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Post Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 2:09 am 
 

Is the B-2 contained in the D&D Basic Sets exactly the same product as the separately sold B-2's?

I.e., if I was to buy a boxed set containing B-2, I wouldn't have a need to buy a separate B-2.. right?  No differences?

Thanks!
Geo

  

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Post Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 2:58 am 
 

Pretty much, as I understand it.

Oh, there are print differences, of course.

The original B2 was written to accommodate the Basic D&D Holmes rules (the "blue book") and went out with the second issuing of that set as I remember. When the '81 Moldvay edit rules came out, the B2 was revamped to jibe with the changes within that manual; though some of the changes were, IMO, more esoteric than actually needed.

But I will yield the floor to any that have more intimate knowledge on the matter.


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Post Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 9:48 am 
 

You certainly do not need to buy a different printing to play the thing. The adventure is unchanged in any way. There are print variations, but we are talking art for the most part.
Scroll down this link and you can follow the module's progression. But, like nearly every TSR module, few if any had real text changes as they progressed through printings. Changes were typically on the covers and contents pages of adventure books. Sometimes you get different art, as in the case with this module. But off the top of my head (barring tournament modules) I can't think of a single module that actually plays differently between printings. But it is early on a Saturday...

http://www.acaeum.com/ddindexes/modpages/b1.html


And I could've bought these damn modules off the 1$ rack!!!

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Post Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 10:45 am 
 

Thanks.  Very helpful!

George

  

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Post Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 2:22 pm 
 

What is interesting about B2 is that there are so many versions out there, both official and home brew. There is the "original" B2, a 2E reworking called "Return to the Keep on the Borderlands", a Hackmaster version (Little Keep on the Borderlands), and numerous websites where people post their own versions.  Personally I like all the official published versions for different reasons, and mix and match them when I run it.  

Mike B.


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Post Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2010 10:06 pm 
 

Mike, good point about the return to and the hackmaster versions. I'm in the market for the hackmaster version and the Keep novel.

For exact differences not including the return and hackmaster versions, I have an old page available. Took a while to find.

http://home.earthlink.net/~merzak/B2.html

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Post Posted: Tue Mar 30, 2010 12:33 am 
 

Thanks for posting that list, brute. Concise yet detailed. The Acaeum background is a nice touch.

I read the Keep novel a year or two ago. I thought it started strong but found the Caves of Chaos portion disappointing.

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Post Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2010 10:43 pm 
 

Glad to post it. Cheers!

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