Y'know. As much 2e stunk up the joint rules-wise. I still have more fond memories of that edition than any other.
I've found that 2e works a lot better if you ignore everything with (optional) in front of it. Oh, and put in ascending AC.
Y'know. As much 2e stunk up the joint rules-wise. I still have more fond memories of that edition than any other.
Just so it doesn't get lost: Does anyone know when the next 5e playtest packet is supposed to be released?
So far, the playtest material reminds me of the child of BECMI and 3e.
Yeah, what I like is that it feels like classic D&D, appears that I could run the game (particularly combat) pretty quick, and doesn't overwhelm players with powers and sticks to special abilities that are actually meaningful. I've got a big group that meets intermittently, so I need to be able to run an adventure in one session. Also, no one is that interested in learning a new game system - when they want to play D&D they want familiar trappings - which Next does have.I'd recommend to OP to try and have fun with playtest material as-is plus homebrew rather than battle against differences (that may or may not be important to the group) in other versions. It's difficult to tell which parts of 5E appeal to you, and thus which is really the "closest" version for your purposes. If you like at-will spells and the hit dice healing for instance, only 4E really has both (although I think Pathfinder has at-will spells for PCs).