Poll: 1E or 2E?

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Hi all,

I know we are all tired of the 3.5 vs. 4E debate so I thought I'd change things up a bit. My own reaction to 4E has been to fall back to older editions. I like the idea of simplicity that was behind the 4E design but I'm not a fan of the execution. So, I decided to fall back on the simpler days of my youth. I'm going to run a game with an older edition.

One problem - I don't know whether to run 1E or 2E! I personally started playing AD&D literally with the invention of 2E (1989). Yet, I've always owned the 1E books and found them fascinating. Then, of course, there is the additional allure of the fact that 1E is pure Gygax and the true origin of AD&D. Still, nostalgia is hard to overcome and I find myself returning to my shelves and shelves of 2E books time and again.

Which leads me to my question. If you were going to return to older AD&D and DM a campaign, which rules set do you think hs ultimately best stood the test of time? Would you go with 1E or 2E? This curious mind wants to know!

 

[IanB]

1E with the 2E combat system grafted on. It is a relatively painless process to do, and the actual as-written 1E combat system is quite strange (very few people actually use it exactly as written.)

 

[pawsplay]

I'd go with 2e and just dial back anything you don't like. 2e made numerous improvements, from customized thief (rogue) abilities to more options for demi-human characters. I might personally dial back the explosion of specialist wizards.

 

[HeavenShallBurn]

If I were going to run an older edition I would return to 1e with some 2e combat systems spliced on. I mean I even retro-engineered certain parts of 1e back into 3e. Like uncapped spells, fireballs that filled up space, bouncing lightning bolts, and such. And didn't really so much go to 2e as mix 2e features into 1e back at the time.

 

[Weregrognard]

System-wise, give me 4E. However, I consider all my previous edition stuff fair game for conversion

 

[Mark Hope]

I'd happily run either, and would probably end up using a mix of both. The 2e combat system is a little smoother (I much prefer 2e initiative over 1e initiative). 1e classes and races that were removed from 2e would be back in (although a good few of them cropped up in later splatbooks) and I'd certainly be using uncapped spells . Some 2e classes were very cool (loved customisable rogues, specialist wizards of all stripes and speciality priests).

The poll needs an option for mixing it up, imho

 

[smootrk]

I like 2e for most of the game; like others have said, it just needs a few areas dialed back to 1e.

Another alternative you might like is downgrading even further to Basic Rules, or for me, a better alternative is the Basic Fantasy RPG rules, which use some elements of d20/3.x but effectively is like the Basic-red/Expert-blue box game editions.

 

[Knightfall]

I started playing with 2E, so that is the edition I would choose. I have looked at some of the older 1E books, and most of them look like a lot of fun. However, I'd probably play OD&D before I'd play 1E.

 

[Delta]

Played 1E.
Skipped 2E.
Played 3E.
Skipped 4E.

 

[pawsplay]

Played 1E.
Skipped 2E.
Played 3E.
Skipped 4E.

Looking forward to 5e?