Bedrockgames
I post in the voice of Christopher Walken
On 2E speed of character creation I think it does depend on the class you take. But keep in mind things like NWPs, Kits, etc those are all purely optional mechanics.
It sorta was, but in an odd location.There were no such packages in the core books (PHB, DMG, MM). It has always been an issue at my table before I started designing them. Something that 3.0 and 5e did definitely better.
Never used the Core Rules, only the dead-tree version of the rules. It was annoying, also considering the sheer amount of stuff in the PHB. It was way easier in BECMI and (to some extent 1e) to equip a character.It sorta was, but in an odd location.
The AD&D Core Rules 2.0 kitted out a created character based on their starting gold (which was used to purchase the items at PHB prices) and their class/weapon proficiencies.
It wasn’t the best set of choices, but it worked pretty well.
To the last point as well, Core Rules 2.0 & CR Expansion is probably the best TTRPG software ever created. As a tool set at least. It made the game much more functional. Which is a big part of what I still enjoy 2E over the others.
Someone made an API to pull data from the old program but with a newer front end that wasn’t limited to the fixed pixel count of 640x480 which is pretty small on modern machines. The database for the program was also basically fully extensible (from a game perspective) which allows it to be upgradable to encompass basically anything that was in the game.
You thought the PHB was a lot?Never used the Core Rules, only the dead-tree version of the rules. It was annoying, also considering the sheer amount of stuff in the PHB. It was way easier in BECMI and (to some extent 1e) to equip a character.