How to convince my players to give 2e a try?

[S'mon]

I think you need to decide that you're going to run 2e first, then look for willing players second. If some of your current players don't like 2e, don't try to cajole them, if you succeed you'll only regret it.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Either you say "I'm the DM, we play this or we play nothing" or you distil down why you want to play 2e and tell them that.

Or you could just try putting together all the nutso broken combos that exist in darksun 2e and trying to tempt them with that. Last time I played darksun 2e, my characters were a dart-throwing half giant psionicist (which was nuts with con-focussed powers, not to mention the whole "throw 3 darts and get massive str bonus on each one"), a bard (yay! manufacturing 1 dose of type J poison every day!) and a water cleric (yay! memorising 15 cure light wounds every day... awww )

 

[LeStryfe79]

1. Give em high stats. 18,17,16,15,14,13 and make sure to allow one reroll for exceptional strength. I played lots of great characters with lower stats in 2e, but this isn't the time or place for that. If your players have low stats they'll feel severely underpowered.

2. Make sure to use kits from the handbooks as this will make up for the lack of customization in 2e.

3. I would use the players option: Combat and Tactics rules for weapon mastery as well as the other weapon related proficiencies. This will make warrior classes more interesting. I would also houserule using Int for bonus mage spells for single class mages to give them more to do. Multi-class characters don't need this benefit.

4. Do not use level limits, and instead balance out humans by giving them an extra weapon and nonweapon proficiency.

5. Use a well esteblished campaign setting. I love making my own, but I felt the strongest characteristic of 2e was how well the fluff was written in campaigns like Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, Planescape and Dark Sun. This is one area I feel that no other edition of any RPG compares.

6. Once in a while allow the purchase of magical items to mitagate the lack of crafting in 2e. I wouldn't over do it though.

Anyways, thats all I got for now. Good luck!

 

[ggroy]

I think you need to decide that you're going to run 2e first, then look for willing players second. If some of your current players don't like 2e, don't try to cajole them, if you succeed you'll only regret it.

If I were selling this idea to my group I would emphasize that they have fun with everything I've ran so far and they will have fun with this. They need to keep an open mind and trust me as they have with all the other campaigns I have run for them.

Personally I would be very wary if I had to "sell" something along these lines. The times I did it in the past, the game was frequently doomed from the start.

Either you say "I'm the DM, we play this or we play nothing" or you distil down why you want to play 2e and tell them that.

A DM with a "my way or the highway" attitude, was the kiss of death for many games groups. Nobody is holding a gun to the players' heads, and forcing them to play in such a game.

 

[IronWolf]

It can be hard to get a group to call agree on a system. Sometimes folks just have it set in their mind what system they are comfortable with or comfortable with trying. I am in that sort of narrow focused group a fair amount of the time.

With that said though, maybe you can sell them on trying it for a mini-campaign arc - say three good sessions or so and then you guys re-evaluate whether to continue or go back to Pathfinder. Sometimes you can have an easier time getting someone to try something if they don't feel like they are agreeing to switch to a system they might not enjoy for an extended period of time.

 

[LeStryfe79]

7. Allow thieves to backstab anytime a sneak attack would be allowed in 3e. Theives can be a little underpowered otherwise in 2e.

 

[amerigoV]

For starters, get rid of THAC0 and use the 3e style of plus modifiers for attack rolls. I'd also allow for characters to deal an extra d6 or something if they confirm a critical hit, but that's an old house rule I played around with.

I would do just the opposite. If you get some resistance, just say "That's what I thought. I did not think you were Man enought to handle THAC0". Obviously presumes a male gamer.

 

[LeStryfe79]

I would do just the opposite. If you get some resistance, just say "That's what I thought. I did not think you were Man enought to handle THAC0". Obviously presumes a male gamer.

LOL, Replace MAN with BADASS!

 

[billd91]

Have they shown any interest in 4e Darksun? If so, tell them that you'd like to give them a sample of Darksun as it originally debuted and treat it as a one-shot (or few-session-shot if the adventure is longer than 1 session) game. Hopefully, they're open-minded enough to try something presented to them as a limited run rather than worrying about it as a replacement for a game edition they prefer.

 

[pawsplay]

"I want to run AD&D second edition. It was a lot of fun back in the day. What do you think?"