Holy Divers & Magic Swords: Basic & Expert Rules for D&D in the 80's

Back again, fellow Grognards, for another installment of the Dungeoneers Syndicate. Cue up that Dio cd...light some incense...and off we go.
     I mention the late great Ronnie James because his work with Sabbath & solo career were both flying high around the time I was getting into D&D. "Holy Diver" & "Heaven & Hell" both stick in my head as a soundtrack to many of our gaming sessions.
     So lets check out the Basic & Expert D&D rule books this week...when I started playing the AD&D hardcover books were all published...these new additions were purchased at the same time as AD&D....and were integrated into our campaign as one game....
     The Original "Red Book"...the "Moldvay Basic" rulebook. Edited by Tom Moldvay...this was TSR's attempt to make D&D more accessible to a younger audience....and it worked! Like the older "Holmes Basic Book" it only covered up to 3rd level for characters...but there would be more to come! Awesome cover art by Erol Otus!

    

I bought this copy of Ebay a couple of years ago...1st printing! A bit beat up but still a copy in great condition considering its age...kinda like me!

Starts us off with a great drawing by Bill Willingham...one of the "Big 3" of early D&D art!

Nice intro by Tom Moldvay & a great list of thanks...check out Ernie Gygax & Jim Ward getting their props!

2 very cool works by David S LaForce....always liked the Gal & Guy dreaming up their characters!

Always cracks me up to see "Dwarves & Elves" listed as "classes"....OLD SCHOOL!

The great Erol Otus....great looking weapons! Probably influenced our weapon choice as much as the movie "The Sword & The Sorcerer" did! Rules were open ended enough to still allow for expansion...we started making our own spells & magic items with these rules! All sorts of magical swords were being produced!

Nice reproduction of a Character sheet...we laid out our characters just like this example...didn't get the actual sheets until much later in our careers!

A buxom warrior thanks to the brilliant Jeff Dee!

I always loved Otus' sense of humor....the coins leaking out of the fighters cloth sack...as an example of "Encumberance"!

Very well done drawing showing the various "breath weapon" shapes of various Dragons...just what a young DM needed to him him visualize!

My favorite drawing in the book! These 3 remind me of the Wizards in "Wizard City" in the cartoon ADVENTURE TIME! Dig how Otus has his name on the bottle of magical potion!

                         " In shadow, we find the light,

Safely sealed in darkest night.

So make sure y'all keep it tight.

Wizards only, fools!"

And lastly a nice sample dungeon! I always liked it when the gave a "underground" view...just to give the aspiring DM an idea how levels should (or at least could) stack on one another!

And on to the Expert Rules!
The 2nd "Blue Book"...edited by David Cook & Steve Marsh! Erol Otus delivers another classic cover...which continues where the Basic cover began!

Another Ebay purchase & another 1st printing! Score one for the home team!

This one starts off like the Basic....with a fantastic drawing by Bill Willingham! How TSR ever let this guy go is still amazing to me...all these decades later! 

Expert rules really expanded the limits for the novice D&D player...up to 14th level for some classes & Higher level spells! I remember using these books when we had "new" players joining our games...so they didn't have to try and jump right into the Players Handbook! Simplified rules which let us get right into the dungeon crawl!
Halflings were still a "class"...& Jeff Dee gave us a great drawing of 2 Halflings in a conversation with a human fighter! That male halfling doesn't look to sure of the guy!

Here's a cool drawing of a fighter & a Gargoyle...by the underused Wade Hampton!

Three very helpful drawings demonstrating spells..."Disintegrate, Wizard Eye & Pass Wall"...by Otus & Dee!

 I've always believed that one of the greatest assets that D&D had was the numerous drawings demonstrating either spells...or monsters...or just about any concept they were presenting! They lack of art in other game systems really hurt 'em....in my humble opinion!
Modes of transportation, for example, get their own drawings...as much because they looked so cool as well as being helpful!

You want to see what an NPC (Non Player Character...for the non- D&D audience) Alchemist looks like? No problem! Erol Otus hides his name on a book in this one!

How about some mercenaries? I know I used the guy on the right as a blueprint for my own drawings of fighters! Jeff Dee gives him a Norse kinda look to me!

The Expert book has a bunch of Bill Willingham's work in it...and its all CLASSIC!

Iconic stuff to the Old School D&D crowd!
A small map of the "Grand Duchy of Karameikos" is included....for those wanting to get into the 'Mystara" campaign setting!
 Nice starter dungeon as well! Off we went into the "Gnome Lair"!

The Basic & Expert rules were intended for a younger audience than AD&D....simplified rules & less background info....we used these books with AD&D....made for a great fantasy world! Hope you guys liked looking back again!
'Till next time....

"Wizards Rule!"