D&D (Fifth Edition): Basic Rules Free PDF (link in OP)

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**Manchu**

I wonder when it will be up and running. For that matter, I wonder when it will be in beta ...

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Bone Devil from ~~Alien Ressurection~~ the upcoming MM.

http://media.wizards.com/2014/downloads/dnd/MM_BoneDevil.pdf

**Vash108**

I just got the Hoard of the Dragon Queen adventure book to get started. I noticed a lot of the enemies in the adventure are not even listed in the book itself, nor the PHB for that matter. You have to Download an entire other supplement to get the stats for all the monsters despite a few named people. A bit frustrating.

**Manchu**

OTOH the supplement is free and easily available ...

**Vash108**

While true, it would be nice if it had everything I needed in the one book.

**Manchu**

I rather like having that material in a print out, not only so I can mark notes but also because it saves me flipping around in the book.

**Ensis Ferrae**

Manchu wrote:
I rather like having that material in a print out, not only so I can mark notes but also because it saves me flipping around in the book.

Personally, I'd rather have, at least an option for both. I'd prefer complete monster stats to be within an adventure book, so that when I'm sitting down to plan out/mull over the adventure itself, I have a better idea what I need to prepare (for models, etc.)

**kronk**

Manchu wrote:
I rather like having that material in a print out, not only so I can mark notes but also because it saves me flipping around in the book.

When I GMed, I'd often do the same. I'd photocopy or just type out the important stat blocks for known or likely encounters on a separate sheet so I could write on it rather than scratch paper (which I'd use for goombas and random encounters).

**Manchu**

Ensis Ferrae wrote:
I'd prefer complete monster stats to be within an adventure book, so that when I'm sitting down to plan out/mull over the adventure itself, I have a better idea what I need to prepare (for models, etc.)

You can do that with the supplement, of course. And that is in fact easier to do as you can reference the supplement side by side with the adventure text while preparing.

kronk wrote:
When I GMed, I'd often do the same. I'd photocopy or just type out the important stat blocks for known or likely encounters on a separate sheet so I could write on it rather than scratch paper (which I'd use for goombas and random encounters).

Yep, it's quite convenient if you are organized enough to do it. WotC has just done it for us in this case. I also like that the supplement contains the relevant spells so the DM does not have to rifle through the PHB as well while running the module.

I also wonder if the supplement contains the monsters because their stats were not finished before the module went to print/still aren't totally finished.

**reds8n**

http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/dungeons-dragons-is-officially-cool-again-115?utm_source=vicefbuk

Headlines you never thought you'd read in your lifetime #23

**Manchu**

When was D&D cool before?

**pretre**

D&D has always been cool.

**kronk**

Manchu wrote:
When was D&D cool before?

Around 2001 when I started playing it. Before that, it was lame.

**Alpharius**

I think it was considered 'cool', maybe, when it first broke big in the late 70's/early 80's?

You could find AD&D and Basic stuff EVERYWHERE!

All the major department store chains were carrying it... it was amazing!

Of course, I'm not sure how 'cool' it really was, or even if it was, it was quickly relegated to 'nerdy' status for many.

Still, it was certainly 'popular'. Or maybe 'successful' would be a better term?

**Manchu**

D&D was never cool regardless that we nerds thought and think it is cool. I just had a work colleague laugh in my face yesterday when I mentioned going to GenCon for my vacation. Same old same old. I know some hipsters (claim to) like D&D but the term "hipster" is itself derogatory so there you go. Geek chic is laughable (bitterly) marketing minstrelsy and naught else.

In that Vice article:

So to answer the question posed at the top: Is Dungeons & Dragons cool now? I think the answer is, “Sure, as long as you’re cool with Dungeons & Dragons.” In a world where ironic trashy T-shirts and Warby Parker are the status quo, why wouldn’t a game based around orcs, gray wizards, flaming swords, and leafy druids excel? We’re no longer afraid of bullies, we’re more socially aware than we’ve ever been, and no one’s going to tease us any more.

And in another linked from that one:

I have an innate aversion to anything that can be described as "fantasy". We all know the cliches of the fantasy fan: the Games Workshop employee who sighs when children don't know how to play the game properly. The people who found their cultural Garden of Eden in the graphic novels section of Waterstones and the T-shirt aisle of HMV some time in the late 90s. Their cultural trajectory took them from Redwall, to Red Dwarf, to Reddit and now they argue loudly in small-town rock pubs about how Bruce Lee died. They hate fashion in all its forms, yet they yearn to look different. To get round this, all of their clothing must refer to something else. Be it an oversized Alan Moore-style amulet purchased from a free catalogue in the back of Metal Hammer, or one of those “Afraid of the dark, lagerboy?” T-shirts.

Same old same old.

**pretre**

I guess we have differing opinions on what 'cool' is.

'Mainstream popular?' No.
'Awesome?' Yes.

**Manchu**

Yeah, when I was in high school all that mattered to me was that mom told me I was cool, feth the mainstream.

Meanwhile, back IRL, D&D was not cool.

**gorgon**

Alpharius wrote:
I think it was considered 'cool', maybe, when it first broke big in the late 70's/early 80's?

You could find AD&D and Basic stuff EVERYWHERE!

All the major department store chains were carrying it... it was amazing!

Of course, I'm not sure how 'cool' it really was, or even if it was, it was quickly relegated to 'nerdy' status for many.

Still, it was certainly 'popular'. Or maybe 'successful' would be a better term?

Yeah, it was certainly a different era in regards to where you could find it. And I think there was a sense of momentum about the game as it spread and TSR grew.

I think the whole "D&D would have been cool if it wasn't for those religious nuts and that derned Tom Hanks movie" story is a bit of canard, however.

**Alpharius**

I still think it was somewhere around cool/popular/etc. back in the late 70's/early 80's but either way, whatever!

It has been a lot of fun for going on 5 decades now!

**pretre**

Manchu wrote:
Yeah, when I was in high school all that mattered to me was that mom told me I was cool, feth the mainstream.

Meanwhile, back IRL, D&D was not cool.

When I was in high school, all that mattered to me was what your mom told me as well.

**Ahtman**

pretre wrote:
I guess we have differing opinions on what 'cool' is.

'Mainstream popular?' No.

Then it isn't really "cool" in the culture. Being ok with something on an individual level doesn't really make it "cool", it just means you don't care what others think about it. I'm ok with it not being cool as

'Awesome?' Yes.

is really all you need. Geek chic and nerddom may be in at the moment but all things come and go in pop culture.

**pretre**

Alpharius wrote:
I still think it was somewhere around cool/popular/etc. back in the late 70's/early 80's but either way, whatever!

It has been a lot of fun for going on 5 decades now!

It was very popular and sold in all sorts of places (although it does that again now). I remember buying it at Wards, Toys R Us, KB Toys, etc up until the early 90's, I think.

It was never something that the 'popular kids' at school would play, but that hardly makes it any less cool.

**Ahtman**

Alpharius wrote:
I still think it was somewhere around cool/popular/etc. back in the late 70's/early 80's but either way, whatever!

I think there was a moment where it was but then the whole 'pagan' and 'devil worship' hysteria came and slapped the label on it eventually leading to bad Tom Hanks movies about how it will kill you. And let's not forget:

**Manchu**

pretre wrote:
When I was in high school, all that mattered to me was what your mom told me as well.

I pity the fool who makes jokes about mothers.

I remember when TSR started to circle the bowl. Suddenly the local toy store was full of boxed sets priced at $10 or less. As a kid from a very modest background, this was the first time buying D&D stuff was even remotely possible for me. It was like something from a dream.

**kronk**

pretre wrote:
I guess we have differing opinions on what 'cool' is.

'Mainstream popular?' No.
'Awesome?' Yes.

What you think are cool and awesome change as you mature.

I'm still in my "Chicks are awesome" phase.

Edit: But not Jack Chick. feth that guy.

**gorgon**

In the early '80s there was a seller at a flea market near us that had stuff for 50% off. I think modules were regularly around $5-6 then. So my brother and I ended up with a lot of modules.

**Alpharius**

Ahtman wrote:
Alpharius wrote:
I still think it was somewhere around cool/popular/etc. back in the late 70's/early 80's but either way, whatever!

I think there was a moment where it was but then the whole 'pagan' and 'devil worship' hysteria came and slapped the label on it eventually leading to bad Tom Hanks movies about how it will kill you. And let's not forget:

That thing is so hilariously awesome!

I'm currently DMing a 1E campaign, and my most frequent DM controlled NPC is named Konrad Blackleaf in honor of that comic!

**Melissia**

It is pretty damned funny for all the reasons its authors did not intend

**Manchu**

Black Leaf and Elfstar are awesome PC names!

BTW Marcie had a bitchin' dragon model on her bed when she hanged herself.

**Skinnereal**

Whatever happened to Raise Dead...?
[For Black Leaf, not the girl. Doh]

DnD is cool again?
It's been on-and-off in the geek world for ages, so I assume that's what when they mean 'cool'.

**Manchu**

Skinnereal wrote:
DnD is cool again? It's been on-and-off in the geek world for ages

D&D has been on/off what?