As a complement to the red Basic Rules Set, which covered D&D levels 1-3, TSR also released in 1983 the second set, this blue Expert Set, which covers from level 4 to 14. There would be more sets to come, of course, but this one, together with the Basic were the most popular ones. Even today few players go over level 14 before rolling up a new character or starting a new campaign. 

Much like the Basic Set, this is a high production value set, beautifully designed, with great illustrations by Larry Elmore, it is basically an expansion set to the red box, with tables and instructions for leveling players above level 3, but it also includes some important information for the DM, this time in the same booklet as the rules for players. The Expert Set introduces players and DMs to wilderness adventures. 

These wilderness adventures are introduced through the inclusion of X1: The Isle of Dread as a separate item in the box. There is enough that is new about that revamped expansion that it’s worth going through the new version in my next post, so we’ll leave it for tomorrow. This does mean, however, that unlike the Basic Set there are no solo adventures or other adventures inclued in the rulebook itself. Still, this was an essential buy for any players/DMs who took the game seriously enough to want to go beyond the options in the first set.