Has anyone went back to 1E AD&D from 3E?

[Uncle Joe]

Nope. If I were not using 3e I would probably break out the old Rules Cyclopedia for a game of BD&D.

 

[Henry@home]

Well... Original D&D is still played by people for fun all over the country. Why not 1st edition AD&D?

I myself really couldn't see myself going back to it. It's kind of like being introduced to a washing machine, and then someone hands me a rock and some lye soap and tells me to go back to the river stream side, and to finish washing my clothes.

shudder

 

[Holy Bovine]

Have to agree. 1E and 2E would be out but a good old romp with BD&D (Rules Cyclopedia version) would be the thing I'd go back to for a few one-off games or a short campaign.

For now, though I'm looking forward to finishing my current 3E campaign and then one of my players wants to try DMing! I'll get to play!!

 

[CRGreathouse]

There's no way I'd go back to the older versions...

 

[Uller]

Go back to 1e? That'd be like dumping my Pentium IV 1.5 GHz computer and going back to my Commodore 64...Don't get me wrong...My C64 was a fine computer, and 1e translated to endless hours of fun, but 3e is soooo much better. I just can't see going back to:

MU player: "I pick up the sword from the dead orc and whack the other one."

DM: "You can't."

MU player: "What? Why not?"

DM: "Magic-users can only wield daggers and quarter staves. That's the rules."

Nay. i'll not go back. Never.

 

[Hypersmurf]

You summed up much of my argument. Let's also throw in fireballs that have to have the area calculated precisely.

[sigh] I miss those. How many times did we fry ourselves?

I have serious 1E nostalgia... but I think I've been thoroughly converted. 3E does just make more sense most of the time.

Although Unearthed Arcana Weapon Specialization rocked

I'm not sure why Barbarians were considered munchkinish with their XP progressions, though! By the time he was thinking that maybe magic weapons aren't so bad, at 4th level, the Fighter was already about 7th, dealing 2 attacks a round with his double-specialized magic bastard sword...?

-Hyp.

 

[EOL]

I think how you remember 1e and how it actually would play if you went back are two seperate things. We often remember things as better than they actually were. You're probably comparing the highlights of ten years of 1e vs. a couple of lousy 3e sessions. Of course all the high points of ten years is going to trump any single session no matter how good the rules are, but if you went back I think you would quickly discover that you had exagerrated the good points and glossed over the bad ones.

 

[Drew]

I have just one thing to say on the matter:

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep, I think that somes it up nicely.

 

[Thorvald Kviksverd]

That would be me ...

I was enthusiastic when I heard that 3e would be coming out (I didn't really care for Unearthed Arcana or anything that came thereafter) and gave it a try for about a year, but it just didn't "feel" right to me--for a variety of, albeit, very subjective reasons.

In any event...

I've gone back to using a highly modified version of Basic D&D when gaming in Mystara (see my site below), and a slightly modified version of AD&D(1e) when gaming in Greyhawk (pre-"wars", or whatever they call it).

Having gone back, I don't know why I ever left. Barring the unlikely return of 4e to its roots, I shan't make that mistake again

Why do I still post here, you may wonder? Well, I enjoy the comraderie of the D&D gaming community (which, for better or worse, is mainly 3e), and I enjoy discussing new ideas with people as they try to realize their visions of their respective campaign worlds.

Game On

 

[kenjib]

What I miss about 1e was the simplicity and speed. We ignored weapon speed factor and weapon vs. armor to-hit modifiers and boy was combat quick and simple. Now it just takes forever and all of the complicated parts are built into the rules, like flanking, spring attack, and other feats and such, so it's difficult to streamline combat. It seems like, because of this, sessions get fairly bogged down whenever a fight starts. There are also more rules debates, since the rules are now much more numerous, and much more complicated.