What DND books and edition were used in Stranger Things. I'm mainly wanting to know for seasons 4 and 1. I know it's either the 1st or 2nd edition, or basic or expert. But those anyone know the exact books used? Thanks in advance.
Breathe, dragons; sing of the First World, forged out of chaos and painted with beauty. Sing of Bahamut, the Platinum, molding the shape of the mountains and rivers; Sing too of Chromatic Tiamat, painting all over the infinite canvas. Partnered, they woke in the darkness; partnered, they labored in acts of creation.
I’d go with it being 1e more than basic/expert. Mostly because I’m pretty sure that mind flayer/demogorgon/vecna did not appear in the basic or expert set, though I don’t think vecna was in the monster manual, just his hand and eye in the magic items in the DMG. (if nothing else basic/expert characters would have been too low level for those monsters.)
But then I distinctly remember them making an attack roll (not a save vs. spells) with a d20 when casting a fireball, so they’re certainly making some allowances with how the game was structured. And they also may have been playing basic, but aware of monster manual monsters. Still, pretty sure it was 1e.
I'm fairly certain that the show never shows any actual books, merch, etc in season 1, in Season 4 you can see in Eddy's game that he has the 1ed Players handbook as part of his screen. And, yes, AD&D was most certainly out in the early 80s as I was playing it by 1983.
In the first season they seem to be playing white box maybe? In seasons after that the Basic Box set is shown and season 4 has them playing AD&D. They dont really stick to one edition its pretty mixed up. But then that was also how we played back then.
Ok, thank you all for these comments. I'll check out the 1st edition and purchase the three core rulebooks. My friends were looking for a style of play similar to Stranger Things, so yeah.
I'm fairly certain that the show never shows any actual books, merch, etc in season 1, in Season 4 you can see in Eddy's game that he has the 1ed Players handbook as part of his screen. And, yes, AD&D was most certainly out in the early 80s as I was playing it by 1983.
Edit for typo.
IIRC, you see the picture of the mind flayer from the 1E Monster Manual in the first season.
Ok, thank you all for these comments. I'll check out the 1st edition and purchase the three core rulebooks. My friends were looking for a style of play similar to Stranger Things, so yeah.
There’s a lot of 1e clones out there nowadays, as well, which might be easier to work with as many have sanded off some of the rough bits of the early editions. OSR is the general acronym to look for. I know OSRIC is pretty popular. You might check those out as 1e was kind of a mess in terms of rules. IMO, there was a lot of added complexity that didn’t necessarily make the game any more fun. Of course there are plenty who disagree with that take. Luckily, we’re both right.
Either way, good luck and I hope you find something that suits you.
The Duffer brothers were born in 86, they most likely played 3rd edition, maybe the tail end of 2nd, and they seem to not have really read the rules for 1st edition, so occasionally slip on basic ideas, like including a concept that was not in the game until 3rd edition. The kids would be playing 1st edition AD&D based on the use of Paladins, Rangers and the use of Demogorgon and not including references to elves and dwarves as classes (BECM). Vecna's artifacts were included in OD&D fairly early. Also I must note that D&D was a nod to the classic 80s film E.T. where that movie opens with Eliot wanting to play D&D with his older brother and his friends, and while used as a catalyst, I don't think the writers ever meant it to have the splash it did in the D&D community.
Based off of the timeline that Stranger Things was supposed to take place, one would assume that they are playing 1st Edition D&D.
The Original D&D release was in 1974.
1st Edition was released in 1977, so it makes sense in the timing of the show.
AD&D was not released until 1989, so we know it was not 2nd Edition.
Cheers!
Close.
1974 - og game (generic fantasy dungeon war game)
1977 - 1st edition, AD&D (aka 1st adavanced), and Box set (aka starter set) - all set mostly in Grey Hawk so Gary could have his name on all books.
1989 - 2nd edition AD&D now the main rules, plus Forgotten Relms was now the main setting. So Gary's name could be removed from most books.
1995 - 2.5 aka revised AD&D better art, easier to read, some corrections in rules.
2k - 3.0/SRD/D20 system the birth of modern D&D and when WotC purchased the game. Note 3.0 was in the works before the sale, the SRD and the D20 system was designed by WotC to ease into the new era.
Stranger Things starts in 1983 goes to 1987 according to the wiki. Only saw season 1. So they have 1st edition, 1st ed Box Set, 1st ed AD&D, and Grey Hawk.
Important note, in no edition that I am aware of, especially ones from that era, is fireball resolved with a single d20 role… Just saying,
depends on who is casting it, because a single d20 role for a player's save might be all that is done if the fireball comes from an NPC. As DMs are encrouaged not to always role dice but to take the average number insted.
They cast a level 6 Fireball, spell save DC15, 11d6 average is 38/39 damage. So as a DM I can ask the player to make a DC 15 dex save or take 38 or 19 on a save (unless you can mitigate further)
when dealing with large fights, as DM I use the average rolls instead of manually rolling dice mostly to save time. Also many people for similar reasons just use d20s in the games, max damage on a nat20 and average damage for all others.
However for that TV show which I only watched one season of, probably did the Movie version of table top gaming ie only use dice if it can be used for the drama of the scene.
When a PC casts fireball in any earlier edition, the DM rolls saves for the enemies, and that just reduces damage by half. This is NOT a “depends”, it is/was the rules…
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“The debt we owe to the play of imagination is incalculable.” • Carl Jung •
Ok, thank you all for these comments. I'll check out the 1st edition and purchase the three core rulebooks. My friends were looking for a style of play similar to Stranger Things, so yeah.
FYI you can get the pdfs legally and cheaply via DriveThruRPG. If youre looking for the physical books, you may end up paying collector prices.
Yeah, I'm going to use DriveThruRPG. I've recently started using it, purchased a copy of Kids on Bikes for 10 dollars, which was so good. But yeah, I checked it would be about $30 for all three. But yeah, thanks.
Ok, thank you all for these comments. I'll check out the 1st edition and purchase the three core rulebooks. My friends were looking for a style of play similar to Stranger Things, so yeah.
Just remember, they weren't "playing" anything. Those are actors performing from a scripted show. Your experience/mileage will vary.
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What DND books and edition were used in Stranger Things. I'm mainly wanting to know for seasons 4 and 1. I know it's either the 1st or 2nd edition, or basic or expert. But those anyone know the exact books used? Thanks in advance.
Greetings Ninxon,
Based off of the timeline that Stranger Things was supposed to take place, one would assume that they are playing 1st Edition D&D.
The Original D&D release was in 1974.
1st Edition was released in 1977, so it makes sense in the timing of the show.
AD&D was not released until 1989, so we know it was not 2nd Edition.
Cheers!
Breathe, dragons; sing of the First World, forged out of chaos and painted with beauty.
Sing of Bahamut, the Platinum, molding the shape of the mountains and rivers;
Sing too of Chromatic Tiamat, painting all over the infinite canvas.
Partnered, they woke in the darkness; partnered, they labored in acts of creation.
1st edition AD&D was early 80s, as were the boxed Basic/Expert sets. Given what I know of the show's setting, it's likely one of those two.
(As I understand it, a big reason for the basic/advanced split was to cut Dave Arneson out of the money.)
I’d go with it being 1e more than basic/expert. Mostly because I’m pretty sure that mind flayer/demogorgon/vecna did not appear in the basic or expert set, though I don’t think vecna was in the monster manual, just his hand and eye in the magic items in the DMG. (if nothing else basic/expert characters would have been too low level for those monsters.)
But then I distinctly remember them making an attack roll (not a save vs. spells) with a d20 when casting a fireball, so they’re certainly making some allowances with how the game was structured. And they also may have been playing basic, but aware of monster manual monsters. Still, pretty sure it was 1e.
I'm fairly certain that the show never shows any actual books, merch, etc in season 1, in Season 4 you can see in Eddy's game that he has the 1ed Players handbook as part of his screen. And, yes, AD&D was most certainly out in the early 80s as I was playing it by 1983.
Edit for typo.
Pretty sure when
Will gave Mike his books
, it showed the red player handbook.
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In the first season they seem to be playing white box maybe? In seasons after that the Basic Box set is shown and season 4 has them playing AD&D. They dont really stick to one edition its pretty mixed up. But then that was also how we played back then.
Ok, thank you all for these comments. I'll check out the 1st edition and purchase the three core rulebooks. My friends were looking for a style of play similar to Stranger Things, so yeah.
IIRC, you see the picture of the mind flayer from the 1E Monster Manual in the first season.
There’s a lot of 1e clones out there nowadays, as well, which might be easier to work with as many have sanded off some of the rough bits of the early editions. OSR is the general acronym to look for. I know OSRIC is pretty popular. You might check those out as 1e was kind of a mess in terms of rules. IMO, there was a lot of added complexity that didn’t necessarily make the game any more fun. Of course there are plenty who disagree with that take. Luckily, we’re both right.
Either way, good luck and I hope you find something that suits you.
The Duffer brothers were born in 86, they most likely played 3rd edition, maybe the tail end of 2nd, and they seem to not have really read the rules for 1st edition, so occasionally slip on basic ideas, like including a concept that was not in the game until 3rd edition. The kids would be playing 1st edition AD&D based on the use of Paladins, Rangers and the use of Demogorgon and not including references to elves and dwarves as classes (BECM). Vecna's artifacts were included in OD&D fairly early. Also I must note that D&D was a nod to the classic 80s film E.T. where that movie opens with Eliot wanting to play D&D with his older brother and his friends, and while used as a catalyst, I don't think the writers ever meant it to have the splash it did in the D&D community.
Close.
1974 - og game (generic fantasy dungeon war game)
1977 - 1st edition, AD&D (aka 1st adavanced), and Box set (aka starter set) - all set mostly in Grey Hawk so Gary could have his name on all books.
1989 - 2nd edition AD&D now the main rules, plus Forgotten Relms was now the main setting. So Gary's name could be removed from most books.
1995 - 2.5 aka revised AD&D better art, easier to read, some corrections in rules.
2k - 3.0/SRD/D20 system the birth of modern D&D and when WotC purchased the game. Note 3.0 was in the works before the sale, the SRD and the D20 system was designed by WotC to ease into the new era.
Stranger Things starts in 1983 goes to 1987 according to the wiki. Only saw season 1. So they have 1st edition, 1st ed Box Set, 1st ed AD&D, and Grey Hawk.
Important note, in no edition that I am aware of, especially ones from that era, is fireball resolved with a single d20 role… Just saying,
“The debt we owe to the play of imagination is incalculable.” • Carl Jung •
depends on who is casting it, because a single d20 role for a player's save might be all that is done if the fireball comes from an NPC. As DMs are encrouaged not to always role dice but to take the average number insted.
See: https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/5194993-fiend-cultist
They cast a level 6 Fireball, spell save DC15, 11d6 average is 38/39 damage. So as a DM I can ask the player to make a DC 15 dex save or take 38 or 19 on a save (unless you can mitigate further)
when dealing with large fights, as DM I use the average rolls instead of manually rolling dice mostly to save time. Also many people for similar reasons just use d20s in the games, max damage on a nat20 and average damage for all others.
However for that TV show which I only watched one season of, probably did the Movie version of table top gaming ie only use dice if it can be used for the drama of the scene.
When a PC casts fireball in any earlier edition, the DM rolls saves for the enemies, and that just reduces damage by half. This is NOT a “depends”, it is/was the rules…
“The debt we owe to the play of imagination is incalculable.” • Carl Jung •
FYI you can get the pdfs legally and cheaply via DriveThruRPG. If youre looking for the physical books, you may end up paying collector prices.
Yeah, I'm going to use DriveThruRPG. I've recently started using it, purchased a copy of Kids on Bikes for 10 dollars, which was so good. But yeah, I checked it would be about $30 for all three. But yeah, thanks.
Just remember, they weren't "playing" anything. Those are actors performing from a scripted show. Your experience/mileage will vary.