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Giveaway: 1st Edition AD&D “Unearthed Arcana” Reprint

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unearthedarcanaWizards of the Coast is awesome enough to provide us with five copies of the new 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Unearthed Arcana reprint book to giveaway to our readers! We haven’t really done a giveaway or contest in quite a while, so I’m keeping this nice and simple – all you have to do in order to be entered to win one of the five copies is leave a comment on this post!

This contest is unfortunately only open to readers in the United States, so please only enter if you can provide us with a valid US address. At the end of the day (midnight) next Tuesday, March 5th we will close comments and I will randomly determine five winners from the comments here and notify them by e-mail. It’s nice and easy, and you can get an awesome book delivered to your house just by posting a comment!

For those of you unfamiliar with the book or if you weren’t aware of the recent reprint, here is the description from WotC’s website:

In 1974, the world changed forever when Gary Gygax introduced the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. The legacy of his innovative ideas and the extensive reach of his powerful influence can be seen in virtually every facet of gaming today.

To help honor his work and his memory, we created limited-edition reprints of the original 1st Edition core rulebooks. Now, the original Unearthed Arcana has been faithfully reproduced in a new premium edition with gilded pages. The cover design mirrors that of the premium reprints of the 1st Edition Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Masters Guide, and Monster Manual. This book includes errata published in Dragon magazine.

For an added bit of fun, or for those that require more structure, please feel free to share any stories you may have related to AD&D or the Unearthed Arcana book specifically!

Fine print: US addresses only. One entry per household. Critical Hits reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify any entrants it chooses for abusing the contest in any way. Thief-Acrobats need not apply. 

Comments

  9. I loved this book when it came out! Yes, it was a mish-mash of stuff, the barbarian and new cavalier classes were ridiculous, and some of the new rules were wonky. But I loved the cantrips, the new spells, we abused the heck out of weapon specialization, and learned far more about different types of pole arms than any sane person should.

  10. I remember staring for hours at my brothers’ AD&D books when I was kid. I was a bit too young to play with them… at least that’s what they kept telling me. Now they keep hounding me to run games for them. Oh the irony! Having a copy of Unearthed Arcana would be a tidy bit of nostalgia. Thanks for the giveaway!

  12. It added spells, classes, and even a pseudo prestige class with the thief acrobat. Bought it used and like most the binding gave out and some pages are loose. Loved the book and used it until a few years ago.

  15. I’ve heard of this book for years. but I’ve never gotten to see it. So I’d love to get a copy to check it out.

  18. Here’s hoping the spines last longer on this reprint than the original! I’d love to find out 😉

  20. The thing I remember most of the old UAs was the fact that the binding was terrible and they all fell apart. I don’t think I ever saw a copy that had actually seen significant use that hadn’t split the binding. Here’s hoping that’s one part of the tradition they DON’T emulate in the re-issue!

  21. Not many people mention it, but one of my favorite things about that book was the art. Even after I had read it many times and was no longer playing AD&D, I would still flip through it just to refresh my mind on pictures. Thanks a ton for doing this, my copy is a beat up dog eared mess!

  22. This is one of the few AD&D hardcovers that I’m missing. I like to buy locally, and most of the “hobby” shops around here don’t carry a lot of used books. They haven’t gotten in any of the new reprints, either. I would love to have this!

  24. Cantrips were awesome, and now they’re a regular part of the game! I would live to win a copy!

  30. I wonder how many dice you’ll have to roll to make this random determination? You’ll probably have quite a lot of comments by midnight of next Tuesday!

  37. Awesome! I’d like to win a copy of this. I have a good majority of the AD&D books but not this one surprisingly!

  38. Oh lordy lord! I’d love a copy of this!

    WoTC you are sailing this ship in the RIGHT direction!

  40. The 3.0 version was filled with amazing content that really changed the dynamic of my games…I’d love to see what the original Unearthed Arcana had in it.

  43. I would love to have this wonderful tome as it was my go to book.

    My favorite class to play was the Cavalier. I love the code that they had to follow and it was really my most played class.

  48. I would love to get that! I’ve been interested in collecting more old school books! I started with 3rd edition, so my only experience with early D&D is with the Baldur’s Gate CRPGs.

  53. Wow, I remember driving 100 miles or so, just to get to a store that had a copy the day it was released! Those were the good old days for sure!

  60. I keep digging up the backyard, but have yet to unearth any arcana. Maybe a copy of the book would help.
    Thank you!

  63. My favorite was the cavalier when I first encountered the book. I was always trying to figure out a way to work the knights of the round table into the game, and that seemed like the way to do it…

  64. Cool, a contest! I’m interested in playing 1t edition. I bought the three previous reprints and they look superb.

  66. Oh, hey! I live in the US and I totally want a copy of Unearthed Arcana, pretty please!

  67. This is interesting…

    I’ve been avoiding reading my old books since I’m in the process of updating the campaign I wrote back in ’79 while in college. The new PC tools are a quantum leap beyond what I was using back then (pencil and paper).

    Oh, I’ve been playing D&D since the fall of ’77 when I was attending the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater. The local gaming store was down in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, named The Dungeon…

    Hope random chance strikes my way!

  68. Sounds fun. I hadn’t considered getting the 1st ed reprints, but if I win this, I’ll buy the rest. I’ve only ever played 4th ed and a tiny little bit of Pathfinder, so it should be very interesting!

  75. I still remember how excited I was when the original first came out. Lots of fond memories of those days. I would love to have a copy of the reprint.

  77. I remember picking this up at my local B. Dalton bookstore. I was somewhat confused at first with what to do with it but then our group discovered the new classes. The barbarian was the first new class to be played. This character was the cause of much fun. The friend who played him still to this day has a nickname based on that character. Vinny (Vinhir) will live forever in our memories, if not in the hallowed halls of Valhalla.

  78. Just starting a new 1st Edition campaign. Would love to add this one to the collection.

  80. I’ve been gaming for 25 years and I’ve never picked up a copy of this one. I DM my own RPG (unpublished) but source material is always helpful.

    Thanks

  82. Well now, this is fun news to wake up to on a foggy California morning.
    I have very fond memories of Unearthed Arcana. There was quite a sense of excitement, as the first update to First Edition rules came along, optional as they may have been.
    I would love to have a copy!

  83. Um, if you happen to have a copy of this book you aren’t using, could you send it my way, please? Thanks in advance.

  87. Old-school AD&D1e’er here, recently getting back into the Basic game (after 25 years) with my eight-year-old son (my 11-year-old daughter is showing inklings of interest, too, so here’s hoping!). Our campaign officially starts tomorrow.

    I didn’t get this when it was originally published, but the reprint would be a nice addition to my growing collection of source books (I’ve been reacquiring them this year). And you can’t beat free!

    Thanks for the opportunity, and good luck to all the entrants. Here’s hoping for a win!

  89. This is an amazing book – and one of my first ever purchased with money my mom never knew about. 🙂 (She believed the Devil Worship crap prevalent in the 1980’s)

  91. I could have used this in our recent 1e game – we just did the complete Temple of Elemental Evil. Other guys in the group still had their old copies, though the binding was dodgy as usual. Mine had completely fallen apart ages ago. Free game books means that my game budget buys even MORE game books. Yay!

  92. I just bought used copies of the AD&D core books at a second-hand bookstore. This would be the perfect cherry on top–updated errata with nice cover!

    PS. Danny, it’s good to see you’re alive–would love to see some more posts from you if you get the chance!

  94. I never had a copy of that book. Winning would be awesome because $50 is a lot of money

  95. I still play the old AD&D, and my copy is pretty used. Love the barbarian and cavalier.

  96. I am totally down with this. I got a copy of the original book in 6th grade and it is still, to this day, my favorite D&D book ever!

  100. I loved the illusionist Dream spell from this book – a Very Limited Wish, and totally thematic. Great stuff.

  102. Bought a set of original AD&D players handbook, DMG, and MMs I & II for my godchildren and have been sharing the joy of tabletop rpgs with them for a couple of months now. A copy of the Unearthed Arcana would certainly be a wonderful addition to their fledgling RPG library! Keep up the great work.

  104. I would love to have one of these again. I remember cutting up the errata from Dragon Magazine and pasting it into the relevant sections of this book: destroying the value of both the magazine and the book! Ah, youth!

  108. I spent my hard earned bucks on the 1st Edition PHB, DMG and MM so it would be nice to luck out and get this one free!

    If it’ll get me bonus points I was running a campaign in 1st edition using the reprints last year!

  109. …because I don’t have enough other rpg books to read, I’d love to add to the collection!

  111. One my favorite memories of Unearthed Arcana come from my friend Jack’s Cavalier. The fun began one night when we it was pointed that Jack’s Cavalier could not be thrown from his saddle and if he fell with his mount he had a large chance not to be hurt. Well, as it would happen the rest of the table decided they need to test this theory, which started the many tests of tripping the Cavalier’s horse. Good times.

  112. This was on the best books I remember getting early on. So many new options to explore!

  117. Great book, still have my original taped together in a box. Gonna grab the reprint, but winning a copy would be even better!

  124. Looks pretty cool. AD&D was our groups go-to RPG. So many memories of heroic deeds, crazy stunts and foolish deaths.

  127. I remember using that book back in the day. We went through Tomb of Horrors, Against the Giants series and tons of the other classics. Of course after all that my original copy is missing a few pages and held together with little more than duct tape.

  128. My longest-running D&D campaign was anchored by a Cavalier named Keith, whose talking horse named Delland was the butt of many a joke. Dammit if he didn’t love the hell out of that character. I was often accused of favoritism by the other players, because Keith found all kinds of neat magic items that seemed tailored for his character (4th edition-style?), including magic barding.

  130. Now this is plain discrimination, excluding us like this! Don’t suppose you could make an exception?

  133. I have been a fan since as far back as I can remember. Even since my high school days, I’ve been tue designate DM.

  134. 🙂 I would so love a copy. Please?

    I have become a major fan of earlier editions via these reprints.

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