shadow
First Post
Ok...I have been thinking about this for some time now - I'm about ready to abandon 3e and go back to 2e. 
Ok...I've said the blasphemy, now let me explain my reasoning. I really like 3e, I think the rules are much better and more player friendly than 2e. However, 2e contained some of the best rpg supplements and campaign settings. Sure there was a lot of crap produced for 2e, but there was also quite a lot of good stuff too. The current WotC design philosophy for 3.5e seems to be focused on adding new prestige classes, spells, and feats. While there is nothing wrong with this per se, there is almost no focus on settings, stories, or unique characters.
I started thinking about 2e the other day after reading the old Ravenloft supplement Carnival. The book contained a lot of unique characters and adventure hooks. This was the first time in a long time that I was inspired to run something. Two of my favorite settings, Dark Sun and Ravenloft, were products of the 2e days, with rules written specifically for the 2e system. I found White Wolf's 3e conversion of Ravenloft unsatisfactory because it focused too much on the "core" domains and left out the twisted ideas that made the setting unique IMHO (eg - the Nightmare Lands and the Carnival). I have found no decent 3e conversion of Dark Sun; the athas.org conversion over-adheres to the 3e philosophy of "balance" which sacrifices the flavor of the setting, while the Dragon Magazine conversion tries to shoehorn every 3.5e concept into the setting.
I don't necessarily want to go back to the concept of Thac0 or racial level limits, yet 3e is so different that it's hard to convert all my old 2e supplements. How compatible would something like Castle & Crusades be with 2e? Well, barring a half-way compatible rules-light system, my next game might be 2e!
Ok...I've said the blasphemy, now let me explain my reasoning. I really like 3e, I think the rules are much better and more player friendly than 2e. However, 2e contained some of the best rpg supplements and campaign settings. Sure there was a lot of crap produced for 2e, but there was also quite a lot of good stuff too. The current WotC design philosophy for 3.5e seems to be focused on adding new prestige classes, spells, and feats. While there is nothing wrong with this per se, there is almost no focus on settings, stories, or unique characters.I started thinking about 2e the other day after reading the old Ravenloft supplement Carnival. The book contained a lot of unique characters and adventure hooks. This was the first time in a long time that I was inspired to run something. Two of my favorite settings, Dark Sun and Ravenloft, were products of the 2e days, with rules written specifically for the 2e system. I found White Wolf's 3e conversion of Ravenloft unsatisfactory because it focused too much on the "core" domains and left out the twisted ideas that made the setting unique IMHO (eg - the Nightmare Lands and the Carnival). I have found no decent 3e conversion of Dark Sun; the athas.org conversion over-adheres to the 3e philosophy of "balance" which sacrifices the flavor of the setting, while the Dragon Magazine conversion tries to shoehorn every 3.5e concept into the setting.
I don't necessarily want to go back to the concept of Thac0 or racial level limits, yet 3e is so different that it's hard to convert all my old 2e supplements. How compatible would something like Castle & Crusades be with 2e? Well, barring a half-way compatible rules-light system, my next game might be 2e!
