Rules Cyclopedia POD

A Welcome Addition
The original Rules Cyclopedia (1991) is one of my favorite versions of the World's Most Popular Role-Playing Game and enjoys a good reputation in the hobby as perhaps the best, most complete single volume version of the game. Long out of print, scans of the Rules Cyclopedia was released for sale in digital form in 2015 through various online sources. Recently, a print-on-demand option was added. I recently ordered a softcover and a hardcover copy of the printed version from DriveThruRPG and received them after about a week.

The books are color prints shipped from Lightning Sources out of La Vergne, TN. They recreate the small amounts of color used on the interior of the original - green table dividers and the 16 pages of color hex maps of the known world. The paper seems of good quality. I find the soft cover version (pictured above) very handy to flip through and the glued binding seems sturdy enough for average tabletop use. The hard cover version is a bit stiff upon opening, but it seems well glued and I expect it to also hold up well with normal use. Both have a nice glossy finish to the cover with vibrant color illustration. The neutral cover edges and illustration tones differ slightly from the original TSR printing as can be seen when comparing the two images.
I assume the print on demands are from the same digital scan I purchased in 2015. Digital scans can vary quite a bit in their quality and I rate the scans of this document as pretty uneven between best and worst with the document as a whole as middling. There is significant shadowing of the print on some pages making it a challenge to comfortably read, but not so much on other pages. I have found the pages to square-up nicely and none are completely illegible, even down to the finer print on some of the tables.
The Rules Cyclopedia ranks high in my list of preferred versions of The Game because it continues to strongly support the "rules as guidelines" approach of the Original Edition/three LBBs and presents a complete game in a single book. The Rules Cyclopedia is not a slim tome at 304 pages and includes a pretty comprehensive version of the TSR-era fantasy rules for playing characters up to level 36. It also has a monster section and ample world setting material. In other words it makes a noble attempt at being a complete game in one book, albeit one that presents many "optional" rules allowing for customization.

The Rules Cyclopedia is compiled and developed by Aaron Allston and draws heavily from Frank Mentzer's BECMI  (Red Box) version of the Basic Game. As such it includes significant deviations from the Original Game including race-as-class, but retains other elements such as the original system of three alignments. The original printing of the Rules Cyclopedia has been difficult to find among the second hand dealers and often demands a premium price for a nice copy when it is available. Having this classic back in print (on demand) is a welcome addition in my eyes.