This library, Core Rules, is a modern C++ re-implementation of the data model that underpinned TSR / Wizards of the Coast's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons CD-ROM Core Rules software. It reads, writes, and reasons about the same characters, monsters, spells, items, and encounter data that the original product stored, exposing them through a clean, documented API (the Drakein interface) for use by the Drakein Campaign Toolkit and related tools.

The rest of this reference documents that API and its implementation. This page describes the original product the data comes from, and the copyrights that govern it.

The original product

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: CD-ROM Core Rules was TSR's electronic edition of the AD&D 2nd Edition rules — a Windows CD-ROM that delivered the core rulebooks as hyperlinked, searchable text alongside a suite of play aids.

Release history

Release	Year	Published by	Notes
Core Rules 1.0	1996	TSR, Inc.	Original release. Developed for TSR by the startup Evermore Entertainment (Victor Penman, Project Manager).
Core Rules 2.0	1999	Wizards of the Coast	Major update, released after WotC's 1997 acquisition of TSR. Added the Player's Option line and DM Option: High-Level Campaigns.
Core Rules 2.0 Expansion	1999	Wizards of the Coast	The final release. A separately-sold add-on (requiring Core Rules 2.0) that folded in eleven volumes of the Complete Handbook / Complete Book series.

Wizards of the Coast acquired TSR, Inc. in 1997; WotC is today a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc.

Rulebooks included

Core Rules shipped the full text of the primary AD&D 2nd Edition rulebooks, including the Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, Monstrous Manual, Tome of Magic, and the Arms and Equipment Guide, plus a Key Topics rules summary. Version 2.0 added the Player's Option: Combat & Tactics, Skills & Powers, and Spells & Magic volumes, and DM Option: High-Level Campaigns. The 2.0 Expansion added the Complete Handbook series (Bard, Druid, Fighter, Paladin, Priest, Ranger, Thief, Wizard) and the Complete Book series (Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes & Halflings).

Software tools

Beyond the rulebooks, the product bundled a set of utilities whose data formats this library reproduces:

a character generator for rapid PC creation, plus tools to enter manually-rolled characters,
NPC / monster generation,
random treasure and encounter generators, and
a map builder.

Content was distributed as Rich Text Format documents and hyperlinked Windows Help files.

Copyright & trademark notices

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and the CD-ROM Core Rules product, including all rules text, monsters, spells, items, artwork, and other content reproduced or modeled by this library, are:

Copyright © 1996 TSR, Inc. Copyright © 1999 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, AD&D, Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, TSR, and all related product names, logos, and marks are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC (a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc.), successor-in-interest to TSR, Inc. All rights reserved.

About this project

This is an independent, non-commercial project. It is not created, endorsed, sponsored by, or affiliated with Wizards of the Coast LLC, Hasbro, Inc., or the former TSR, Inc. It contains no copyrighted rules text, artwork, or data from the original product; it implements the file formats and data structures used to store campaign data so that owners of the original CD-ROM can continue to work with their own saved data on modern systems.

The Core Rules library source code and this documentation are the work of the project's authors and are covered by the project's own license. All references to the AD&D game and the CD-ROM Core Rules product are made for interoperability and identification purposes only.