The Companion Expansion by Barrataria Games didn't get the same level of hype as the B/X Companion, but it covers much of the same ground. I have not looked at them together to see how they cover similar topics, but they seem very compatible.

For new races there are gnomes and wild-wood (sylvan) elves, half-orcs, half-ogres and half-elves as race-classes. Wood elves share the same spell lists as do druids and gnomes share a list with Illusionists and bards. All for the B/X system

It also has a Bard, Druid, and Illusionist Classes that are roughly equal with the AD&D versions. But the real feature of this book is the expanded spell list. If you are looking to extend your illusionist, druid or bards a bit more with more spells then this is a good way to do it.

While this book does not have the feel of the first Basic and Expert books, it does have a ton of useful information and all of it (well all but about 0.5%) is 100% OGL.

I consider this book a forgotten treasure.

An excellent publication - clear layout in the style and order of the Basic / Expert books, even the font matches. The inclusion of new classes, races, kit and magic expands the game in a way that I wish had existed back in the early 80s when I started playing Basic. (I still DM it now actually!). WIth the inclusion of Bards, Illusionists, half-ogre, half elves, gnomes, NEW thief skills, new spells, monsters and magic items etc, I feel this is better value (and more focused) than the Rules Cyclopedia. The demi-humans are still limited in level advancement and there is still a focus on clan / stronghold creation at name level - which, unless you want to rpg day-to-day running a castle / clan then your charcter effectively retires. How can a character advance / gain XP whilst is sorting out taxing the peasants?! Overall a fantastic publication.

A hundred-plus pages of old school fantasy goodness! Perfect for players who only have access to basic/expert level play in old D&D sets or "retro-clone" product-equivalents.

Billiam B bit.ly/rpgblog