Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
The 1st Edition Player's Handbook is back!
No more searching through stacks of books and magazines to find out what you need to know. The Player's Handbook puts it all at your fingertips, including: All recommended character classes: Fighters, Paladins, Rangers, Magic-Users, and more.
Character Races: Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes, Half-Orcs, Humans, and more.
Character Level Statistics.
Equipment lists with costs.
Spell listings by level and descriptions of effects (including many new spells!).
As a dungeon adventurer or Dungeon Master, you will find the contents of this book to be what you have been waiting for. All useful material is now compiled under one cover, especially for players!
Product History
Players Handbook (1978), by Gary Gygax, was the first book of rules for the AD and amp;D game. It was published in June 1978 and seen by many for the first time at Gen Con XI (August 1978).
About the Cover. The cover by Dave Trampier and mdash; which shows adventurers looting an idol after killing their foes and mdash; is one of the most famous in D and amp;D history. The painting actually encompasses the back cover too (as was the case with all of the original AD and amp;D books) but that picture, which shows adventurers dragging off loot and foes, has never received the same attention.
Because of its fame, Trampier's cover has been repeatedly recreated and parodied. The 3.5e Player's Handbook II (2006), which shows a close-up of the idol-robbing, may be the most attractive homage, but the original HackMaster Player's Handbook (2001) is fun too, because it shows Trampier's iconic scene several minutes earlier, when the adventurers are still fighting the lizard monsters.
Trampier's famous cover was replaced in 1983 by a Jeff Easley painting of a wizard. Most people agree that the later image is more professional, but much less memorable.
About the Other Illustrations. The illustrations by Dave Trampier and David C. Sutherland III feel relatively scant, especially when compared to the 200 illustrations in the Monster Manual (1977). There also aren't as many iconic illustrations as found in the other two core AD and amp;D books. However, the illustration for Otto's Irresistible Dance is a favorite. It shows an Umber Hulk clicking his heels together while under the influence of the spell and mdash; and nbsp;which underlines the use of humorous cartoons in early AD and amp;D products.
About the Title. There is no apostrophe in the title of the original Players Handbook. This was purposeful. Its usage was considered confusing and graphically unattractive, and so none of the 1st edition (1e) books had apostrophes in their titles. In Dragon #28 (August 1979), TSR Manager of Designers Allan Hammack, bemoaned its loss, saying and quot;Alas for the death of the apostrophe! and quot; and and quot;Using an artistic excuse, they bar its every attempt at propriety and propagate the error. All is not lost, however, for there is a small but determined underground seeking to restore the lost mark to its proper place. Someday ... . and quot;
That day would be the 1989 release of AD and amp;D 2e.
Moving Toward AD and amp;D. The D and amp;D game began with the OD and amp;D box (1974), which was expanded with four supplements (1975-1976) and additional articles in The Strategic Review (1975-1976). However, by the time that Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry (1976) was published, TSR had already decided that the system and mdash; which now spanned a half dozen books and several newsletters and mdash; needed to be unified and cleaned up.
A new Basic D and amp;D (1977) came out first, thanks to the singular efforts of J. Eric Holmes, but it was just an introductory book, intended to shepherd new players through the first three levels of play. What D and amp;D really needed was a revamped game for the more advanced players: Advanced Dungeons and amp; Dragons.
The AD and amp;D system technically began with Monster Manual (1977) in December 1977. This compendium of monsters showed off the increased detail that would be present in the new AD and amp;D game, but it didn't give much hint at the game mechanics. That would await the publication of the AD and amp;D Players Handbook (1978) six months later.
Despite the publication of AD and amp;D, Gygax claimed that the original and quot;D and amp;D will always be with us and quot;. He thought that OD and amp;D and AD and amp;D served different audiences, and that there was no reason to retire the original. OD and amp;D did indeed remain available into the '80s. Afterward, later editions of Basic D and amp;D (1981, 1983) picked up the mantle of OD and amp;D as the simpler and looser D and amp;D game.
Many Printings. The Players Handbook appeared in 17 different printings from 1978 to 1990. The last few printings actually appeared after the release of the AD and amp;D 2e Player's Handbook (1989) and mdash; which shows how much less concerned everyone was about editions in the '80s. It was a far cry from the desperate dumping of 3e products following the release of D and amp;D 3.5e (2003)!
Most printings involved very minor variations. The biggest change came with the 8th printing (1983), which was when the new Jeff Easley cover appeared as part of a general rebranding of the AD and amp;D line. In the modern day, the 1e Players Handbook has been reprinted twice more and mdash; once in a miniature collectible edition produced under license by Twenty First Century Games (1999), and once in a deluxe limited edition produced by Wizards of the Coast (2012) to support the Gygax memorial fund. The 2012 edition featured reset text.
A Different Sort of Players Handbook. The AD and amp;D 1e Players Handbook is very different from its later incarnations. From AD and amp;D 2e onward, the Player's Handbook has been the main rulebook for the D and amp;D game, but in AD and amp;D 1e it only contained the most crucial rules needed by the players. That means that it explains abilities, races, classes, spells, and psionics, plus a few other bobs and bits.
What's astonishing is what's not in this book. For example, you won't find rules about how to actually roll your abilities! The Dungeon Masters Guide (1979) has that! Similarly, there are no rules for combat or even saving throws! Instead the player only got summaries of what the rules systems were like and mdash; not the actual systems!
Though this might seem bizarre today, the original Players Handbook was from a different age; players were kept in the dark about the rules of the game, and the game master was the ultimate arbiter of all the game's mechanics.
What a Difference an Edition Makes: The Controversy. There's a lot of disagreement over whether AD and amp;D is a minor revision of OD and amp;D and mdash; gathering together all of its supplements and articles and mdash; or whether it's something bigger. This controversy started in Dragon #26 (June 1979) when Gygax rather shockingly said, and quot;there is no similarity (perhaps even less) between D and amp;D and AD and amp;D than there is between D and amp;D and its various imitators produced by competing publishers. and quot; In other words, he was claiming that OD and amp;D was more like Tunnels and amp; Trolls (1975) and RuneQuest (1978) than AD and amp;D! He was very clear in saying this: and quot; It is neither an expansion nor a revision of the old game, it is a new game. and quot;
Some folks disagreed, most notably Richard Berg who reviewed the Players Handbook in Strategy and amp; Tactics magazine and said that it was a rewrite of the OD and amp;D game. Gygax took extreme umbrage of this claim in Dragon #22 (February 1979), stating:
and quot;Under the circumstances, one can only wonder why Mr. Berg took the time to write on a subject of which he obviously knew so little. Perhaps it is personal or professional jealousy, as the success of D and amp;D and now AD and amp;D has certainly set the rest of the gaming hobby industry on its collective ear, but that is speculation. and quot;
The fans had the ultimate word: when you examine the RPG magazines of the late '70s and early '80s that most of them didn't differentiate much between OD and amp;D, AD and amp;D, and BD and amp;D. Instead, magazine articles were usually written for and quot;Dungeons and amp; Dragons and quot; generally. In the present day, most people would probably still agree that Berg was more correct than Gygax and hellip; but it all depends on what you're measuring.
What a Difference an Edition Makes: The Goals. There is a big difference between OD and amp;D and AD and amp;D, but it primarily lies in the overall vision of the new game. Gygax explained many of his new goals in articles in Dragon #26 (June 1979) and Dragon #28 (August 1979). He said that and quot;D and amp;D is only a loose structure and hellip; [while] AD and amp;D is a much tighter structure which follows, in part, the same format D and amp;D does, but it is a much stronger, more rigid, more extensive framework and hellip; and quot;
This tighter framework served three purposes:
First, Gygax thought that the tighter framework would keep players from house-ruling D and amp;D. As he explained: and quot;[O]D and amp;D campaigns can be those which feature comic book spells, 43rd level balrogs as player characters, and include a plethora of trash from various and sundry sources, AD and amp;D cannot be so composed. and quot; Based on these changes he thought that and quot;players will not be so able to bend the rules nor will the DM be able to bend the rules. and quot; This staunch defense of the and quot;official and quot; rules of AD and amp;D would lead to letters-column drama throughout the '80s.
Second, Gygax thought that it would create and quot;a better platform from which to launch major tournaments and quot; and mdash; and nbsp;a goal that was much more successful (and less controversial).
Third, Gygax thought that it would better orient D and amp;D toward its actual audience. OD and amp;D had been intended for miniatures players who already had a strong basis in wargaming. Rules that were sometimes guidelines weren't a problem for these experienced players. Now, D and amp;D's loose structure was becoming a problem for the larger audiences brought into the game though Holmes' Basic D and amp;D. Gygax believed that a more structured game would better appeal to a large audience made up of and quot;wargamers, game hobbyists, science fiction and fantasy fans, those who have never read fantasy fiction or played strategy games, young and old, male and female. and quot;
What a Difference an Edition Makes: The Mechanics. Mechanically, the biggest difference in AD and amp;D lies in its level of detail. Everything is much more specific and much better described. The Monster Manual had already made this obvious with its monster descriptions, which were longer and had much more statistics. In the Players Handbook the spell listings (which took up half the book!) showed the same increased level of detail and mdash; which now featured not just longer descriptions but also whole new elements, like lists of required spell components.
AD and amp;D also made one other major mechanical change: it increased the breadth of play possible. OD and amp;D play topped out in the first ten levels of play, while AD and amp;D pushed viable play into the teens. As Gygax said, and quot;you won and rsquo;t run out of game in six weeks, or six months. Perhaps in six years you will, but that and rsquo;s a whole different story. and quot;
Beyond that, the new Players Handbook mainly gathered material from a variety of sources. For example, the ten character classes in AD and amp;D were massively expanded from the three in OD and amp;D, but most of them had appeared before:
Cleric: OD and amp;D (1974)
Druid: Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry (1976)
Fighter: OD and amp;D (1974)
Paladin: Greyhawk (1975)
Ranger: The Strategic Review #2 (Summer 1975)
Magic-User: OD and amp;D (1974)
Illusionist: The Strategic Review #4 (Winter 1975)
Thief: Great Plains Game Players Newsletter #9 (June 1974) / Supplement I: Greyhawk (1975)
Assassin: Supplement II: Blackmoor (1975)
Monk: Supplement II: Blackmoor (1975)
The bard class (which appears in an appendix) was a bit more of an innovation; though a bard had previously appeared in The Strategic Review vol. 2 #1 (February 1976), the AD and amp;D bard was massively rebalanced and mdash; and largely considered unplayable, since it required moving through fighter and thief classes before finally arriving at druidic bardism.
AD and amp;D also increased the list of possible PC races, which were limited to dwarves, elves, hobbits, and men in OD and amp;D. Now the list of demihumans was doubled, with half-elves from Supplement I: Greyhawk (1975), gnomes from Supplement II: Blackmoor (1975) and the totally new half-orcs.
Beyond that, there were numerous small changes, such as: alignments were now ninefold, expanding from the five alignments found in and nbsp;The Strategic Review vol. 2 #1 (February 1976); all classes now got bonuses from strength and dexterity, not just fighters; and various mechanics were re-balanced as part of a more cohesive whole.
Whoops! Players Handbook was a small production from a small company and it had a fair number of errors in it. Dragon Magazine #35 (March 1980) lists many of them, but surprisingly most of those errors were never fixed in later editions of the actual book. The funniest error in the book is probably the listing of the class title for fifth level clerics as and quot;perfects and quot; and mdash; which was presumably a typo for and quot;prefects and quot;. This mistake for cut out of the Players Handbook starting with the third printing (1979) or so, leaving 5th level cleric as the only level in AD and amp;D without a level title.
The most far-reaching error in the Players Handbook, according to Frank Mentzer in Dragon #70 (February 1983), was the idea that falling damage was just 1d6 for every ten feet falling. Apparently Gygax had written and ldquo;1d6 per 10 and rsquo; for each 10 and rsquo; fallen and rdquo;, implying damage that cumulatively increased, but someone had changed it to and ldquo;1d6 for each 10 and rsquo; fallen and rdquo;. Gygax only realized the mistake while producing the thief-acrobat class for Dragon #69 (January 1983). However, after almost a decade of non-cumulative falling damage, it was almost impossible to get Mentzer's change to stick.
More errors appeared with the publication of the Dungeon Masters Guide (1979). Because so much time elapsed between the two publications, they ended up being out of sync with each other. The most notable change was probably that the monk went from using the thief attack table in the PHB to the the cleric attack table in the DMG, however there were other discrepancies between the books. Some were addressed in the and quot;Dispel Confusions and quot; columns of the later issues of TSR UK's Imagine magazine.
Expanding the Outer Planes. The D and amp;D Outer Planes appeared for the first time in and quot;Planes: The Concepts of Spatial, Temporal and Physical Relationships in D and amp;D and quot;, an article by Gary Gygax for The Dragon #8 (July 1977). Players Handbook reprints the Dragon planes in largely the same form. There are 25 total, including the prime, positive, and negative material planes, four elemental planes, the ethereal plane, the astral plane, and 16 outer planes.
The Great Wheel was born!
Future History. The entire roleplaying world was in a strange hiatus between the publication of AD and amp;D 1e's Players Handbook (June 1978) and Dungeon Masters Guide (August 1978). During this interim, TSR began publishing official AD and amp;D products, such as the original and quot;G and quot; adventures (1978), but there were no AD and amp;D rules to play then with! To help resolve this issue, TSR published an emergency sneak preview of AD and amp;D rules in Dragon #22 (February 1979), but for the rest of AD and amp;D's rules, players had to wait another six months.
This wait between the books does not appear to have been planned. At one time, Gygax was talking about both books appearing in summer of 1978. This suggests that the intent was to have no gap and hellip; let alone a gap of 14 months! The problem was in part caused by Gygax needing a break after the complex ruleswork of the Players Handbook; he wrote the and quot;D and quot; adventures (1978) as a break before moving on to the Dungeon Masters Guide.
About the Creators. Gygax was the co-creator of D and amp;D alongside Dave Arneson, but the AD and amp;D books would only bear his name and hellip; a point that led to legal contention in 1979.
About the Product Historian
The history of this product was researched and written by Shannon Appelcline, the editor-in-chief of RPGnet and the author of and nbsp;Designers and amp; Dragons and nbsp;- a history of the roleplaying industry told one company at a time. Please feel free to mail corrections, comments, and additions to shannon.appelcline@gmail.com. Thanks to the Acaeum for careful research on Players Handbook printings.