Comments and corrections welcome as always.While I did play in a 2e game, and said 2e game is probably the second-longest running game I was ever part of, I was a wee lil' one when that happened and I had nowhere near the level of system mastery I can claim in 3e. No doubt I’m probably missing a cover or two, but I think the photos represent most of the versions that saw print. Some obviously different covers all have the same printing note copied in the next run’s credits suspect printing dates will be in quotes: “ printing date“. TSR was never diligent about noting printing data at the best of times, and they’d given up recording editions altogether as the game company approached the abyss. This post will have shots of the morphing covers, with printing info where available. At the end, the covers were of a cheaper paperstock, with a background pattern of cross-hatched stripes. The original cover format, of a durable, faintly tactile, somewhat glossy plastic, persisted until 1995, then we see a couple different pebbly-textured covers. Most of the TSR logos are represented, from the angled version onwards through the gold badge and finally to the shield logo. They changed quite a bit throughout their print run, not only the logo, but also the cover finish, texture and/or pattern. Then Wizards of the Coast, having taken over TSR, reprinted a few titles through 1999. The Handbooks proved to be quite popular, remaining in print for years, until the end of 1996, when the company ran out of operating cash. Visit my RPG reference site page for more on the whole series.) (There were also Blue and Green Complete Guides for the Dungeon Master. These Player splatbooks would each focus on a class, with background and optional additions to the game rules.

The Brown Books were surely intended to draw in players as paying customers. But AD&D 2nd ed definitely introduced some new ideas.įor example, the original trinity of hardcover rulebooks (PHB DMG MM) was itself altered, replacing the Monster Manual with a Monstrous Compendium three ring binder.Īlso in 1989, TSR released the first of their Complete Handbook series.

It was to be evolutionary, and not revolutionary. In 1989, TSR released the long-awaited Second Edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

Adnd 2e all classes