Elements of Magic with 1st edition AD&D?

[Geoffrey]

I still play 1st edition AD&D. How compatible would Elements of Magic be with 1st edition? How much work would it be for me to convert EoM to 1st edition?

 

[RangerWickett]

Never having played or read AD&D 1e, I could not say. With 2e, I suppose it wouldn't be too hard. You'd have to convert the Base Attack Bonus back to THAC0, and convert the saving throws to whatever mix you'd think was appropriate for the old 5 saves. They wouldn't get feats, which would reduce their power slightly, but that's okay because generally 3e classes are more powerful than previous editions.

I'd say that, since they'd still be more powerful than wizards, they'd need a slightly more expensive XP advancement.

The main question, though, is why not play 3e?

 

[Cyberzombie]

I haven't thought about 1e. I don't know how compatable it would be, because it does use the 3e concepts of skills (very much) and feats (some). I would think that you could convert it -- the spells of 3e are much like the spells of 1e, so the power levels shouldn't be much off, if at all. I won't lie to you, though: you'd have to read through it and figure out a fair amount of conversion.

 

[Squirrel Nutkin]

The main question, though, is why not play 3e?

I know you don't want me to answer that question.

 

[dave20101]

I can't speak for the other old timers preference for the old game, just for myself.
My brother was friends with Dave Arneson back in the formative days of D&D . As a result I cut my teeth on the early version of the game, and later I was heavily involved in playing AD&D.
I'm glad D&D is still being produced in some form, but I don't really care for the game as it is now, and I won't resort to playing the new D&D so long as I have the books, materials, and fellow players necessary to play a superior(imo) earlier version of the game.