The D&D Rules Cyclopedia

vomitbrown · January 26, 2009, 05:05:16 PM

Sorry for the retarded question, but,
What's the difference between Dungeons and Dragons and the Rules Cyclopedia. It kind of looks like the RC is an offshoot or another version of the main D&D series of books. Is this the case?

Soylent Green · January 26, 2009, 05:52:43 PM

The Rules Cyclopedia is the old classic Dungeons and Dragons. It's a condensation of all the classic D&D rules books (Basic, Expert...) in one volume with a whole bunch of optional rules and a pretty decent overview of the "Known World" setting and Immortals pantheon. It's a very complete, compact and well organised book.

The artwork lacks the character of older editions and purists might frown at some of the optional rules, but it's probably the best book out there for anyone interested in playing the classic D&D.

arminius · January 26, 2009, 06:20:34 PM

In other words, it's the collection of all the non-Advanced D&D rules under one cover. Well, almost all. I believe it doesn't include the rules from the boxed Immortals set--those were instead replaced by a separate book that could be added to RC.

Dr Rotwang! · January 26, 2009, 07:03:51 PM

The RC is like Yngwie Malmsteen wearing a Richard Nixon mask. "AAAAAAAAH this ROCKS -- but why's it...LOOK...like that...?"

Terrible Tim · January 26, 2009, 09:33:31 PM

RC sounds cool. Is it currently in print?

Dr Rotwang! · January 26, 2009, 09:36:48 PM

Sadly, no. But there's a .pdf and it's $5.00 from Paizo.

RPGPundit · January 26, 2009, 11:51:25 PM

Well, well worth the $5.

RPGPundit

Akrasia · January 26, 2009, 11:53:48 PM

I own four copies of the RC for a reason, namely, its complete awesomeness!

DeadUematsu · January 27, 2009, 12:30:28 AM

It's good and, even though spellcasters will still rule the roost, supports higher level play better than AD&D. If you're playing, a good piece of advice would be to avoid the Paragon immortal path at all costs. Especially if you're playing in Mystara. Seriously.

brettmb · January 27, 2009, 01:03:54 AM

Actually the PDF that I got from rpgnow sucks. I don't know if it's the same or not, but it had such a dark background that I couldn't lighten it without affecting the text, so I was never able to print it out. I haven't seen a physical copy for less than $25, but you can find them on ebay.

One Horse Town · January 27, 2009, 05:39:22 AM

Quote from: Dr Rotwang!;280700Sadly, no. But there's a .pdf and it's $5.00 from Paizo.

Shit. I knew i shouldn't have bought the pdf. My piddly dial-up connection is telling me that it'll take 7 hours to download...

One Horse Town · January 27, 2009, 06:18:21 AM

As i thought. My piddly PC cannot download it and i'm not resetting and starting again. I've bought the damned thing, so i don't mind asking if anyone here has the pdf that they wouldn't mind e-mailing me with. If a kind soul is game, i'll PM you my e-mail address.

Thanks awfully.

Edit: Actually, that could be too big a file for my e-mail to cope with. I wouldn't mind giving it a try though.

Joey2k · January 27, 2009, 08:09:59 AM

Quote from: One Horse Town;280755As i thought. My piddly PC cannot download it and i'm not resetting and starting again. I've bought the damned thing, so i don't mind asking if anyone here has the pdf that they wouldn't mind e-mailing me with. If a kind soul is game, i'll PM you my e-mail address.

Thanks awfully.

Edit: Actually, that could be too big a file for my e-mail to cope with. I wouldn't mind giving it a try though.

Do you know anyone with high speed internet and a CD burner? If so just download it to their computer and copy it to a CD.

Heck, you might be able to do it at a public library or university.

Premier · January 27, 2009, 09:08:16 AM

Quote from: DeadUematsu;280740It's good and, even though spellcasters will still rule the roost, supports higher level play better than AD&D. If you're playing, a good piece of advice would be to avoid the Paragon immortal path at all costs. Especially if you're playing in Mystara. Seriously.

On a similar note, Frank Mentzer, the man who wrote the original BECMI series of books - of which RC is basically just a restatement -, suggests here that regardless of what the book says, the Polymath path should be favoured by Thieves and the Epic Hero by Fighters, not the other way around.

ColonelHardisson · January 27, 2009, 09:59:45 AM

First, I just wanted to post in a thread started by Eric the Actor.

Second, I'll chime in with praise for the Rules Cyclopedia. While it's a compilation of the "Basic/Expert/etc." boxed sets, which differs from the AD&D 1e I liked a lot better, the RC is a solid, one-book version of D&D that the game sorely needs.