D&D 2E On AD&D 2E

[ValamirCleaver]

I really loved the "realistic" style of Elmore, Easley and Clydewell.

I would add Jim Holloway to that list, especially regarding his full color pieces.

 

[teitan]

Jeff Eaaley if Im correct

Both covers are Easley.

 

[Jahydin]

AD&D 2E was the edition I started with in grade school, so will always be special to me.

Now that I've gotten to deep dive into all the editions, I think it sits in a weird space between 1 and 3. It wants so badly to tell heroic tales like the novels, but uses the exact "made for dungeon crawling with random heroes" rules as before. What you get is a game that feels pretty clunky and relies heavily on GMs "greasing the wheels" to get things going. Or a "too young to care about doing it right" attitude that I had when playing it, so maybe only used 40% rules correctly.

Castles and Crusades is currently the game that runs the closest to how I was running my AD&D games anyways, so using that at the moment. But I still have quite a few 2e books, because the artwork is the most "D&D" D&D has ever been IMO, haha.

 

[deganawida]

AD&D 2E was the edition I started with in grade school, so will always be special to me.

Now that I've gotten to deep dive into all the editions, I think it sits in a weird space between 1 and 3. It wants so badly to tell heroic tales like the novels, but uses the exact "made for dungeon crawling with random heroes" rules as before. What you get is a game that feels pretty clunky and relies heavily on GMs "greasing the wheels" to get things going. Or a "too young to care about doing it right" attitude that I had when playing it, so maybe only used 40% rules correctly.

Castles and Crusades is currently the game that runs the closest to how I was running my AD&D games anyways, so using that at the moment. But I still have quite a few 2e books, because the artwork is the most "D&D" D&D has ever been IMO, haha.

Yeah, C&C feels to me like how 2e was actually played, at least in memory, than my re-read of the ugly 2e PHB revealed.

 

[R_J_K75]

I really loved the "realistic" style of Elmore, Easley and Clydewell. Obviously it was still fantasy, but they made it look as though the characters were real people in real environments, even if that environment had a dragon and the characters were wielding magic swords and casting spells.

Same here. I like 2Es artwork the best of any edition.

 

[Kai Lord]

That is what made me fall in love with D&D in the first place, and its relative lack in current WotC productions is a big reason why I stopped buying their stuff.

Matt Colville's comment that 5E rules are like "oatmeal" is spot on. And I just don't find any joy in reading the instructions on the back of a packet of oatmeal.

 

[Kai Lord]

Same here. I like 2Es artwork the best of any edition.

I would vote 1E. Because while you do lose Brom and DiTerlizzi you gain Otus, Dee, and Willingham (among others) and still keep Elmore, Caldwell, Easley, Parkinson and Holloway and all at their peak no less.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I would vote 1E. Because while you do lose Brom and DiTerlizzi you gain Otus, Dee, and Willingham (among others) and still keep Elmore, Caldwell, Easley, Parkinson and Holloway and all at their peak no less.

Because of my own play history, I tend to think of 1e and 2e as a continuum.

 

[Kai Lord]

Because of my own play history, I tend to think of 1e and 2e as a continuum.

Yeah. I think for me since I'm primarily a Dragonlance guy I consider AD&D to be one single edition from 1977 up to about 1994 or so. The Revised 2.5 AD&D Rulebooks (with Combat & Tactics/Skills & Powers) and Dragonlance SAGA rules which all kicked in around the same time feel like a departure to me.

 

[deganawida]

Yeah. I think for me since I'm primarily a Dragonlance guy I consider AD&D to be one single edition from 1977 up to about 1994 or so. The Revised 2.5 AD&D Rulebooks (with Combat & Tactics/Skills & Powers) and Dragonlance SAGA rules which all kicked in around the same time feel like a departure to me.

I would agree with that (even though I liked the SAGA rules).