Dungeons and Dragons comes in more flavours than Baskin-Robbins. Original, Basic/Expert, BECMI, Rules Cyclopedia, Advanced 1st, 1.5th, 2nd, 2.5th which was followed by Dungeons & Dragons (with no ‘Advanced’) 3rd, 3.5th and 4th editions. Then there’s the clones, like OSRIC, Labyrinth Lord, and so on. And following the religious schism between the 3.5th and 4th edition Pathfinder (sometimes jokingly referred to as 3.75th edition) came into being, and begat the ultra-sexy looking Pathfinder Beginner Box. Where on earth do you start?
With younger kids you are going to want to start with simple rules. The point of these articles is also to keep it as cheap as possible, without resorting to moral dodgyness and illegality. Oh hell, does that make me Lawful Good? Dammit – that’s annoying 🙁
For me, the conclusion I came to was to go with BECMI because I had books, and even though that makes it seem like a no-brainer, the decision was still excruciating. For the uninitiated, BECMI is the 1983 revision of the basic rules by the Madonna of Role-playing Frank Mentzer. It stands for Basic, Expert, Companion, Master and Immortal. Each of these “levels” has a players handbook and a dungeon masters guide (sometimes separate, sometimes in a single book). The “Basic” set (set 1) covers player levels 1 to 3. Expert covers levels up to 14. Companion covers levels up to 25 and so on. I don’t expect to ever get the kids beyond that, as we will probably move on to Pathfinder or AD&D at that point. The Basic books contain a minimal set of rules, with more being introduced s the players move up the levels.
BECMI is a gentle introduction to the D&D world. it comes with separaThen there’s the clones, like OSRIC, Labyrinth Lord, and so on. And following the religious schism between th3 3.5th and 4th edition Pathfinder came into being, and begat the ultra-sexy lookte Player and DM guidebooks. New players are guided through a “solo” adventure which walks them through core concepts (hit points, combat, saving throws, character classes etc.) one at a time.
If you don’t have BECMI books at hand (and you can’t find a reasonably prices second hand set at AbeBooks or Amazon) then head over to DnD Classics and pick up the 1981 Basic set (aka Moldvay) for $5.00. This version of Basic D&D came with the player and DM guides in one book. This is a legitimate copy, and will be watermarked with your name at the time of download. The text of the PDF file is searchable, and you can print out the entire manual if that’s what you’re into. Super bargain! While you are there you can also pick up any or all of the old Basic modules (numbered B1 to B12) for $5 each (or $50 for the dozen). For complete beginners, I would suggest one the following introductory modules:
- B2 – The Keep on the Borderlands
- B1 – In Search of the Unknown
- B11 – Kings Festival (and then it’s sequel B12 Queen’s Harvest)
NOTE: I do not get any money or other benefits from any of the links in any of the posts in this series including the above. I am dong this out of nerd altruism, not some fantasy of profiting from it.
My alternate choice would be the Pathfinder Beginner Box, which you can get delivered world-wide from The Book Depository for around AU$35. Pathfinder is what D&D 4th Edition might have been in an alternate universe. If you are willing to forgo all the fiddly fun of printing, cutting, and planning it would be well worthwhile paying for this and getting everything you need in one box – dice, play-mat maps, rule books, character sheets (both blank and pre-generated), card stock miniatures (with stands), and a starter adventure – the only thing you need to provide is a pencil, and your imagination. The publisher (Paizo) web site also has free downloadable additions to the Box to help you continue the fun and transition to the full game. I confess I bought one of these, for when the kids get a little older and/or more RPG savvy. I think it might be a touch beyond Beta (6 years old) at this stage, and I like the cutting and pasting busy work of making, maps and miniatures. I’m weird like that.
EDIT (2nd May 2014): Book Depository prices have been a bit volatile lately. You can get a comparison of retail prices for the beginner box by clicking here.
It is also worth noting that there are a multitude of non-D&D role-playing games aimed at kids as well such as Hero Kids, rpgKids, Fuzzy Heroes, Super Heroes Unite!, Buggin’, Meddling Kids, GURPS Lite etc. You can find a nice round-ups of kids RPGs at tlucretius.net, DriveThruRPG, and the Young Person’s Adventure League.
See you next month, and as always feel free to register and leave a comment (your details are will not be loaned, sold or given away for free – such an action would bring disgrace on my ancestors and I would be forced to commit Seppuku).
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