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While it’s probably forgotten now, but 2E initiative was the best the game has ever had. Roll low mechanic is the best for initiative. 1E was so bad in comparison. THAC0 has been suggested for 2E but BECMI and I think B/X had it, both of which came first. 5E has to be advantage/disadvantage

There was a recent episode of Reading D&D Aloud where Ben Riggs gets into this with a guest and it’s actually rather apologetic towards Williams and it shouldn’t really be considered that outrageous of an idea. I think it was Zeb Cook who he was talking with it.

I’ve got two of them actually. Apparently it was more expensive than they were selling it at and it didn’t move well. I’m trying to remember which podcast was discussing it. Maybe Ben Riggs as he has all this financial stuff from TSR, but that doesn’t feel right to me. Neither box I have...

It also corresponded with the planned release of the 1E Battlesystem boxed set IIRC. At the time, I think Ral Partha was the licensed producer and could have actually supported the release making both companies money, but the decision to bring it in-house was utterly flawed and reminiscent of...

I find the ideas fascinating, but also find the realities of getting several others to also share in that opinion as well the logistics of actually having the minis to manage it daunting. Supposedly “Braunstein” style play and 1:1 time keeping alleviates all this and it all just works, mostly...

Which is a great point. There was an attempt in the late 1E and early 2E period to go this route with Battlesystem. The classic H-series was integrated with the two games. Dark Sun likewise was envisioned originally as “War World” with early products having significant 2E Battlesystem features...

I'm 46 and started playing in 1990 and quit in late 1999 when I joined the US Navy. I made a lot of game product purchases during the 3E era, but only actually played once and that was circa 2011 or so and that session never made it out of the tavern we were all supposed to be meeting in. Also...

The swingy 1d20 is not particularly good for adjudicating anything honestly. That this specific die has become “the one die to rule them all” since 3E isn’t something I can pin down on 5E specifically, but it didn’t reject it either. I get some of it, it’s a simple concept. It streamlines play...

That’s a name I’ve not heard in years. I loved SNK Baseball Stars and Crystalis is probably one of the best NES RPGs. I thought they went bankrupt in like 2001? Was it the original Eikichi Kawasaki or someone else who is the issue? I only knew his name because he gave himself a cameo in the...

I guess the issue is, the RAW weren’t particularly clear either. Given the “extraordinary” nature you and I are attributing to the skills, it seems to conflict with stuff like how locks are portrayed, with mundane locks requiring the base ability of the thief. This implies that the skills are...

I suppose that is accurate. My only concern is how to adjudicate the situation when it’s not clear that it’s either an automatic success or obvious failure. To your point about thief abilities being akin to “ninja skills” is apt. Especially when you take that and compare it with say, the NWP...

For what it’s worth, it’s the reason I’ve never felt comfortable associating myself with anything in the OSR broadly speaking, as it definitely had an undertone—to me at least, I’m not implying this is a general statement about anyone else—that it was fairly reactionary. While I suppose it is...

I suppose that is actually RAW really. The Detect Noise is specifically called out in the 2E DMG and nothing else. I simply made the inference since the values were the same as for a base thief. I made an argument to expand that to Hiding & Moving Silently on r/adnd a year or so ago, but I can...

Best I can see is he is being "called out" by "real" BrOSR players for usurping or at least claiming be the progenitor of the "three elements of BrOSR play" (according to at least one BrOSR blogger I read through denigrating Questing Beast.) 1:1 Timekeeping Braunstein campaign play...

That is a suggestion within a broader outline of an optional rule that was just included because of how central Gary had made "training" in pre 2E. The 2E DMG discussion is far less insistent upon training and the RAW states plainly: "When a character earns enough experience to attain the...

Where in the adversarial DM, Gygaxian hellscape did you find this? I suppose if you wanted to boost the thief at low levels, I'd suggest the following: Allow rogues to convert NWP slots into thief skill bumps. I'd think a 2 to 1 (10% bump at character generation) would be fair, especially with...

The clarification for a lot of spells and magic items in the game is extremely useful. The spell dueling minigame is also good and isn't really restricted to high levels. The standardized methodology for magic item research is also good, but this is pretty specific for actual high-level play. It...

I'm not sure the 2E thief needs a rewrite more than a better understanding of the class. If you want a "bounded accuracy" style skill-user, just make everything the rogue will encounter be roughly 65-75% possible, regardless of skill. Modify the attempt down as necessary to get everything in...

Personally, I think a lot of the BroSR (BrOSR?) thing is a mix of reactionary attitudes and likely some unfortunate realities baked into the pie that probably weren't really addressed whatsoever in the first 40 or so years of the game and have become political (and thus polarizing) because of...

Breezy doesn’t even register in Bob’s “Crimes against names” list.