Even if you are not familiar with fantasy role playing games in general,
and DUNGEONS & DRAGONS in particular, you will find this work (with its
companion volumes, MONSTER MANUAL and DUNGEON MASTERS GUIDE)
is a complete game system in itself. It will stand alone, and it has
been written and edited in order to make the whole as easily understood
as possible without taking anything away from its complexity and
completeness. If, on the other hand, you are a veteran adventurer of many
swords & sorcery campaign games, ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS
will prove to be superior to any past offerings in the fantasy role playing
game field. You will find it easy to integrate your existing character or
characters into the new system, and at the same time the game will be
both familiar and different. There are nuances not found in previous
efforts. All the necessary information is presented in clear and concise
terms, in a format which logically follows the flow of play.

The characters and races from which the players select are carefully
thought out and balanced to give each a distinct and different approach to
the challenges posed by the game. Advantages and disadvantages,
advancement in level, characteristics and abilities are all detailed and
explained so that selection of a player-character type - or the integration
of an existing character - can be done with foreknowledge and
projection. In a similar vein, the individuals running the campaign games,
the Dungeon Masters, will have available more data and guidelines upon
which to build more interesting and detailled milieux.

Clerics and fighters have been strengthened in relation to magic-users,
although not overly so. Clerics have more and improved spell capability.
Fighters are more effective in combat and have other new advantages as
well. Still, magic-users are powerful indeed, and they have many new
spells. None of these over-shadow thieves. All recommended sub-classes
- druids, paladins, rangers, illusionists, and assassins - as well as the
special monk class of character, are included in order to assure as much
variety of approach as possible. Non-human races - dwarven, elven,
gnome, half-elven, half-orcish, and halfling - ore likewise included. Each
offers some advantage and difference, yet has distinct disadvantages, just
as human characters do. But some readers might still be wondering what
fantasy role playing games are all about, so enough about contents and on
to explanations.

ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS is a world. Of course, this world is
not complete. It needs organizers and adventurers to order and explore it.
It needs you! A fantasy role playing game is an exercise in imagination
and personal creativity. The organizer of the campaign, the Dungeon
Master, must use the system to devise an individual and unique world. Into
this world of weird monsters, strange peoples, multitudinous states, and
fabulous treasures of precious items and powerful magic stride fearless
adventurers - you and your fellow players. Inexperienced and of but
small power at first, by dint of hard fighting and clever deeds, these
adventurers advance in ability to become forces to be reckoned with -
high priests or priestesses, lords, wizards and arch-magi, master thieves.
The abilities of each adventurer are fixed, but even such characteristics as
strength, intelligence, and wisdom are mutable in a fantasy world. By
means of group co-operation and individuol achievement, an adventurer
can become ever more powerful. Even death loses much of its sting, for
often the character can be resurrected, or reincarnated. And should that
fail there is always the option to begin again with a new character. Thus
ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS is, as are most role playing games,
open-ended. There is no "winner", no final objective, and the campaign
grows and changes as it matures.

This new system provides the Dungeon Master with more and better
material from which to devise the campaign milieu, and that in turn means
a more interesting and imaginative game for the players. A word of advice
is in order here regarding this new system:

Considerable enjoyment and excitement in early play stems from not
knowing exactly what is going on. Being uncertain of how a given
situation will turn out, not knowing every magic item available, and so
forth, adds spice to the game. Later, this knowledge simulates actual
experience, for the seasoned campaigner will have learned through game
play. Under the circumstances, it is strongly urged that players do not
purchase or read the DUNGEON MASTERS GUIDE. Leave discovery of the
information therein to actual adventuring, and you will find that the game
is even more fun! Some of the details of the campaign milieu - worldly
knowledge common to a typical adventurer - will be given to you by your
Dungeon Master. Exploration, travel, and adventure in the "world" will
eventually reveal the secrets heretofore hidden, and the joy of actually
earning them will be well worth the wait.

Enjoy the game, and always bear in mind that it is fantasy. Magical worlds
have a strange way of differing, but while yours may not be quite the
same as the one described here, it is ripe for adventure and plunder.

Cleverness and imagination, along with a bit of luck, will always prevail
-- won't they?
 
 
 
 

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