Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsEat ketchup chips, and let slip the dice of war!
Reviewed in Canada on May 30, 2021
At the start of 2021, one of my buddies asked all of us old dogs if we’d be interested in playing D&D while locked away, waiting for the world to resume. A few of us are veterans of RPG adventures back in the ‘80s, a few never played before. So, with the power of modern conferencing tech and the existence of this line of D&D books, we figured… why not? I wasn’t quite sure it would be a success, because RPGs can either capture your imagination or make you feel like you’re auditioning for a play you don’t want anyone to see you in. It had been a long time for me, and way back in the days when I was young and promising, my snooty RPG group deemed D&D to be too basic a game to satisfy their desire to play, er, “realistic” adventures about Elves and Orcs and Cobalds and Wizards. So, off it was to play another fantasy RPG and get lost in endless nights of complicated character creation that foreshadowed the over complicated approach of everything else in the game. In truth, I loved the comparative simplicity of ‘80s D&D. It had a certain innocent, earnest charm. I’m happy to say that spirit is very much alive in this Player’s Handbook. It’s really well done, laid out nicely, and the rules system seems detailed enough and solid. The guy who proposed that we play is our DM, and he seems quite happy with the other gaming materials from this line that he uses to support our adventures. About a half-dozen sessions in, we’re all having a blast. Armed with my character sheet, dice and snacks, I’m enjoying the adventures. Nice job by Wizards of the Coast.