D&D 2E Are all my 2E books worthless now?

[SamWolfeIVI]

I've not played D&D since 2E and have quite a bit of material from it.

When I saw that 5E was coming out and it looked like it might get me interested again, I pulled out all of my OLD TOMES!

I'm wondering, ... from someone who was generally in the same boat, whether or not anything can be used from the 2E content?

Or do I just need to put them back into my dusty library and forget I even had them?

Wolfe

 

[Mistwell]

I've not played D&D since 2E and have quite a bit of material from it.

When I saw that 5E was coming out and it looked like it might get me interested again, I pulled out all of my OLD TOMES!

I'm wondering, ... from someone who was generally in the same boat, whether or not anything can be used from the 2E content?

Or do I just need to put them back into my dusty library and forget I even had them?

Wolfe

No they are definitely not worthless (and in fact there seems to be more interest in 2e books these days than there was prior to 5e).

5e, more so than 3e or 4e, is more easily adaptable to use with material from 2e. Indeed, there are a lot of elements, style choices, and ideas from 2e which were extended and carried forth into 5e. 5e is sometimes called "the 3e we wanted back in the year 2000".

So I suggest you pour through your old 2e material, pull out the stuff you really liked, and adapt it for use with 5e. Particularly the non-rules elements, like setting descriptions and such, will be highly useful. The adventures can be adapted for use with 5e - mostly by simply replacing the monsters mentioned in the adventure with the 5e version of that monster, though for an more "even" game it's better to make some on-the-fly conversions rather than simply directly doing it that way. For instance, a monster in 2e might be a level-7 type challenge in that game, but a level-10 type challenge in 5e, and so it could be run straight like that it would just be a lot more difficult for the party (which might be OK). Or it could be the reverse, and be an easier challenge in 5e. But once you're familiar with the system, you can change it pretty easily to adjust the hit points and AC and attack bonus and such to be more in line with a 5e challenge.

There are other minor quirks between the two systems, and eventually WOTC hopes to put out a conversion guide. But until then, there are some good ones done by individuals on the web. Like this one for instance.

 

[Mercule]

Since WotC has said (or very, very strongly implied) that those looking for setting material should look at supplements for previous editions, those books should definitely have value.

Beyond that, it's actually not too hard to "upgrade" 2E to 5E. Somehow, there's an easier path from 2E to 5E and 3E to 5E than there is between 2E and 3E.

 

[phantomK9]

Not at all.
Once 5e came out I immediately regretted selling all my 2e class books because I think the kits could very easily be converted to character paths for all the classes.

I still had several of the 2e small adventure books and plan on using them in my upcoming game.

 

[Janx]

I guess I put my 2e books away when I switched to 3e, so I don't really see the problem switching to 5e. A default assumption should be that you're not going to use the old books, but might grab a few ideas from them. Anything more you get out of your old books is just awesomesauce.

 

[SamWolfeIVI]

Thanks

Awesome, ... thanks for the replies. I'll have to dig back into those dusty old tomes ... I'm so darn rusty.
Over 20 years rusty. (OUCH ... showing my age ... LOL)

I used to DM most of the time, except with one particular group I played with while in the Navy where I was a player.

I'm thinking that I should start my 5E experience as a player to get back into the scheme of things before I delve back into being the DM again. Any thoughts on DM vs Player for someone as rusty as myself?

/r
Wolfe

 

[AriochQ]

Awesome, ... thanks for the replies. I'll have to dig back into those dusty old tomes ... I'm so darn rusty.
Over 20 years rusty. (OUCH ... showing my age ... LOL)

I used to DM most of the time, except with one particular group I played with while in the Navy where I was a player.

I'm thinking that I should start my 5E experience as a player to get back into the scheme of things before I delve back into being the DM again. Any thoughts on DM vs Player for someone as rusty as myself?

/r
Wolfe

It really depends on your players. If you have a new group, or a group who is just as rusty as you, you can all figure out the rule system together. Popping onto these boards, or listening to any of the various 5th Ed. podcasts, will clue you in when you may not be doing things the same way as others.

Starting with a canned adventure would probably be easier as well.

 

[Tony Vargas]

I'm wondering, ... from someone who was generally in the same boat, whether or not anything can be used from the 2E content?

JMHO, but setting content is entirely useable (it doesn't usually greatly depend on game mechanics). Magic items should be mostly easy to convert over with minimal effort - you'd want to restrict the '+'s of items to the 1 to 3 range of 5e, but aside from that, most classic D&D items just do something arbitrary described in natural language, whether in 5e or 2e, indeed, some 5e items are copy-pasted from 3e and 2e. Monsters can be converted with a little fiddling with AC, and probably need more damage and hps the higher level we're talking. At low level, I've found running AD&D monsters in 5e with little more conversion than inverting AC workable.

Races probably won't convert too easily, and adapting a class would be a major undertaking, much simpler to just choose the closest 5e sub-class - there are 38 of 'em. Similarly, you can probably find a Background to approximate a Kit rather than trying to convert a Kit directly to a background.

I'm thinking that I should start my 5E experience as a player to get back into the scheme of things before I delve back into being the DM again. Any thoughts on DM vs Player for someone as rusty as myself?

Really, really, JMHO & YMMV, but 5e requires a fair amount of talent/experience to run, but can be done without a huge amount of prep work, and, with a little hutzpah, without really knowing the specific 5e rules in exhaustive detail. Just make decisive rulings at the table and you're fine. If someone points out the written rule is different, just tell them it's a 'house rule,' or 'that's how I'm running it in this specific circumstance.'

It depends on how much D&D was 'like riding a bicycle' for you. If it all comes flooding back, jump in and run. Likewise if you gather some other old-timers who've been away about as long, and or are running for entirely new players.

Playing and running 5e are very different experiences and I'm not sure the former is necessarily prep for the latter.

 

[SamWolfeIVI]

Thanks

To Tony Vargas ...

Thanks for the insight. Its good to know that all that money spent back in the day isn't completely a waste now.

To AriochQ ...

Unfortunately, where I live now, none of the friends I once had that played are close by OR even play anymore because they are all grown up now and married with kids.
I'm not even sure how I'll manage to put some time aside to give this old hobby a shot again.

================================================

In the resurgence of my interest in D&D, I did a lot of searching for information on 5E and even gave a shot at making a race for 5E with some new spells. Both of which are posted on this site.

Light Elves
Lights Veil
Gift of Light

Please give them a look see and give me any feed back you have.
I could use some

/r
Wolfe

 

[AriochQ]

To Tony Vargas ...

Thanks for the insight. Its good to know that all that money spent back in the day isn't completely a waste now.

To AriochQ ...

Unfortunately, where I live now, none of the friends I once had that played are close by OR even play anymore because they are all grown up now and married with kids.
I'm not even sure how I'll manage to put some time aside to give this old hobby a shot again.

Wolfe

I would suggest Adventurer's League at a local game shop or tracking down a relatively close convention to get some play experience. DMing without a group of players is a slightly larger problem lol.