The Holmes Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (1977) only supported levels one through three. The idea was that you’d graduate to either the white box OD&D or the new Advanced D&D (sort of – Holmes himself regretted that his box wasn’t a clear-cut runway to AD&D and was a bit dubious of its value as an introductory tool at all). Moldvay’s revision also supports play from level one to three, but it is designed to lead not to OD&D or AD&D, but to the Expert Set. This essentially marks the retirement of white box D&D and the acknowledgment of “Basic” D&D as its own not quite distinct system.

Expert is by Zeb Cook and Stephen R. Marsh and covers levels four through 14. It is still essentially a revision of OD&D, but an exhaustive one. It makes sense and is a fairly obviously playable game, which I can’t say that about the white box.

Of major note here is the introduction of the Known World, which would later be called Mystara, my favorite of the conventional D&D campaign worlds. Details on the world presented here are probably the most robust treatment of a campaign world in D&D up to this point. Also in the box is X1: The Isle of Dread, one of my very favorite modules. A pretty sweet box, all in all.

Erol Otus is on cover again, with a nice direct reference to his Basic Set cover in the wizard’s smoke. Expert comes with the same killer roster of interior artists – Otus, Jeff Dee, Roslof, Bill Willingham and Diesel LaForce – with the addition of Wade Hampton.