d20radio.com

No, they are not free.

Yes, the CD set is worth investing in as it provides a full spectrum of almost all the 2E books in addition to the Player's Option elements, incorporated into a fine program that only has a few glitches. (and if nothing else, it serves as a legally purchased set of all AD&D books in digital form).

Character creation is fairly intuitive, and responsive to both stock inputs as well as user-created material.

Encounter generators are also useful and faithfully recreate monster entries from the Monster manuals (mostly) as well as navigating the treasure tables.

One caveat to this, some of the encounters were not thoroughly checked out, as you will see the first time you attempt to generate a Drow elf raiding party. unfortunately, the programmers simply lifted the (# appearing = 50) STAT block typo and tied it to the STANDARD FRIKKIN ELF template, rather than correctly imparting the DROW subtype in any way shape or form. I had to fix this by personally entering the proper racial elements into a custom Elf, Drow subtype, and properly associating the correct equipment lists, alignments, and PC-classed characters-by-group-size elements clearly spelled out in the TEXT of the Drow Elf monster manual entry. :shrug:

But, all that helped me master the system for custom data addons, and it has been rumbling along ever since without a hitch.

[Edit] Request move to THACOs Hammer Podcast Thread and Sticky

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FULONGAMER aka Johannes M. Bowers
http://thelostholocronpodcast.info/
It's not My planet Monkey-boy! / I Waste Him With My Bowcaster!
THIS is my LIGHT-Stick!, The next one of you Furry Tree-Hugger Yub-Yub Primitives EVEN TOUCHES me...//FZOOOK!//

I have used this in the past... but a question that came to mind, is what about the core rules v1.0? did that have first edition stuff only? I never got to look at that, or was it just an earlier, bugged software?

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DM Vincent
Executive Producer | Save or Die Podcast | Roll for Initiative Podcast
(570)865-4210 | http://SaveorDie.Info | http://RFIPodcast.com

Earlier buggy software. As a concept this was all released for 2ed, but it is all AD&D.

Here are the remaining Amazon links
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Core Rules v1.0 CD ROM by Dragonbyte
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Core Rules v2.0 by Wizards of the Coast
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Core Rules v2.0 Expansion by Wizards of the Coast

Between the last two and the free online assets you get

All the Core books, plus "Arms and Equipment" and "Tome of Magic"
All the Complete "XXXX" Handbooks (races & classes)
All the P.O./DM.O.
And a hefty assortment of online goodies from both the TSR/WotC site and the online community.

My ranting about the completely fault-ridden Drow Elf data was what apparently led to the first of my 5 "mysterious deletions" from the rolls of the WotC forums. I haven't bothered renewing with them since the last.

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FULONGAMER aka Johannes M. Bowers
http://thelostholocronpodcast.info/
It's not My planet Monkey-boy! / I Waste Him With My Bowcaster!
THIS is my LIGHT-Stick!, The next one of you Furry Tree-Hugger Yub-Yub Primitives EVEN TOUCHES me...//FZOOOK!//

thanks for clearing that up. cool.

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DM Vincent
Executive Producer | Save or Die Podcast | Roll for Initiative Podcast
(570)865-4210 | http://SaveorDie.Info | http://RFIPodcast.com

software is good but it cant beat having a hard copy in your hands, that s the sad part. I love to grab the book when im watching the idiot box and just flip through it. Cant do that so much with software. I know thats the future and the only way you can get out of print books but still i love the feel of real books

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Long Live the Empire

I have V2.0 and it's expansion. If you play 2nd Edition AD&D, I think they are useful for cranking out characters or NPC. It also comes with a copy of Campaign Cartographer 2, as well as Town and Dungeon Mapping Software. It does come with a ton of books in electronic form, which is nice but I never use them. I prefer hard copies of my books.

Another old piece of software which I can't recommend enough is The Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas. If you play a game in the Realms, it's must have. Think Google Maps for Forgotten Realms. You can zoom into detailed maps of all the different regions. Then you can look at maps of specific towns. And then to take it even a step further, you can even look at the floor plans for certain buildings in the towns. It's a great piece of software, even if the interface is incredibly clunky.

Seconded on the FR Interactive Atlas.

Also Request Move and Sticky to the THACOs Hammer Podcast Thread

_________________
FULONGAMER aka Johannes M. Bowers
http://thelostholocronpodcast.info/
It's not My planet Monkey-boy! / I Waste Him With My Bowcaster!
THIS is my LIGHT-Stick!, The next one of you Furry Tree-Hugger Yub-Yub Primitives EVEN TOUCHES me...//FZOOOK!//

Any chance I can get the export of that fix so that I can use and test it. The CR2 program is bar-none the best AD&D 2e program available.
Law

Unfortunately, I don't have that specific .xpx file with me in Iraq. It is home on my desktop pc.

I will say that the exercise in creating the associated entries was what helped me master the CR2 software. You have to create several specific entries. First you have to build the proper Drow Elf race baseline, then the monster entry that associates that entry to the enconter creation, then you also have to build and associate the drow magic items to that encounter. It is an involved exercise in generating the required multiple data sets and interlinking them to properly craft a encounter using the encounter toolset.

I can have my files in about three more months, if you can wait.

All the required information is right there in the text of the Monster Manual entry. NOT the STAT block at the head of the page.

_________________
FULONGAMER aka Johannes M. Bowers
http://thelostholocronpodcast.info/
It's not My planet Monkey-boy! / I Waste Him With My Bowcaster!
THIS is my LIGHT-Stick!, The next one of you Furry Tree-Hugger Yub-Yub Primitives EVEN TOUCHES me...//FZOOOK!//

Well, I guess I'll wait. I have done some custom stuff with the program (custom classes, items, monsters, and spells) but most of the heavier custom stuff is beyond me. Even the CC map program is a bit much for me.
Keep safe while you're over there and thanx for your service.
Law

PS: I recently talked up the program on a podcast called The Tome. They were asking for my most useful game aid.