Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set

The Holmes Basic Set, edited by Eric Holmes, first printed in 1977 The first Basic boxed set, with a 48-page rulebook and a dragon on the lid in one of the few cover paintings by TSR's Dave Sutherland. Contents shifted between printings, which is the fun of collecting it: early boxes came with Dungeon Geomorphs and a Monster & Treasure Assortment, while later ones swapped those for a starter module, first In Search of the Unknown and then The Keep on the Borderlands. Look out for the chit version, where cardboard counters stand in for dice. It had a considerably smaller print run than the dice sets, so check the inventory carefully before paying a rarity premium.