I started playing Dungeons and Dragons, and Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, as a child. In the Navy, it was one of the things that brought me to socialize with some of my new friends, and I continue to enjoy D&D and other Role Playing Games (RPGs). I started playing a blend of “Red Box” D&D and First Edition AD&D, then playing each separately, and – in 1989, moving into the newly-released Second Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. 2nd Ed was a lot of fun – it fixed many of the things that needed to be fixed, while keeping the game loose and barely under control. Like many others, my gaming group moved into 3rd Edition – which dropped the “advanced” part of the title – and my days of 2nd Ed moved into the past.
Well, not entirely. As much as 3E, and later D&D 3.5 were entertaining – and as bad as Fourth Edition was – there were so many good things about the former (and so much effort on my part to make 4E worthwhile), I still enjoyed 2nd Ed. I was not alone. There’s a “movement” of people in RPGs who not only enjoy the “old school RPG” experience, but enjoy getting other people involved in the older style of gaming. Do a web search on “OSR RPG” sometime, and you’ll see what I mean. It’s not easy to find the older RPG books, although some of them are now being re-printed. Sometimes, one may find PDFs scanned from the old books, but these are usually not entirely legal. However, there is an alternative. Point your browser to http://drivethrurpg.com/product/156530/For-Gold--Glory, and download the free PDF. This game is very similar – almost identical in most respects – to AD&D 2nd Ed. All the old-school fun, in an easy-to-use all-in-one product. It’s a huge file, so it’s probably not something you’re going to want to print out, but it’s ideal for loading onto your tablet for use at the game table. It’s fully compatible with all of the old adventure modules. If/when you decide you need a print copy, DriveThruRPG sells those, too, for less than $20. That’s cheaper than the cover price was on the original 2nd Ed Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, and Monstrous Manual, even back in 1989. Grab some dice, and let’s start killin’ some goblins… Sum non Satis? Commodore Tank Clark, SFMD Team Leader, 33rd STARFLEET Rangers (“The Paladins”) “Have Phaser, Will Travel”
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Commodore Tank ClarkCommodore Clark has been the Team Leader of the 33rd STARFLEET Rangers for several years. His monthly articles about games (usually Role-Playing Games -- RPGs -- but sometimes about other tabletop forms of entertainment) appear regularly in the Regulator Charge!, the ship's newsletter. Archives
September 2017
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