In 1977 the Basic Set of D&D finally came out, an update to the original three booklets, this also came in a box-set, including geomorphs, treasure lists, all of which had already been published before, as well as a set of polyhedral dice and, most importantly, the Basic D&D Rules.

Written by J. Eric Holmes, updating and streamlining the original rules, as well as including material from the supplements, mainly Greyhawk as well as things such as Alignment rules that came out in TSR periodicals, this is meant to be the essential rules for players from level 1 to 3, if you want to go further you were supposed to get into the upcoming Advanced D&D rules. These weren’t out yet, but would be soon.

It’s actually a pretty good rulebook for D&D, much easier to read and understand than the original rules, as it has left all references to Chainmail wargaming behind, it has pretty much anything that you would need to start playing. From character creation, to monsters, to treasure, to a cool little sample dungeon to start you and your players out. I am sure this immensely broadened the appeal of D&D, with such a neat little set of rules all together in one place and aimed at a young audience.