D&D 5E vs B/X D&D

Sacrosanct · December 01, 2014, 03:15:34 PM

Do you know what needs to happen? Someone needs to take 5e's basic rules and put together an Introductory Module in the same vein as Mentzer with the first book in Basic. An actual walk-thru of chargen and dungeon crawl.

languagegeek · December 01, 2014, 05:22:03 PM

B/X has a great history of getting people into gaming – it seems to have worked out for a lot of us here.

LibraryLass · December 01, 2014, 10:16:26 PM

I love B/X but I think 5e might just be the way to go, for the reasons Haffrung already stated. B/X has a lot of modules, which is nice, but 5e has modules in print.

languagegeek · December 01, 2014, 11:48:27 PM

Quote from: LibraryLass;801798B/X has a lot of modules, which is nice, but 5e has modules in print.

There's a bunch of Labyrinth Lord modules being published these days, and One Book Shelf has B/X modules in PDF.

Spinachcat · December 01, 2014, 11:52:51 PM

Neither.

Here's my picks...

1) Print out a copy of Mazes & Minotaurs if they're into Greek myths - stuff like Percy Jackson, Clash of the Titans, Class of the Titans, etc from the last few years.
http://mazesandminotaurs.free.fr/

2) The "new" Gamma World as a RPG hybrid because unlike 5e or B/X, GW looks like a game (board, pieces, dice) and its all about crazy chargen which is really fun for kids. You can grab the base box and the supplement boxes on eBay at cover price.

3) Buy them RIFTS and couple crazy splatbooks...and let the madness begin.

Mistwell · December 02, 2014, 01:34:13 AM

Quote from: jeff37923;801648I have a friend who has just started playing D&D who has 3 children (ages 13, 9, and who all want to play D&D with her. She has very little experience with the game and I was going to give her a copy of a beginner's version of the game.

Now, I was going to give her a copy of the Basic D&D and Expert D&D books. However, I'd like to hear people's opinions on this because I considered the D&D 5E Basic download, but decided against it because it is not very conducive for self-teaching and I wanted that to be a large aspect of this.

So tell me if I am making a good choice here and let me know why it is or is not a good choice.

I think the B/X books provide a better all-around explanation for what the game is about and how to play it. So, probably a good call. If they like it and want to move on, perhaps then they can check out the 5e version.

Omega · December 02, 2014, 04:47:44 AM

Quote from: LibraryLass;801798I love B/X but I think 5e might just be the way to go, for the reasons Haffrung already stated. B/X has a lot of modules, which is nice, but 5e has modules in print.

Last check WOTC was still selling PDFs of what looked like a fair chunk of BX/BECMI modules?

Philotomy Jurament · December 02, 2014, 02:39:02 PM

I'd go with B/X.

RPGPundit · December 04, 2014, 02:00:53 AM

Today? Now? In this day and age, I'd go with the 5e starter set. Don't get me wrong, I love B/X, but 5e is going to be easier to jump into.

Brad · December 04, 2014, 08:58:54 AM

Quote from: RPGPundit;802156Today? Now? In this day and age, I'd go with the 5e starter set. Don't get me wrong, I love B/X, but 5e is going to be easier to jump into.

The starter set is $12 from Amazon, which is hardly more than the PDFs of B/X on dndclassics. It definitely has that going for it. However, the Mentzer red box explains how to play D&D to a newbie better than anything ever, so it might be worth printing that part out.

You could just throw them a D&D 5th edition set and say, "Figure it out." I'm sure plenty of us learned the game in a similar manner.

JRR · December 05, 2014, 05:41:03 PM

Making them play 5e is tantamount to child abuse. Go with B/X.

cranebump · December 05, 2014, 07:07:38 PM

May I suggest M81? It's a Microlite Hack of B/X.

Phillip · December 07, 2014, 07:50:32 PM

Moldvay Basic is a smaller morsel to digest, and does not assume one already knows about D&D, and the 5e Basic download I've seen seemed nonetheless short on basic stuff such as monsters. Plus, an actual book (as opposed to pdf) has qualities that may be appreciated.

The presention of a first step, with Expert as a next, is pretty neat.

It would be excellent if you can also include a good starting scenario, whether published or of your own creation.

Phillip · December 07, 2014, 08:07:01 PM

Something to check: As I recall, a spell description was missing from BX (Detect Invisible, I think). If that's the case in the printing you have, it would be nice to correct the omission.

It should be simple to provide pointers to Labyrinth Lord and 5e Basic online in addition to the Moldvay hardcopy. Why must it be either/or?

jeff37923 · December 07, 2014, 08:59:44 PM

Quote from: Phillip;802997Something to check: As I recall, a spell description was missing from BX (Detect Invisible, I think). If that's the case in the printing you have, it would be nice to correct the omission.

It should be simple to provide pointers to Labyrinth Lord and 5e Basic online in addition to the Moldvay hardcopy. Why must it be either/or?

It doesn't have to be, but I want something that will allow her and her kids to self-teach most of the system so I want something simple and self-explanatory.