#Rules Cyclopedia

[oldschoolfrp]

Charge! (Terry Dykstra, D&D Rules Cyclopedia, TSR, 1991) 

[stupidsexynonbinaryperson]

Must be so nice being a FR fan. "Ohh, my world's wiki is so good it's only issue is that it is hosted on fandom". Greyhawk fans are like "I don't need a wiki, the living greyhawk gazetteer is just that good."

Meanwhile Mystara fans are in the fucking trenches of the vaults of Pandius. "Okay, now tell me something canon" I say to it, but alas, it is all in vain, since it only exists to archive people's feelings about the place.

It's either shill out to WoTC on DTRPG or get bad/middling quality pdf scans.

Might have to fix that myself. Manually. With my own determination and scattered motivation (I should not get myself into another project. Certainly not alone)

[1-50thofabuck]

I wrote up a character background for a BECMI Mystara game I'm joining tomorrow. I recently suspended a 7-8 year campaign in Mystara I was running using heavily modified(homebrewed) 2nd Edition AD&D rules. I'm looking forward not only to getting to play in Mystara myself, but getting to play BECMI again, in particular, getting to use my POD R͟u͟l͟e͟s͟ C͟y͟c͟l͟o͟p͟e͟d͟i͟a͟!

The character, Zolfatara, is related to one of my favorite characters in another game, a homebrew system called I͟g͟n͟o͟t͟a. The character in that system in named Kratr. This is the "Red Sonya" to my "Conan," not that either character is modeled on either of those two. The background was only supposed to be a few paragraphs but I got carried away!

Art is not mine and is being used for a personal game only. The oc tag only reflects the story and personality. Art is for reference.

[legionofmyth]

Rules Cyclopedia by TSR

⚔️ Step into a world of classic fantasy with Rules Cyclopedia by TSR! 🌟 This comprehensive guide has everything you need for epic RPG adventures. Perfect for new and veteran players alike. #RulesCyclopedia #DungeonsAndDragons #RPG #TabletopGaming #FantasyAdventure

Rules Cyclopedia by TSR What is it? Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia The Rules Cyclopedia by TSR is a comprehensive compilation of the Basic, Expert, Companion, and Master sets of the classic Dungeons & Dragons game. Set in the Mystara campaign world, it encompasses a wide variety of settings, from the Known World and its diverse cultures to the exotic Savage Coast and Hollow World. This…

[henchmaxxing]

Im also going through the 1991 version of Zanzer's Dungeon which also comes with a little rules book

And these things called Dragon Cards that explain the mechanics of the game to you, such as the standard classes.

There is a small problem regarding the card on armor class. But thats not on the Dragon Card, that's on me for not speaking french

[prokopetz]

Proposals to refer to One D&D as "6th Edition" in order to spite Hasbro marketing don't go far enough. We should retroactively assign full edition numbers to every major core rules revision for which the game's publishers declined to do so, as follows:

White box OD&D is now 1st Edition

Holmes Basic is now 2nd Edition

AD&D 1st Edition is now 3rd Edition

BX/Moldvay Basic is now 4th Edition

BECMI/Mentzer Basic is now 5th Edition

AD&D 2nd Edition is now 6th Edition

The Rules Cyclopedia is now 7th Edition

The AD&D 2nd Edition Player's Handbook redux with the infamous "This Is Not 3rd Edition" foreword is now 8th Edition

Player's Option is now 9th Edition

D&D 3rd Edition is now 10th Edition

D&D 3rd Edition Revised (3.5E) is now 11th Edition

D&D 4th Edition is now 12th Edition

D&D Essentials is now 13th Edition

D&D Next (later informally rebranded as "5th Edition" due to consumer pressure) is now 14th Edition

Finally, this means the forthcoming One D&D is 15th Edition.

Make sense?

[thydungeongal]

where do D&D editions before 3e sit on your ranking?

The Basic/Expert set by Tom Moldvay is my all-time favorite edition of D&D in general. To me it's "D&D as a dungeon game" at its purest. After that things get somewhat muddy.

I like BECMI and Rules Cyclopedia well enough, but prefer the simplicity of B/X, but I sometimes use Rules Cyclopedia as a resource when I need a second opinion on a ruling in B/X (because it is much less ambiguously written).

I think both editions of AD&D are great in their own ways: 1e is kind of a fucking mess with all of its rules, but at the same time I do appreciate all those weirdly specific rules it has, and I actually kind of prefer 1e's spread of options. 2e is a much more clearly written game but it lacks the support for creating your own dungeons.

The original little brown books mostly interests me as a curiosity and there are some really fun things unique to that edition not found in any of the other editions, but I would personally not run it as is. Now, I could see myself running Holmes Basic with the original supplements, as a way to basically bridge the gap between the original game and AD&D 1e, and honestly that does sound like a hell of a good time.

But yeah, I think all the TSR editions do have their charms, but B/X is where it's at for me. Part of it is the rules (simple, easy to understand, intuitive), but another part is the extremely stupid vibes (I love Dwarf and Elf and Halflings as classes, you're so dumb).

[fantasyfantasygames]

Beyond the Shield of Time

Beyond the Shield of Time, Titania, 2005

If you own entirely too many RPGs, Beyond the Shield of Time (BtSoT) wants to leverage that.

The basic premise goes like this: Someone is stealing major artifacts from across a number of worlds. Your characters have been drawn into their "slipstream", pulled from their own world into a new one where the thief is their only way home. The game hops from world to world as you track down the villain, they escape you, you fall through another portal, and you slowly gain what you need to get ahead of them. Eventually, you confront them and their secret is revealed, and the game ends soon thereafter.

The coolest and most difficult part of BtSoT is that it's not a game. It's a framework for running a campaign across multiple games. They provide a semi-universal character description template that works across a wide variety of fantasy RPGs, and you reference that in order to make new characters in each world you fall into. Your characters are changed in the process - someone built as an assassin in Burning Wheel might end up as a bard in Dark Sun D&D, because that's the role that bards have in that setting.

BtSoT has guidelines for conversion from their template into D&D (Rules Cyclopedia, 2e, and 3e), Burning Wheel, Dark Hammer, MERP, WFRP 1e, GURPS, HERO, and a handful of others. There are examples of suitable artifacts in each one, from the Silmarils to the Eye of Vecna. It's a shame Glasswork wasn't published for another two years, because it would have been a perfect world to pop through. It has recommendations for what other games will work well with this system and which won't. I appreciate that BtSoT isn't one of those books that claims to be universal even within the fantasy genre. For instance, it excludes Exalted on purpose rather than by accident, for reasons of power level. It's going to be a lot of work between sessions, but I feel like it would be a hell of a cool game. Then again, I'm the guy who's reviewed almost 100 games so far, so, grain of salt.

The art is fairly good. I think it might be Storn? There's more than one piece with the heroes walking through a portal and coming out changed, with two different worlds on the opposing sides of the page. There's another that's very reminiscent of the "Frodo reaching for the ring" image, but with a Dark Sun halfling reaching for what is still clearly the One Ring.

I feel like the reveal of the secret doesn't 100% work any more. Social values and expectations have changed since 2001, and people are familiar with different cultural touchstones. Much as I love the Amber setting (which is half of the reveal), I'd probably want to rewrite the ending for a more modern audience.

Titania was one of the first game designers to publish as herself (or even a pseudonym) rather than as a company name. Even Monte Cook was still "Monte Cook Games" rather than just his name. Now that's basically the standard if you're in the younger bracket of game designers. There were some rumors that Titania left the industry, but there have been some more recent books with her trademark writing style, so I think she's still out there somewhere.

[vixensdungeon]

If there's one thing I'd have to name that kept 4th Edition D&D from reaching its full potential, it's that the Monster Manuals didn't have enough critters from Mystara.

See, before your Eberrons, your Forgotten Realmses, your Dragonslance, and only a bit after the release of the World of Greyhawk Folio, there was a land undreamed of, known then only as the Known World, and later as Mystara. This was the setting of the B/X, BECMI, and Rules Cyclopedia versions of D&D, and oh boy was it bonkers.

The Known World was what settings like Forgotten Realms are accused of being, a mish-mash of lands inspired by disparate real world cultures, with the Scandinavia-inspired Northern Reaches right next to the Arabia-inspired Emirates of Yularuam. There was a whole Hollow Earth thing going on, and ancient scientific civilizations! It's great!

In many ways it lived separate from the other settings, being made for a different version of it for one thing, but also in its selection of monsters. While Dragonlance may have had some restrictions like no orcs, after the Basic and Expert sets the selection of monsters really went in its own direction for the Known World. And it had a bunch of monster books with all sorts of weird creatures not seen in other settings. It didn't converge with the AD&D line until a few sourcebooks were released for 2nd Edition under the name Mystara.

So what does any of this have to do with 4th Edition? I consider 4e, in its structure, the closest inheritor of BECMI. It's split into easily distinguished level tiers (Heroic, Paragon, Epic), it very nearly has the classic three-alignment system of old, and it has a built-in way for player characters to become deities.

So it would be really nice to run a Known World, or Mystara, campaign with 4e rules! But alas, many of the unique critters of the setting have not been seen again, with only some sparse appearences in 3rd Edition.

Sure I've got the classics like goblins and centaurs and hydras, but where are my hutaakans and lupins? Where my fyrsnaca at? And how am I supposed to do this without the trusty sacrol?

"You should homebrew them!" And you should call your dad more often. Say hi from me, and tell him I had a lovely time last night.

[john-laurens]

Francis Kinloch (1755-1826) was a captain in the American army during a part of the War of Independence; he was wounded at Savannah and taken a prisoner at Charleston. Later, in 1780, he became a member of the Continental Congress. Thus his name can be found in the Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army, as well as in the Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1927. Furthermore, as a wealthy plantation owner and member of South Carolina's ruling class he had a share in the politics of his home state. He served in the House of Representatives in 1779 and 1786-1788, in the state convention which ratified the Federal Constitution in 1788, and in the state constitutional convention of 1790. Yet the part that he played in these political assemblies was never conspicuous, and his name is no longer given in currently published biographical cyclopedias. Evidently his political gifts and ambitions were not very great.

"Letters of Francis Kinloch to Thomas Boone 1782-1788" by Felix Gilbert; from The Journal of Southern History, Vol. 8, No. 1

[oldschoolfrp]

Are you here for the position of henchman, hireling, or full party member? How many experience points can you bring to our organization? (Terry Dykstra, D&D Rules Cyclopedia by Aaron Allston, TSR, 1991)

[stupidsexynonbinaryperson]

The worst part about being into ttrpgs is you'll want to play a system but: 1). You are already a part of 3 weekly campaigns 2). You don't think you're likely to be able to get a group together to play it, especially if you don't want to GM.

Anyway if anyone wants to run Rules Cyclopedia in Karameikos hmu or smth. I guess I'd be fine running it.

[1-50thofabuck]

Joining the BECMI Mystara game in about an hour 🎉🎲

Finished equipment for my character and her retainer, and boy did that take longer than I expected. Looking forward very much to getting to play a Mystara game, particularly Karameikos, and especially using the BECMI(Rules Cyclopedia) ruleset! So excited! The campaign looks pretty interesting, and is set just before Stephan moves for Karameikos to become a duchy of its own, so, right before the Gazeteers I suppose. This time frame is a plot device so that the PCs can be involved in join or thwart the various factions that are themselves supporting or opposing Stephan Karameikos' bid for power.

[radiantmorningstar]

A few technical notes and observations specific to my current Holmes Basic D&D campaign . . .

I’m playing it sandbox style, completely unrailroaded and unscripted. It’s an emergent story, organic to the dice rolls and random oracles; however, I am keeping the mission of Ruvin and Dain in mind as well as my developing sense of who they are as individuals.

I’m taking my time. As a soloist, I have the luxury of setting my own pace, and I enjoy visualizing things in detail. My actual gaming sessions are usually on the weekends, but I spend the rest of the week with the events in the back of my mind, going over them and vividly “seeing” what happened in my imagination. This is one of the many creative aspects of solo gaming that I really enjoy.

I also enjoy writing up my summaries and finding art or illustrations that reflect the scenes. Sometimes, I’ll ask AI to draw for me, but since AI often makes my skin crawl, I don’t resort to it all the time. I’d rather find a painting or a stock photo. I may post the logos from the games I’m playing because I think that’s a quick and interesting way to let people know what I’m doing.

I love using supplements, weird resources, oracles, endless tables and funky dice. I also like cobbling systems together or using adventures (or parts of them) from one system and rules from another. Right now, my central rule set is Blueholme, a 20-level conjectural extension of the Holmes Basic D&D rules.

I believe that Original D&D (aka “OD&D”) and Basic D&D, up through BECMI and the Rules Cyclopedia, are inherently more compelling than the later editions because they’re simpler, less influenced by corporate meddling, and offer more space for player creativity. Blueholme, which is to say, the restatement of the original Dungeons and Dragons rules by J. Eric Holmes in 1977, subsequently reorganized and logically extended by Michael Thomas in 2017, is now my favorite fantasy RPG. There are many others I like, but this one is very special.

Sometimes, I make “DM Notes” [in brackets], which are asides from the POV of me being my own Dungeon Master, but I don’t record many of my rolls or game mechanics in my summaries. I don’t want to slow my summaries down with numbers that would be largely meaningless to a reader. Two consistent exceptions to this are combat rolls and attribute checks. Otherwise, I will note anything critical but will usually avoid things like wandering monster rolls, weather generation, navigation rolls, etc. I’m doing most of those things as a soloist, just not writing about them unless they manifest in the story.

Sessions will often be “quiet.” Think of this like “quiet moments” in screenwriting (i.e. scenes in which things are not catching on fire and people are not screaming). Quiet moments perform many important functions in a story. And this is a story, even if most of it is conveyed through narrative summary. Since it’s emergent and not scripted, I will summarize the times when nothing much happens as well as the action. Because I’m letting the story pretty much do what it wants, I never know exactly what’s going to happen.

If you’ve been following the episodes of my Holmes Basic Rebirth campaign thus far (look at my Tumblr “Archive” to read them from the beginning), I thank you for accompanying Ruvin and Dain on this journey. Who knows what their fate will be? Only time and gaming sessions will tell.

Earendil

[chronotsr]

A Small Appendix: What's a Basic DND?

A lot of people get confused about what a "Basic DND" is. Here is a quick explanation. It's a series of deeply compatible games descended directly from the original DND, without being via ADND:

1977: Holmes Basic, "Blue box". Still essentially ODND.

1981: Moldvay Basic, "B/X", "Moldvay-Cook". Note that Moldvay edited Basic, Cook edited Expert. Basic/Expert, B/X. Still essentially ODND, with babysteps away.

1983: Mentzer Basic, "BECMI". BECMI is an abbreviation for the chain of box sets that make up Mentzer's series: Basic, Expert, Companions, Master, Immortals. Mentzer basic is the biggest single step away from ODND, changing a few rules.

1991: Denning Basic, "Black box". Officially, The New Easy-to-Master Dungeons & Dragons Game. Very rarely discussed beyond the tutorial cards that came with it.

1991: DND Rules Cyclopedia: A repackaging of BECMI, without the I, into one volume.

1994: Stewart Basic. The Classic Dungeons & Dragons Game officially. Very rarely discussed.

For all intents and purposes, in 2024 the ones you'll see discussed are Holmes, Moldvay-Cook, and Mentzer. And no, that thing that looked like Mentzer basic they sold for 4e and 5e is not actually basic, those were just regular introductory sets for 4e and 5e respectively.

Oh, and if someone says something is "basic-compatible" or "inspired by b/x" they almost always mean Moldvay basic. The giveaway of DND Basic lineage, to me, is race-as-class mechanics (eg. your class is Elf). No one else really did that because it's a really bizarre way to essentialize race (I mean, don't essentialize race at all). Most modern hacks have some kind of optional rule to remove it because it has been very unpopular, as far as I can tell.

[adventuresandshopping]

"Classic" Dungeons & Dragons, TSR 1994 - released by Wizards on DriveThruRPG (PDF only)

"Classic" D&D box set rules, TSR 1994. Released around the same time as the D&D Cyclopedia and Advanced D&D 2nd Edition (new covers), this an introductory Basic/Expert rules set with levels from 1 to 5 -which I personally feel is a good range. Four main classes: Fighter, Magic User, Cleric, Thief Three "Demi-humans" classes: Elf, Dwarf, Halfling.