No, not that good word. I'm talking about the beauty of old-school RPGs. One of my son's friends was telling his mother how much he loved the game, and she sent me a message asking what gaming books I would recommend she buy for him. There were a bunch of links to the current 5th edition starter set and other such stuff, but I shook my head and showed her the good stuff: Moldvay Basic and Mentzer Basic rules on eBay. A bit cheaper than Amazon, and hopefully they'll arrive in time for his birthday next weekend.
I have to remember to tell her to get some dice, too. There's a few places in town where she can get them, so that shouldn't be an issue.
The reason I suggested the old books is simple: They are simple enough for kids to understand, even kids who struggle a bit with reading as he does. That's one of the things I want to encourage him to do, read more books. And the Moldvay Basic book, in particular, has a great reading list, sort of an Appendix N variant with books aimed at younger kids. Teenagers are pretty cool with reading Conan and Tolkien, but they'll balk at Wizard of Oz or even Narnia. But those are great books for kids to read, especially to give them a great grounding in fantasy literature. And any reading is great to boost his education and his confidence.
Plus, the rules are straightforward. The Mentzer Basic set includes some solitaire, choose-your-own-adventure type pages to teach the basics. Both Moldvay and Mentzer cover a lot of information in only a few pages; Moldvay is 64 pages, but it's enough information to get a game started with lots of variety in monsters and treasure. Add the Cook or Mentzer Expert sets, and you're golden.
I know, I'm using AD&D 1e rules for my game, but I still have a fondness for the Moldvay rules, which are the ones I first owned. And I do have a nearly-complete BECMI collection, which I might consider completing now that D&D isn't verboten in the house. I'm only missing a few things, which I should be able to find. I regret that I'll never get the Trail Maps again, but there's no way I'm paying those prices on eBay. Not until I'm richer than this, anyway.
She also told me he was enthusiastic about reading my books, so she bought four of them. Hey, I'm not complaining in the slightest. And it spurred Tanner, who's not happy that his friend is going to read my books before he does. So, now I have to get author copies of these books for him. And, of course, he wants them signed.
Here's one of the books she bought for him, available on an Amazon website near you.
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