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I thought I'd ask here first:

I haven't traveled the D&D circles since a brief foray in the 3.5 days, and I recently saw that they have reprinted the main books for 1st edition (with 2nd edition coming soon, I see).

I see some sights where I can get the "new" 1st edition books for a decent price, and I was wondering if it were worth it? I've been a standard player in a bunch of other RPG systems, and I was thinking of taking a hand at DMing- and 1st edition D&D sounds like it could be the possibility for a really cool way to have some old-school fun. I even see they have at least a pair of module complilations, though I was thinking of making up my own, and just using the main three books.

Is it worth it to run a game in this system? I have no idea of the mechanics involved in 1st edition, or if it might be too "clunky" versus more modern competition.

Would it be better if I want some good old-school D&D to wait for the 2nd edition books instead?

Thanks for the help!

I can't speak to the new reprints, as I haven't had a chance to look at them yet, but I would recommend downloading and looking through some of the D&D retro clones like OSRIC and Dark Dungeons. They are free and will give you a good idea of how earlier editions of D&D played. I believe Dark Dungeons is a remake of 1st edition by way of the Rules Cyclopedia, a reprint of the rules from the first three D&D sets TSR put out in the early 90's, whereas OSRIC is a clone of the first edition AD&D rules.

IMO, the old-school modules were leagues ahead of most of the stuff produced now. As for the rules, we still play with the older rulesets on occasion, but they are nowhere near as user-friendly as 3.5, our go-to edition.

OSRIC: http://www.knights-n-knaves.com/osric/
Dark Dungeons: http://www.gratisgames.webspace.virginmedia.com/darkdungeons.html
General info on retroclones: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_%26_Dragons_retro-clones

The new reprints are quite nice, and the game is still fun, but really only you can determine whether you think it is worth and how much you'll use them.

Couple of Notes:

First, the Second Edition reprints have been out for a while. But let's talk about what these editions actually are/are not.

What WotC reprinted was Advanced Dungeons & Dragons First Edition and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Second Edition Revised. The retroclones baptistcreature mentioned above are based on various editions of D&D Basic. If you're looking for D&D Basic, WotC is selling pdfs via DriveThruRPG but has not reprinted any of them.

Now as to the reprints: I own the AD&D ones as I never had the original. In terms of production value, they are of good quality. In terms of the rules, you just have to remember that you approaching AD&D like it's 3.5E/Pathfinder may result in disappointment. AD&D is a collection of subsystems whereas Third Edition forward relied on a unified architecture built around the "core mechanic." Although not to the same extent as D&D Basic, AD&D still relies on the DM actively interpreting the rules rather than just playing the monsters. Not everyone is comfortable with this.

I didn't buy the AD&D2E Revised books because I still have my original copies (except for the MM). Additionally, Second Edition generally doesn't feel as esoteric and complex as AD&D to me. And I never liked the interior art.

For the AD&D reprints, the cheapest I've seen is:
http://www.miniaturemarket.com/woc02390000.html
http://www.miniaturemarket.com/woc02410000.html
http://www.miniaturemarket.com/woc02400000.html

Here's a schematic I made some time ago of the D&D rule sets:



"Interpretive" means that the rules as written are intended to be supplemented constantly by the DM's judgment. This allows for a more free-form style of play.

"Deterministic" means that the rules are intended to be played as written. As I noted above, the first and second editions of AD&D are still fairly "interpretive" compared to the versions of D&D WotC and Paizo created.

Seems like the gist is that for accessibility the best bet is to buy old 3.5 stuff, then. Or maybe Pathfinder, as at least that will see new releases, while having the same general feel as 3.5.

Or that AD&D 2nd edition would be a better bet than 1st, if going for a "old school" D&D experience, especially as a newbie GM. Am I right?

Um ... no, I don't think AD&D 2E Revised is really "old school." Here's a free pamphlet on what has become known as old school roleplaying:

http://www.lulu.com/us/en/shop/matthew-finch/quick-primer-for-old-school-gaming/ebook/product-3159558.html

 AegisGrimm wrote:
Seems like the gist is that for accessibility the best bet is to buy old 3.5 stuff, then. Or maybe Pathfinder, as at least that will see new releases, while having the same general feel as 3.5.

Why do you hate yourself? What could you have done so wrong that you feel like punishing yourself in such a way?

If you are going that route Pathfinder is the better choice.

@AegisGrimm: Coming back to this thread, I'm wondering what you mean by "accessibility."

The easiest of the editions for a neophyte GM to delve into.

 AegisGrimm wrote:
The easiest of the editions for a neophyte GM to delve into.

That would be Essentials, or 4E then. It is far friendlier to new DM's.

1st Edition requires some chest hair, as it will kill your characters faster than the gentler 3/4 editions. Try it and go through the T and S series, the latter of which has also been reprinted.

 AegisGrimm wrote:
The easiest of the editions for a neophyte GM to delve into.

Every edition requires skill. For Original, B/X, BECMI, and AD&D 1E, the DM should be very good at making rules calls on the fly that the players will find at least reasonable but more ideally also stimulating. For AD&D 2E, 3E/3.5/Pathfinder, 4E/Essentials, the DM needs to master the extensive fundamentals of the system (including their rather convoluted notions of "balance") as well as be able to swiftly and accurately navigate the complexities.

If you want to play a game where the rules attempt to contemplate every situation that could come up in a session so that you just need to read them out of a book, then go with Pathfinder -- or, if you want to do something with an even greater focus on miniatures, Essentials. If you want to run sessions more off-the-cuff and are ready to brainstorm mechanics to let your players do, within reason, just about whatever they can imagine, then go with one of the D&D Basic retroclones like Lamentations of the Flame Princess.

For a number of reasons, many contemporary gamers (especially war gamers and board gamers) seem to be more comfortable with the former than the latter. If you'd like to give the latter style a try, however, I'd strongly recommend reading that primer I linked above. I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have about the advice in that document.

Surprisingly enough, I actually was turned onto a Savage Worlds setting called Shaintar: Legends Arise, which seems to give me the exact feel I want by using one of the D&D editions for Epic High Fantasy, but in (what I feel to be) a much more easy to digest ruleset, especially for a GM. It also eschews the D&D dogma of having tons of books to juggle when you need hard data for certain things , especially for a GM. Savage Worlds is more about having the rules in one or two books, with the roleplaying firmly in the hands of the players and GM.

But i much appreciate the help you guys gave me.

I like 1E AD&D the best but also realize that's probably because it is what I learned and grew up on.

On top of that, I like the emphasis place on actual role playing.

But you will need a good and dedicated DM too!

I like AD&D 1E, too, despite it being before my time. The reprinted books have been a real treat to read.

I recently was able to start up a 1E AD&D group consisting of me as DM, a coworker (40) and his girlfriend (40) and his son (12) and my oldest daughter (12) - and it has been an absolute blast!

That sounds like great fun! I like the idea of inter-generational D&D.

The 1st ed AD&D books are fun just to read and page through. Gygax's authorial voice is really distinctive in the DMG, especially; it can be very inspiring, and certainly helped expand the vocabularies of many kids back in the day.

I stopped playing when 3rd Ed hit. It felt too much like a PnP video game and not enough like a PnP "movie" in my mind. Mind you, this was back in the days of Street Fighter. With mmorpgs like WoW, there is even less incentive (for me) to grab a current edition.