BX Complete

Early in the year I finished a project but still haven’t figured out what to do with it. 

I took the PDFs of the Moldvay and Cook Basic and Expert rules, copied and pasted all of the text, then combined the text to create an integrated version of the book. I then laid the entire thing out in publisher and added in the original art. I know have a version of the B/X rules combined into a single 120 page hardbound book.

 I also made a Player’s version (With the red Basic cover) with sections 1-5 and a DM’s Version (with the blue expert cover) with sections 6-8. I just integrated the rules for waterborne travel into the Encounters and Combat section. 

 

 

Getting the monster section formatted took the longest, but was also the most satisfying as I could never remember what monsters were in which book.

All the spells in one book is also nice.

 

Having all the rules in one place is great for me, but I can’t distribute it without breaking serious copyright law. I need to find a way to get WOTC to put this up as PDF. I don’t want money I just want people to have B/X, the best version on D&D for beginners.

Trolls

I have been playing a lot of 5E lately, but I am still not sold on it.Little things make a huge difference and combat cantrips are a big part of that.

Let’s look at Trolls.

In 5E trolls are a challenge rating 5 monster. They have 8d10+40 hit points (84 HP on average) and it does not regenerate in any round it takes acid or fire damage. Most wizards are going to have a Firebolt or an Acid Splash cantrip. Trolls are a nuisance, but with their low Dex save and 15 AC they will take damage from a wizard’s cantrip most rounds. A group of trolls can be a problem, but a smart party can focus on one at a time to take them down. With unlimited cantrips a party will almost always have the resources to do so.

In B/X 1d6 trolls could be found as early as the 4^th level of the dungeon. A troll had 6d8+3 hit points (30 HP on average) and could regenerate all damage not caused by fire or acid. There were two spells that did fire damage; Fireball and Wall of Fire and none that did acid. Your best bet was using oil which did 1d8 points of damage for two rounds. Hopefully you hit and you had at least three flasks per troll. Neither fireball nor flasks were a great option if you had fighters in melee with a pack of trolls because you probably had a good chance of hitting your own team.

Don’t get me started on “Laser Clerics”, why they need a ranged attack cantrip is beyond me. Why they all need the same one makes even less sense. The Tempest Cleric should at least have a lightning cantrip.

I get 5e is popular and I play it because the DM runs it, but older editions got some things right and Trolls were a lot more trouble.  

B v. X

The B/X rules sometimes have specific differences both in rules an information presented.

  vs.

For example Holy water in Basic

 

Holy Water in Expert

 

you get two rounds of damage in Expert (talk about power creep).

Medallion of ESP in Basic

 

Medallion of ESP in Expert

 

I have no idea why the Medallion of ESP is different in the Expert rules as ESP is a second level spell described in the Basic book?

Wandering Monsters in Basic also have their alignments listed parenthetically after their name.

 

That are not present in Expert

 I guess by 4th level you are just killing things without bothering to talk to them.