Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set - Reception

Reception

Doug Cowie reviewed the 1983 version of the Basic Set for Imagine magazine, giving it a quite positive review. He noted that it was not just a money-making scheme on the part of the publisher, trying to sell a new game to existing players. According to Cowie, while the rules stay the same - thus allowing those with the older version to continue using their sets - the presentation has changed. Cowie approved of the fact that "at long last", a game company has put out a product that explains to someone new to roleplaying games how to get started. He also praised the "vastly improved" cover art and interior illustrations, yet noted that the box contains a set of "dreadful TSR dice". The reviewer was especially pleased by the Players Manual, where the introduction is not followed by character generation, but rather a solo adventure that allows the reader to start playing "within five minutes of opening the box". According to Cowie, this allows learning the rules step by step, by playing solo. He called this an "excellent idea". The Players Manual contains two solo scenarios and "some town business". Cowie continued his review by pointing out that the Dungeon Masters Rulebook includes the normal rules for running a game as well as an introductory scenario involving some wilderness and exploration of a castle. Unlike its predecessor this boxed sets lacks a separate module, according to Cowie, but his experienced playtesters found the introductory scenario interesting. As to the rules, Cowie missed a "weapon-vs-armor-type" rule, possibly as an option, and noted that it might have been a good idea to copy the rule from AD&D that at zero hit points a character falls unconscious, not dead. Calling the few errors in the box minor irritants, he felt that this set was "head and shoulders above any other" game as an introduction to roleplaying. Cowie ended his review by stating that "Basic is a lot closer to the spirit of the original game than is the rambling, unwieldy and sometimes pompous Advanced" and that "for one-off dungeon type games I would recommend Basic to anyone, beginner and veteran alike."