9.5 million active players

[ad_hoc]

8 months ago President and CEO of WotC gave a talk where he estimated the number of active tabletop D&D players at 9.5 million. I am sure it has gone up since then.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/139409870

Player count: 27:30

For reference Gary Gygax estimated in 1987 that there were 5 million regular RPG players worldwide.

Gary Gygax, Roleplaying Mastery (1987)

"Knowledgeable estimates place the number of avid players of
role games in the neighborhood of three and one-half million in
North America, five million worldwide. That is a lot of players,
and these are enthusiasts. These figures do not include occasional
participants in role-playing games. The number of persons who
have played at least once is certainly twice as large as the number
of enthusiasts."

[LeonBH]

Seems like a slow growth. Some YouTube channels have more subscribers than this.

With live streaming now popular, that number might rise. We'll have to see.

[ad_hoc]

Seems like a slow growth. Some YouTube channels have more subscribers than this.

With live streaming now popular, that number might rise. We'll have to see.

The 5e PHB peaked at #1 on Amazon and sits in the #40-60 range.

XGtE was the fastest selling D&D book of all time.

There is nothing slow about the growth of 5e.

[Talamare]

I mean, it's more or less impossible to know how many active players you really have

Even if you sold 1mil books, each of those books might support 1 to 50 players, or more
Even if you sold 1mil books, a single person might have bought 500,000
Even if you sold 1mil books, there might have been 10mil copies that were pirated
Even if you sold 1mil books, people might have a desire to play it one day, but end up never finding the time

[Chugger]

Seems like a slow growth. Some YouTube channels have more subscribers than this.

With live streaming now popular, that number might rise. We'll have to see.

Seems so, yes, until you take into consideration the fact that DnD only appeals to a limited slice of humanity. You have to be creative and able to suspend disbelief - you have to be good at and like gaming - you have to have at least a reasonably good imagination - and you probably need to be fairly smart (though some of us clearly aren't, though I might argue some of us are hi Int/lo Wis or something like that).

Given that DnD is only going to appeal to a limited niche, I'd say this isn't bad. Also 5e is, to my reckoning, the first version of the game where they opened up the appeal and playability functions - and actually tried casting a wider net. And we've grown, probably because of that. Also because a lot of people are seeing limits in games like WoW where you get trapped in an ongoing grind of trying to get ever better armor - and truly creative puzzles that require some serious mind-sauce and creativity are not even possible (but are in DnD, if the DM is good enough).

So anyway, I wouldn't be so harsh. I think it's mostly a good thing. We're never going to challenge youtube because instant id-feeding (pewdiepie maybe? :smallbiggrin:) is not what we offer ... though I suppose we could (but let's please not!)....

[LeonBH]

The 5e PHB peaked at #1 on Amazon and sits in the #40-60 range.

XGtE was the fastest selling D&D book of all time.

There is nothing slow about the growth of 5e.

But the growth of DnD is slow. It took 30 years for the player base to not quite double.

[LeonBH]

Seems so, yes, until you take into consideration the fact that DnD only appeals to a limited slice of humanity. You have to be creative and able to suspend disbelief - you have to be good at and like gaming - you have to have at least a reasonably good imagination - and you probably need to be fairly smart (though some of us clearly aren't, though I might argue some of us are hi Int/lo Wis or something like that).

I think it's a matter of reaching a bigger audience and showing them it can be fun. I think that, once people see what a good game of DnD is, they will enjoy it.

Almost everyone will have grown up playing pretend in some form. When we turned into adults, we forgot that part of ourselves. But I think most people will enjoy a return to that part of themselves.

Soldiers play DnD. Nerds play DnD. Accountants play DnD. IMO, that's proof anyone can enjoy it. But people unable to enjoy it will probably be those who are too consumed by work/kids/problems who don't have time for gaming.

But as far as capacity to enjoy it goes, anyone can play it and have a good time.


So anyway, I wouldn't be so harsh. I think it's mostly a good thing. We're never going to challenge youtube because instant id-feeding (pewdiepie maybe? :smallbiggrin:) is not what we offer ... though I suppose we could (but let's please not!)....

I don't think it was harsh. 30 years to not quite double is slow growth as a whole.

[ad_hoc]

But the growth of DnD is slow. It took 30 years for the player base to not quite double.

In 1987 Gary Gygax estimated 5 million of all people who play RPGs. Now, 8 months ago the estimation is that D&D (presmuably 5e as that is the nature of the talk and he is the CEO) has 9.5 million players. I'm sure once we add in all other RPGs we'll be hitting above 10 million.

So much more than double, and really it's only in the last 3 1/2 years that it has achieved real growth. North American RPG sales have tripled since the release of 5e. That's not slow growth.

[Tanarii]

Seems so, yes, until you take into consideration the fact that DnD only appeals to a limited slice of humanity. You have to be creative and able to suspend disbelief - you have to be good at and like gaming - you have to have at least a reasonably good imagination - and you probably need to be fairly smart (though some of us clearly aren't, though I might argue some of us are hi Int/lo Wis or something like that).
You also have to have the time and be willing to spend it on games. Official play keeps a fair number of dedicated older players active. But my experience is that it's mostly high school and college kids, who mostly or slowly stop finding time once they start working, to be replaced by the next generation.

I've played for 30 years. Out of my personal friends and school buddies, rough head guesses for the first ten years, let's say about 10 heavy players, around 20 that played for one year or so, and easy over 30 people that played for at least one group (2-3 months). I've lost touch with some of the heavier players, but of those I haven't, none of them play any more. There's one guy who loved the game as much as me, to be willing to DM constantly, he might also still play.

Amazingly in my area there's a very dedicated email distro of older players, coordinated by truly hardcore players, that keep a series of home-based AL games alive. And plenty of game stores too, although as I said that tends to be younger players with a small slice of older nerdy nerds that find time.

[Ronnocius]

8 months ago President and CEO of WotC gave a talk where he estimated the number of active tabletop D&D players at 9.5 million. I am sure it has gone up since then.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/139409870

Player count: 27:30

For reference Gary Gygax estimated in 1987 that there were 5 million regular RPG players worldwide.

Gary Gygax, Roleplaying Mastery (1987)

"Knowledgeable estimates place the number of avid players of
role games in the neighborhood of three and one-half million in
North America, five million worldwide. That is a lot of players,
and these are enthusiasts. These figures do not include occasional
participants in role-playing games. The number of persons who
have played at least once is certainly twice as large as the number
of enthusiasts."

I'm a bit confused. What's the point of this thread? Just spreading the knowledge?

[Tanarii]

I'm a bit confused. What's the point of this thread? Just spreading the knowledge?
Giving posting history, I'm guessing it's that, combined with countering the idea that 5e isn't doing that well compared to 3.X historically, or Pathfinder currently.

5e is doing very well. It's made DnD the RPG juggernaut it once was.

I'm cool with that. I like it when something I like is doing well. It kinda sucks when something I like isn't doing that hot, especially when that situation gets it revamped as a test bed for the next edition after like 2 years, and canned after less than 6.

[2D8HP]

....5e is doing very well. It's made DnD the RPG juggernaut it once was......
:cool:

Long may it reign!

Strange, after the cartoon, ET and Mazes and Monsters (the Tom Hanks movie) D&D was big time... then it went away (to be replaced by Vampire/World of Darkness that also had a brief T.V. show).

Now D&D is back

I'm glad.

[Celcey]

Giving posting history, I'm guessing it's that, combined with countering the idea that 5e isn't doing that well compared to 3.X historically, or Pathfinder currently.

5e is doing very well. It's made DnD the RPG juggernaut it once was.

I'm cool with that. I like it when something I like is doing well. It kinda sucks when something I like isn't doing that hot, especially when that situation gets it revamped as a test bed for the next edition after like 2 years, and canned after less than 6.

I see you're a fourth edition player.

[ad_hoc]

Giving posting history, I'm guessing it's that, combined with countering the idea that 5e isn't doing that well compared to 3.X historically, or Pathfinder currently.


It's not really a response to anything. Just came across it and thought it would be fun to celebrate the success and put a number figure to what Mike Mearls and others have been alluding to.

We know different stats like being #1 on Amazon, etc. but we didn't really know how many players that translates to. While WotC can't know for sure, I'm betting they're using both their own numbers that they know and spending money for further information to estimate it. It's a very important number for them to know.

Will be nice to see the NA sales numbers for 2017. ICv2 tends to post those in the spring/summer.

[LeonBH]

In 1987 Gary Gygax estimated 5 million of all people who play RPGs. Now, 8 months ago the estimation is that D&D (presmuably 5e as that is the nature of the talk and he is the CEO) has 9.5 million players. I'm sure once we add in all other RPGs we'll be hitting above 10 million.

So much more than double, and really it's only in the last 3 1/2 years that it has achieved real growth. North American RPG sales have tripled since the release of 5e. That's not slow growth.

Right, so we don't have data so say if it doubled. But let's be honest. TTRPG is mostly dominated by DnD.

Based on the initial data presented, I was saying DnD as a whole grew slowly. 5e and live streaming is doing a lot for the hobby. But if you're saying it only numerically boomed in the last 3.5 years, then the growth of DnD must have been even slower before then.

I fully expect DnD to grow more in popularity over time. Heck, every Thursday night, Critical Role is on the front page of Twitch. That is alongside video game live streams. And a lot of the people who don't play DnD watch Critical Role.

[Tanarii]

I see you're a fourth edition player.
I've played, and loved, every edition since AD&D 1e and BECMI.

[Celcey]

I've played, and loved, every edition since AD&D 1e and BECMI.

Good on you man, I don't think I could deal with the mishuggas of some of the older editions. I've got some old AD&D books, and every time I got through the player's handbook I just think to myself gee, if I were playing I'd just ignore that rule... and strike that one... and that kinda seems dumb, so I just won't play with that... and then I remember that this is why I play 5e. :smallbiggrin:

[ad_hoc]

In December he (Chris *****) was interviewed by Rolling Stone.

On D&D:

"After three and a half years, we had our best sales in November. It sold out and we’ve been struggling to restock. It’s a great engine of play."

Looks like 5e is only gaining momentum.

https://www.rollingstone.com/glixel/features/how-the-company-behind-dd-magic-and-avalon-hill-innovate-w514703

[Zilong]

In December he (Chris *****) was interviewed by Rolling Stone.

On D&D:

"After three and a half years, we had our best sales in November. It sold out and we’ve been struggling to restock. It’s a great engine of play."

Looks like 5e is only gaining momentum.

https://www.rollingstone.com/glixel/features/how-the-company-behind-dd-magic-and-avalon-hill-innovate-w514703

Huh, I wonder why that name got censored. Was that on purpose or a gnarly typo?

[Theodoxus]

Good on you man, I don't think I could deal with the mishuggas of some of the older editions. I've got some old AD&D books, and every time I got through the player's handbook I just think to myself gee, if I were playing I'd just ignore that rule... and strike that one... and that kinda seems dumb, so I just won't play with that... and then I remember that this is why I play 5e. :smallbiggrin:

Heh, I was invited to a new Pathfinder campaign - haven't played PF since 5E came out... Went through the process I use to come up with a 5E character concept, cracked open the PFd20SRD and Hero Labs and started plugging in data and quickly realized 'wow, this feels old and antiquated. 3 feats to get the same 'out of the box' level 1 rogue in 5th?' I tried resurrecting one of my favorite characters, a Stonelord dwarf paladin and realizing it also required a ton of feat support before it got up and running... so I thought, heck, I'll roll a cleric, I love me some clerics! And the closest analog to a Life Cleric is a Merciful Healer, who's definitive healing doesn't come online until 6th level, also requires a ton of feat support, only gets 2 spells beyond Cure Light Wounds and thanks to BAB, won't do well in combat...

I decided to toss the whole idea and just not play...

I was never a fan of scouring books for a +1 bonus, certainly not a fan of adding up all those incremental boni (especially the rarely used situational ones that you forget until after you declare your total To Hit or Damage... "Oh, sorry, that's a total of +17 to hit, not +12, I forgot we were fighting burning skeletons, so my undead bonuses and fire critter bonuses both apply" /eyeroll.

While researching what to play, I stumbled across a quote on the 5th Ed section of the Paizo board that I think perfectly describes my current feeling on the subject. To paraphrase: Pathfinder is great for those who love character creation, for running complex encounters that are easy to build and fun to run. But I'm older now, my brain is slower and I much prefer not to have to deal with so many dials to squeeze out optimal combat performance.

I see my days of general optimization behind me. I've been playing more with new to the game players, and I finally grok the fun that just playing brings; not trying to be a bleeding edge raider or foiling the DMs grand plan... just play to play. I'm old, but I'm playing the best I ever had. Yay wisdom of the greybeards!

[2D8HP]

Good on you man, I don't think I could deal with the mishuggas of some of the older editions. I've got some old AD&D books, and every time I got through the player's handbook I just think to myself gee, if I were playing I'd just ignore that rule... and strike that one... and that kinda seems dumb, so I just won't play with that... and then I remember that this is why I play 5e. :smallbiggrin:


Um yeah, Gygax's prose was a bit opaque, the 48 pages of the 1977 "bluebook Basic rules edited by Holmes (http://www.americanroads.us/DandD/DnD_Basic_Rules_Holmes.pdf) was much easier to decipher than the other rules from the 1970's, mainly what we went by was player-to-player oral "folklore" and the "Examples of play" in the books to get the gist:

From the 1974 rules:

The players, equipped and ready, are assumed to have located a set of stairs des-
cending to the first level beneath the ground. The Referee's part will be indicated
REF, that of the "Caller" for the players being shown as CAL.
REF: Steps down to the east.
CAL: We're going down.
REF: 10', 20', 30' — a 10' square landing — steps down to the north and curv-
12 ing down southeast.Take those to the southeast.
10', and the steps curve more to the south; 20'. Steps end, and you are
on a 10' wide passage which runs east, southeast, and west. There is a
door to your left across the passage on a northwest wall.
Listen at the door — three of us.
(After rolling three dice) You hear nothing. (At this time a check for
wandering monsters is also made.)
Ignore the door and proceed along the corridor southeastwards.
10', 20', 30', 40', 50'. "Four way": Northwest, northeast, south and
southwest — the south passage is 20' wide.
Go south.
10'-70': passage continues, doors east and west.
Listen at the east door.
(After appropriate check) You hear shuffling.
Two of us (specifying which two) will throw our weight against the door
to open it. All will be ready for combat.
(After rolling two dice:) The door opens! You can't be surprised, but the monsters — you see half-a-dozen gnolls — can be (Here a check for surprise is made, melee conducted, and so on.)
Okay, what does the room look like — we're examining the walls, ceiling, floor, and contents of the room itself.
(After checking to see if dwarves and/or elves are in the party:) The room is a truncated pyramid. The east wall is the truncated part, directly opposite the door you entered. It is 10' long with another door in it.
The walls connecting it to the west wall, the place you entered, are each about 35' long. The west wall, which is where you entered is 30' long with a door in the middle of the wall. The elf has noted that there seems to be a hollow spot near the east end of the southeast wall. The floor and ceiling seem to have nothing unusual. The room contains the bodies of the gnolls, a pile of refuse in the north corner of the west wall, and
two trunks along the wall opposite the one which sounds hollow.
The elf will check out the hollow sound, one of us will sort through the refuse, each trunk will be opened by one of us, and the remaining two (naming exactly who this is) will each guard a door, listening to get an
advance warning if anything approaches.
Another check on the hollow sound reveals a secret door which opens onto a flight of stairs down to the south. The refuse is nothing but sticks, bones, offal and old clothes. One chest is empty; the other had a
poison needle on the lock. (Here a check to see if the character opening it makes his saving throw for poison.) The chest with the poison needle is full of copper pieces — appears to be about 2,000 of them.
Empty out all of the copper pieces and check the trunk for secret drawers or a false bottom, and do the same with the empty one. Also, do there seem to be any old boots or cloaks among the old clothes in the
rubbish pile?
(Cursing the thoroughness of the Caller!) The seemingly empty trunk has
a false bottom ... in it you have found an onyx case with a jeweled necklace therein. The case appears to be worth about 1,000, and the necklace 5,000 Gold Pieces. Amidst the litter the searcher has located a
pair of old boots, but there is nothing like a cloak there
The boots will be tried on now to see if they allow silent movement — we can use a set of Elven Boots! I will secure the case and necklace in my back pack, while the others will, by turn, fill their packs with coppers.
This will require; four turns. (Ho checks for monsters wandering in, and on the forth try one is indicated. However, as there was a listener at the door it is approaching, he also checks to see if it is detected, allowing a good probability that it will be heard.) As you complete your loading the dwarf at the west door detects heavy footsteps approaching. The boots, by the way, are Elven-type . . .
CAL: EXCELLENT! Our Magic-User will cast a HOLD PORTAL on the west
door while the elf opens the secret one. We will then all beat a hasty retreat down the stairs to the south. Onward, friends, to more and bigger loot!
With appropriate variations for ability to detect and/or see what is around them,
the adventure will continue in this manner until the party leaves the dungeons or,
are killed therein.
THE WILDERNESS:
The so-called Wilderness really consists of unexplored land, cities and castles, not
to mention the area immediately surrounding the castle (ruined or otherwise)
which housed the dungeons. The referee must do several things in order to con-
duct wilderness adventure games. First, he must have a ground level map of his
dungeons, a map of the terrain immediately surrounding this, and finally a map
of the town or village closest to the dungeons (where adventruers will be most
likely to base themselves).


SAMPLE FLOOR PLAN, PART OF FIRST LEVEL
Each new room or area is given a code number and a record made on a separate page of what it contains, treasure, monsters, hidden items, etc. Place a few special items first, then randomly assign treasure and monsters to the other rooms using the selection provided in the game or appropriate tables. Many rooms should be empty. Roll a 6-sided die for each room. A roll of 1 or 2 indicates that some monster is there. Ochre jellies, green slime, black puddings, etc. are randomly distributed, usually without treasure, most often in corridors and passageways. Wandering monsters are usually determined randomly as the game progresses. Traps should not be of the "Zap! You're dead!" variety but those which a character might avoid or overcome with some quick thinking and a little luck. Falling into a relatively shallow pit would do damage only on a roll of 5 or 6 (1- 6 hit points at most) but will delay the party while they get the trapped character out. Hidden rooms, movable walls, teleportation devices, illusion rooms, dead ends, etc., make interesting variations.
Since the game (and the dungeons) are limited only by the imagination of the Dungeon Master and the players, there is no end to the variation possible. Try to keep the dangers appropriate to the levels of the characters and the skill of your players. The possibility of "death" must be very real, but the players must be able to win through with luck and courage, or they will lose interest in the game and not come back.
Once the game begins, try to keep the action
moving at a dramatic pace. If the going gets rough, the characters have the option of turning around and going back to the surface. If time runs out the characters can always be left at some appropriate spot within the dismal depths, time suspended, and the action taken up again another day. Dramatize the adventure as much as possible, describe the scenery, if any. Non-player characters should have appropriate speech, orcs are gruff and ungrammatical, knights talk in flowery phrases and always say "thou" rather than "you."
When characters swear they call on the wrath of their appropriate deities, be it Zeus, Crom, Cthulhu or whatever. The dramatic talents of the Dungeon Master should be used to their fullest extent. It adds to the fun.
One player should map the dungeon from the Dungeon Master's descriptions as the game progresses.
This is easiest done if he uses a piece of graph paper marked North, East, South, West with the entrance to the dungeon level drawn in near the center. One of the players should keep a "Chronicle" of the monsters killed, treasure obtained, etc. Another should act as "caller" and announce to the Dungeon Master what action the group is taking. Both mapper and caller must be in the front rank of the party. If the adventurers have a leader, the caller would logically be that player.
EXAMPLE
"You're in a stone corridor, ten feet wide by
fifteen feet high, running north-south."
"We're walking north."
"Fifty feet up along the corridor there's a
door in the east wall. It's five feet wide."
"Halfling will listen at the door."
(He knows there is nothing they can hear,
but he carefully rolls a concealed die.) "He
doesn't hear anything."
"The fighting man will open the door. He's
got his sword out, ready to strike. The Half-
ling and the thief are right behind him."
(Rolls) "A 2, the door bursts open. You see a
room, L-shaped, 20 feet wide. From the door
it runs due east 30 or so feet and then the
other leg of the L runs north. (They must en-
ter and carefully examine to map a room.)
You don't see anyone in the room in front of
you."
"Anything else in the room?"
"Some trash along the walls. A small wood-
en chest on the floor in the middle of the
room."
"Aha! The fighting man and the halfling
will enter the room. The dwarf will hold the
door. The others will watch the corridor."
"O.K."
"The halfling says, 'Careful, it may be boo-
by-trapped!' "
"The fighter kicked the chest with his boot."
"It is knocked over. The lid comes open. A
thousand gold pieces spill out!"
"Good! The fighter . . ."
"Around the corner come four orcs. 'Sur-
face dwellers! Kill them, cut them to mince-
meat! Pound them to hamburger!'"
"The fighting man is ready. He swings (rolls
die). An 18!"
"It's a hit. Roll your damage."
(Rolls a six-sided die) "A four."
"He's dead. You cut him in half. The second
orc is on you. He swings . . ." (the fight con-
tinues until all four orcs lie dead.)
"We search the other half of the room.
Everybody fill your packs and pockets with
the gold."
"Other half of the room is the same dimen-
sions as the first one, 40 feet. You find four
bunks, a table and benches."
"We search for more treasure."
"Nope. Nothing of value."
"How about doors?"
"No doors in either part of the room."
"The elf and the dwarf will search for secret
doors. The rest of the party comes into the
room and we shut the door. The halfling will
stay at the door and listen."
(After determining which part of the room is
being searched he rolls a secret die) "The
elf finds a secret door in the northernmost 10
foot wall section in the eastern half of the
L."
"Does he hear anything?"
(Carefully rolling a secret die for end-of-
turn wandering monster) "No. But the hob-
bit guarding the door reports hearing
slithering noises outside."
"Hey, everybody, I hear slithering noises!"
"Let the elf try to open his secret door. Half-
ling, spike that door of yours shut!"
"The elf opens the secret door. It's a dark
passage, only three feet wide, running straight north."
"See anything?"
"Passage is empty as far as he can see."
"With his infravision?"
"Right, with his infravision."
"O.K., everybody, into the secret passage."
"In what order?"
"Elf in front. Fighter behind him. Dwarf will
close the door and bring up the rear."
"You've proceeded north 100 feet when the
elf comes to a stop."
"What's the matter?"
"He sees a gelatinous cube filling the
passage 60 feet ahead."
"Crom's devils! Somebody get a torch
alight. Dwarf, go back to the door and listen
for noises in the room we just left!"
"Dwarf says, 'There's a hollow space under
the floor here somewhere.'"
"O.K., Elf, squeeze back down the corridor
and see if you can find a trap door. Where's
that torch?"
"Here it is."
"The gelatinous cube begins to slide slowly
down the passage toward you . . ."
This example could be played with maps and pencil and paper. If miniature figures are used, they can be arranged in battle order on the table top and the movement through passages and rooms imagined, the pieces rearranged for combat or other changes of formation. Figures are available for all the character types of Dungeons & Dragons as well as for most of the monsters.
Obviously, the success of an expedition depends on the Dungeon Master and his creation, the dungeon.
Many gamesters start with a trip across country to get to the entrance to the dungeon — a trip apt to be punctuated by attacks by brigands or wandering monsters or marked by strange and unusual encounters. The party then enters the underworld, tries to capture the maximum treasure with the minimal risk and escape alive. The Dungeon Master should have all this completely mapped out, hit points and attack die rolls calculated and recorded, so that the game will proceed most rapidly at the exciting moments when the enemy is encountered. Do not hesitate to have lawful or helpful characters chance by at times, your adventurers may need a little help!
The imaginary universe of Dungeons & Dragons obviously lies not too far from the Middle Earth of J.R.R. Tolkien's great Lord of the Rings trilogy. The D & D universe also impinges on the fantasy worlds of Fritz Leiber, Robert E. Howard, Gardner F. Fox, classical mythology and any other source of inspiration the Dungeon Master wants to use.
A final word to the Dungeon Master from the
authors. These rules are intended as guidelines. No two Dungeon Masters run their dungeons quite the same way, as anyone who has learned the game with one group and then transferred to another can easily attest.
You are sure to encounter situations not covered by these rules. Improvise. Agree on a probability that an event will occur and convert it into a die roll — roll the number and see what happens! The game is intended to be fun and the rules modified if the players desire.
Do not hesitate to invent, create and experiment with
new ideas. Imagination is the key to a good game. Enjoy!
Sample Dungeon
Background — 100 years ago the sorcerer Zenopus built a tower on the low hills overlooking Portown. The tower was close to the sea cliff west of the town and, appropriately, next door to the graveyard.
Rumor has it that the magician made extensive cellars and tunnels underneath the tower. The town is located on the ruins of a much older city of doubtful history and Zenopus was said to excavate in his cellars in search of ancient treasures.
Fifty years ago, on a cold wintry night, the wizard's tower was suddenly engulfed in green flame. Several of his human servants escaped the holocaust, saying their master had been destroyed by some powerful force he had unleashed in the depths of the tower.
Needless to say the tower stood vacant for a while after this, but then the neighbors and the night watchmen complained that ghostly blue lights appeared in the windows at night, that ghastly screams could be heard emanating from the tower at all hours, and goblin figures could be seen dancing on the tower roof in the moonlight. Finally the authorities had a catapult rolled through the streets of the town and the tower was battered to rubble. This stopped the hauntings but the townsfolk continue to shun the ruins. The entrance to the old dungeons can be easily located as a flight of broad stone steps leading down into darkness, but the few adventurous souls who have descended into crypts below the ruin have either reported only empty stone corridors or have failed to return at all.
Other magic-users have moved into the town but the site of the old tower remains abandoned.
Whispered tales are told of fabulous treasure and un-speakable monsters in the underground passages below the hilltop, and the story tellers are always careful to point out that the reputed dungeons lie in close proximity to the foundations of the older, pre-human city, to the graveyard, and to the sea.
Portown is a small but busy city linking the caravan routes from the south to the merchant ships that dare the pirate-infested waters of the Northern Sea. Humans and non-humans from all over the globe meet here. At the Green Dragon Inn, the players of the game gather their characters for an assault on the fabulous passages beneath the ruined Wizard's tower.
The Dungeon Master should read the background material above to the assembled players and then let them decide how they will proceed. Because of the nature of some of the traps in the dungeon, it is highly recommended that no one attempt it alone. If only one player is taking his or her character into the dungeon, the Dungeon Master should recommend employing one or more men-at-arms. These non-player characters can then be "rolled up" and hired out for a share of the treasure. The stairway from the surface leads twenty-five feet straight down and ends in the corridor marked START on the Dungeon Master's map.
A — This is a large room, 120 ft. X 100ft. There are doors in the east, west and the south wall. The room is furnished with rough tables and benches and as many....

[Daphne]

he 48 pages of the 1977 "bluebook Basic rules edited by Holmes (http://www.americanroads.us/DandD/DnD_Basic_Rules_Holmes.pdf) was much easier to decipher than the other rules from the 1970's, mainly what we went by was player-to-player oral "folklore" and the "Examples of play" in the books to get the gist:

And then the Moldvay's Basic was even easier to understand imo.