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D&D Basic Set Rulebook (B/X ed.) (Basic)
 
$4.99
Average Rating:4.8 / 5
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D&D Basic Set Rulebook (B/X ed.) (Basic)
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D&D Basic Set Rulebook (B/X ed.) (Basic)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Rob [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/15/2023 14:27:35

I purchased this a while ago. I love it. However, why is the Expert set available on POD, but not this version? Seems like both would be a good thing to have on POD.



Rating:
[1 of 5 Stars!]
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D&D Basic Set Rulebook (B/X ed.) (Basic)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Joseph H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/15/2023 00:19:30

This book, coupled with Cook's Expert Rulebook provides a fully fleshed out game that will provide you with years of adventure. Moldvay and Cook's Basic and Expert rules (B/X) are among the most widely reproduced rules by retro games publishers.

There is no shortage of adventures for this system as every year more and more are being published by third-party creators.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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D&D Basic Set Rulebook (B/X ed.) (Basic)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by James [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/28/2022 08:02:47

The quintessential D&D. You want streamlined, simple and easy rules? This is it!

Spend more time imagining, less time with nuts and bolts!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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D&D Basic Set Rulebook (B/X ed.) (Basic)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by John C. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/07/2022 06:03:53

How can I not give this five stars?! It wasn't the first RPG I played (that honour goes to Runequest) but the boxed version of this book was the first I owned. It was the start of a lifetime of adventure and I still love the slight whiff of DIY punk spirit that clings to the B/X edition - that feeling that if these guys can do this, so can you and that everything and anything is suddenly possible. This is a kobold, this another, this is a third. Now make a dungeon...



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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D&D Basic Set Rulebook (B/X ed.) (Basic)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Robert M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/10/2021 06:20:06
TTRPGReviewSunday

B/X Dnd was the gateway game for many. It took the brilliant mess that was Original DnD, the purple prose ideas from ADnD and distilled the game down to a superb set of simple rules. Great artwork, decent layout, cheap entry price. Probably the most accessable of all the versions of DnD. This year marks it being 40 years old and I still have an original boxset, bought the pdfs on Drivethrurpg and even grabbed loads of OSR clones of the B/X system. If you want to play DnD you can't go far wrong with these rules from 1981. My Adnd campaign that ran for 6 years was actually B/X with the PHB and modules from both basic and advanced. The system could handle it and gave me thousands of hours of fun, stories and friendship. Best £10 ever spent, so getting if off here is even more bang for your bucks!

edit - to fix mobile spamming words



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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D&D Basic Set Rulebook (B/X ed.) (Basic)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Nicolas L. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/03/2020 11:29:38

All things considered, the quality of the scan is great, the clarity of the images, are more than I could have hoped for. I’m very pleased with the final product, only wish that this and other classic mods/classic booklets were available in soft/hard cover print, and not just as a PDF.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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D&D Basic Set Rulebook (B/X ed.) (Basic)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Timothy B. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 11/04/2019 22:39:37

Christmas 1981 will forever go down in my memory as the one where everything changed. I was in Junior High and had been playing D&D for a about two years, off and on. I had read the Monster Manual and I had a copy, badly xeroxed, of the Holmes Basic set. Christmas though was the turning point. I got two box sets that year; the Ballantine Books boxed set of Lord of the Rings and the "magenta" Basic Set. Inside was finally my own book, not a copy of someone else's book. I had my own dice (finally!) and a complete adventure. I devoured that book. Cover to cover. Every page was read and read over and over.

A lot of people talk about "the Red Box". My Red Box was magenta and had Erol Otis on the cover. For me this was the start of what became "my" D&D. Not someone else's game, but my own.

In 1981 I felt fairly proficient D&D. But with Holmes D&D I always felt like there was something I was missing. I only learned later of the "Little Brown Books" and how "Basic" actually came about.

The Moldvay Basic set had almost everything I ever needed for a game. Plenty of classes and races. More monsters than I expected (it had dragons!!) and what then felt like tons of spells. I made dozens of characters, some that saw actual game play, but I didn't care, for me it was the joy of endless possibilities. And that was just in the first couple of dozen pages.

Everything I know about exploring a dungeon, checking for traps, carrying holy water and 10' pole began here. I learned that ghouls can cause paralysis (unless you were an elf!) and that zombies always attacked last in the round. I learned Thouls were a magical cross-breed between a hobgoblin troll and ghoul. No I still have no idea how they are made. I got to meet Morgan Ironwolf herself. There was a sample adventure in the book, but I never really looked over. I don't think anyone did. It was called the Haunted Keep by the way.

This magenta colored box with strange art on the cover also had other prizes. There inside was my first set of real D&D dice. No more raiding board games for six-siders, though I learned that they were properly called "d6s". I had a set of blue dice with a white crayon to color them in. They are not great dice, even then I knew. But they were mine and that is all that mattered.

I want to pause here a second and come back to that art. Lets look at the cover again. A woman casting a spell, a man with a spear. Fighting some sort of water dragon (that didn't even appear in the rules!). But look how awesome it is. Do you need to know anything else? No. They are fighting a dragon! That box is the reason so many gamers fell in love with the art of Erol Otis. Inside are some equally important names; Jeff Dee, James Roslof, David LaForce and Bill Willingham. They gave this D&D a look that was different than AD&D. I love that art in AD&D, but in this book that art was just so...timeless. It was D&D.

In that box was also the Keep on Borderlands. I don't think I need to go into detail there. We have all been to the keep. We have all taken that ride out along the road that would take us to that Caves of Chaos. Nevermind that all these creatures, who should by all rights be attacking each other, never really did anything to me. They were there and they were "Chaotic" and we were "Lawful". That was all we needed to know back then.

The Moldvay Basic set was more than just an introductory set to D&D. It was an introduction to a hobby, a lifestyle. The rules were simply written and organized. They were not simple rules, and re-reading it today I marvel that we all conquered this stuff at age 10-11. It may have only covered the first 3 levels of character growth, but they were a quality 3.

I picked up the Expert Set for my birthday in 1982. Bought it myself, and for the longest time that was all I needed. Eventually I did move on to AD&D. I also discovered those Little Brown Books and even picked up my own real copy of Holmes Basic. I love those game and I love playing them still, but they never quite had the same magic as that first time of opening up that box and seeing what treasures were inside. I did not have to imagine how my characters felt when they had discovered some long lost treasure. I knew.

Today I still go back to Tom Moldvay's classic Basic book. It is my yardstick on how I measure any OSR game. Almost everything I need it right there. Just waiting for me.

Time to roll up some characters and play.

64 pages plus cover. Marbleized dice and crayon not included.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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D&D Basic Set Rulebook (B/X ed.) (Basic)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Chris L. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 05/25/2019 11:16:36

The product description spoecifically says:"This edition is thus the "magenta box," to differentiate it from the "red box" edition that would follow in 1983."

It's not. it's a red box edition and only goes to level 3.



Rating:
[1 of 5 Stars!]
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D&D Basic Set Rulebook (B/X ed.) (Basic)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Rudy C. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/30/2018 19:11:32

The basic version of D&D, takes you all the way up to 3rd level. If you buy this book, definitely consider getting the Expert book as well (hence the name B/X or Basic/Expert). This book originally was meant to be an introduction into AD&D, however it was so successful that TSR decided to give "basic D&D" its own product line. Overall a great purchase if you're into OSR.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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D&D Basic Set Rulebook (B/X ed.) (Basic)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Tim S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 05/15/2018 23:05:05

Searchable which is a major plus. Wish it was available as a POD (saddle stitched of course!) Then, I could put my original safely back in its box.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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D&D Basic Set Rulebook (B/X ed.) (Basic)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Miranda S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 01/20/2017 22:32:04

This is the rule book I had when I was a child. It's easy to understand, has great examples to help you on your way, and it's still good all these years later. I taught my kids using this book and they hve both designed their own dungeons from it. That meant the original was getting a bit tatty which is why it was so great to be able to buy an elecronic version!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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D&D Basic Set Rulebook (B/X ed.) (Basic)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Andrew K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/15/2016 13:05:43

This is a good scan of the product. The text is clear, and I cannot see any evidence of anti-aliasing or blurring of the letters when zoomed in. These two PDFs work fine on my old, underpowered tablet, zoomed in on my phone, and on my Kindle (not all PDFs sold here load quickly and work properly on these three devices). The bookmarks are well done.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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D&D Basic Set Rulebook (B/X ed.) (Basic)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Greg V. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/07/2015 15:55:31

Thought the scan is a little rough, Iʻm glad this is available to download. We began our first campaign in Basic D&D a few weeks ago, and I love the quick start and simplicity of the rules. Now, instead of memorizing rules and details, we can focus on story and gameplay. This should definitely be re-released!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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D&D Basic Set Rulebook (B/X ed.) (Basic)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by Greg M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/21/2014 09:50:52

I bought this just for the sake of nostalgia. So many memories of pouring over this book with my brother and friends from school. I remember every drawing and almost can't stand to look at the new books--they don't have the same appeal to me. Anyway, poring over these rules is a fun way to spend a rainy day, whether you are 12 or 45 years old.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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D&D Basic Set Rulebook (B/X ed.) (Basic)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by James L. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/15/2014 16:58:51

I came to the OSR with the creation of retroclones, namely Labyrinth Lord and Basic Fantasy RPG. When this PDF was made available again I purchased it immediately. The writing and organization are clear and clean; Moldvay has created an amazing edition of D&D that is timeless. I'm so glad this and the Cook/Marsh Expert books are available again, and it is well worth the purchase. While I still appreciate the retroclones, I'm sticking to the real thing for my gaming. My only wish is an option for a nice hardcover!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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