Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Second Edition debuted in 1989. TSR, living on borrowed money (and time), released a new edition to stimulate interest and sales in 1995. These new core rulebooks, with striking black covers, were mostly unchanged rules-wise, but with a new presentation.
Within a month, however, the first of the Player’s Option books dropped. The PO and Dungeon Master Option books did bring big rule changes, enough that this edition is colloquially termed AD&D 2.5 Edition. The new books sold fairly well, sufficient to get subsequent printings.
At this time, TSR was ailing. Mismanagement and changes to the gaming scene (Collectible Card Games) were taking their toll. TSR was in a debt spiral, using their fiction novel distribution front money to fund their game publishing. It was unsustainable. By April of 1996, when Random House sued for TSR for repayment of debt, the company was essentially broke.
In 1997, Wizards of the Coast acquired TSR, and production resumed. Wizards kept the TSR name for the time being, and published the core books and other works that had stalled in the pipeline. And so AD&D 2.5 edition would outlive its parent company.
This would continue until 2000, when Wizards was ready to release Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition.
The period leading up to D&D 3e is a fascinating time, as Wizards released (or re-released) a surprising number of AD&D titles. The re-releases in particular are fun for collectors, with their graphical and format changes. (Example: The Encyclopedia Magica series (1995), republished in 1999 with paper covers, followed up by the Wizards & Priest Spell compendiums, original to WoTC “TSR”.)
Today, we’ll look at the printing changes in the Player and DM Option books, and what they reveal about the shifting landscape. See my classic RPG reference site AD&D hardcover page for general product line info.
I’ve already delved into the Player’s Handbook and Dungeon Master Guide.
Timeline
TSR was always a bit hit-n-miss about noting printings, but they did ok here. Sufficient to build a timeline anyway.
April 1995
PHB 1st print
DMG 1st print
May 1995
Combat & Tactics HC 1st
July 1995
Skills & Powers HC 1st
Aug 1995
High Level Campaigns HC 1st print
Nov 1995
Combat & Tactics HC 2nd
Feb 1996
Skills & Powers HC 2nd
April 1996
Random House sues TSR for repayment of debt
May 1996
Spells & Magic HC 1st
PHB 2nd print
1997 – WotC prints
All 4 PO & DMO books reprinted in Paperback
PHB & DMG resume Hardcover prints
Player’s Option: Combat & Tactics
Combat & Tactics thoroughly revamped AD&D combat. The (admittedly boring) fighter class gets a lot of love here. Battle maps, fighting styles, non-weapon proficiencies (aka Skills), weapon specialization, unarmed combat, siege warfare, etc.
1st & 2nd print covers above (May & November 1995). Modest graphical changes.
Inside the covers, the product promotions changed in the intervening 6 months. The DM Card Decks got jettisoned. Dragon Mountain and Council of Wyrms departed in favor of Rod of Seven Parts and Night Below. Mystara disappeared, replaced by Birthright. The bulk of the book is unchanged as far as I see. If anybody knows of changes, correct me in the comments.
Player’s Option: Skills & Powers
Skills & Powers was fairly radical, introducing a Character Point system that allowed players to “buy” skills and abilities from other classes, taking the game very close to an entirely skill-based system like Chaosium’s Basic Roleplaying. Character kits, weapon and non-weapon proficiencies, weapon mastery appear here. And psionics, which got widest use in Dark Sun.
Between 1st and 2nd prints (July 1995 & Feb 1996), Skills & Powers had its inside cover graphics shift similar to Combat & Tactics. Brad Bolas gets a Special Thanks in the credits for some reason. Internals look the same to me.
Dungeon Master Option: High-Level Campaigns
High-Level Campaigns have a long history in AD&D, coming in and out of vogue. Here they reappear. Beyond-9th-level-spells are in the book, reminiscent of those found in the Netheril set.
When WotC reprinted the PO & DMO books, they went to a paperback format (which they did not do with the PHB & DMG). Almost no changes in presentation.
Player’s Option: Spells & Magic
Spells & Magic by and large rejiggered ideas previously presented in the PBHR series. Also (re)introduced an old idea, Spell Points, a departure from AD&D’s long-time Vancian magic system (spell memorization).
As far as I can tell, Spells & Magic, being so late in the game (May 1996), never saw another hardcover printing. But it got a paperback reprint like the others under the WotC regime.
Going Forward
AD&D 2.5e soldiered on until replacement by D&D 3e.
In the Wizards of the Coast 1998 Product Catalog, the PHB and DMG still get front page treatment, though the Player & DM Option rulebooks were relegated to the back catalog.
See Also: