Explaining 3.5 to a 2nd Edition Veteran

[Kuld]

I am a long time player, but new to the 3/3.5 E meself. Actually, I have only been playing 3E for a few months now. I started out as the DM of my group as well; and my group's all green to 3E. So I was/am responsible for not only teaching myself the new regs but also the other players.

IMO, even though we still have our problems, the transition would have been more difficult if we weren't all vets in the game.

Oh, and thanks to all you that have answered my questions thus far. It's much appreciated.

-Kuld

 

[TheAuldGrump]

i wasn't knocking. i was beating a dead horse.

You were attacking OD&D?

The reason I was suggesting forgetting 2nd ed was also in part because of the similarities as well as the difference - I have been thrown more times by remembering an old similar rule than one that is totally different.

I do not know about Skills & Powers, we had stopped playing AD&D by then.

The Auld Grump

 

[diaglo]

You were attacking OD&D?

The reason I was suggesting forgetting 2nd ed was also in part because of the similarities as well as the difference - I have been thrown more times by remembering an old similar rule than one that is totally different.

I do not know about Skills & Powers, we had stopped playing AD&D by then.

The Auld Grump

i have had the problem too. i remember a rule from another edition and try and apply it during play for my PC. only to find it don't work that way nnanymore. totally screws up tactics.

 

[Maggan]

The line starts here

But back to my original point -- simply pointing out that 3e is radically different from pre-3e D&D is not a 'bash'. And it may help someone with deep 'pre-3e' intuitions to simply approach it as a different game.

Maybe not the first post pointing that out. Maybe not the second... but as the third, fourth, fifth and sixth post appeared informing us of the "fact" that D&D3e is "nothing like 2e", it started to smell of bashing.

There are major simliarities between 3e and 2e. So many, that most people I talk to (anecdotal evidence, I know), that hated D&D before 3e, still hate it, because it basically is the same game. Levels, classes, hit points, and so on.

Maggan

 

[diaglo]

There are major simliarities between 3e and 2e. So many, that most people I talk to (anecdotal evidence, I know), that hated D&D before 3e, still hate it, because it basically is the same game. Levels, classes, hit points, and so on.

i hate broccoli and cauliflower. two different things that are very similar botanically.

the perversion that is brocoflower or caulioli ... still ain't gonna change my opinion neither.

 

[TerraDave]

Ya know, full stop is just an old telegraph term, maybe I should use mathmatical notation instead...

In terms of new players, introducing players to 2nd edition, it was the core concepts that threw them, things like "why do all d20 rolls work differently" or "why are there these different ways to sneak around"...the group I am playing 3.5 now has a couple of players who are not too die hard and haven't played in a while, and they like 3.5, inlcuding specifacally things like easier multi-classing.

In the D&D 30th aniversary book, it is pointed out that it was more experienced gamers who liked things like the RC--and liked to wing it. Starting gamers did want more rules to cover more things.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Maybe not the first post pointing that out. Maybe not the second... but as the third, fourth, fifth and sixth post appeared informing us of the "fact" that D&D3e is "nothing like 2e", it started to smell of bashing.

There are major simliarities between 3e and 2e. So many, that most people I talk to (anecdotal evidence, I know), that hated D&D before 3e, still hate it, because it basically is the same game. Levels, classes, hit points, and so on.

Maggan

Sometimes repetition is a means of emphasizing a point, in this case that the rules are dissimilar enough to not be the same game. For some of us this is a good thing.

Characters are a lot more varied than 1st ed. and better balanced than in 2nd ed.

The downside is that character generation is more involved, and combat is a lot more involved. (Though both of these are, in my jaundiced opinion, a good thing.)

Sometimes people are defending against an attack which is not present.

The Auld Grump, I am not paranoid, and the people who told you I am are out to get me!

 

[Sir Elton]

Oooo let me play this game.

To Clarify:

OD&D(1974) is the only true game. All the other editions are just poor imitations of the real thing.


FULL STOP.

Actually, the only true game is the one you are now playing. All other games are useless.

 

[Nareau]

Sigh. I was just hoping for a few good responses. Instead, I got a lot of great responses, and one stupid flame war.

Perhaps next time you guys want to toss around the gasoline, you'd be kind enough to start your own thread?

At any rate, thanks to everyone who provided some useful insights. I think this will be a great way to bring said players up to speed.

Spider

 

[Darth K'Trava]

Actually, wouldn't 8-track be more appropriate?

Only for you. I didn't listen to stuff on 8-track. That was my mother and her sister's realm of tech. (other than records)