by Gary Gygax
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Imaginative First Edition, if almost unplayable in places, 2008-07-01
This is a fantastic book, if purely because it shows the roaming imagination of Gary Gygax. Future editions of the game have cut down on the unplayable aspects of the first edition (with elegant variations in bonuses tables for different ability scores, impossibly low level limits for various non-human characters, terrible encumbrance tables, etc) but the first edition contains a darker side which feeds the imagination and was supported by a fantastic group of modules. Worth getting whether you play 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 3.5 or 4th edition as it contains plenty of detail on roleplaying and random things of interest. Almost like an unedited journey through Gygax's head.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Great!, 2008-01-13
Great book for any players. Yes, it's an older edition, but in my opinion, better than the newer editions they have now.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
An Excellent Resource, 2007-07-15
The wonderfully unique writing style of Gary Gygax shines through on just about every page of this book.
This work is an essential companion to the 1st Edition AD&D Players Handbook. It gives you combat charts, rules for followers, average sale values for magic items (something left out of the 2nd Edition Dungeon Masters Guide), general advice on how to run a game, several pages of artifact descriptions (fascinating descriptions that give amazing depth to the objects), random monster encounters for different environments and dungeon levels, random dungeon generation tables and even several pages of monsters from the monster manual in abbreviated form. This book is packed with great information from cover to cover.
Maybe what I like most about this book is its almost total lack of political correctness. From the nudity in the artwork (the topless mermaid on page 180) to the descriptions of various disgusting diseases and forms of insanity, it gives you a raw, gritty version of the game full of style and flavor. Unfortunately, this is something the Dungeons & Dragons game will never likely see again.
The only thing I dislike about the book is the combat system. Although playable, especially with a few house rules thrown in to smooth things over, its hard to get an understanding of exactly how combat is supposed to work just from reading the text.
If you can find a used copy of this book, I recommend you pick it up. It's definitely worth a read.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
The Way It Used To Be Done, 2007-07-09
This book harkens back to the "good old days" when playing the paper and pencil D&D used to be new and fun. There have been several reincarnations of this manual and I've thumbed through them but they just don't hold a candle to the original, despite the fancier artwork and rule changes. I remember spending hours combing tables as I built a new dungeon. I am not at all happy with the direction TSR took after Mr. Gygax was booted out (or left, can't remember which) and one big loss was the original manuals. They are now up to version 3 something of the rules but I do not even know what they are because I just play computer games now. All I know about the new rules is that multi-class characters are easier to work with. It was an exciting time, a different era. I still have this manual and will always treasure it. If you can find one, pick it up just to see how things used to be done. Highly recommended.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
 Player's Handbook (AD&D, 1st Ed. revised), 2007-05-14
This is a great players' resource for refererencing some of the forgotten races and images that were updated and/or revised from 1st edition into the 2nd edition.
It is an historical find in terms of role-playing games, since these books are now in extremely limited numbers and are quite collectible. I purchased this book together with the Dungeon Masters Guide (AD&D 1st Ed. revised) and they are a part of my role-playing game collection.
With a few pages with pen marks and a slightly damaged hardback cover, I now have a decent addition to my RPG collection.
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