D&D 2E Changes to 2e from other editions?

We still use the class limits... pretty much. Besides I do not find dwarf wizards and halfling paladins interesting or innovative. But the level limits either never come up in our games or get really annoying when one hits that. And the xp modifications, I never really liked them...

Player's Options books sholud be used as DM's options as you mentioned, but I think that they don't deserve all the bashing since there are quite a few good ideas and mechanics there. When using these, we limit the race and class modifications and do not allow metagamey options like modifying the rolls by using CP's for example, but a being able to make few customisations is cool, and the spell point system fits the feeling of preserving/defiling in Dark Sun.

Igwilly said:

I still have to buy the Player's Option books,

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No you don't. Trust me.

Dorian_Grey said:

Hey Everyone!

So in my 2e games, we always made some basic changes out of the gate. We usually got rid of class restrictions and also simplified experience tables so everyone was on the same exp table.

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cbwjm said:

Out of curiosity, did you change up the classes in any way when you simplified the XP tables?

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Actually, different xp tracks is about the only "hard" reason to bother with xp at all.

In 3e, xp was a currency for item creation, but in 5e there is no use for XP other than advancement.

In other words, you can easily skip xp and simply use milestone, quest or session-based levelling.

While this is faster and easier, my nostalgic side kind of misses xp, and so I would view different xp tracks for different classes as a strength, not something to be done away with

Sent from my C6603 using EN World mobile app

Igwilly said:

Honestly, this is only my personal opinion, but...
One thing I like about 2e's races is that humans are effectively neutral: no racial ability and all classes available. This is very useful because many times you just don't want that worry in your character: being a Paladin or Wizard is already enough. And it's great to have a neutral race so you can compare classes without that external factor.
Class and level limits based on races allow that.
I still have to buy the Player's Option books, but I don't think I'll use them That much. At least not in the player-driven way.

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Definitely ignore the hate, the players option books had some great ideas in them. Even if you don't use them as the main books, you'll get some good use out of them I'd say. Use the class build mechanics to create custom variants for example.

JonnyP71 said:

I would do things the other way around - pull stuff from 1E into 5E.... such as class/race restrictions and irregular experience tables - both of which are things I like.

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That's what I've been doing. My original "concept" was to make it more like AD&D, but I'm finding that a lot of things actually come from 2e with a smattering of 3e as well. I've gotten perhaps 80% through updating my PHB.

I have altered things to suit my campaigns. For example, my level and maximum spell limits based on ability scores are much more restrictive. One of the things I liked about 1e Forgotten Realms is how Ed Greenwood worked the rule restrictions into the lore of the world itself.

So when I'm looking at abilities, spellcasting or otherwise, I like the rules to answer questions like, "why aren't there more high level clerics to eliminate disease, etc.?" In part, because I've made abilities and spells that cure disease higher level. But for the most part, it's because there just aren't many people that are even capable of learning those spells. For example, you have to have a 19 in the relevant ability to be able to learn 7th level spells. So it's extremely rare to find people with those sort of capabilities, although they do exist.

therios said:

We still use the class limits... pretty much. Besides I do not find dwarf wizards and halfling paladins interesting or innovative. But the level limits either never come up in our games or get really annoying when one hits that. And the xp modifications, I never really liked them...

Player's Options books sholud be used as DM's options as you mentioned, but I think that they don't deserve all the bashing since there are quite a few good ideas and mechanics there. When using these, we limit the race and class modifications and do not allow metagamey options like modifying the rolls by using CP's for example, but a being able to make few customisations is cool, and the spell point system fits the feeling of preserving/defiling in Dark Sun.

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Definitely some interesting things, and a clear precursor to 3e. I consider the DM/Player's Options books to be 2.5 edition. It changes the game that much.

Just finishing my previous thoughts:
Ok, I stand corrected about level limits.
It’s not that I actually like level limits. They enforce the “worse now, better later/better now, worse later” dichotomy that I don’t like. However, the system runs on that (although not as strongly as some people may think), and I don’t really see a reason to change that without changing the rest of the system with it. And they are also important in forming each race’s aptitudes and allow the "neutral humans" I mentioned.
My point: they probably left a bad taste in many players’ mouths, but they make sense in this specific context, and I wouldn’t change this without an overall system revision.
Limits of classes by races is something I like (despite not being mandatory to me), but level limits are clumsy.

About POs:
Well, of course, I'll certainly use something of them, that's for sure. I'm just disappointed because I thought they would be central to my campaign; and turns out, I'll be a lot more selective.
I plan to buy many books. My friends and I are getting money for the pdfs, so, once I play with the system a little bit, we'll start buying more books. Then I'll choose what I want.
Moreover, I plan to make some/many of my specialty priests, or at least modify some for my campaign. Like, buffing up the weak ones, nerfing the overpowered ones, standard DM's work.