AD&D 2E AD&D on D&D Beyond? One Man's Dreams...

[GothmogIV]

I was at the gym this morning, listening to this week's podcast while I was riding the pain machine bike, and I had a thought...

What if WotC just put the 1st or 2nd edition rules up on D&D Beyond, and supported them with all their VTT/character/book stuff? I know that development is time consuming, but it's not like thats a complex rule set, and they literally own all of the rules, modules, and supplements already.

I think (?) a lot of grogs like me would happily shell out our discretionary income to be able to play the edition that we love on a modern chassis like D&D Beyond. I can't see how this wouldn't bring older games like myself back into the D&D ecosystem. Maybe I'm wrong.

 

[aco175]

I would say you are dreaming. There is no money for them sine it would split the players and they would not want to spend the employee time.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I would say you are dreaming. There is no money for them sine it would split the players and they would not want to spend the employee time.

Unfortunately this. I just don't think there is enough player base to pay Wotc $ to justify the costs of doing so. Anecdotal, but most of the OSR people I know steadfastly refuse to pay WotC a penny....

 

[GothmogIV]

I guess I was thinking, there are a lot of people who are not playing D&D anymore, and offering them a different rule set might bring them into the fold. This all occurred to me when I saw that Luke Gygax was going to write some Greyhawk material. I hope, hope, hope they don't turn it into what the Forgotten Realms has become.

 

[haakon1]

I would try it if D&D Beyond supported 3.5e. (I use a little, free version as a player in a few times a year 5e 2024 game.)

WotC may fear angering or confusing their 5e fans.

On Facebook’s largest BG3 group, earlier this week someone asked about 3x mods. The reaction was UGLY. Some posts not understanding the question, but more angrily denouncing any criticism of the one true faith of D&D (and 5e is its name). I tried to explain sometimes people like different things in D&D, and that is OK and got attacked myself, so I blocked people and quit the group.

And that’s why I’m back in ENworld this morning. Haters gunna hate, but at least here there are moderators and some degree of tolerance for differing opinions and tastes.

 

[GothmogIV]

On Mastering Dungeons a few weeks back, one of the hosts said that more people started playing D&D last year alone than played from 1975-2014. I'm not sure how they came up with that metric (maybe number of starter boxes purchased), but regardless: 5e is D&D for many millions of people. And that's fine. No one says we can't play whatever version tickles our fancies. I wish old D&D had better support on VTTs (for example) but it is what it is.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I guess I was thinking, there are a lot of people who are not playing D&D anymore, and offering them a different rule set might bring them into the fold.

I think the people who have left D&D behind for other games didn't do so because making a character was too hard. They're looking for something else.

Let them go and be happy, @GothmogIV! Everyone should follow their bliss.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I wish old D&D had better support on VTTs (for example) but it is what it is.

You gotta check out the OSR, man. This stuff already exists.

Old-School Character Generator

dndcharacter.com

OSE Generators

oldschoolessentials.necroticgnome.com

And the more bespoke OSR games, like Shadowdark, Mork Borg and Pirate Borg, have their own specific sites, although the OSE generators will take care of your AD&D and BD&D needs.

 

[GothmogIV]

Thank you, brother. I play castles in Crusades and dungeon crawl Classics now! OSE is on the menu too.

 

[sevenbastard]

I agree it would be nice and honestly the 50th anniversary would have been the time.

Build a bridge. Bring folks back in the fold. Celebrate all forms of D&D.