Friday Night Videos: BECMI Special, Chart Action 83!
So June is BECMI Month and I am going to be doing some BECMI-flavored versions of regular features.Since the Basic Set of BECMI came out in 1983 I thought it might be fun to pull out a play-list from...
View ArticleMonstrous Monday: Sea Dragons (BECMI special)
It's another BECMI Monstrous Monday. This is Expert Week and few creatures really exemplify the Expert experience to me (either B/X or BECMI) than sea monsters and dinosaurs.As it turns out, the Field...
View ArticleBECMI: Expert Set review
Moreso than the D&D Basic Set it was the D&D Expert Set that defined what "Basic-era" games were for me. So it is with great excitement that I delve into the BECMI version of the D&D...
View ArticleClassic Adventures Revisited: X1 The Isle of Dread (BECMI Edition)
When I kicked off BECMI Month I mentioned that I was going to try to do BECMI versions of some regular features. Here is one I was really looking forward too.With the possible exception of B2 Keep on...
View ArticleBECMI: Expert Level Accessories and the AD&D Toy Line
Last week I talked about the tie-ins with the 1983 D&D Basic Set. Today I want to delve into a very specifics sort of tie-in relationship and one that gave us very mixed results.I am talking of...
View ArticleRetrospective, Review and Refit: X6 Quagmire (BECMI)
Not just a review today, but I want to spend some time today with an adventure that fueled my imaginations...or at least I thought it did. I also want to talk about what my plans are for it now.So...
View ArticleHappy Birthday to Me, BECMI style
Today is my birthday! For me back in Jr. High and beyond that meant playing D&D in the summer.Well, I still get to do that with my kids, but this birthday I treated myself to something...
View ArticleFriday Night Videos: BECMI Special, Ministry of Music 1984
Well...This was supposed to be posted last night, but I guess I forgot to set it up right.So continuing with the music of the time when the BECMI sets were new here is some music from 1984!
View ArticleBECMI Special, Warduke for 5e
We are going into Companion Week so let's get a character above 15th level. Who better than the poster boy for Chaotic Avengers, Warduke.But since I am playing 5e this weekend, here are his stats for...
View ArticleMonstrous Monday: Philosopher Lich and Notions (BECMI Special)
This week I am going to cover the Companion series and what that meant to me before it came out when it came out and now.Today we have nearly unfettered access to RPG material. One of the things I did...
View ArticleThe OSE Warlock, In Print
I interrupt BECMI Week to give you something decidedly B/X.It took a bit, but now you can get The Warlock for Old-School Essentials in print, both in hard-cover and soft-cover!I am very pleased with...
View ArticleBECMI: Companion Set Review
We are now at the part of my hand-made maps of the world where I leave the dungeons (Basic) and wildernesses (Expert) that I knew so well. I am now in an area of half-rumored tales and speculations....
View ArticleClass Struggles: The BECMI Prestige Classes
A slightly different sort of Class Struggles today.Yesterday I reviewed the Companion Set Rules. Within those rules some new "sub-classes" or "traveling classes" were introduced. Let me summarize...
View ArticleRetrospective, Review and Refit: CM2 Death's Ride (BECMI)
Ah. Death's Ride. I have such fond memories of this adventure.CM2 Death's Ride: RetrospectiveDeath's Ride is one of a few adventures I have had the privilege to both play in and to run. While overtly...
View ArticleCharacter: Magnus Ulslime, the Chaotic. Death Pact Warlock (BECMI Special)
Last week I talked about the adventure Quagmire for the Expert set. Earlier I talked about the adventure Death's Ride for the Companion set. What do these both have in common? They were the genesis...
View ArticleFriday Night Videos: Summer of 1985
I will remember to this one right!So continuing with the music of the time when the BECMI sets were new here is some music from 1985!I created this playlist last year to celebrate the start of Stranger...
View ArticleGAZ 3 The Principalities of Glantri Print on Demand
BECMI Month continues here at The Other Side with an early Father's Day gift for me.The Principalities of Glantri, Print on Demand version.I reviewed the PDF and my original print version some time...
View ArticleMonstrous Monday: Sasquatch (BECMI Special)
I am continuing my BECMI posting all month.Saturday was the first day of Summer for 2020 and Summer and June usually meant one thing in my house back in 1983. The local Public Library's Summer Reading...
View ArticleBECMI: Master Set Review
Moving every up we are now at the apex of BECMI D&d Play for normal characters. The journey that began at level 1 in the Basic set is now seeing its end at levels 26 to 36 in the Master Set.This...
View ArticleMystara, The Known World of BECMI
Spend any time here and you will know that the Known World of the Basic/Expert Sets (B/X) was the first world I played in. While I would move on the AD&D and Oerth the Known World would also move...
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