Game Description

The Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Core Rules 2.0 CD-ROM contains all the information from the nine "core" AD&D rulebooks including the Players' Handbook, Dungeon Masters' Guide, Monstrous Manual, Arms & Equipment Guide, Wilderness Survival Guide, Combat & Tactics, Skills & Powers, Spells & Magic and High-Level Campaigns -- over 2,000 pages of rules.

The program allows users to customize spells, encounters, races, items, and treasures as well as player and non-player characters to use in their own games. Two mapping design utilities are included as part of the program: Map Maker II and Campaign Mapper II, designed by ProFantasy, Ltd., the same developers responsible for the earlier mapping programs found in version 1.0 of the AD&D: Core Rules. Users can design their own custom cities, dungeons, and more.

Other features include the ability to link map locations to monsters and treasure databases and "dice rolling" software that can automatically roll any type and number of dice. You can also create, print, and maintain fully detailed character sheets. ~ Tara Hernandez, All Game Guide

Roots & Influences

The Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game from TSR, Inc. (Now a division of Wizards of the Coast, creators of the Magic: The Gathering collectible card game), is one of the most popular and imitated pen and paper RPGs in existence. Released in 1974, the original Dungeons & Dragons game is widely credited with creating the RPG category.

The years that followed the game's initial release would see the original D&D rules and guidelines expanded to improve the game's depth and playability, also creating unavoidable complexity.

Keeping up with the multiple reference books, new monsters, spells, magic items and rule changes proved to be quite a time-consuming task for dedicated players. Many companies, including TSR, developed books, binders and other products to help keep both players and Dungeon Masters (DMs) organized.

Transferring the AD&D reference books and other rules to electronic format is not a new idea. Before the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Core Rules 2.0 CD-ROM, the format had been on multiple floppy disks for reference. This was disappointing to the product's target audience (DMs), most of who customize their games and rules and needed a flexible tool to assist them. ~ Tara Hernandez, All Game Guide

Review: Enjoyment

Ultimately, the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: Core Rules 2.0 CD-ROM does what it's supposed to do. It's a solid reference that makes a valuable addition to any Dungeon Master's collection. Having the cash equivalent of over $100 worth of game books on a CD makes it worth the investment, especially for players who enjoy making their own house rules. But, it falls short of the incredible potential a Dungeon Master's program can provide. ~ Michael Tresca, All Game Guide

Production Credits

Campaign Mapper by: ProFantasy, Inc.

EVERMORE ENTERTAINMENT, INC.

Lead Programmer: James W. Sehmer

Programmers: Alan A. DeSmet, Kurt B. Otto, Rebecca J. Penman, Gilbert K. Burns

Lead Artist: Gary Geisler

Artists: Kyo Ladopoulos, Eric Turman, Kevin Pochron, Jonathan Lars DeVore, Jarrod Showers, Brian J. Shubat, Michael D. Werckle, Elizabeth McNeely

Project Manager: Victor Penman

PROFANTASY, LTD.

Software: Simon Rogers, Mark Fulford

CAD Source Code: Michael Riddlev

Manual: Mark Fulford

Thanks To: The Colonel and the CC Mail Listers

TSR, INC.

Director: Rob Voce

Producer: Anthony Valterra

Editing: Thomas Reid, Keith Strohm, Luke Matthews

Development: Thomas Reid, Steve Winter, Jim Butler, Dale Donovan

Art Director: Dawn Murin

Typography: Angelika Lokotz

Cover Illustration: Larry Elmore

Campaign Mapper Symbols: Linda Kekumu, Rob Lazzaretti, Todd Alan Gamble

Package Design: Dawn Murin

Artists: Cheryl Knowles, Carolly Hauksdottir, Jeff Sturgeon, Jeff Fennel, Frank Lam, Diane Mellow, Armand Cabrera

Special Thanks: Peter Adkison

OTIVO, INC.

Beta Testers: Jeffrey Bolger, Mike Boozer, Eric Cagle, William Clarke III, Brad Coleman, Adam Conus, Amy Krug, Rick Bligh, Derek Garner, Cliff Jones, Jason Lowry, Brian Mulligan, Rich Redman, JD Wiker ~ Rich Hernandez, All Game Guide

Review: Overall

As any gamer who used the multiple floppy disk versions of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules and reference books knows, a revision was long overdue. The first efforts were a mess, with inconsistencies, broken programs and a general feeling that TSR rushed it out as soon as possible without significant quality control (not an uncommon theme with TSR before the Wizards of the Coast takeover. The good news is they fixed a few problems but, conversely, also created a few more in the process.

The product contains enough staple elements to make gamers wonder why they ever bought any hardcover rulebooks in the first place. There are no fewer than nine rulebooks provided in .RTF format, even more than in the original version. Even so, it leads one to wonder why some rulebooks were left out, such as the 'Complete Book of' series and Spellbooks -- but, that's a minor quibble.

What you do find is a hand-dandy number crunching program that demystifies the Player's Option rules supplement. The Player's Option rules helped customize Dungeons & Dragons role-playing campaigns but the extra math required as a result of these changes made the conversion to the expanded system daunting. With the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Core Rules 2.0 CD-ROM system, statistics are calculated automatically.

The database allows Dungeon Masters to customize various objects ranging from magic items and monsters to encounters and kits -- a nice feature. The kits, though, are only customized in the Players Option sense, which means they are very weak. Also, there's a bit of confusion between giving a kit a bonus to proficiency, a free proficiency, a preferred proficiency and a required proficiency. Forget customizing classes -- Thou Shall Not Touch the Core Rules! So, granted, maybe Core Rules are not that customizable after all.

The designers tried very hard to enhance graphics capability by including the Campaign Cartographer, a program that proves to be exceptionally dense and not particularly effective in mapping anything. There's another mapping program included as well -- the original mapping program known as Map Maker II. In the original program, it simply didn't work and in version 2.0 it's still only minimally functional. None of the maps export in a useful graphics format: no .PDFs, .BMPs, .GIFs or .JPGs. Even worse, none of the maps are compatible with Campaign Cartographer! ~ Michael Tresca, All Game Guide

Review: Graphics

TSR tried but fell short. The lack of exportable useful graphics formats is disappointing. ~ Michael Tresca, All Game Guide

Review: Sound

None in the game. ~ Michael Tresca, All Game Guide

Review: Replay Value

The program will be useful only until the next edition of rules is released. ~ Michael Tresca, All Game Guide

Review: Documentation

Campaign Cartographer is complex enough that it needs an instruction manual. Unfortunately, none is provided. ~ Michael Tresca, All Game Guide