings over rules) are valuable in their own way. When I first read about how AD&D worked, coming originally from 3.5 D&D, I was at first turned off by the inconsistency of old school systems. After reading Philotomy's OD&D musings though I came to appreciate the looser approach, and now I mostly DM with old school mechanics. Have you looked into Whitehack? I've yet to actually play it, but it's a gold mine of old school mechanics ideas, all in a system that fits into a book the size of either of the B/X booklets (64 pages). Really creative design.
I've heard that the POD 1E DMG actually contains all the Dragon Magazine errata. Can you verify this for me? Did they do the same for the PH as well? Thnx! 👍
I don't see a POD 1e PHB in my shelf. Looking through my POD 1e DMG, there's no more appendixes than the original. If errata was added into the POD version, it would have been edited into the body of the book (example "Page 58 used to read this, now says that"). I don't see any evidence of that. To get the Dragon Magazine errata, you may have to chase down the Dragon Magazines individually, which sounds like a chore.
You can’t go wrong with first edition. I still have the whole set except for the Oriental one.
thank you, i was always curious what the quality was like.
I grabbed the AD&D Monster Manual pdf and copied it into a spreadsheet. Now I have filtered searches by HD/HP, Att/Dam, and so on, so planning out encounters is very fast. With filter/query "combat cards" on a page make keeping stats for random or on the fly monster stats easy to prep and keep handy. Now I can cut the wear on my old books.
I love pdfs for copy-paste, and hardback for having a permanent copy.
Thank you so much for this! I love AD&D 1e, and would love to share it with more 5e players.
To be far, Oriental Adventures is renowned for it's sub-par binding - one could argue that if it *didn't* have a few loose pages, it's probably a forgery/reproduction! 🤣
Thanks for doing this video. I would love to see more of the quality of other 1e POD stuff if you have them. I am currently trying to figure out if I should get theses on dtrpg or used on ebay, but as you said, ebay is more expensive and worse condition usually. I am just a sucker for those core rulebook original covers. I wish they offered those as an option. I'm new to D&D. I started with 5E and just DMed my fifth session. I want to learn 1e now as I really like the look and feel of it. The hard part will be convincing others to play as it seems harder and less accessible. Am I correct in thinking that 5E is more simplified? It just doesn't sit right with me that the long 8 hour rest can magically heal users to full no matter what the damage. What about from a DM perspective, do you think I'm going to be doing more work as a DM if I go with 1e? Thanks
Thanks. The answer isn't simple.
I've had 1e guys tell me that they can't make heads or tails of 5e, and vice-versa. The main factor there being What you already know, is easier because you already know it. There's a name for that. I think it's "Anchoring Bias"?
For players, character generation is easier in 1e. Roll stats, pick your race and class, fill in the sheet and head over to buy equipment, which is the only hard part because it's ala carte, not "grab 2 weapons, 1 armor and your choice of 2 loaded packs".
In 5e, you have to choose a background (which will have its own mechanics), race, class and often a subclass before you even get to equipment.
For the 1e DM, you need a DM screen. Not to hide your dice rolls and your notes, but because you need quick access to charts.
The 5e DM faces a different challenge. Trying to make combat challenging once players rocket up to 10th level or so. Especially when they've chosen "builds" over the internet to break the game and be otherwise antagonistic to the DM. There's a culture of the DM being an unpaid employee who plays out your character's pre-written backstory.
1e was unique in that it had a very thin PHB, and the bulk of the combat rules were in the DMG 2e, which was basically a rewritten 1e had a PHB/DMG ratio similar to the 5e PHB/DMG.
If you want to get 1e in 1 book, look up the OSRIC (Old School Reference and Index Compilation) RPG. It's 1e compiled by a fan. Or "For Gold And Glory" if you want to try 2e.
Overall, 1e will be a bit harder to run mechanically, but it was written by someone who had faith in his DMs to run it.
If your players are dead-set against playing another edition where they can't one-round-kill dragons at mid-level, I'd suggest you check out DMG chapter 9, p267. "8hr short rest, 7-day long rest" option under the Gritty Realism rule.
@@dm_curt Thanks for the reply. I will check out that chapter. I saw OSRIC and wanted to get it printed but I'm in the UK so getting it printed and shipped is super expensive. Shame though because it looks really good.
If the maps are printed on multiple 8.5 by 11 pages. They can be printed from a pdf, or photocopied. Then, trim the margins off with a paper cutter, or exacto knife. Line them up side by side. The scale should be the same. If done properly in both original print and your copy.
I went with Castles & Crusades waaay back when some online RP'ers introduced me to it on Fantasy Grounds. As its a redone 1e/2e with 3e Ascending AC version, with NEW books and better layout/design and availability... its what I gravitated to. The DTRPG is awesome, as long as the scans are good I can replicate the book with my B&W laser printer. (And I have coil binding tools at hand as well). I always check the comments/reviews to see if the scan is good before purchasing.
I remember C&C. I feel like it's a great gateway drug to the OSR. I couldn't really get into it due to the overly extensive weapon and equipment system that was non-the-less pretty historically inaccurate (kinda like AD&D 1E), but that's mostly a pet peeve of mine, being a history pedant. Very good production value overall though and perfect for a more casual roleplayer who's used to new-school games but tired of the overwhelming rules bloat (3rd edition was Hell).
I'd add that retroclones are also an option. OSRIC is pretty faithful to AD&D 1e for example. Other non-retroclone OSR products have their own value in putting new spin on the old systems. I really want to play or run in a Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperboria game one day, and that system is pretty close in terms of core rules to AD&D 1st.
There's definitely a lot of options. So far, I've looked at Lion & Dragon, 5 torches deep, Kobold Press' Midgard, 5E Hardcore Mode, Colony of Death and 5e Ancient Adventures. I prefer 5e's rules mechanics, but 1e's culture, if that makes sense. Things like: Alignment matters, start with a human-centric or LotR-ish world before you go to other planes, pre-gunpowder worlds, no mass use of magic to create analogues of 21st-century inventions, etc.. So, no Ravnica or Ebarron.
@@dm_curt 100% agree on humanocentrism, and broader old school culture (I have my own gripes with the 9-fold alignment, but that's a different discussion).
I think both 5e mechanics (simplified new-school, unified mechanics) and old school mechanics (ad-hoc, ununified mechanics, emphasizing rulings over rules) are valuable in their own way. When I first read about how AD&D worked, coming originally from 3.5 D&D, I was at first turned off by the inconsistency of old school systems. After reading Philotomy's OD&D musings though I came to appreciate the looser approach, and now I mostly DM with old school mechanics.
Have you looked into Whitehack? I've yet to actually play it, but it's a gold mine of old school mechanics ideas, all in a system that fits into a book the size of either of the B/X booklets (64 pages). Really creative design.
I continue to pay eBay prices cause I'd rather buy a ratty, dog eared copy of Greyhawk Adventures than give ONE penny to Hasbro.
@@burningphoneix Fair. WotC just gets worse and worse.
OOOOO
It's a shame they all got printed with the words back-to-front though. Makes it a little trickier to read :D
I've heard that the POD 1E DMG actually contains all the Dragon Magazine errata. Can you verify this for me? Did they do the same for the PH as well? Thnx! 👍
I don't see a POD 1e PHB in my shelf. Looking through my POD 1e DMG, there's no more appendixes than the original. If errata was added into the POD version, it would have been edited into the body of the book (example "Page 58 used to read this, now says that").
I don't see any evidence of that.
To get the Dragon Magazine errata, you may have to chase down the Dragon Magazines individually, which sounds like a chore.
@@dm_curt Gotcha. Thnx!
link?
Link edited into description. Should be www.drivethrurpg.com/product/50012/Fiend-Folio-1e?term=Fiend+Folio+1e
@@dm_curt thanks