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

[fuindordm]

Frankly, I can't think of anything really important in terms of rules changes on the DM side.

Adventure design plays into "AD&D feel" a lot. I noticed in Out of the Abyss that the trend in 5E seems to be having lots of bite-sized encounters and lots of opportunities for short rests between them. For an AD&D-style adventure I would make the encounter areas much larger and more dangerous, so that the players are forced to choose between retreating (and giving the monsters time to regroup and set traps) or pressing on without a short rest.

Ben

 

[Lord Vangarel]

I notice that most (all?) of the suggestions are player-side, especially character creation and development. For my money, you can streamline PCs (good idea), but there's only a handful of them in the game after all. The DM won't really get a classic feel without also streamlining the monsters, and at that point, you're probably better off starting with Basic or 1e and implementing some of the innovations you like from 5e. The easiest approach might be to start with something like Basic Fantasy and 5erize it to your liking.

I'd happily give 1E or 2E a shot to see if we liked it but I have a feeling my players wouldn't.

 

[Greg Benage]

Frankly, I can't think of anything really important in terms of rules changes on the DM side.

I think the Monster Manual is pretty important.

Large hit point pools, special abilities on everything starting with goblins and kobolds, the same issues with ability scores, skills and saves that some have expressed concerns about on the player side (maybe worse, because I'm not convinced the implementation for monsters is particularly tight), etc. Obviously "old-school feel" is subjective and YMMV, but adventures with 5e monsters won't feel "old school" to me.

 

[Wulfgar76]

I think a more constructive approach would be:

What single 5th edition rule, feature or option is the greatest obstacle to getting that AD&D feel?

You can only pick one thing. Each.

The 5e Death Rules
Death Saves = Infinite Negative HP = Indestructible Characters

AD&D simply felt more dangerous. You avoided combat if you could. One crit or failed save and your character was dead.
Now AD&D was probably too harsh in that regard - but 5e seems geared to be extremely easy and character death is rather nonexistent.

 

[Kabouter Games]

I kinda don't see the point to converting 5e back to older editions when the older editions already exist with tons of supplements. A different question might be "What should I steal from 5e and add to my 1e/2e game?" if you prefer the older editions.

This. I still have a shelf full of 1E and OSR materials. With no intention of starting yet another tiresome edition war, and with the best will in the world, if you want the flavor of 1E, play that. I am full of love for both OSR/1E and 5E. Trying to make one into the other is pointless, in my opinion.

Edited to add:

That said, I think of two easy ways to make the game evoke 1E.

First, make the game more lethal. Characters dropping like flies is a hallmark of the early days, as I recall. That means developing an intricate build is probably less than ideal, as a player, because you don't want to spend all that time and effort building a character that's going to get sucked into a pit trap and die. I'd eliminate death saves, for one. I'd also use system shock (isn't massive damage an option in the 5E DMG?).

Second, I second the notion I read above about making killing things worth less than - or at most the same - as bringing loot back to town. 1XP=1GP should work fine. That moves the emphasis from slaughter to clever looting. I mean, if you can talk the dragon off its hoard, that's worth XP, right?

 

[steeldragons]

OH! #10 !

10. XP & level advancement: Slow that $#!t down! Doesn't have to be all scattered like 1e was (though I like that/still do it). But for adapting 5e to a 1e feel, the level advancement MUST be slowed down...at least in the beginning levels. I recommend the following:
Level . . .XP
1st . . . . . .0
2th . . . . .500
3rd . . . . .1100
4th . . . . .2700 (same as 5e)
5th . . . . .5900 (actually <5e)
and beyond that, to 10th level, just take (the current level's XP X 2) + 1500 for the next level threshold. So 6th level is (5900 x 2) + 1500 = 13,200 (also <5e)
7th . . . . .27,900
8th . . . . .55,800
9th . . . . .111,600
10th . . . . 223,200
From 10th level on, since the totals are already so large, I might do away with the doubling and just add a flat 10,000 on top of the former number to 15th.
From 15th level on, add 20,000 on top of the former number to 20th.

11. Initiative: Use Group/Side initiative.
12. Death & Dying: No death saves. "Bleed out" -1 HP per round passed -1. Death at -10 (or, as someone else said, -Con. if you're feeling generous).

EDIT to add addenda to the Class options:
For Half-Elves only:
1. The Ranger: let half-elves only choose spells from the cleric spell list to simulate the classic Half-elf Ranger/Cleric.
2. The Eldritch Knight Fighter: let half-elves choose spells from the cleric spell list to simulate the classic Half-Elf Fighter/Cleric (1/3-caster version).
3. The Paladin: let half-elves (again, only half-elves!) choose the Ancients Oath to allow an alternative take on the classic Half-Elf Ftr/Cle (1/2-caster version).

 

[Barantor]

The 5e Death Rules
Death Saves = Infinite Negative HP = Indestructible Characters

AD&D simply felt more dangerous. You avoided combat if you could. One crit or failed save and your character was dead.
Now AD&D was probably too harsh in that regard - but 5e seems geared to be extremely easy and character death is rather nonexistent.

I've had no problem DMing and killing characters in either system. Negative HP wasn't any better or worse IMO.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

The 5e Death Rules
Death Saves = Infinite Negative HP = Indestructible Characters

AD&D simply felt more dangerous. You avoided combat if you could. One crit or failed save and your character was dead.
Now AD&D was probably too harsh in that regard - but 5e seems geared to be extremely easy and character death is rather nonexistent.

Not in my experience at all. That's so night and day different from what goes on at our table.

 

[MostlyDm]

I often wonder if people saying character death is rare in 5e noticed that taking any damage at all while at 0 HP counts as a death save fail. So if you go up against a pair of Thugs, and the first one crits you to 0, you're dead. He hits you with his second attack, death save fail, and the second thug finishes you off with his 2 attacks. Nothing you can do to stop it.

Or you could just be caught in an AoE while at 0; they don't even need to be specifically targeting you.

Killing people is very easy, though perhaps not quite as easy to do if you actively avoid trying to do so. And obviously no system is as lethal as dead-at-0 early D&D.

 

[CapnZapp]

I often wonder if people saying character death is rare in 5e noticed that taking any damage at all while at 0 HP counts as a death save fail. So if you go up against a pair of Thugs, and the first one crits you to 0, you're dead. He hits you with his second attack, death save fail, and the second thug finishes you off with his 2 attacks. Nothing you can do to stop it.

Or you could just be caught in an AoE while at 0; they don't even need to be specifically targeting you.

Killing people is very easy, though perhaps not quite as easy to do if you actively avoid trying to do so. And obviously no system is as lethal as dead-at-0 early D&D.

But that requires you to treat attacks at fallen enemies like a routine action.

If you don't want PCs to murderhobo everybody in retaliation for them trying to kill off their fallen friends, negative hp can help a lot in "keeping down" fallen combatants, and consequently make it much less urgent for those Thugs to keep attacking a PC once he's on the ground.