Friday, February 3, 2012

Open Friday: Other Reprints

Last Friday, I posted a poll about how likely buyers of WotC's upcoming AD&D reprints were to use them to play an AD&D adventure or campaign. Of the nearly 800 respondents, about one-quarter said they planned to do so while another quarter hoped to do so. That's fairly impressive if you ask me and makes me think that, while the numbers are unlikely to be vast, there is a market for reprints of TSR era gaming materials.

So, for today's Open Friday question, I'm doing another poll. This one is about what other types of TSR era material you'd like to see Wizards of the Coast reprint, in the unlikely event that they choose to do so. This poll allows for multiple answers, so feel free to choose as many options as suit you. Likewise, feel free to use the comments below to elaborate on your choices.

74 comments:

  1. I'd probably be interested in a re-release of Star Frontiers, and maybe Empire of the Petal Throne if they included that gorgeous map.

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    1. I'm with Joshua. Tekumel & Star Frontiers, please! What about early Gamma World & such? Yes! Oh oh ohhhhhh I want a huge collected hardcover Planescape book.

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    2. You may have already see this, but there's an online fanzine called Star Frontiersman and their site also has .pdfs of the original books:

      http://starfrontiersman.com/downloads/remastered

      And you can get print on demand copies:

      http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/dwdstudios

      Fun stuff! I have all the issues of Star Frontiersman on my tablet.

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  2. There are a couple of modules I'd like to see reprinted. But I have plenty of games now and I'll never get to play them all.

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  3. The more we talk about this, the more I'm interested in the outermost areas of the argument, that either a) everything possible should be reprinted, even if done quickly and cheaply for now, to have it in some form and be able to build on it, or b) none should be, as if we're walking on graves, and limiting ourselves by looking back, that we need to go forward and negotiate our own breakthroughs and pitfalls.

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  4. A nice, collector's edition of the LBB's would be the #1 item I want WotC to reprint.

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    1. I 100% agree, the 3 original ones + the 4 supplements. Yes please!
      And after that: Moldvay and Cooks B/X; after that Rules Cyclopedia!

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    2. That's my priority: Chainmail, the White Box, and the four supplements.

      After those, GDQ, the S series, and the Greyhawk folio (or at least the boxed set).

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  5. The BECMI D&D line. Rules Cyclopedia will do, and the GAZ series.

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    1. Really.... this would be amazing. Especially if they did up all the gazeteers (wasn't the last one unpublished?) with all the errata.

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  6. I think republishing the Rules Cyclopedia would be a great idea, along with some of the modules from that series.
    I think a hardback edition of T1–4, A1–4 and GDQ1–7 to go with the AD&D books would sell well, but almost all of that content was republished in 3.5, either as a super adventure or in Living Greyhawk (or both).

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    1. Reprinting the GDQ and A1-4 series AS ORIGINALLY RELEASED would be a good start, not as the Supermodules they released, that did some creative mainpulating. Also, it would be amazing if they could releaes T1-4 in a "closer to its originally planned format", but I fear that is lost to time...

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  7. Tekumel would be nice; it was about the only thing I couldn't find several years ago when I tried to get all the stuff I wanted but couldn't find in the eighties. Other than that, I have most of what I want, so I start thinking of what would I most recommend to others. Maybe the best and weirdest of their adventures in their original format. The Moldvay Basic book. The Dragon Compendium, if they could do it, but the issues that pulled it probably haven't been resolved.

    What I'd really like to see is a compendium of Dungeon like they did for Dragon.

    And, if they got the rights to Judges Guild and reprinted some of that

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  8. Gamma World! Gamma World!! Gamma World!!!

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  9. I would crawl across miles of broken glass for reprints of the LBB and Supplements and a fresh copy of my now well-sed and worn Rules Cyclopedia.

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  10. Even though I still have most of my old modules, a nice set of omnibus collections of the classic adventures would be nice.

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  11. It's mainly the modules and the campaign settings I miss. I'd love reprints of Planescape and Dark Sun, and the opportunity to get Keep on the Borderlands.

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  12. All of the above. It'd be cool to get reprints of most of their back catalog. Star Frontiers, Gamma World, Boot Hill, Top Secret, maybe a generic FASERIP... yeah, I'd be down for just about all of it.

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  13. Even though I'd certainly buy hardcover collections of related modules (such as the previously mentioned T1-4, A1-4 & GDQ1-7), I'd rather have new reprints of individual modules because they'd be easier to actually use.

    But, when it really comes down to it, what I'd really most like to have is both -- individual modules for use and hardcovers for reference.

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  14. I voted for all except the accessories. My B/X material is in bad shape, and I'd love to get a hold of early Gamma World and Boot Hill material. I'm a fan of Star Frontiers as well, but since it did not get used as much as my B/X stuff it's still in decent shape.

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  15. Crisp new OD&D booklets are all I want for Christmas.

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  16. Well, I voted for the following options:

    1) Other Editions of D&D. I especially would like to see the Basic/Metzner D&D game released-- as a hardcover collecting the rulebooks from all 5 sets, with the classic Red Box cover as the cover of the book.

    Then I choose D&D Campaign Settings. I'd just love to see Ravenloft released. It's rulebook and the sourcebooks ("Islands of Terror", "Darklords" etc,) were probably the best-written D&D supplements of all time. (Although thematically, I would have preferred stuff about the Planes-- but PLANESCAPE was so badly written, with the writers forcing their self-indulgent trash about "the Chant", "Barmies", etc. on us, that my favorite D&D topic became nigh unenjoyable. Thanks, TSR...)

    Besides, if we get campaign settings, we could get the GAZETTEERS series, which would go wunderfully with the Basic D&D Hardcover.

    Finally, I opted for other D&D accessories. TSR published many timeless RPG aids that could be used for ANY FRP. Just take the WORLD BUILDER'S HANDBOOK, for example.

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  17. Empire of the Petal throne has not been owned by TSR/WOTC for decades. Reprints has been done several times. I believe it's currently available from Tita's House of Games.

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  18. Boot Hill, definitely. Also, new LBBs, or even combine them into one new LBB.

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    1. Yes, that's a great idea! A hardcover collecting all LBB,s as well as all supplements: I-IV, plus "Swords & Spells", and whatever version of CHAINMAIL that served as D&D's "core game" when D&D first came out as a bonus.

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  19. All entries. I want to believe that it is possible to keep their old product catalog open (via PDF or POD) together with whatever they're releasing these days. There're literally tons of things from all Editions (and from other games, like Tekumel and Gamma World) that I really want.

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  20. Another vote for the Rules Cyclopedia. I remember reading a post one time where the author said that the Rules Cyclopedia would make a great perennial D&D publication where the art, layout and font might change over the years as fashions come and go, but the substance of the book would always remain the same. It would be the one edition that you could always count on being able to find in a bookstore, simple enough to teach to the casual gamer, and familiar to all players of D&D. All of the "D&D-like elements" are there, so players from disparate groups would always have this common thread and be able to come together and play a game or two (the myriad of editions notwithstanding). It could serve as the "Common Tongue" of D&D, intelligible to players of the dwarf class, dragonborn warlords, mystic theurges, half-orc fighter/assassins, and halfling whistlers.

    They could sell a limited edition reprint and erect a statue of Aaron Allston!

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  21. I would like to see the LBBs back + the supplements - first and foremost. Next, all the JG stuff including things like their version of the character sheets, the JG screen, and FFC.

    http://in-the-cities.com/

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  22. My priorities, as far as TSR properties to reprint to go along with the AD&D reprints, would be:

    The Temple of Elemental Evil
    Dungeon Masters Screen
    Basic Set (Holmes edit with The Keep on the Borderlands)

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  23. I'd buy a copy of DragonQuest. I actually picked up a mint copy of the 1st Edition DMs screen (which struck me as a more precious find than any book, and I'm not sure why..) at DDXP from one of the booksellers there.

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  24. I would love a copy of Rules Cyclopedia in softback or hardback format as I never picked a copy of it up when it originally came out and used versions of it are now too expensive. I will sheepishly admit to having downloaded a PDF copy of it but I would really like to own a physical copy.

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  25. Rules Cyclopedia, Collected editions of the modules, and all the Planescape stuff that 'ran off' in college.

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  26. Top Secret SI, Gamma World, etc...
    Rules Cyclopedia would help a lot of people.

    WOTC just needs to keep small runs of these products going at all times instead of getting all marketing weird about pushing this false notion of "the current".

    its role playing games. the analog software "upgrades" arent qualitative enough to act like "older" editions are bad, out of date or not worth anything.

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  27. Marvel Super Heroes. Doubt they have the license to do so any more, but since we're daydreaming about former TSR properties to see reprinted, I can have my fantasy.

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    1. All of the Marvel stuff is available legally here:

      http://www.classicmarvelforever.com/cms/

      Delete
  28. I would absolutely love it if they reprinted all of the old adventure modules! Also, lacking any new product I would like to get the old boxed Greyhawk campaign setting.

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  29. I would want a reprint "red box" D&D, the Mentzer edition I just love how the game is presented in it. Thing I really want the most though is new Finnish language translation of Red Box to new generations of gamers.

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  30. Would love a compilation of the old modules, but would definitely want them to do the following:

    1. Include all the covers, including multiple covers for modules that had more than one.

    2. Keep fonts the same.

    3. Keep the maps as blue and while where appropriate. (though a separate map booklet would be nice, too -- or make them available as pdfs)

    Also second the Cyclopedia.

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  31. Nothing at all. Although I'll buy the 1e reprint (PHB at the very least) I don't want any more reprints. New material for 1e, fine.

    My desire to pay money to people who had nothing to do with the work they "own" is very limited indeed.

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    1. I understand that thinking, even if it does seem a little heretical in these glorious pre-sixth edition days.

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  32. I would love a new copy of the Cyclopedia, as well as reprints of the old AD&D and D&D modules, but mostly, i would love to get collected editions of Planescape, Spell Jammer and Dark Sun.

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  33. I would pick up the old modules; the A, D, G, S, and T series. I unfortunately don't have any of those. Gamma World as well. Possibly Zebulon's Guide. I like Star Frontiers a lot, but I already have multiple copies of books from those sets so they'd have to do a little extra to get me to purchase those.

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  34. I actually would be more interested in seeing D&D Rules Compendium before anything else. I personally think Classic D&D is the best take on D&D since it's invention. AD&D is cool and all, but BECMI hits the sweet spot.

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  35. My vote would be the Rules Compendium. Though ACKS does really very tempting as a stop gap measure till WotC finally release everything old as PDF files.

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  36. 1st Edition Gamma World is all I want...

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  37. Reprints? No thanks. I've got all the physical books I'd ever want. If WotC reentered the eBook/PDF market, on the other hand, they'd probably get a good chunk of my disposable income on a fairly regular basis. Heaven knows Chaosium (Call of Cthulhu), Mongoose (Traveller) and a few other companies certainly are now.

    Their loss for leaving the 21st Century a few years ago.

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  38. With the upcoming Elminster's Forgotten Realms coming out near the end of the year, WOTC is making something available I've wanted for years: pure, unadulterated Ed Greenwood!

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  39. While reprinting everything would be nice, I'd settle for making all their games available electronically, again. After all, they're not making money on out of print stuff *now*, and $5 a (legal) download is better than $0. "Losing" money to illegal downloads on works that are already out in the wild isn't actually costing them anything.

    Granted, scanning books into PDFs and uploading to RPGNow has a non-zero cost, but since many publishers on RPGNow are one guy with a hobby it can't be all that much.

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    1. There are very reliable people who have volunteered to do the work gratis in order to make it happen.

      Certainly they have to know that their print products are getting scanned, OCR’d, and uploaded the moment they hit the shelves, so their discourage piracy excuse doesn’t hold water.

      It really is bizarre that they aren’t doing it.

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  40. It is interesting how so many have mentioned they want a reprint of the rules cyclopedia. It is a strange beast. I almost want to say that it succeeds in spite of how badly some of it is written and put together. I think it overcomes that because it is a complete game, and hits the sweet spot on complexity versus simplicity. tetsubo57 did a video review of the book which approximates my impression upon rereading the book.
    D&D Rules Cyclopedia Gaming Book Review

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  41. Imagine if we could buy all the TSR stuff like the GDW stuff (and more!) that Marc Miller is selling on CD-ROMs. Imagine an “Everything classic D&D” CD. An “Everything AD&D”. Maybe an “All of TSR’s non-D&D RPGs”. Then an “All TSR non-RPG games”. Then the Mythus stuff. (TSR ended up with the rights, and Wizards even used to sell PDFs of it!) I think they may have the rights to the RoleAids stuff too.

    Except that CD-ROM feels so two-decades-ago. ^_^

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    1. I’d completely forgotten that TSR did do this for the AD&D2e era. The “core rules” CD-ROM and it’s expansion had all the 2e rule & splat books. In RTF format, no less.

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  42. I'd love to see 'best of' editions of some of their settings (especially Dark Sun, and Al-Quadim). These would be softcover books that reprinted the core material of the box-set plus a sampling of the best material from the product line.

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  43. Already having most of the early TSR output (or at least all of it that I actually want) I wouldn't personally be in the market for most reprints, especially physical reprints. But what I would like to see are the old stuff (and new stuff for that matter) released electronically. I'd be tempted to rebuy some of my favourite products electronically because it's so useful a format [Especially since I've accidentally been locked out of one of my gaming filing cabinets... =8( ]

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  44. Probably nothing. I see it as a ploy to kill off the open source/old school efforts just as they are picking up steam.

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    1. If that is the case, that is WotC's right. Let's face it, if they hadn't released the OGL, there would be no "old school" movement. At least not as regards D&D and D&D clones. Obviously, it's also your right to vote with your $$$.

      Frankly though, with the desire for more rules light systems in general being a trend in the gaming industry as the market for RPGs gets greyer, I don't think they could kill off the OSR movement anyway at this point. And whatever else you can say on the merits about AD&D 1/2 in particular, they are not rules light systems. Lighter than 3E/4E, maybe...but not by much.

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  45. I don't think the question is "is there a market"? - they were selling PDF's of much of the older material. Then the killed it off with little warning due to piracy concerns. I'd just like to see them bring those back and let's see how much money is in it for them. Enough activity with the PDF and we might get a hardback compilation, say one a year, of some of the classic module series or the cyclopedia.

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  46. Top three to seven or so:

    Nice hardcovers (or at least good softcovers that won't fall apart) of OD&D, its supplements, and of B/X Moldvay/Cook - probably also the Rules Cyclopedia or BECMI. I'd also like to see, as many others have noted, the Gazetteers reprinted. Finally, some modules - the B series, the X series, the GDQ series, the A series, the S series, the original Ravenloft, the Temple of Elemental Evil.

    Out of all of this, I have a big chunk - I'm missing OD&D, the Gazetteers, and some of the modules, but what I do have of the rest is either a bad PDF or in crappy condition (or rapidly getting there). I guess OD&D and the Gazetteers and the modules would be my top priority as I don't have them (or most of them) in any form. But I have to say that getting a nice sturdy copy of Moldvay/Cook would be a dream come true.

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  47. I'd like to have clean crisp copies of all of the original adventures (A1-4, C1-3, etc). I have all of them, but they are my original copies and have seen quite a bit of wear over the years. I've replaced some on e-bay, but I'd rather not have to go through the whole list in that manner.

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  48. I'd like the GAZ series, the campaign settings for Mystara and Hollow World, Spelljammer stuff, City of Greyhawk box, Oriental Adventures box, the Waterdeep city box, Greyhawk folio, the Historical supplement books, and I'd buy some of the AD&D / BECM modules. But I especially love all those big maps!

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  49. My point of equilibrium between what I want and what I think is remotely possible: A HUGE CLASSIC D&D POD STORE! Failing that, just get everything available as PDFs. :)

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  50. The LBBs, Holmes' Basic Set, Moldvay's Basic Set, Cook's Expert Set, the Basic/Expert modules, the 1st edition AD&D modules, 1st edition Gamma World (and modules), Dawn Patrol, and the Dungeon! board game with the Roslof cover.

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  51. The settings, damn, I absolutely LOVE to see them again in the shelves. Not a merely reprint, see: I'd want shinny new collected editions, revised, clarified, with lots of collected material (from various editions, modules, etc). AND, very important, RULES AGNOSTIC, so I can use it with whatever edition (or game!) I want.

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  52. I would absolutely love to see a reprint of the Dark Matter setting for TSR's late-nineties Alternity sci-fi system. It was my entry into weird fiction and had the paranoid conspiracy theorist's version of Gygax's Appendix N. A rules-neutral version would be nice, but I honestly would just like to see a collection of the lore and that particular alternate historical scheme.

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  53. As I think about it, I'd also like to see a reprint of the Cyclopedia, the Gazetteers (including the Hollow World versions), and the Creature Crucibles. And Battlesystem (both editions plus Skirmishes would be ideal, so long as we're wishing).

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  54. The OD&D rules, including supplements I-IV and the Best of Dragon Volume I, The Holmes Basic Set plus module B1, Fiend Folio, modules B2, B3 (the "Orange Cover" version), B4, B5, B7, B10, X1 and X2, Creature Catalogue, and the first three Gazetteers.

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  55. Oh, and I forgot, the World Builder's Handbook, one of the best things TSR published.

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  56. Tekumel / Empire of the Petal Throne (EPT) is very much in print and available on PDF except for a few rare items or ones that have out of (re)print.

    http://www.tekumel.com/tita/

    or at DrivethruRPG / RPGNow under M.A.R. Barker's World of Tekumel
    http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?&manufacturers_id=57

    Tita's reprint of EPT IIRC has foreward's/introductions by both Arneson and Gygax (from different periods / companies, Gamscience and the original TSR introduction IIRC). They should have reprints of the maps as well, and they're also on PDF. Tekumel has other maps, some in the fanzine sections I believe.

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