40 Years of BECMI
by Allan Palmer from Threshold Magazine issue 33The
Birth of BECMI
Looking back as we reach the
40th anniversary
of “Red Box” Basic D&D (and “Blue Box”
Expert, and…)
Back in the first issue of THRESHOLD in 2013, Håvard wrote a piece celebrating the 30th anniversary of the “Red Box” D&D set. More than thirty issues later and ten years on, it seems appropriate to look back after 40 years to the beginnings of the BECMI (Basic, Expert, Companion, Master, and Immortals) rules system.
I went searching to see how DRAGON Magazine covered the launch of the “Red Box” in 1983. It has to be said that coverage of D&D by TSR was relatively minimal. Check the references to the D&D revised rules at the DragonDex website (https://www.aeolia.net/dragondex/) which provides a complete listing of the contents of DRAGON.
The
first 1983 reference to the “new” Basic and Expert sets
was the article “A new game with a familiar name” by
Frank Mentzer in the September issue of DRAGON
(#77). In the article Mentzer briefly describes the development of
the “new” Basic Rules from their predecessors, commenting
that they are a “revision”, and not a “reorganisation”
as he refers to the previous 1981 edition. Mentzer stresses the ease
of use and playability of this latest version. The article then
continues with a preview of the revised Expert Rules set (“due
out late summer or early autumn”). Towards the end of the
article Mentzer writes:
“Now I’m working on the rest
of the D&D game system, planning and outlining what is to come in
Set #3, Companion, and #4, Masters. The old Gods,
Demigods &
Heroes book
is due for revision, too.” This is followed by a brief outline
of what the Companion and Master sets will deal with, together with a
hint that the highest levels will enable PCs to gain immortality. The
seeds of BECMI have been sown. Frank also notes in describing the
development of the Expert Set that “…Francois Froideval
is adding his creativity to the projects. He’s already done a
map of the globe, with all the continents and things, and the area
described in Expert is in one small corner of the world, the starting
point for epic adventure.”
[SIDEBAR
Page X8 of the 1981 Expert rule book had a section on “Levels Beyond Those Listed” (i.e. above 14th level). While brief suggested advancement guidelines are provided, the text goes on to say: “Those players and DMs who wish to wait for the D&D Companion supplement will be provided with exact information on these higher levels.” No Companion supplement was produced to accompany this edition of the Basic/Expert rules. The proposed revision of Gods, Demigods & Heroes (the fourth supplement of the 1976 Dungeons & Dragons rules) was probably the basis for the later Immortals Rules Set.]
TSR UK’s IMAGINE Magazine issue #7 (October 1983) included a review of “Dungeons & Dragons Basic Rules Set 1” by Doug Cowie. That issue also had a back-page full-colour advertisement for the ”New Popular Edition Completely Revised” of “The Original Fantasy role Playing Game”.
Cowie writes a positive review extolling the improvements in the design and style of the revised package:
“At long last, the producers of a role-playing game have really thought about what it is like to be a new player, someone without the first idea of what an RPG is like or, still less, how to play one.”
“The major differences between the new Basic and previous editions are all in the explanatory material and they are all without exception improvements. The actual game system is hardly changed at all so if you did not like the old rules (as opposed to the way they were presented) you will not like these.”
The following year DRAGON issue #84 (April 1984) contains a review of both the Red and Blue Box sets by Kan Rolston.
Like the review in the issue of IMAGINE, Rolston is also impressed by the format and presentation used for Mentzer’s revision of the 1981 box sets:
“The new D&D® Basic and D&D Expert Rules Sets are first-class revisions, improved in every way over their predecessors. With a more modest ambition than C&S, the revised D&D game succeeds better in achieving its well-focused goals, with substantial improvements in game design and presentation. The new Basic Rules set contains a Player’s Manual, a Dungeon Master’s Rulebook, polyhedral dice, and a dice marker. The new Expert Rules set contains the Expert Rulebook, an Expert module (The Isle of Dread), dice, and a marker.”
“Improvements in the presentation of these new editions stand out immediately, particularly those in layout and illustration. Dramatic and skilfully executed artwork (a far cry from earlier illustrations) embellishes the material. And as soon as you begin reading, other improvements are evident.”
That April 1984 issue of DRAGON also contains another article by Frank Mentzer entitled “And then there were three” which contains a preview of Book 1 (“Players’ Companion”) of the D&D Companion Rules Set, noting that “Book 2 will be previewed separately in a later issue of this magazine.”
In the UK in 1984, IMAGINE Magazine continued to promote the Basic rules with a new full-page advertisement in at least two issues and a review by Chris Hunter of the revised Expert set in issue #16 (July 1984). This continues the promotion of the approach to the products’ content:
“All in all, then, the Revised Expert Set both looks and reads a lot better than the original, and if you own and regularly play Basic, sooner or later you'll want this So far, there have been three different Basic and two different Expert sets. Since both are currently in their best form, let’s hope there are no more revisions for a while.”
The following issue (#17) included the preview (Part 1) of the Companion Set by Frank Mentzer that had previously appeared in DRAGON #84. Part 2 of Mentzer’s Companion Set preview, describing the content of the Dungeon Master’s book, was published in IMAGINE #18. Surprisingly, I find no trace of that second instalment appearing in DRAGON. The Companion Rules set (which had a first printing date of April 1984) did get a full-page colour advertisement in DRAGON #90 (October 1984).
As promised in Mentzer’s 1983 article, the Master Rules Set was published in 1985. However, there does not appear to have been any mention of this in DRAGON. And with IMAGINE Magazine being cancelled later in 1985, there was no opportunity to learn about the fourth box set there.
[SIDEBAR
Amongst IMAGINE’s contributors during its short publication life was Neil Gaiman who wrote some film reviews and opened a couple of short stories. I’m sure you will be familiar with Gaiman’s work on projects like The Sandman, Good Omens, etc.]
What was to become known as the BECMI rules system got its final core component with the publication of the Immortals box set in June 1986. A review by Ken Rolston of this product appeared late the following year in DRAGON #127’s Role-playing Reviews column.
In his review, Rolston observes:
“Ethical and theological beliefs were dropped out of the revised D&D game. There are clerics, sure, but let’s not talk about gods and rituals and demons. Subsequent supplements generally avoided the topic, though the D&D game Gazetteers (campaign supplements for the D&D game world) have reversed the trend, acknowledging the role of religions in fantasy roleplaying (FRP) campaign settings.”
The Immortals rule system is praised for being “…clever, complex, abstract, and powerful. It is also pretty demanding intellectually, with lots of neat metaphysical thought-puzzles.”
However, in summarising the product, Rolston finds himself split between admiration for the cleverness of the rules and questions on the actual usability of this extension within a campaign:
“The D&D Immortals Set is really useful only for a very small audience. Few folk want to play gods, and fewer want to DM them. The Immortals Set is of doubtful value to campaigns at subdivine levels because it gives little guidance on the ways in which Immortals interact with mortals, particularly in terms of religions and the cleric class. On one hand, it is admirable for providing original concepts and mechanics worthy of Immortal PCs. On the other hand, it is disappointing in its failure to develop the already-established mechanics and traditions of gods and religions in fantasy campaigns.”
The
reference to the Gazetteer supplements in Rolston’s review does
reflect the significant impact of these Known World supplements to
the BECMI system. Whatever quirks some of the Gazetteers might have
had, with their debut in 1987 they added greatly to many players’
enjoyment. They were a popular adjunct to the BECMI system, even
though they seemed to get little promotion in the pages of DRAGON.
While TSR seems not to have shone a spotlight on BECMI during the
early years of its inception, but 40 years after the first part of
the consolidated ruleset was published, the system is endorsed and
enjoyed by many as witnessed by the many associated discussion topics
on the system and its setting in the Piazza Forums.