What Is The Vibe Of Your Edition, Pt 1

Something I've been thinking about for a while is how each edition seems to have a specific feel and default setting which sets it apart from other editions. Getting back into AD&D and revisiting the old books have really driven this home for me. It got me thinking so I looked back at the core books and flagship products of the different editions to see how the feel changed over the years.

My interaction with D&D has only been for about half of its history so 1st Edition AD&D and BECMI D&D are familiar to me through historical study like any other history. I don't know what it was like to see the Beatles for the first time just as I don't know what it was like to play D&D straight out of the Holmes set in '77. This lack of first hand familiarity made me think way too long on how to write a post about this than it probably should have. I considered starting with my beloved 2nd Edition but ultimately settled on chronological order. After all I can still say what I think of the Beatles when I hear A Hard Days Night.

Whatever you call it (BECMI, Basic, B/X, OD&D, Holmes, Mentzer, etc) BECMI D&D had a longer lifespan than any edition. Depending on how you count it it started either '74 or '77 and went all the way to the Rules Cyclopedia in '91 with a few last gasps in the Thunder Rift line and some boxed "learn to play" style games that you could find in toy stores that were marketed as gateway products into AD&D. I don't want to recount the long history of the BECMI D&D product line but the short version is that TSR seemed to simultaneously look at it as an introductory product and a parallel game that shared the same DNA as their flagship system

I characterize BECMI's vibe as across between the 70s Hobbit movie and other Saturday morning cartoons of the 70s and 80s. BECMI had a distinctive lighter tone than AD&D which is probably attributed to its original intent as an introductory product aimed at younger players. Strangely enough it was also more in line with the classic fantasy tropes that we know now. When the Mentzer boxes (Red, Blue, Teal, Black, and Gold) established The Known World as the de facto campaign setting they doubled down on this. The Known World was divided up into kingdoms based on either fantasy races or obvious stereotypes from real world history. It's assumed that you'd start in Medieval Europe kingdom which borders Roman Empire Kingdom, Halfling Kingdom, and Elf Kingdom. Not too distant for mid level characters is Dwarf Kingdom, Renaissance Italy Kingdom, Wizard Kingdom, and Arabian Kingdom. Yes I know none of these names are the actual names but I use them to make the point that BECMI D&D stuck to simple, easy to digest tropes for people that didn't want to fret about or wouldn't understand a complex game world. Later product lines that expanded on the Known World or the Thunder Rift line continued to be pretty straight forward but were a lot less on the nose stereotypes. 

So what is the "vibe" I get from BECMI D&D? In all I'd use the old expression "good clean fun". In their original form I'd say the majority of BECMI D&D products presents material that falls somewhere between 80s fantasy movies like Princess Bride and Saturday morning cartoons like Thundarr The Barbarian. Sure you kill monsters, take treasure, and rescue various damsels in distress but none of it would really qualify as dark and gritty. The product visuals are often excellent, but are always standard fantasy guys in armor fighting dragons and orcs and what have you in front of wizard towers or out in the wilderness. The official setting of BECMI, The Known World, is generic in the extreme so that it would be easy for young players to digest and could be described in short "read aloud text boxes". The endurance in popularity of BECMI is rooted in this genericness (generity? generitude?), its like wrapping yourself up in a fleece blanket and eating chicken nuggets and Cambell's soup, nothing mind blowing but it reminds you of better and simpler times. On top of that a good DM can make this system sing since it has such loose tolerances it really hands itself to hexploration and improvised play. 

I can't suggest BECMI enough despite never really having played it. Grab yourself one of the many excellent retro clones out there and have some good, clean fun!

-JDB

Hanson's Kraal

Hanson’s Kraal stands in a relatively level stretch of country near the main tradeway. At a distance it appears to be a large, prosperous town surrounded by a formidable wooden palisade. Upon entering the Kraal it becomes apparent that the settlement’s best days are behind it, if they even happened in the first place. Hanson’s Kraal looks like it could comfortably house several thousand people but the current permanent population is barely more than 200. The town is full of empty and half complete longhouses and vacant sheep corrals. The founder of the settlement, Hanson Windrunner, was given leave by Baron Helmaur himself to build this trading post. Hanson had bigger plans however and envisioned founding a city that could be a base from which settlers could tame the highlands while acting as a trading hub. The reality crushed Hanson’s dreams when the land proved too dangerous for settlers to maintain herds and farmsteads needed to fuel the town’s growth. 

Hanson refused to acknowledge the facts and kept spending his fortune earned in the southern wars to expand the town and its defenses. Ultimately Hanson died a shell of himself alone in his hall, having sent his family away after years of failure. The town remains a valuable stop along the trade way though it could suffice as a fortified camp a tenth of its size. Recently Hanson’s young daughter has returned to the Kraal, not in an attempt to build it into her father’s dream but simply to use it as a base of operations for her own expeditions into the wilderness. Alisa Windrunner was the first of her family born in the Craglands and unlike her mother and sisters she was hardened by this land, adopting the life of a ranger rather than southern gentry. She technically has a claim to govern the Kraal but has shown so far nothing but apathy for leadership and town living.