Differences between 1st & 2nd Edition?

[Angel Tarragon]

In response to the Is D&D the only game that radically changes each edition? thread I am curious to know what the major shakers were between the two editions. Please inform me.

 

[Nikosandros]

Assassins, barbarians, monks, cavaliers and half-orcs were gone.

Illusionists became one kind of specialist wizards and their spell list was merged.

Druid spell list was also merged, spheres were introduced. The very fast rate of acquisition of spells for druids was dropped.

Many spells were re-written or clarified. Damage caps for many spells was introduced.

Encumbrance and initiative were changed.

Giants and dragons became much more powerful.

Others will chime in with more stuff...

 

[jdrakeh]

Don't forget the disappearance of demons and deities culled from real world mythology.

 

[Lorthanoth]

I'll have to correct you there, I'm afraid. Deities from real-world mythology were very much still in evidence in 2E, as were demons under the name Tanar'ri.

 

[Plane Sailing]

as were demons under the name Tanar'ri.

Jdrakeh's point is that you no longer found 'demons' in the books (as it happens they were just renamed)

 

[jdrakeh]

I'll have to correct you there, I'm afraid. Deities from real-world mythology were very much still in evidence in 2E, as were demons under the name Tanar'ri..

I should have been more specific -- well known, Judeo-Christian, demons were no longer in evidence. The various forms of Tanar'ri were not culled from a real world religion except in the most flimsy of prestenses. They were demons, yes, they were not recognizably drawn from Biblical sources as Belial, Behemoth, etc were. And they were not frequently referred to as "demons" until later in the life of 2e. Likewise, named gods from real religions had their visibility greatly reduced until much later in the life of 2e.

[Edit: Plane Sailing beat me to it.]

 

[Plane Sailing]

THAC0 was formalised as a concept (1e had 'to hit' tables, by the time 2e came around many people had realised that you didn't need the whole table, all you needed was the target number to hit AC 0 and you could quickly calculate whether you had hit any AC through a bit of simple maths)

 

[jdrakeh]

Oh, also, AD&D 2e formalized (though never still fully realized) the skill system introduced in the Survivial Guides of AD&D 1e.

 

[Brother MacLaren]

THAC0 was formalised as a concept (1e had 'to hit' tables, by the time 2e came around many people had realised that you didn't need the whole table, all you needed was the target number to hit AC 0 and you could quickly calculate whether you had hit any AC through a bit of simple maths)

Did 1E have the repeating 20's on the to-hit tables? If so, that made THAC0 a bit different than the tables.

Demons and devils were not just re-named but also removed from the "core" monsters. They didn't show up until MC8, a couple of years after 2E came out.

 

[Nikosandros]

Did 1E have the repeating 20's on the to-hit tables? If so, that made THAC0 a bit different than the tables.

Yes, it had the repeating 20's. It is true that many people ignored them though.