Bx vs. BECMI...Go

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Llew ap Hywel

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So any other site but here I'd never post this (and it's thread one of two) but keeping in mind that no fun is bad wrong fun which do you prefer? Bx or BECMI?

So the challenge is not to diss the other game but state why your preference does it for you and what makes it fun to play.
 
B/X was the first Rpg I played so it's going to win the popularity contest for me.

Not a heck of a lot of differences between them - I prefer thieves' skill percentages in B/X over BECMI. The lower level limits. The presentation in B/X has more appeal to me. (Even though B/X was a "basic" product, Mentzer Basic tried harder as an introductory tool).

When I was a preteen, I skipped over Mentzer Basic and Expert because I thought that they were just reprints of what I'd already owned. I bought the Master and Companion rules to use with Moldvay B/X, and I really liked the WarMachine rules and the ... "prestige" classes.
 
Well, they are at least 90% the same game, but I prefer B/X as my base version of D&D. For one thing, I like the lower level limits. Thieves don't get nerfed like in BECMI. At 14th-level, the system still runs smoothly, and HP haven't risen to a cumbersome level. Attrition battles where everyone has 100+ HP don't appeal to me.

There are still a lot of nice parts to BECMI that can be borrowed though. I just prefer to use the B/X books as a base, and then handpick part of the BECMI to import. The skill rules in BECMI are nice, if a particular campaign calls for them. The evasion/chase rules are great as well. I simply prefer to have simplicity of the core B/X rules, and then bring in whatever rules from RC as I need them. It's a lot less confusing than telling your players you are using the RC and to not use parts of it.
 
When choosing Basic, B/X is a lot leaner. I think BECMI and later the RC got some really wonky stuff in them, esp. for high levels. I feel like I can backport a lot of OD&D on to B/X without breaking it, but the "CMI" part of BECMI has its own thing going on for really powerful villains and demigods and so on that are hard to reconcile with B/X + OD&D stuff.
 
When choosing Basic, B/X is a lot leaner. I think BECMI and later the RC got some really wonky stuff in them, esp. for high levels. I feel like I can backport a lot of OD&D on to B/X without breaking it, but the "CMI" part of BECMI has its own thing going on for really powerful villains and demigods and so on that are hard to reconcile with B/X + OD&D stuff.
I think a more limited power range suits sandbox play as well. It's not easy for a low level party to take out a B/X 10th level fighter, but with careful planning and tactics, it can be done. Once you have 20th-level+ NPCs running around, there is a complete divide between high and low level play.

For some people that might be a good thing though.
 
Strongly favor BECMI/RC because I grew up with it (and TBH I still have trouble telling them apart at times), though I do believe it would benefit from a level "crunch" — 36 levels is whack, a 15 to 20 level spread looks better to me.

I do consider ACKS a more perfect synthesis and refinement of B/X and BECMI/RC than anything I could ever write, and it has all but supplanted both for me.
 
BX... because I like the cover art better.
(really, no clue, never played either... except in clone form as Lamentations of the Flame Princess, which IIRC is close to BX)
 
BX for art alone. I never noticed a difference between them for the amount I played them or the levels. I just feel like when the art went from Dee, Otis and Willing to Elmore it symbolized a more polished, corporate affair than a hobby.
 
B/X because:
(a) better art (Otus covers; Dee, Otus, and Willingham internal illustrations);
(b) better power-scale (levels 1-14); and
(c) thief abilities slightly less useless in B/X than in BECM.

That said, I do treasure my copies of the RC, and I quite liked some of the Gazetteers (e.g, Karameikos).
 
I do consider ACKS a more perfect synthesis and refinement of B/X and BECMI/RC than anything I could ever write, and it has all but supplanted both for me.

ACKS is another great source to steal from for B/X rules. I have mixed feeling about it's check system though. It is technically more streamlined, but it creates yet another variant of D&D stats. I prefer using attribute checks for skill checks rather than the standard TN of ACKS as well. Those reservations aside, it is incredibly useful for someone running B/X, as is the Player's Companion.
 
So any other site but here I'd never post this (and it's thread one of two) but keeping in mind that no fun is bad wrong fun which do you prefer? Bx or BECMI?

So the challenge is not to diss the other game but state why your preference does it for you and what makes it fun to play.

Which one features the cover used for your avatar? Because that one.
 
I am only familiar with the retro-clones of B/X and BECMI (specifically Basic Fantasy and Dark Dungeons) and both seem awesome, so I don't know. I was born in 1993 and started D&D with 3.5, so Basic is a little before my time though I do find it very interesting.

if I had to pick one or the other, I'll go with B/X because of the easier power scale (Levels 1-14 instead of Levels 1-36) combined with the fact that I am actually buying the original B/X books off of Amazon really soon. Found some good deals on the Basic and Expert books from 1981 and I am going to check them out. I know the OSR retro-clones are just as good, but I'm a sucker for having original materials whenever I can.
 
I just picked up the Moldvay basic off of eBay. It hasn't arrived yet, so I'll let ya'll know. I already had Cook and Expert.
I got the Moldvay Basic of eBay. Imagine my delight when it had the Cook/Marsh Expert booklet in the box along with the Basic and Keep on the borderlands. PLus I got the Mentzer ECM in the same bundle.

I was a happy bunny that day.
 
I got the Moldvay Basic of eBay. Imagine my delight when it had the Cook/Marsh Expert booklet in the box along with the Basic and Keep on the borderlands. Plus I got the Mentzer ECM in the same bundle.

I was a happy bunny that day.
When I recently picked up a second of the Expert rules, it had the B/X character sheet booklet inside. It's completely pointless in this age where we all have printers and access to a dozens of downloadable B/X character sheets, but it still warmed my heart to see those familiar green character sheets again. I'd never have spent money on it, but it was cool bonus.
 
I got the Moldvay Basic of eBay. Imagine my delight when it had the Cook/Marsh Expert booklet in the box along with the Basic and Keep on the borderlands. PLus I got the Mentzer ECM in the same bundle.

I was a happy bunny that day.

That's awesome!

I had a similar experience when getting a DragonQuest box set... it had The Enchanted Wood, and maybe another module inside as well. The module itself typically went for the same price as what I paid for the box set. :smile:
 
That's awesome!

I had a similar experience when getting a DragonQuest box set... it had The Enchanted Wood, and maybe another module inside as well. The module itself typically went for the same price as what I paid for the box set. :smile:
I seem to have timed my purchases just right. Got everything before the explosion in asking prices. And I even managed to get a deal on the wooden boxed reissue of 0E, courtesy of some gift coupons and a favourable exchange rate.
 
The Rules Cyclopedia. Would that put me in for BECMI, or are we rather gestalt on the distinction here?
Although I consider this to be a bit of a "Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879" matter.

Regarding the art: I never liked either all that much. No, that's not entirely true, when I was 12 I liked Elmore way more than nowadays.
 
The Rules Cyclopedia. Would that put me in for BECMI, or are we rather gestalt on the distinction here?
Although I consider this to be a bit of a "Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879" matter.

Regarding the art: I never liked either all that much. No, that's not entirely true, when I was 12 I liked Elmore way more than nowadays.

The Cyclopedia counts as BECMI.
 
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