Anyone Still Use 2nd Ed. Books For 3rd Ed. Games?

[El_Gringo]

Although I've been gaming for about 10 years now, I never got into D&D much until 3rd edition. Of course I played it, but I never had the inclination to run it. I currently run an FR campaign and feel like I'm missing out on a lot of information. If I were to look for some older books, what should I get?

 

[Rune]

Just used the World Builders Guide last night. It is the single most useful 2e supplement there was. And it's still just as useful.

 

[Davelozzi]

If you're talking about FR materials, I guess it all depends on where you're setting the campaign. Faiths & Avatars and its sequels are great, and although the upcoming Faith & Pantheons book is aiming at a lot of the same territory, from what I gather it seems like it will have a lot more stats and a lot less information about other aspects of the religions, so F&A might still be worthwhile.

As for regional accessories, I'd say go for the first generation (FR1 - FR16 series) if you'd prefer more detail than the campaign set but still a lot of room to manuever. If you're looking for lots of details, go for the second generation releases (The North, Lands of Intrigue, and Empires of the Shining Sea and Spellbound boxed sets). My personal favorites are FR5 Savage Frontier and Lands of Intrigue.

If you're talking about core materials, you'd probably have more trouble using them in a 3e campaign since they're more rules heavy. Player's Option: Spells & Magic has some variant magic systems that looked interesting but I never used them so I can't say if they play well.

Also, one of the best products of the 2e era was the World Builder's Guidebook, but it might not be that necessary for you if you're planning on using a published setting like the Realms.

On the same note, some of the other campaign settings are worth looking at but you probably don't need them if you've already decided on the Realms. Personally I prefer Birthright and Dark Sun.

 

[EricNoah]

Two FR products I use a lot from 2E are Cloak and Dagger and Faiths & Avatars.

Other choices depending on what I was running would include Drizzt's Guide to the Underdark, Skullport, the Waterdeep boxed set, and any of the regional guides. These are available as ESDs I believe.

 

[Psion]

I currently run an FR campaign and feel like I'm missing out on a lot of information. If I were to look for some older books, what should I get?

I started a thread like this not to long ago. Of course, with search disabled, good luck finding it.

Where to look: if you have a taste for PDF files, and live in the states (or know someone who does whose address you can use) your best bet is to go to the wizards online shop. There is a huge array of old material converted to PDF format for 5-7 bucks a pop, though some are free.

What I use from 1e and 2e (note: I don't play FR, but some of this stuff is FR.)

• Dungeon Masters Design Kit - A nice booklet for inspiration in creating adventures (1e).
• The Complete Villains Handbook - The best of the DM Advice books, has some great ideas for developing villains and villainous groups and running games
• The World Builder's Guide - A great resource for conceiving and fleshing out worlds.
• The Encyclopedia Magica and Wizards & Priests Spell compendiums - Though you have to convert, there are a lot of neat ideas to be had in these books for your spellcasters.
• Undermountain (Ruins of Undermountain, ROU II, Skullport, and the 3 'Lost Level' adventures) - The ultimate dungeon crawl, which I have been slowly converting. The lost level modules are free in PDF
• The Planescape Setting - Essential, of course, if you intend to run the planescape setting, but also a great resource in general for planar adventuring and other planear beings.
• Oriental Adventures (1e) - Has some neat stuff on background and events that didn't make it into the 3e version.
• Dungeon Builder's Guidebook - Though not the most useful 2e book I keep on my shelves, I did just use it last night for inspiration for an upcoming dungeon.

 

[Teflon Billy]

I still get some milage out of that Castle Guide that they put out for 2E. Has a lot of usefl info on not just castles, but the Feudalism in general (and as it applies to D&D).

 

[Razuur]

World Builders guidebook - Great supplement.

Monstrous Compendium - for more info in the scantily described creatures in the MM.

I also use the old Arcanum book by Bard Games.

Razuur

 

[Voadam]

FR materials

Almost everything for 1e and 2e forgotten realms is available in ESD pdf format from wizards for $5 or $6 each. The exceptions are the gods supplements _faiths and avatars_ and _powers and pantheons_, and I think the last magister supplement is not released.

Also there are a bunch of free ones from their classic download section. I would check out the free supplements first, then pick a topic area or a region and go from there. There is too much to get everything and too much to read as is. There are also the innumerable novels which are set in the realms but they are of varying quality.

 

[gamecat]

Yes, I do. Playing Spelljammer in 3e is hard because Mages of the Beach won't be reprinting spelljammer outside of an article in polyhedron, so I use my beloved pdf's of The Concordance of Arcane Space and The Complete Spacefarer's Handbook.

 

[buzzard]

Just to be a bit different, I have to say that I find my 2nd Ed Monster Manual (or Monstrous Compendium, or whatever it was called) to be fairly useful. It has more in depth descriptions of many monsters. Don't get me wrong, I like the 3rd Ed. MM, but 2nd Ed sometimes had a bit more to offer with the ecology and such stuff. You should be able to pick one of those up used at a cheap enough price. I've had it come in handy on a number of occasions.


Buzzard