Acronyms

[connivingsumo]

Hi there!

Being fairly new to Goblinoidgames (a little less than a year), I thought it might be good to start an acronym list for the new folks. I know what some of them are, but there's many I don't know.

What is B/X?
What is OSRIC? (I'm guessing this is 1eAD&D by another publisher?)

[austrodavicus]

B/X is the common term for the second edition of Basic D&D (8th to 11th prints) edited by Tom Moldvay and its follow-on volume, the Expert (1st to 3rd prints) rules edited by Dave Cook. B = Basic / X=Expert. This version of Basic D&D is also called "Moldvay" and is often used to refer to its Expert rules too, even though Moldvay didn't edit them.

OSRIC stands for "Old School Reference & Index Compilation" and is a clone of 1e AD&D.

[Mach Front]

Many of the old-school D&D acronyms began life on the DragonsFoot Forums, since it's the largest online community of folks into the pre-Wizards of the Coast versions of D&D.
Since many folks actually give a darn (whether it matters or no) about the slight (depending on your perspective) differences between various iterations of D&D (particularly between the different flavors of so-called 'Basic', or rather, as we say "Classic" and Original D&D), many of these acronyms have become common between folks who communicate in forums and blogs concerning old-school D&D in general.

Thus, for future reference:
OD&D - Original D&D (1974) - Note that this can refer just and only to the original box, with only the Three Little Brown Booklets (or, 3LBBs), but can also refer to the game as 'whole'. That is to say, some or all the following supplements (Supplement I: Greyhawk, Supplement II: Blackmoor, etc.)

Classic: Otherwise known as the "Basic D&D" game. This is a 'catch-all' phrase for everything from the Holmes Basic set (or "Blue Book", from '77(to '79)...even though that's a once-over of an intro the OD&D (thought the game's interior texts says otherwise) *confused yet?!? * ...through Moldvay Basic and Cook/Marsh Expert (the aforementioned B/X), on to the Mentzer-edited versions of the line in 1983 (Basic, Expert, Companion, Masters, Immortals), known simply as "Mentzer" or "BECMI" (note that every once in a while, some folks will differentiate between Basic and Expert by Moldvay/Cook and Basic and Expert by Mentzer, in which case it's "B/X" and "B/E"...usually...
This category also includes the Rules Cyclopedia (the RC), being a compiled version of BECM (though very little to no "I"), as well as the mid to late 90's intro boxes for RC, the NEW Easy To Master D&D Game (the "Black Box") as well as The Classic Dungeons & Dragons Game boxes.

The rest is pretty straightforward.
AD&D1E - Advanced D&D first edition, it's supplementary material is usually easily figured out...that is, the Dungeoneer's Survival Guide is sometimes simply noted as the DSG, and so on.
2E - Second Edition
etc.
etc.
Blah diddy blah


...hhmm....
I just made it worse and not better didn't I?

[Mach Front]

Wow. Have some parentheses. Jeeze. -lol-

[3llense'g]

Also, there is the rarely mentioned but arguably best version of the game: DJTAEIOJTKMHSKDGERZH, edited by Jon Derkgjfigsfgnhbas.

[connivingsumo]

Also, there is the rarely mentioned but arguably best version of the game: DJTAEIOJTKMHSKDGERZH, edited by Jon Derkgjfigsfgnhbas.

LOL! You had me goin there for a second - I was trying to read "Jon's" last name

Thank you austrodavicus & Mach Front for those awesome descriptions & clarifications (and I'm parenthesis friendly)

[austrodavicus]

Original D&D is also called 0e, as opposed to 1e, 2e, etc.

[connivingsumo]

Original D&D is also called 0e, as opposed to 1e, 2e, etc.

Ah, for Original edition, I assume.

[austrodavicus]

As a play on words possibly, but more likely because with 1e AD&D grabbing the "first" tag, and later versions of Basic D&D hijacking the "Original" label for quite a long period (the 3LBB have got it back these days), zero comes before one and so 0e is a nice fit for the original game.

[connivingsumo]

I see, but not literally as my eyes are aging and I thought the 0 (zero) was an 'O'! That makes sense - zero edition.