Return to the B/X edition of D&D!

"Old School Essentials - Black Box Edition" by Gavin Norman Printed and Distributed by Necrotic Gnome ISBN-13: 978-3-96657-016-9 --- Total of 304 pages "Old School" Role-Playing games are coming back in a big way! There are probably literally dozens of current RPG's that try to duplicate that 'Old School' feel of games like Original Dungeons and Dragons. One of the better ones out there is Necrotic Gnome's "Old School Essentials". It distills the old "B/X" rules (the Moldvay/Cook Basic/Expert (B/X) rules) into a very replayable version of one of the first editions of Dungeons and Dragons. The Black Box Edition was first offered on Kickstarter and was so successful that it spawned quite a few books of its own, and even made it to your Friendly Local Game Store (FLGS). The box contained five books: 01) Core Rules (ISBN-13: 978-3-96657-004-6) 02) Genre Rules (ISBN-13: 978-3-96657-006-0) 03) Cleric and Magic-User Spells (ISBN-13: 978-3-96657-008-4) 04) Monsters (ISBN-13: 978-3-96657-010-7) 05) Treasures (ISBN-13: 978-3-96657-012-1) Many copies of the Black Box also contained an introductory adventure: "The Hole in the Oak" (ISBN-13: 978-3-96657-021-3) The original Black Box contains hardcover copies of the five main books. "Core Rules" has the rules for creating characters and magic, battles, and exploration and requires the use of one of the genre rulebooks available, The one included in Classic Fantasy. "Genre Rules" has sections on Clerics, Fighters, Thieves, Dwarves, Elves, and Halflings. Yes, even Dwarves, Elves, and Halflings were each their own class! "Cleric and Magic-User Spells" is exactly what it means. 34 Clerical Spells and 72 Magic-User Spells are detailed. "Monsters" is, of course, the creatures your characters will run into! Many different types are described - from Acolytes (some good and some not), to Zombies. A few very good Encounter Tables are included. "Treasures" are what your party may find after encountering (and surviving) the monsters above! From Armor and Shields to Weapons and small parts about Sentient Swords and magic weapon powers. I've seen quite a few of these attempts to recreate the flavor of the old game some of us remember, and this one is by far one of the best. I'll be also posting reviews of each of these separately, but whether you are a fan of retro-clones or just beginning to try them out, I can't recommend any other book or series about this any higher! My =very= highest recommendations!