DTRPG: Nice D&D Sale

Best Selling RPGs - Available Now @ DriveThruRPG.com

JamesV

Ribbit
Joined
May 4, 2017
Messages
316
Reaction score
1,145
It's been making the rounds, but in case no one knows yet, there are three really nice D&D bundles on sale at DriveThru.
  1. Rules Cyclopedia + All the Mystara Gazeteers.
  2. The collection of the 1e core books.
  3. 2e core + Planescape
I never had a chance to own any of the Gazeteers, but heard that most of them were cool, is it worth picking up?
 
I'm an OSR noob. Does anyone have any suggestions for must-have OSR material I'd want to pick up?
 
Was excited to see Planescape cheap in digital and was like "get in my cart!"

Gazeteers: I always thought they were sort of cool, but sort of grabbed stuff out of them piecemeal. Not sure I'd be up for investing in a whole bunch of them.
 
I never had a chance to own any of the Gazeteers, but heard that most of them were cool, is it worth picking up?

The real question is, how much into BECMI/RC are you? The Gazeteers offer a bunch of tools for that particular iteration of D&D, from new character classes (humanoids in Orcs of Thar, dwarven clerics in Rockhome) to rules for Traveller-like arbitrage trading (Republic of Darokin and Kingdom of Ierendi), in addition to the Mystara/Known World fluff, of course.
 
I'm an OSR noob. Does anyone have any suggestions for must-have OSR material I'd want to pick up?
That's a broad topic. Are you looking for system, settings or adventures? Are you looking for stuff that captures a particular era of D&D or some of the Gonzo New Weird stuff? Or are you looking for things that use the engine to build new games?

The OSR has a lot of stuff in it.

If I recall, you were just running Godbound and liked it, so you probably couldn't go wrong with more Sine Nomine stuff. It's worth mentioning that he seems to use D&D B/X as the backbone that he builds on. You can get the original Basic and Expert rules in PDF for $4.99 each. If you need a hard copy, Labyrinth Lord is a retroclone of B/X. I've also found both the original books on Amazon for around $15 in good condition as well. I still have my originals, but I like to have table copies.

Once you have that rule set, you can use Sine Nomine's Red Tide setting. Red Tide has two fantastic supplements. The Crimson Pandect is a magic supplement with lots of variant magic user, spells, and system for magical research. There is also An Echo Resounding, which has simple rules for ruling a domain and mass combat.

And speaking of ruling a domain, The Adventurer Conqueror King System is another B/X variant that covers the same ground in a crunchier fashion. It you want to build a setting where the economics make sense, this the D&D variant to go with.

Moving into a more gonzo direction, I really like the Hill Cantons setting. It has a mix of Vancian and East European influences. Slumbering Ursine Dunes is a sandbox adventure, Fever Dreaming Marlinko details a nearby city, and Misty Isles of Eld deals with the Bowie-tinged, Moorcockian evil elves of the setting.

There is plenty more I could recommend, but that's just what leapt to mind now. If you have any more specifics on what you are in the mood for, maybe i can make another recommendation.
 
I'm an OSR noob. Does anyone have any suggestions for must-have OSR material I'd want to pick up?

The OSR has a lot of stuff in it.

Yeah, pretty much this. (Incidentally my favorite OSR publishers are the same as Baulderstone's — Autarch, Sine Nomine, Hydra Collective.) Also, the Labyrinth Lord PDF (sans art) is free here.

The big question is what do you want out of the OSR.

I used to be very much into rulesets. Nowadays I've settled for ACKS for classic campaign play and D&D5 for new school(ish) or tournament-style play, but I'll read new rulesets every now and then (still curious about Beyond The Wall and Blood & Treasure), especially if they have stuff I can pilfer for my other games.

And of course there's DCC and Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea, games which are more or less their own thing, and look fun, but which I have yet to slot into our rotation.

Today what really piques my interest are sandbox adventures and/or megadungeons. I think I'll take advantage of the current OSR promotion over at DTRPG to round out my Hydra Collective collection (I really wish they'd stat up Strange Stars for CT/MgT1/Cepheus), and to get Mike Evans' Hubris (a DCC campaign setting). I tried to get into Jason Sholtis' Operation Unfathomable KS (super gonzo megadungeon + wilderness sandbox dual-statted for LL and DCC), but my credit card was acting up.
 
Gentlemen, thank you for taking the time to provide such a detailed reply. It was most appreciated.

And you're right, I was way too vague in my question. I'll try to refine it a bit.

Put simply, I'm looking for OSR games that could support Godbound: something I could mine for things like monsters, NPCs, settings, etc. I know that Godbound is based on D&D (though I don't know which version, the original, AD&D, or something else).

Godbound was my gateway drug into the OSR. I blame Keven Crawford for getting me hooked. :smile:

I've already begun picking up titles from Sine Nomine, starting with Scarlet Heroes. Very, very impressed. I mean, everything this guy writes is gold.

I picked up ACKS from a bundle on a whim. Didn't think much of it at the time, then I read it. It's...it's just amazing.

I'm wondering if there's anything else like this out there that's at this level of awesome. As far as the sale, I'm wondering if the Complete Known World bundle is worth it, and maybe the OSR(IC) Extravaganza.

Anyway, thanks much.
 
The Rules Cyclopedia. More bang for your buck than any other RPG product I can think of in history, even at it's original $25 price tag.
 
I picked up ACKS from a bundle on a whim. Didn't think much of it at the time, then I read it. It's...it's just amazing.

The Rules Cyclopedia. More bang for your buck than any other RPG product I can think of in history, even at it's original $25 price tag.

The D&D RC is my favorite official version of D&D ever published.

Nowadays I default to ACKS because it refines and massively expands upon all the RC features I love (except Immortality — though I suspect the upcoming Heroic Companion will tackle this — and enchanting your own airship).
 
Gentlemen, thank you for taking the time to provide such a detailed reply. It was most appreciated.

And you're right, I was way too vague in my question. I'll try to refine it a bit.

Put simply, I'm looking for OSR games that could support Godbound: something I could mine for things like monsters, NPCs, settings, etc. I know that Godbound is based on D&D (though I don't know which version, the original, AD&D, or something else).

Crawford uses B/X (which is made up of the Moldvay Basic Set and the Cook/Marsh Expert Set) as the foundation of his designs, so monsters, spells and magic items made for B/X are going to be effortless to use. The B/X line was replaced by the BECMI (Basic, Expert, Companion, Master, Immortal) line. It's basically the same system, but while B/X goes from 1-14, it goes from 1-36.

I prefer the 1-14 progression of B/X, but there is a lot of good stuff in BECMI that can be lifted out and stuck right in B/X, or Godbound for that matter. The Rules Cyclopedia consolidates the entire BECMI line into one book. It will give you a rich source of monsters, treasure and magic to use with Godbound. You really should get that.

AD&D veers slightly further away from B/X, but it is still easy to use with B/X and Godbound. There are rules differences, but as a kid, we were oblivious to the differences and used stuff interchangeably.

Godbound was my gateway drug into the OSR. I blame Keven Crawford for getting me hooked. :smile:

I started gaming with D&D B/X in the early '80s, then returned to it on 2008. While the OSR was picking up steam at that point, I completely ignored the scene for years. I had my B/X stuff. I didn't need some retroclone to play old school D&D. I was active online talking about games, but I was primarily interested in talking about new stuff. I didn't need to hear about D&D because I knew it.

I heard about Stars Without Number when it first came out, but wasn't interested in it. People wouldn't shut up about it though, so after a few years I downloaded the free version. I glanced at it for a minute, then got distracted and it mouldered in a folder on my computer for another year or so. People still wouldn't shut up about it, so I eventually read the damn thing, and realized that I really needed to be paying more attention to this OSR thing that was happening.

So, he was really my gateway as well.

I've already begun picking up titles from Sine Nomine, starting with Scarlet Heroes. Very, very impressed. I mean, everything this guy writes is gold.

I picked up ACKS from a bundle on a whim. Didn't think much of it at the time, then I read it. It's...it's just amazing.

ACKS is built on top of B/X as well, so B/X and BECMI stuff is easy to use with ACKS, and ACKS stuff is easy to use with Godlike.

I'm wondering if there's anything else like this out there that's at this level of awesome. As far as the sale, I'm wondering if the Complete Known World bundle is worth it, and maybe the OSR(IC) Extravaganza.

The Known Worlds bundle is a no-brainer. I don't know the stuff in the OSRIC bundle, so I can't say.
 
I... am overwhelmed. I don't have to pirate chase rare collectibles, or camp the auctions. :oops: And with my Dawn of the Emperors: Thyatis & Alphatia box set, and smattering of Hollow World, I'll be essentially done.

Is this what feeling complete is like? o_O Where do I go from here? :confused: Why is there this perpetual nuclear explosion in the sky outside called "The Sun" radiating upon us? :eek:
 
Thanks again, guys. Baulderstone, your explanation on the types of D&D editions was very helpful to me, as I've been confused about this for a while.

Picked up the Known Worlds Bundle yesterday. Skimmed through it last night. You guys were right. It's packed with high-quality awesome.
 
Thanks again, guys. Baulderstone, your explanation on the types of D&D editions was very helpful to me, as I've been confused about this for a while.

Picked up the Known Worlds Bundle yesterday. Skimmed through it last night. You guys were right. It's packed with high-quality awesome.

You are a lucky man. I've had a failed downloads on every attempt. I already own most of the stuff, but I want to appreciate those clean, expertly-bookmarked versions!

If nothing else, having the Rules Cyclopedia will make the Mortal Heroes chapter of Godbound more useful now that you have those old school classes and spells it references.
 
You are a lucky man. I've had a failed downloads on every attempt. I already own most of the stuff, but I want to appreciate those clean, expertly-bookmarked versions!

If nothing else, having the Rules Cyclopedia will make the Mortal Heroes chapter of Godbound more useful now that you have those old school classes and spells it references.

This was my thinking as well.

I noticed I had a lot of difficultly downloading my files, probably due to heavy use of their servers. Took longer than expected.
 
I tried to get into Jason Sholtis' Operation Unfathomable KS (super gonzo megadungeon + wilderness sandbox dual-statted for LL and DCC), but my credit card was acting up.
Did it refuse to give you a greater limit no matter how nicely you asked or did it not allow you to spend more than the Boss allowed? :grin:

Or did someone in Cyprus go on a game buying binge with it? That happened to me once, was kind of cool just for the exotic nature of it. I was a victim of international crime. :cool:
 
Another find for those of you that picked up the Gazetteers or already have them. You might want to look at B10 Night's Dark Terror. It is one of the best D&D modules ever, and it is set in Karameikos, an it is half off at the moment. It's one of the last things that Jim Bambra and Phil Gallagher did at TSR before they went over to Games Workshop to work on WFRP and the first few adventures in The Enemy Within campaign.

It's meant to act as a bridge between the Basic and Expert Sets, letting the players get out and adventure in a sandbox with factions that the players can actually choose between and ideas for further adventures when the main plot is completed.
 
Banner: The best cosmic horror & Cthulhu Mythos @ DriveThruRPG.com
Back
Top