[Grey Book] OD&D Compiled

[murquhart72]

Anyone seen this yet?
blog.retroroleplaying.com/2009/09/grey-book-od-compiled.html

[Finarvyn]

Seems kind of AD&D-ish to me, what with different types of HD by class, full nine-alignment system, price list in silvers and golds, XP and GP values for magic items, and so on.

On the other hand, it does use OD&D's AC system, so maybe it's more like the RC.

At 146 pages in length, it's not screaming "rules lite" to me.

I'd be interested in knowing what others think. Maybe I looked too quickly.

[coffee]

That's the same one that's been floating around for a while now. It's often erroneously called the Holmes gray book (because of the cover I would guess, since it doesn't have much other connection to Holmes that I've been able to tell).

Great if you want all that stuff in one book, but it seems way too AD&D to me, also.

[Mr. Darke]

It is an odd mix of AD&D and OD&D. Strangely enough the person behind it has an intense dislike of clones but created one. (I'll let you figure it out). I had thought that this would be an expanded Holmes but I was mistaken.

It's an Ok game but I prefer OD&D/S&W to AD&D these days.

[thegreyelf]

Personally, I really dig the Gray book. I even mocked up a cover for it and had a hardcover copy made for myself on Lulu.

[Finarvyn]

Interesting. To me it seemed decent enough, but not better than anything else. Any particular facet of the rules that grabs you more than any of the other games out there?

[thegreyelf]

I wouldn't say MORE than, no. But I found it perfectly valid enough to deserve a place on the shelf next to all my other versions of D&D (which is something I can't say about 4e).

[RandallS]

Jun 6, 2010 15:52:10 GMT -6 Finarvyn said:

I'd be interested in knowing what others think. Maybe I looked too quickly.

It's pretty much OD&D with most of the material from the supplements and a few things from Holmes and a very few things from AD&D. Word for word in many cases, just arranged in a logical order.

Several of the players in my OD&D (with supplements) Wilderness of High Fantasy campaign used this as their copy of the rules and had no trouble. I was using my OD&D books/supplements to run the game.

[greyharp]

The author, who is indeed very bitter against the clone community, states in the book's intro that it is AD&D-lite. Having myself literally compiled the 3LBs into one reformatted volume I'm in a good position to compare and I reckon that label pretty well sums up the "Grey Book".

[thegreyelf]

greyharp, you say the author is bitter against the clone community? Why is that, and where'd you get that info? I'm not challenging you; I'm genuinely interested.

[Mr. Darke]

I can answer that. The author was involved in the OSRIC/C&C 'war' that went on a few years ago. Ever since then he is bitterly against clones, the OSR and anything that resembles them. I find it Ironic that he made one himself.

[thegreyelf]

I always found that war rather baffling...

[coffee]

I'd have to ask though -- is this one really a clone?

I mean, it just restates the rules from D&D, right down to including the Foreword verbatim. It could be considered a different edition, surely, but I don't think it's a clone.

It's D&D. He says it's D&D. So how is it a clone?

(I don't mean this to sound antagonistic, honestly. I'm really looking for an answer here.)

[piper]

Jun 25, 2010 9:05:25 GMT -6 thegreyelf said:

I always found that war rather baffling...

I wasn't involved in the online community when that incident took place, but I don't really understand it, either.

[vladtolenkov]

I like the Gray Book enough to have had it printed out and coil bound at my local Kinkos. In the last year or two I've tended toward the OD&D-as-almost-AD&D approach so this works for me.

The book mostly draws on the LBBs+supplements, but it does include the Holmes Dex based initiative system. The money and equipment section it seems are for some reason drawn from 3E.

[bat]

I like the monster section as it is very comprehensive.
The game isn't a bad approach and certainly it is a handy reference for adding in bits and pieces.

[Finarvyn]

I'll be darned if I know where to move this thread. There is a similar thread in the "Holmes Basic" section, but it almost seems more like "Other Editions" since it's kind of AD&D-like. Or I could just let it simmer here in General.

Any suggestions?

[kesher]

I'd say Other Editions would be the place for it...

[coffee]

I've never liked it being in Holmes, since it has little to do with Holmes. Other Editions should be fine.

But it wouldn't bug me if you left it here, either. (I'm easy to please today.)

[aldarron]

Agreed on Other Additions.

[vladtolenkov]

The Grey Book isn't perfect by any means, but it is essentially a restatement of the LBBs+Supplements with the Holmes initiative system and an equipment list pulled from 3rd edition. How is this not just a "houseruled" version of OD&D? The paladin isn't even a full "class": they follow the fighter's progression as in Greyhawk. The book is far more OD&D than it is AD&D.

[greyharp]

The author of the Grey Book himself says in the book's Introduction:

...as work progressed, the book was steadily becoming less a “Dungeons & Dragons compilation” and more of an “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Light".

However, this work is more of a cosmopolitan whole than the original rules, in that things from virtually every edition of the Dungeons & Dragons rules make an appearance here.

...and if it's good enough for him, it's good enough for me.

[James Maliszewski]

I like the Grey Book, as it's close -- though by no means identical -- to my own OD&D preferences. I like including many, if not most, of the options from the supplements and SR. And, honestly, "OD&D Compiled," with all the options available is something I've dreamed of seeing for some time now. Heck, it's something I keep thinking about producing but there's probably not much point anymore.

[JMiskimen]

I wouldn't be too sure about that, James. The ever expanding list of retro-clones is great from a publishing point of view, but when it comes down to it at the table, I - like many others around here, I'm sure - accept no substitutions. A "OD&D Compiled' - Supplements and Strategic Review Material - would make a great reference. All in one book ... handy, that!

JM.

[Finarvyn]

Jun 29, 2010 7:49:46 GMT -6 kesher said:

I'd say Other Editions would be the place for it...

Agreed. It's a neat topic, just not quite OD&D....

[Mike]

Anyone got a working download link?

[James Maliszewski]

Jul 6, 2010 6:35:48 GMT -6 JMiskimen said:

I wouldn't be too sure about that, James. The ever expanding list of retro-clones is great from a publishing point of view, but when it comes down to it at the table, I - like many others around here, I'm sure - accept no substitutions. A "OD&D Compiled' - Supplements and Strategic Review Material - would make a great reference. All in one book ... handy, that!

Sometimes I think you guys says these things just to distract me from my other projects

Must resist ...

[achijusan]

Jul 6, 2010 8:40:16 GMT -6 Mike said:

Anyone got a working download link?

here you go !

www.mediafire.com/?5nzhz1ztiyx

[amalric]

Thanks for the link, was looking for one myself!

[Mike]

Thanks for the link Achijusan, I've downloaded and I'm reading now - I really like what I see so far!