Players Handbook (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons)

I bought this book plus the Dungeon master guide and Monster Manuel all when they came out. I still have them. They are the best. Gygax was a master at getting you involved in D&D adventures. I treasure these book even after all these years. I ran adventures in Greyhawk and Mystra for over 15 yrs. I still remember the first adventure was going into a ruin Castle looking for revenge on a Magic user who killed a the daughter of the Baron. The Cleric was raise from the dead and join the party to hunt him down. What a great time that was.

Old school classic of the RPG genre. If you want to get into one of the original Roll Playing Games, this is definitely a necessity. Players will find all the races(species), classes, weapons, abilities, spells, armor, etc. needed to create and play a character in AD&D. Together with the Dungeon Masters Guide, the Monster Manual, a variety of RPG dice, and a healthy imagination, this can lead to almost limitless adventures!

I got this book for the first time about a year ago when my girlfreind bought me the entire first edition set. What a gift! I tell you, since then I've hosted so many campaigns and enticed many freinds and aquaintances to play. This book, "Advanced D & D Players(Yes, I can spell. First edition had no appostrophe.)Handbook," was in my humble opinion, the master work of Mr. Gygax, its creator (Sorry Gary if you preferred another version or game, but this one was my far my favorite.). It includes everything a player would need to know for successful expeditions in the worlds of make-believe. Everything from armor class, to hit ratios, character stats, race abilities, and more are preserved between the gorgeous, hardback cover. Yes, indeed, everything a player could need to know, save what is contained soley in the Dungeon Master Guide (In which case it isn't for a player anyhow.) can be found somewhere in the painstakingly categorized and eloquently worded text. As a book conosour who enjoys nothing more than a classic, this my friends, is a classic that you can never really "finish" reading... this is the book that once you put down, never really stays down.

I have been roleplaying for years, many many years. I have seen games come and go, I have seen the white box set of G. Gygax. I have seen games like RuneQuest, Warhammer FRP, MERP, Torg, so many games.Yet this is the real start, the real truth of how great roleplaying can be. You might find 3rd edition more intricate, more things to do in it, but the original AD & D players manual and DM manual were the best in my humble opinion.This book shows how to create characters quick and just start roaming the worlds that the DM makes. GET IT. and the Dungeon Master Manual by G. Gygax. You will love it better than almost anything else the roleplaying world has to offer.

Yes I roleplay 3rd edition, but I know that this ... the 1st edition AD & D is the best there is. The rules are simple but strong enough to provide hours and hours of games. I would suggest that you get this and the player's manual (and the Monster manual 1 and 2 from G.G.). Have hours of fun in this game.What's good about this game manual for DMs is that there are so many suggestions, explorations of the different faces of the game, enough to make the DM ready for most anything the players might throw at him.

Here's the ultimate version of the DMG for Gygax purists. You get all of the charm, advice, and "dark stuff" that was frowned upon as being "too esoteric" in the cleaner versions to come... Highlights include classic illustrations, using monsters as PCs, assassins and the use of poison, tribal spell casters (makes those giants and orcs a lot more interesting!), magic items with XP AND GOLD PIECE values (WHY did they stop doing this? WHY? ), old school psionics (for all those Illithids in GDQ1-7), the original "down to the last hit point" monster XP value charts, building NPCs and evocative dungeon settings the "Gygax way," player creation of spells and magic items, and much more; my personal favorite touch is the endless extolling of the virtues of encouraging the PCs in the early levels, while only a few pages later, we're treated to a graphic depiction of a game in progress that STRONGLY implies it's good to kill the PCs at 1st level, even if they do everything right... :) (see pp. 97-100) Hehe! A highly recommended pride piece for your retro-AD & D collection.

From the unusual and intrigueing cover art, to the huge lists of spells and other tables, the Player's Handbook is a masterpiece - and requisite for smooth character creation and game play. Of course, 1st edition (possibly used more that 2nd edition), is a dream to play, and this book aids the player (and referee!) during game play, but will later be read like a novel - you'll be lingering over grand prose and illustrations for hours. I strongly recommend that if you are interested in Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, either as a gamer or a critic, you locate and purchase this book - it will add life to your library and intense enjoyment to your life.