#BECMI

[oldschoolfrp]

Flight to the Star Kingdoms -- The party commands a fleet of ships at sea, passing through a magical storm into a void between worlds (Valerie Valusek, D&D module M1: Into the Maelstrom, TSR, 1985)

[dndhistory]

452. Bruce Heard - CM7: The Tree of Life (1986)

A pretty unique Companion Module, this is the first party module which is racially segregated... no... no that way, fortunately, I mean it is a module that only uses elves for player characters in large part due to its story which involves Elves of the Feadiel Clan being sent out of the clan lands to discover what is wrong with their Tree of Life.

It's interesting that this module fleshes out the elves of the Known World (what Mystara was known as) seeing as up until now the setting for BECMI D&D has been pretty slight. It's also interesting that it is Bruce Heard doing that as he will be instrumental in reimagining and fleshing out this world properly very soon. 

Another uncommon thing about this module is how, due to the racial level limitations of BECMI, it's the only companion module, at least up until now, which uses characters lvl 8-10 (lvl 10 is the cap for Elves), while Companion adventures are usually for levels 15 to 25. Maybe that's why this adventure says that you shouldn't have more than 10 (!) player characters... still it seems like a fun adventure, a bit more story focused than many other BECMI modules, which is always good for variety.  

[vixensdungeon]

(I'm not including the Denning and Stewart versions because they're basically just BECMI in new packaging)

[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.

[adventuresandshopping]

Dungeons & Dragons Cyclopedia, 1991, TSR - PDF and Print

" Whether you're a player or a Dungeon Master, the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia is now the comprehensive sourcebook you need for the original fantasy roleplaying game! For ages 12 and up, the Cyclopedia contains the compete game system and hundreds of features, including the following:

All the rules from the D&D boxed set series, including Basic, Expert, Companion, and Masters

Guidelines to develop and play characters from levels 1-36

Comprehensive lists of weaponry and equipment

Expansion rules including optional skills and talents

An overview of the Known World and the HOLLOW WORLD game setting, the official D&D campaign world; and Rules to convert D&D games and characters into AD&D 2nd edition game statistics and back again "

[black-hedron]

How can anyone not love this?

[foobaryoyodyne]

My first post.

[lord-kiwi-the-wizard]

Take this 1E DnD BECMI rules book. It will be useful on your journey.

I recommend starting at max HP on first level. Death is all too common here.

[lord-soth-dk]

Based

[shaneplays]

Released in 1987, GAZ 1 The Grand Duchy of Karameikos was the first in a series of fourteen Gazetteer (GAZ) supplements from TSR for Basic (BECMI) D&D that detailed the world of Mystara, previously called "The Known World." Each entry provided more information on the setting but there was no metaplot or advancing timeline. And that's a grand entry… on THAC0 Thursday!!

[jeffs-gamebox]

TTRPG Done Well.

Remembering Dungeons & Dragons back when I first started. It had a simple formula both in its play style and creative concept. A small, simple team of guys made a beautiful product in a box.

Yesterday I said we would explore a successful TTRPG and look at how it is built. Way back in 1983 I had this red box that came with a full set of six dice and two fairly thin books. The game was called Dungeons & Dragons, and the box was the first in a series referred to as the BECMI edition. (Basic, Expert, Companion, Master, Immortal.) This game is where a lot of us first fell in love with…

[oldschoolfrp]

Belthar is a land of high mountains and green valleys perched atop a planet shard. Rivers reaching the rim fall into the void miles below, forming clouds that rise back up above the land. A secret cavern holds the Belthan war fleet, 30 galleys pulled by blue dragons. (Valerie Valusek, D&D module M1: Into the Maelstrom, TSR, 1985)

[dndhistory]

37. J. Eric Holmes - Dungeons & Dragons Basic Rules (1977)

In 1977 the Basic Set of D&D finally came out, an update to the original three booklets, this also came in a box-set, including geomorphs, treasure lists, all of which had already been published before, as well as a set of polyhedral dice and, most importantly, the Basic D&D Rules.

Written by J. Eric Holmes, updating and streamlining the original rules, as well as including material from the supplements, mainly Greyhawk as well as things such as Alignment rules that came out in TSR periodicals, this is meant to be the essential rules for players from level 1 to 3, if you want to go further you were supposed to get into the upcoming Advanced D&D rules. These weren't out yet, but would be soon.

It's actually a pretty good rulebook for D&D, much easier to read and understand than the original rules, as it has left all references to Chainmail wargaming behind, it has pretty much anything that you would need to start playing. From character creation, to monsters, to treasure, to a cool little sample dungeon to start you and your players out. I am sure this immensely broadened the appeal of D&D, with such a neat little set of rules all together in one place and aimed at a young audience.

[zerohitpoints]

Mystara's Iconic Party

Mystara Logo TSR I started playing D&D in 1987 with the Red BECMI boxed set. On page 25 there is an illustration of a group of iconic adventurers displaying each available class type. The link below 👇 is an article discussing these iconic characters on Pandis. Mystara’s Iconic Characters

[1-50thofabuck]

Need feedback for first release/minor updates

It's not what was planned as a "first release," but it seemed like the easiest adventure I've written to rework quickly into a publishable form. Of course, it took a lot longer as I kept finding things to alter or ideas to add! I need commentators and proofreaders. Any help you're willing to offer will get your name on the front page as a thanks. The module will be released for free once finalized. Anyone interested in reading through and offering suggestions, fixes, and so forth? Let me know! I'll send you a PDF or a link to a Google doc, your choice! So, please let me know if you'd like to check this out! Anything you want to help with or "contribute" will be appreciated!

A synopsis: a cavern and mine dating to prehistoric times, reputed to be haunted by a banshee, has led to death and suffering each time anyone has attempted to reclaim it. Now, goat-headed fomorians and other horrors are flocking to it to serve the dark being that has revealed itself. As their numbers swell, aided by a spying bandit cultist and his unwitting accomplices from town, the number and power of monsters in the area has increased, ruining trade and travel, yet due to a calamity in a nearby town, the influx of needy individuals has continued. This unfortunate situation is made the more sorrowful for the many desperate refugees that have been lost to the vicious creatures whose frequency and strength have grown. As if all this is not enough, the falling of a star has unleashed a terror from beyond. Trade, travel, and pilgrimages have been all but cut off; economic disaster looms as the number of needy continue to increase; cultists set traps, goblin tribes kidnap and enslave, something that fell from the sky devours all in its path, and all the while, fomorians gather together and plan for a war to retake the land that was once theirs.

In other news, I completed half of an "All the World's Monsters" readthrough entry, but gave it a rest to work on the adventure module I'm previewing here! Also because it was getting a bit frustrating as it became increasingly more difficult to review some of the atrocities in that book without being overly negative(they get real dumb, with about 10 "alignment: hungries" in a row!). Aside from that, since the posts I make here are a mixture of materials and general posts, I'm going to add an index to the website of the posts here that are actually relevant such as adventures, monsters, NPCs, graphics or anything else potentially useful for a GM, as opposed to the ones about kickstarters or whatnot. I'll index readthroughs there as well.