Original Dungeons & Dragons (OD&D)

Original Dungeons & Dragons (OD&D aka ODnD or Just D&D)
Original D&D White Books 2013 Reprint Special Collector's Edition Boxed Set - Unboxing

A walk down a path of RPG nostalgia / history, Wizards of the Coast has reprinted the original D&D white book set, and bundled it in a wooden box with dice. Here you will find many photos of the unboxing process with a few comments, and a comparison my ancient original of one of the the Blackmoor supplement...

You may watch a video version (additional information) on the RPG Research Youtube channel.

  • Part 1: http://youtu.be/FiHqRRQC1yE - Unboxing part 1.
  • Part 2: http://youtu.be/YBvcyQUq2t0 - Unboxing part 2.
  • Part 3: http://youtu.be/EbLI4goYcpQ - Unboxing part 3, plus slideshow, and additional commentary.
  • Part 4: http://youtu.be/dOI26T93zzQ - Reading of Book 1 Men & Magic - Foreword, plus additional commentary.
  • Part 5 - http://youtu.be/cONdgF3kIJI - As requested, Original D&D reading from Book 1 Men & Magic Introduction, pages 4, 5, & 6. Let me know if you would like more.

    • I was first introduced to tabletop role-playing gaming around 1979 or so, thanks to an older cousin that was visiting, and as was the case for most, was introduced through Dungeons & Dragons(tm). There are many tens of millions of Americans (and elsewhere) that were introduced to Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) in the late 70's and early 80's, mostly around the time of TSR's release of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D), or the boxed "Basic" D&D set . There were a number of versions and changes between the original and the AD&D that ee grew up with, but here are examples of the book covers that I believe the majority of role-players from that generation grew up with.

    Though most of us started role-playing gaming with these sets, they were not the version of D&D that "started it all". The handmade, hand stapled much smaller format and page count, paper booklets, made by Gygax, Arneson, and others, that formed into TSR, were much more the style of the then-popular wargaming booklets (a la their Chainmail system prior to D&D). As D&D took off at an incredible rate, the game changed significantly, as did the format. Instead of small "cheap" stapled booklets, large format hardcovers, and a more formal writing style took over.

    I manged, sometime in the early 80's to pick up a copy of the Blackmoor booklet for about $5.00-$6.00 at a local hobby store in Salt Lake City / Sugarhouse, Utah (Hamond's Toy & Hobby). I have used the hit location charts in there even in current 3rd Edition D&D campaigns, but I never had a chance to even see, let alone play, the original set in person.

    Though I never actually played the Origindal D&D, many of my cohorts have a nostalgia for the heady early days, and Wizards of the Coast has sen fit to capitalize on this with a reissue of all the Original Dungeons & Dragons (OD&D) White Books, bundled in a nice wooden box, with fancy dice. I will be providing a video review about the system later but for now, here are photos of the unboxing process, with some commentary.

    The local gaming store here in Spokane, Washington (Merlyn's), will be setting aside an evening with the owner, myself, and a number of others, to play the original system. I hope to record, maybe even broadcast live, the whole session for those that may be curious. There are MANY differences between the original rules and later releases.I will be commenting on this in upcoming videos on the youtube channel.

    By the way, the first booklet, Men & Magic, states that you need to have the Chainmail rulebook to play the game.

    I think it would have been nice/wise for WotC to include a version with this bundle. Fortunatley I have a copy, but most people probably do not.

    Meanwhile, enjoy the photos below, you may click on the images of the Original D&D photos (not the other versions) to see the full size versions (very large).