The D&D/AD&D pdfs are back. B1 is available for free this week; you need a RPGNow account to download it. It's the Moldvay version rather than the Holmes version. Quality is good. No Holmes Basic pdf yet, but I'm sure it's coming eventually, as they said the pdfs would have a staggered release.
http://www.dndclassics.com/product/17081/B1-In-Search-of-the-Unknown-%28Basic%29?it=1
The product page for B1 has an informative "Product History" page by Shannon Appelcline. Here's a quote:
ReplyDelete"The story of "Search" begins with the first Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (1977), which was a reorganization of the rules from the original 3-book Dungeons & Dragons (1974) and Supplement I: Greyhawk (1975) produced by J. Eric Holmes. Following the publication of the Basic Set, TSR was looking for better introductory material to support it.
Enter TSR Games & Rule Editor Mike Carr, who saw the need for an introductory adventure that really taught GMs how to create and stock a dungeon. He offered to write such a product for TSR, who accepted. "In Search of the Unknown" was thus an introductory module for the introductory rule set - making it the ultimate introduction to the game."
Oh Man!!! This totally rocks...
ReplyDeleteFantastic! I wonder if they'll release different editions of the same module, though?
ReplyDeleteFrancisa on K&KA got the following message from them: "Our initial release includes over 80 titles, though we plan to release smaller batches of additional titles on a rolling basis after that. Needless to say the final catalog will be extensive."
ReplyDeleteHopefully they'll roll out the Holmes modules with Holmes Basic. The monochrome B1 is more likely than the first print B2, but perhaps we can petition them.
More good news: if you purchased a pdf previously, you can download the new version for free. I checked my account and was able to download the new version of B6 Veiled Society. It's a completely new scan, much better than the old one. They even scanned the map on the inside of the folder as one large page rather than two separate pages in the old pdf.
ReplyDeleteMoldvay Basic is available on pdf for the first time; they never had it before. No Expert, yet.
ReplyDeleteJudging by the preview pdf, the new Deities & Demigods scan is unfortunately of the fourth printing, without the Cthulhu or Melnibonean Mythos. Holmes is still thanked for his help on the Cthulhu Mythos, and Chaosium is thanked for permission (pg 4), but if you look at the table of contents, it's the revised edition with only 128 pages.
ReplyDeleteWired article about it.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wired.com/geekdad/2013/01/dndclassics/
So far, I'm fairly impressed. D&DM 4th printing? Ugh! I'm guessing Moorcock and Leiber's estate don't want to share.
ReplyDeleteExaminer Interview. Next pdfs on Feb 5th, includes AD&D MMII, DSG, WSG, D&D Expert Rules, DA2 module & more
ReplyDeletehttp://www.examiner.com/article/dungeons-dragons-returns-to-pdf-with-dndclassics-com
And they mention OD&D is on the way...
ReplyDelete