Reference Sheets

Rounding out the contents of the White Box is the Reference Sheets.  The Reference Sheets include most of the table information from the 3 Little Brown Books and once the rules are read an understood, I assume the idea is the referee could easily run the Dungeons & Dragons game from the Reference Sheets without need to refer to the rule volumes themselves. The Reference Sheets are several folded sheets of paper printed on both sides and form a nice booklet of sorts, although not stapled as the referee would obviously want to shuffle them around, spread them out and so on during play. Later editions would see the publication of a DM or referee's screen made of rigid card stock and allowing a barrier of sorts to be placed between the players and referee as well as having useful tables and game information made ready to hand at the table.  The White Box has no such barrier and I wonder if this isn't purposeful. White Box play requires more of a give and take exchange of information and ideas than some later versions of the game. Characters were more expendable and rolling the dice more sacred in terms of not fudging the rolls. This is save vs. poison or die D&D and if you missed the die roll, the character usually died. Roll up a new one. It takes just a few minutes. The wargames roots of D&D are perhaps showing here, since in the wargames of the day, the characters or toy soldiers, counters or whatever were just playing pieces, the loss of which was important to the game, but not something to fret about. I would argue that role-playing games themselves would eventually change this mind set as a character that has been played through several levels of experience acquires a certain "value" to the player not usually seen in wargames. There is more player investment in the gaming piece, i.e. character. Well, putting that thought aside, the Reference Sheets completes the contents of the White Box. The White Box was just the beginning of the new hobby of adventure gaming and many more products would soon follow.