D&D Rules Cyclopedia - Classes and Early Impressions
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- Опубликовано: 11 сен 2024
- I couldn't wait to talk about my Rules Compendium. This isn't a comprehensive review. I look over some of the book mainly focusing on the classes and giving my early impressions
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Add in the Gazetteers and you to can play a Minrothad Sea Elf, Merchant Prince, Thieve Guild, sailing on a Pirate Ship.
My Char has 4 wands of flying lead projectiles. Thanks too Savage Coast.
I've owned this book since 1992.
Though I've mostly played AD&D second edition, I LOVE the Cyclopedia due to the fact that it is an 'all in one' book. Can it be tweaked and homebrewed? Absolutely. Should it be? O gods yes.
However, as far as overall rules go (for the players and DM), this is an "all in one" book, and I absolutely love it, despite all of it's flaws.
It is a great book for sure. Early D&D was almost always heavily house ruled anyway so the flaws in the rules kind of adds to the books charm
If people are wary of ordering POD from DriveThru based on stories of misprints and wrong orders, I can offer some assurance that DriveThru actually do a great job of dealing with these issues. I had a misprint in my POD copy of 4e Dark Sun. A banner obscured the top of about a half dozen pages. I have some experience with electronic publishing, so I assume someone forgot to turn off a layer/switch a master in InDesign or Quark before exporting to .PDF and delivering it to the printer. It happens; it's happened to me, and it's happened to everyone I know in that field. Anyway, even though the problem was with Wizards and not the printer or DriveThru, I still got great customer service, a free copy of the book, and frequent updates about the status.
The Halfling class is amazing, it has tens of thousands of XP worth of saving throws at first level and hits the low-single digits saves long, long, long before humans do (four to five times as fast, if I recall). Also they continue advance in their THAC0 after level cap and they are the first to hit name level and get the benefits of that. Add to that their hiding ability (which is way, way, way better than thieves' hiding ability), their bonuses to attack, their bonuses to AC... Halflings are ludicrously good. If you look at their THAC0 vs Experience progression, they are actually the best demihuman fighter in the game until the Dwarf finally hits 400,000 XP and overcomes them. Honestly the Halfling is a terrific class. And they can raise their Dex at character creation! Honestly, they are probably the best class in the game. What they are not is Thieves, however... Halflings are FIGHTERS, not Thieves! This idea that Halflings should have Thief abilities is completely alien to D&D and is a stupid idea that comes from AD&D. Also, the Elf is only about one level behind the fighter at any given time and can use all the magical weapons of both fighters and magic-users and can cast fireball while wearing plate armour! I'd say that is more than a trade-off from being one level "behind" (which only matters every third level for THAC0 progression).
Cut my teeth on BECMI, had my RC on preorder in 91 haha. It's the only book you will ever need. Your demi humans are far better once you get into the rules. Elves can go up to 36th level just as anyone can. Dwarves and Halflings can cast either wizard or priest spells with the shamn and wonki rules. And the skills will have your Halflings sneaking around dungeons every bit as well as your human thief will. Weapon Mastery......If this is the game you set out to play, a dungeon which likely has something to do with dragons...It's worth itand is the only thing you will need, if you do need more and there is a ton out there. Any search on google will find most is not all the other BECMI goodies for pdf.
Lee Rimmer just did a vid on the RC too. :) This rules. I got lucky and found a beat up used copy for $5 at a gaming store.
I'll have to check it out. I am really loving this book so far
Clerics can't shed blood, but the gods don't have a problem with breaking somebody's kneecaps.😁
My first D&D experience was with this rule set via the Red box, years later i gifted this book to my kid brother in law to get him hooked. Its a great book and a nice simple rules set.
I'm loving it so far, I was looking to run a local AD&D 1E game this summer, but now I am really tempted to run this instead
I picked up my copy a few years ago at Half Price Books for about $7. I have a soft spot for Original D&D, as that's the system I started playing back in the early 80's.
Drivethru are excellent I've never had any problems ( touches bedside next to me)
They have always been more than helpful.
I'm looking forward to picking up Rules Cyclopedia and few other pecies.
Got a group itching do some classic D&D
Though it will be alot of my own ideas.
Hope you're having with your copy
All the best and good gaming.
I haven’t played Basic, but there is something that I like about the race-for-class. Though, having dwarves and halfling be nothing more than fancy fighters feels like a missed opportunity. I’m working on a home brew Basic/1e mash up that would make dwarves fighter/clerics and halflings fighter/thieves.
Halflings really do feel lackluster, I think giving them a few of the Thief abilities would have been much better. I will say that so far that is the only real nit-pick I have with this
I do the same thing. I actually do a home brew of OD&D, Basic, and AD&D 1e.
@@SirMillz Yeah; that's what I do as well. Apparently the new Old School Essentials books do just that. They add AD&D races & classes but B/X them, meaning they streamline their abilities to scale to regular basic classes. I love that because at my age I really want things streamlined, but I still like options. For example, you can play gnomes as a race class. They're basically illusionist/thieves though you could separate race and class too.
I had a problem with some DriveThruRPG orders last year that was actually my fault. Before I found out it was my fault (entered wrong data), I was all outraged and wanted a refund. The refunded me AND sent the book. Since then, I have ordered a massive ton of books from them and I go around praising them to everyone I can.
Their customer service is among the best I have ever encountered.
I grew up with this system and love it but I recently started reading the 3.5 rules and they are unbelievably CRUNCHY in comparison! I’m only into the races so far and I’m just being assaulted by all the minutia of this massive system. Honestly, I don’t know how anybody ever ran this... I guess, BECMI is definitely more my style... We’ll see as I get farther into the rules...
Although I would never expect them to do this, it would have been nice if they had actually added the Immortal rules from Wrath of the Immortals as an appendix (or some such) in this reprinting. It only took up one of that set's booklets, while the rest of the set was devoted to the drastic setting changes and the accompanying campaign; which always felt a bit disjointed with those rules as the campaign didn't actually involve Immortal PCs.
It would have been cool for sure, but I don't think they can alter anything in the books themselves. Hopefully Wrath of the Immortals becomes available through POD some time soon.
About the mystics : they're like modern D&D monks, but with thief's talents. They have their bonus to unarmed damage, movement speed, AC etc... And you can be a mystic at lvl 1, but they are limited to 16th level.
As you have noticed, there are some variant rules to allow every class to get to level 36, but you should think twice about it. Elves and mystics in particular seems very powerfull with this rule, because elves get the magic-user progression chart with their spells, and mystics can get thief's talents up to level 36. But it is possible, and that's what is awesome with RC : there are a ton of variant rules thorough the book and you can easily modify rules you don't like.
One thing you didn't note in the video (because it is not clear in the book) is that you have some sorts of prestige classes for the fighter at 9th level. Each class can get a title, but the fighter can also get additionnal abilities by becoming a paladin, avenger or knight ! You could even allow paladins, avengers, knights and druids below level 9 in your campaign (there is a mention about it in the appendix 2 about converting druids and paladins from AD&D).
It's funny that you mentioned the Fighter options, I was literally just starting to read that when the notification for your comment came up. They are pretty cool and each one corresponds with one of the three alignments. I'm not sure about the mystic, but for me allowing the Elf to advance in spell progression doesn't seem that bad since the XP's they need to level are still just as high, but that said I would still follow the default rules the first time I go to run this.
Thank you for clarifying the Mystic, I actually completely missed that they had Thief abilities.
For 1st level hit points in all our games we follow Hackmaster 4e and give all characters a 20 hp kicker. It sounds overpowered, but in fact by the mid levels the characters aren't that much more powerful than they'd be otherwise, if at all. We also use a simplified critical system so that helps negate the hp advantage, especially at higher levels.
AWESOME! A Great simple simple game but with so many open ended options for your campaigns! i have so many great memories of the BECMI sets,this makes me want to play basic again. :) For immortal rules done right I recommend a game called Godbound which is everything that the immortal rules should have been,So after 36th Level if my table wanted to play onward i would switch their characters to that game! great Videos love your channel! FIGHT ON.
Mystics are the equivalent of 1e monks.
They have awesome customer service. Their packaging is... less than great. I have two copies of the rules cyclopedia.
The first one got here literally glued to the box... so they sent me the second copy and told me to keep the first one.
GAZ 5: Elves of Alfheim, allowed elves to reach 20th level and expanded and diversified their spell lists. Made them much more interesting in how they played.
Have you checked out Basic Fantasy rpg by Chris Gonnerman? Really good, inexpensive, free PDFs, it’s basic :) so lends itself very well to homebrewing
I haven't yet, but a lot of people recommend it. I'm probably going to try to get a Physical copy since reading on a computer gives me headaches after too long
DravenSwiftbow ... the core soft cover is only $5 and the other soft cover books available are less than $5 I ordered 2 core books and like 6 modules for way less than you’d pay for a 5e phb
I highly recommend Basic Fantasy RPG! Not only is it a great OSR, they've even gone so far as to use the same fonts and similar art styles as the BECMI series. Though the BFRPG is a great stand alone game, the rules also have supplemental materials and rules that one can use if one wishes to.
My brother had a copy of the Rules Cyclopedia, many years ago. No idea if he still has it. I love this book for being an "all in one," completely self-contained version of the game. Everything about it pleases my sense of aesthetics immensely, even though the rules have a lot of problems. I've often thought how I'd love to have my own physical copy. I had no idea a POD version of this was actually available until I saw this video -- so thanks for posting it. I ordered a copy immediately upon seeing it. I hope I don't get Unearthed Arcana instead! Judging from the comments on Drivethrurpg, it seems a lot of people are having that problem.
Thanks for watching, hopefully you get your book without any issues. I'm not sure if it was wide spread or just based off some individual printers. Unearthed Arcana is actually not currently available normally for Print on Demand, so if you do get one technically it would be a rare book (until they finally do make it available)
Well, the good news is my Rules Cyclopedia came fast, and it was actually the correct book. On the downside, the interior is lighter and fuzzier than yours -- even through a RUclips video the difference is obvious, as it's quite stark. Oh well, the important point is that I've got it! Looking forward to using this as reading material while eating meals for, oh, the next few months or so. (:
I'm glad you received yours, but I'm sorry to hear to hear that it was not printed as well. I wonder if it is an issue with where it was printed?
Hope more of the Gazetteers get reprinted
Would full of collection years ago I remember the Red box not long after though 2e came out so we ran that.
Looking forward to getting hold of this it looks wonderful.
Hmm. Still got all my books and modules from 1980 up. They're pretty tough if not abused. Print on demand is interesting though. D&D characters become much stronger in the long run but AD&D characters were stronger in the beginning. The world of Mystara for D&D became a massive campaign world. I think every D& D player should revisit the beginnings if they get the chance. Luckily I ran into my D&D Rules Cyclopedia at a used book store shortly after it came out so scored it for 10 bucks. My only complaint about the Cyclopedia was the removal of a lot of art and removal of the immortals information. At this time though TSR was trying to convert people to 2nd edition AD&D. They even gave tables to switch characters between both systems. The last Gazetter and campaign Wrath of the Immortals let most know it was at an end. Although a small campaign world called Thunder Rift came out with about 7 modules before the head chopping of D&D. Nice thing is " No Dark Vision". And the mystic is the monk actually. Also the mystic does start at 1st level. And the halfling was expanded upon more in the gazetter The Five Shires. Also Elves can fight and use magic. At first the Demi-humans were limited because of their extra perks over humans. Eventually increases for fighting and magic were added. Great video. Good Gaming!
If my players want to play a particular class, I let them. If their dice do not co-operate I am not going to penalize them for it. I raise their highest roll total to meet the prerequisite for the class they wish to play. RPGs are about Role-playing, not Roll-playing and that should apply to character creation too.
So is this a direct "copy - paste" of BECMI, minus Immortals, or is it edited or streamlined?
Unfortunately I can not answer that question at this time. I don't have the Mentzer BECMI rules aside from the Rules Cyclopedia. If I were to venture a guess I would suspect that it is probably ported over directly from BECMI to the Rules Cyclopedia with maybe minor edits.
It's heavily edited and streamlined so everything is presented together logically. The Immortals material is mostly omitted because they redid them in a boxed set called Wrath of the Immortals.
Halflings can say no! Magic Denied Ability from 5 Shires Gazetteers
Check this review of the Five Shires Gaz ruclips.net/video/jMLbykEHRAI/видео.html
Cool video like always and i need to get that book 😎🐲🐉🐉
It's essential!
A great book with many flaws in the RC. Make sure to download the unofficial errata
Hi Dave,would this book work with 2nd edition campaign supplements that are out there?
Thanks Dave.c
As far as flavour goes I would say absolutely, when it comes to other aspects such as rules, monsters, Items etc. there are conversion rules in the back of the Rules Cyclopedia so they can be used, but it might take a little work.
@@DravenSwiftbow thanks Dave for the reply also bring it up drivethrurpg didn't know they existed and happy gaming
They are slightly different in almost every aspect, treasure, exp, saves, classes
I DM this edition on roll20 for about 9 months now.
I am really loving what I am reading so far. I'm hoping to get a chance to run this in the near future
The world has tons of context and many fan based sites to support it. The world is called Mystara and is has 5 major land masses and the planet is also hollow. I klove this edition so much. When I was kid we played it. At the time 1E was just to complex.
Do you have Discord or can you use it. I can break down the edition I know it like the back of my hand. I think you are going to love the rules to become a "god" or immortal.
I don't at this time, but if I do get Discord I'll let you know
I have the boxed sets, but I never bought the RC. I wonder if it has the later fighter subclasses of Paladin, Knight, and Avenger in it, or the demihuman relics like the Tree of Life, Forge of Power, or the Crucible of Black Fame.
Also, another person received Unearthed Arcana instead of RC. Go to 1:48.
ruclips.net/video/yOzqCdDepUE/видео.html
It does have the Avenger Paladin and Knight in it. I haven't read far enough to know if the relics are in it though.
As a side note Unearthed Arcana is not actually available for Print On Demand as of yet, so the only way to get it is to order the Rules Cyclopedia.
The big list of all BECMI/RC Races and Classes. www.pandius.com/becmicls.html
Does 5e have that many?
Not at this point no.
Dear lord. 6:25 of the guy talking about how long it took for him to get the book while waving it in front of the camera every five seconds
We all have different ways of recording videos. If it's not to your taste then that is fine. Feel free to make a video of your own.