No Second Edition Love?

[Garnfellow]

So, 3e Rules + 2e Settings + 1e Adventures = perfect homebrew?

I've certainly found 3e Rules + 1e Adventures = one kick-ass campaign.

 

[Lendras Blayne]

2E Rocked (and still does)

I'm new, and I really don't do 3E (it makes my skin crawl) but I felt I had to comment here.

My first game was 2E, I went out and happily bought a Lovely new 2E PHB, and made a Ranger called Aragorn (I was 14, and I learn't later on that you didn't do that sort of thing). That PHB ended up with no cover, ripped pages and the like.

Yeah, ok 2E Is a mish mash, and some of the kits are totally un-wieldy, but as systems go its far better than 1E (sorry but Gary just... it seemed too sexist, and YOU MUST PLAY IT MY WAY) for my liking.

3E and its "revisons" (a way of ripping more cash out of you guys, sorry but its true) is soulless, there are rules for everything, and it seemed to leave no room for imagination or the DM to make decisions, and as for the ability scores...

Most of the new players have come from the Hack and slash PC games like Diablo, Dungeon over roleplaying, I bet a hell of a lot of old schoolers have returned back to their roots....

Why else would stuff like Dragonsfoot and Back in Print... exist? I would also say Planet AD&D but alas it is no more.

But at the end of the day, the rules are just rules, change them if you want, use whatever system you like, its the characters that matter who they are, what they do and how they do it. The system is totally irrelevant, I've made the same character for every system (bar 3.5) and others and who they are is the same it just the numbers that change.

 

[Quasqueton]

Oops. Wrong thread.

 

[eyebeams]

One thing I've noticed with 2e fans is that they have what you might call "raging disinterest" in 3e *and* 1E. Most of them don't want to have anything to do with edition nostalgia. They actually just want to play D&D, have rules to do so and feel no need to switch. They lost interest in keeping up with D&D when the Players Option books came out. A few of 'em bought 3e PHBs, then gave them away, since updating their campaigns to comply would be too much of a pain.

 

[Piratecat]

The system is totally irrelevant

I generally agree, but I've got to ask: if the system is irelevant, why does 3e "make your skin crawl"?

And a preemptive note for everyone - you may agree or disagree with him, but please don't turn any discussion into insults, personal or otherwise.

 

[Allandaros]

One thing I've noticed with 2e fans is that they have what you might call "raging disinterest" in 3e *and* 1E. Most of them don't want to have anything to do with edition nostalgia. They actually just want to play D&D, have rules to do so and feel no need to switch. They lost interest in keeping up with D&D when the Players Option books came out. A few of 'em bought 3e PHBs, then gave them away, since updating their campaigns to comply would be too much of a pain.

Heh. I started out with 2e, and later acquired the 1e books - and found the 1e DMG to be chock-fulla awesomeness. The PHB - not so much, but still pretty darn cool. I think I fall in the camp of "2e rules, 1e flavor."

As for 3e, I refused to even look at it for many years, on the grounds that they flat-out canceled support for 2e (as opposed to the old D&D game, or 1e, both of which gradually tapered off - as I understand it). I've only recently begun to take a look, and while there are many things I like, it's not "D&D to me". (Yes, this has tones reminiscent of the Edition Wars thread. I'm not making a global statement here, just a personal one.) This is partially why I'm searching for variant settings with altered rules - I can still use the 3.5e mechanics, but in a non-"D&D" setting.

As for S&P, I have some of the books. A few rules aren't too bad. Most are cumbersome and clunky and leading to rules bloat. So I generally don't use 'em.

(Confession: I made my character - the one this account is named after - a bladesinger after reading The Complete Handbook of Elves. In my defense, I was in seventh grade, and I did ditch the stupid kit after a few years.)

 

[Piratecat]

You can join me in the "used to play a Bladesinger" club. Look, cheap drinks and free wireless!

 

[Vigilance]

I think 2e gets the least love because it was the worst edition of the game yet.

But it wasn't a BAD game, it was certainly playable. My campaigns were living proof of that.

But I think it gets the least amount of love because it's the weakest link in the chain.

All imo of course.

If you love playing 2e, Godspeed.

 

[el-remmen]

You can join me in the "used to play a Bladesinger" club. Look, cheap drinks and free wireless!

I am not only the president of the "used to play a Bladesinger" club, I am also a customer!

 

[eyebeams]

(Confession: I made my character - the one this account is named after - a bladesinger after reading The Complete Handbook of Elves. In my defense, I was in seventh grade, and I did ditch the stupid kit after a few years.)

The Elf book was actually pretty good if you were going to play a game with elves and only elves, and humans, et al are rabble. Many 2e books seem to be written this way, where the author assumes you'll use the book in a certain way but doesn't say so. Aaron Allston's Complete Ninja Handbook was the same way.

I really likes the Stun Point concept from the Complete Fighter's Handbook. It worked really well in our game. In terms of rules, 2e was only really worse when it came to unarmed combat, where it had a wacky chart instead of adopting a more straightforward system.