D&D 1E Getting a 1E/2E feel from 5E

[Lord Vangarel]

If you were to attempt making 5E more like 1E or 2E what changes would you make?

Simple ones that come to mind . . .

Slower healing, perhaps 1hp/level per long rest
No feats
Remove automatic stat increases

Anything else anyone can think of?

 

[not-so-newguy]

This might be too heavy handed or arbitrary, but limit the subclass selection?

A couple of examples: Fighter= champion archetype only, Rogue = Thief, cleric= life domain, wizard =Evoker.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Sacrosanct]

No multiclassing. Period. .

AD&D had multi and dual classing. So this is...odd.

I'd eliminate feats, eliminate HD healing, and get rid of stat increases. In fact, since I've played AD&D as my preferred edition from 1981 to 2014, that's what I've done before. Alas, no save or die though

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

What feel are you trying to evoke?

Deadlier adventuring? Reinstate some more save or dies.

Character creation? Insist on 4d6 drop lowest, none of this point buy malarkey.

Class wise, Ad&d allowed fighter/thief, illusionist/thief, fighter/magic user etc - these can (broadly) be achieved through the subclasses such as Eldritch Knight and Arcane Trickster, so I'd not rule them out.

You could limit classes by race.

You could also hang much more weight on Alignment and punishments for violations (I have to say, I kind of do this myself - Adv/Disadvantage is good for this on a mundane level.

Experience points/level gain? You could always add GP to XP and increase the level margins to slow advancement if that's what you like.

Personally, having ported over from Ad&d myself, I think it reflects the spirit and feel of the game really well. I'd remove dragonborn, drow and tieflings though to return to the races available in older versions.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Artifact]

Some of the uncommon races in the 5e PHB might be unavailable in games that give a nod to old-school D&D. No dragonborn or tieflings for instance.

Gnomes, half-elves, and half-orcs might still be pretty common though.

No half-orcs in the 2e PHB. Always an option I s'pose but not really 'spelled' out til later (in books like Complete Book of Humanoids).

 

[Sacrosanct]

Not really odd. We seem to have similar 1e (AD&D) timelines, but different experiences.

First, multiclassing. Multiclassing did exist- for demihumans. And without going into EGG's preferences, the rules for multiclassing were terrible with the level limits for those demihumans (that's before you get into the whole elves can't be resurrected, etc.). Since there is nothing comparable in 5e, that's a bad example.

Dual classing didn't exist in any campaigns I knew of. Not a single one, due to the implementation (you "forgot" your class until you equaled the level). Now, I have since heard that there were a few groups that, pace a video game, had players choose one level in a class, then dual class in another, but that was foreign to the campaigns I knew of and (to the extent someone did it) that would have been disallowed- and there were no examples I saw in tournament play- and I never saw a "real" bard. YMMV.

Multi-classing and dual classing existed in AD&D, and was pretty common. Nearly every adventure module I can think of had one of the other in it, both as pre-gens and as NPCs. Remember, your anecdotal experience doesn't make something universally true. The fact that M/C and D/C NPCs showed up all the time proves that it wasn't some one-off that no one actually played with. I'll also note that level limits for AD&D weren't all that big of a deal because most gamers never got to high enough levels where it became a big issue. Most AD&D gaming happened prior to name level. Therefore, to say you should eliminate MC to be like AD&D is a pretty odd statement.

 

[Green1]

1e and 2e had multiclassing and dual classing, but it was the lamest rules in the history of DnD next to weapon speed. No, don't. Multiclassing, you had to split XP between whatever classes and it would take forever to level. Dual class, you had to "forget" your first class till you got the second class up to level. Cruddy, indeed. Oh, and do allow feats. In 2e, this was in the Skills and Powers books. 5e is already 2eish in that they are fairly uncommon since they cost a ability increase. But no, never limit character options too much. It is what pissed people off about 1e/2e sometimes.

The thing I remember most from 1e/2e was the style of game. Particularly mid level that other editions got rid of. That orc bandit camp? It has the bandits plus 2 captains and the big bad guy. Your rouge? He gets a gang at a certain point and Mr Fighter is a friggin Lord. Remember, 1e came from a friggin medieval war game and was meant to be played like such with larger battles than the typical 3e/4e fare. Henchmen, hirelings, etc on both sides.

But, back then it was brutal. Most char gen was totally random. You rolled 3d6 straight down. If your DM was cool, you could roll 4d6, drop lowest or reroll 1s or maybe assign stats. Certain classes were rare. To simulate that, while not being as harsh, you could say you need a 13 in any prime stat for a class. IE: Paladin= STR, WIS, CHA 13.

Also, wilderness stuff and travel was more brutal than nowadays. In 1e they used Avalon Hill's Outdoor Survival. Also, 2e had suitably well written splat books on outdoor and underdark hazards and such. Not just the "make a roll or two" then you are there style of travel that many 3e/4e games do. Keep 20 cards of random encounters for this. 1e/2e LOVED it's tables. Hell, even roll for weather!

 

[S'mon]

I came up with the following recently:

They did do a good job IMO in making 5e D&D 'driftable' to play like a lot of other editions. The default setting is sort of "2.5e", but I was shocked when I first looked at the 5e forum on EN World to see people treating it like 3e, with lots of talk of 'builds', 'optimisation' et al - nothing like the way I use it. That said, here are some of the things I do to go for a more 1e or Classic (pre-Non Weapon Proficiencies & Skills) type feel:

1. Skills - already vestigial in 5e, I don't really use them, I just add Profiency to whatever ability checks a character should be proficient in by reason of his Class.

2. Multiclassing - this is the bit of 5e that seems most 3e-like. Fortunately it's listed as an optional rule. Disallowed.

3. Saving throws - 5e has this weird thing where most saves never improve, in fact they get harder to make as DCs go up with level. I give every PC Proficiency in all saves, this gives more of a pre-3e feel. I found this doesn't work for monsters though, 5e casters are already much more limited than in other editions and they need to be able to have spells work most of the time or they will seem very weak.

4. Feats - for my Dragonsfoot game I didn't allow them at chargen. I'm a bit torn on this one, but a lot of 5e feats resemble stuff like the Mentzer Classic D&D 'Fighter Smash' attack - stuff that I think is ok at higher level. Again Feats are labelled as Optional and for some groups it may be safer to disallow them if you don't want a whiff of 3e style minmaxing.

5. Death Saves and "heal from zero" - a 4e-ism which is ok-ish in that game, terrible (IMO) in 5e. I don't use them, instead I use negative hit points and when a PC goes deep into negative they'll have trouble getting back up again.