D&D 2E Edition Experience - Did/Do you Play AD&D 2E? How Was/Is It?

[Giltonio_Santos]

It's still my favorite edition of D&D. I'm running a game of 2e for some old friends now, but I wish I could run at least one of my current campaigns in 2e. I even published the first part of a two-part essay on running it a few months ago. I tend to spend a lot of time between publications on that blog, but I hope to have the second part in a not so far future.

 

[GreyLord]

I distinctly remember that the 2E Bard was truly hosed. Some of his songs took 5 minutes to cast before any effect happened. Which is fine if your dungeon master does not start every combat with, "Roll initiative. You didn't see them."

Once a bard got spells they were pretty overpowered in the games I played in. One reason was that they gained levels faster than a Mage and so, although they could not cast the highest levels (unless you got the High Level Campaigns book and went to super high levels in which case you could cast those highest level spells), they advanced quickly enough that at times they were stronger casters for mid level spells than Mages. Couple that with the ability to use any weapon and armor and a few of the kits and they basically were able to buff themselves and fight better than others while also being able to be deadly casters.

Of course, this didn't kick in till at least the mid levels, but bards got pretty powerful pretty quick.

 

[CleverNickName]

On April 24th, I compiled the survey results and posted them in this thread. Not just the survey results; I also collected and analyzed (to the best of my ability) the comments and "nuance" I requested in the comment section as well. I have linked that survey to the OP in this thread, and in all of the other edition surveys as well.

But discussion continues, and votes are still coming in. I'll continue to collect and update the survey info, and I will be updating the summary soon. Thanks everyone for your (continued) participation! This has been a fun and enlightening exercise in the history of our hobby.

 

[Bohandas]

I haven't played 2e tabletop, but I've played Baldur's Gate and Dark Queen of Krynn. I feel that Baldur's Gate was marred by its lack of true turnbased combat and its use instead of realtime and half-assed autopause realtime

 

[Bohandas]

I distinctly remember that the 2E Bard was truly hosed. Some of his songs took 5 minutes to cast before any effect happened.

At least that makes sense in-world. The 3e bard didn't make a lick of sense if you think about it. Six seconds is kind of short even for a jingle. The JG Wentworth jingle takes 9 seconds, and that's for the short version.

 

[Tallifer]

At least that makes sense in-world. The 3e bard didn't make a lick of sense if you think about it. Six seconds is kind of short even for a jingle. The JG Wentworth jingle takes 9 seconds, and that's for the short version.

First 2 seconds. Imagine charging up a party with that!

4th Edition Majestic Word Sounds like a Minor Action.

 

[Ath-kethin]

Sure, THACO was easy enough, but the whole 'a +2 to AC actually means you subtract 2' thing always annoyed me, and I always thought there had to be a better way. The fix to AC in 3E and later editions was about the only thing I liked about them...

My groups and I never had a problem with the 2e math (though one player in particular seemed to have a hard time grasping that their AC didn't change just because they went up a level). I never really understood people who complained about THAC0 and descending armor class; it was literally 2nd or maybe 3rd grade math. At worst.

THAT SAID, adding positive numbers is just simpler and more intuitive than adding negative numbers, and certainly moreso than subtracting negative numbers. The ascending to-hit bonus and ascending armor class is, I agree, the best part of the 3.x era.

I run Rules Cyclopedia D&D most of the time these days, and the only real change I make to it is translating the to-hit chart to a steady progress in of bonuses and the AC progression to positive modifiers.

 

[Ezequielramone]

It was weird af for me. I don't think my experience with this edition is the norm. I explain myself:
I started playing RPGs with pathfinder then moved to 5e. At the time I was moving from PF to 5e (that's another story) in Argentina we had a forum and one guy wrotte there: "I want to COME BACK to D&D". Long story short: he played a LOT in the 90s and beggining of 00s but had to work, kids, etc and he loves Dragonlance.
We ended up playing a Dragonlance campaing using 2e because that is what he knew. I played a red robe wizard and that was really great. It was weird for me because I was DMing 5e already and had DMed pathfinder a lot.

Funny fact: since I was only DMing 5e when it came up I didn't read the full magic chapter. And in 2e chromatic orb was like the signature spell of my wizard. This guy became my player also and started liking 5e and then he moved his game to 5e. I had to "convert" my wizard to 5e and I was tottaly dissapointed by how crappy was chromatic orb in 5e. It just broke my heart

 

[Bupp]

Probably the edition I put the most miles on as a DM. I played the most 1e, but I ran some epic campaigns using the 2e rules in high school and while in the Army.

 

[cbwjm]

It was weird af for me. I don't think my experience with this edition is the norm. I explain myself:
I started playing RPGs with pathfinder then moved to 5e. At the time I was moving from PF to 5e (that's another story) in Argentina we had a forum and one guy wrotte there: "I want to COME BACK to D&D". Long story short: he played a LOT in the 90s and beggining of 00s but had to work, kids, etc and he loves Dragonlance.
We ended up playing a Dragonlance campaing using 2e because that is what he knew. I played a red robe wizard and that was really great. It was weird for me because I was DMing 5e already and had DMed pathfinder a lot.

Funny fact: since I was only DMing 5e when it came up I didn't read the full magic chapter. And in 2e chromatic orb was like the signature spell of my wizard. This guy became my player also and started liking 5e and then he moved his game to 5e. I had to "convert" my wizard to 5e and I was tottaly dissapointed by how crappy was chromatic orb in 5e. It just broke my heart

I really do miss the original chromatic orb. Makes me want to change the current one to have one or two options with a 1st level spell slot and if you cast it with higher level spell slots, new options arrive like stunning, petrification, and death!