BX Buyer's Guide
Want to get into BX? Here is where you start.
https://www.dmsguild.com/en/product/110274/d-d-basic-set-rulebook-b-x-ed-basic
Start with the classic BX game, the original Basic Rules booklet that goes from levels 1-3. You can get this (for now) in print and PDF formats, and it is both worthy and inspirational. While Old School Essentials has it all in one place, if you want to experience the soul of the game and be taught by a classic voice, teacher, and designer, start here. While OSE may be the book you eventually use most, this will get you started with the right mindset to play "true D&D."
https://www.dmsguild.com/en/product/110792/d-d-expert-set-rulebook-b-x-ed-basic
If you are in a buying mood, make sure to pick up the Expert Rules booklet that covers levels 4-14 and covers wilderness adventures and dominions. This is the second piece of the puzzle, and it is where the game stops being about dungeons and the entire world opens up to you. Remember those times in classic JRPGs where "the world opens up to you?" This is that book, and that moment, captured in a perfect, iconic, and legendary book that teaches you to step out of the dungeon and into a real fantasy world. If you want to be taught how a game takes that next step, this is your best next bet.
Again, OSE will be the book you pick up the most, but if you want to know the game, this book is irreplaceable and the heart of wilderness adventures and the beginning of the endgame of domain play.
https://www.exaltedfuneral.com/products/ose-advanced-fantasy-players-tome
You will want more, and Old School Essentials gives you more. This is the best modern reimagining of the classic BX rules, and it serves as the foundation for much of the community-created content. This is a must-have. If you have learned how to play BX and you have the systems and mindset down, then OSE will be your table's "playbooks" and give you the most options, plus a collection of amazing expansion content in zines and third-party books.
Since the original D&D books can never be published for, and those rules are not in the Creative Commons, OSE will be your best option for supporting a larger community, playing and expanded campaigns, and writing your own game material under a more open license.
Note, due to the expansion material, some do not consider OSE "true BX" - and that is worth pointing out. OSE Classic Fantasy is the closest we can get, and those books are still for sale. Next year, the classic rules will be in an appendix of the next OSE version, and there will be a free classic rules PDF, from what I hear. OSE Advanced Fantasy is OSE plus a lot of new stuff, so if you want a simple, straightforward game, stick with the first two books, or pick up a copy of OSE Classic Fantasy.
While you can never replace the magic of the first two books, OSE is the future of BX. Most want all the new toys, so my suggestion is to learn and love the original two books and carry those lessons forward to OSE Advanced.
https://www.exaltedfuneral.com/products/ose-advanced-fantasy-referees-tome
Finally, to complete OSE, you will want the referee book. This set is the best-organized, easiest-to-read, and fastest-referencing version of BX on the market, hands down. This book contains the rest of the game, monsters, treasures, and all the referee content. You need both books for OSE to be playable, and having one be player-focused is a great idea.
When you know and love BX, OSE is where you graduate and move on to becoming a true master of the game. All of your favorites are here, and the expansions add even more.
First Edition Buyer's Guide
Coming soon!
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