Arnwolf666
Adventurer
I will add to this post that what I like about 5E is what they did for the rogue, bard, and cleric class. As far as I am concerned if I were to modifying 2E it would be for the thief and bard and not the other classes.
But you're not really disagreeing with me. You're choosing to implement a play style in which levels are difficult to gain and maintain. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, it's just simply one play style among many.
I'm just saying that levels and experience are ultimately 100% the purview of the DM and the type of game they want to play. They're a tool for the DM to use to shape the game experience.
That's really an 'and' rather than an 'or' - If you're cautious enough to survive a campaign, you've managed to make yourself safe - possibly by taking up a career other than adventuring, possibly by using others - PC or NPC - as trap/monster fodder & curse lab rats to avoid the risks thereof.Or it means that players and their characters interact with the world under the working assumption that they are not safe.
That's really an 'and' rather than an 'or' - If you're cautious enough to survive a campaign, you've managed to make yourself safe - possibly by taking up a career other than adventuring, possibly by using others - PC or NPC - as trap/monster fodder & curse lab rats to avoid the risks thereof.
The difference is the appearance of safety, and thus heroism. Plot armor is invisible in the fiction so the 100hp PC looks like he's taking insane risks and surviving due to luck or skill or destiny and may be called a hero. Conversely, the guy who worked his way up to Archmage fabricating plate armor for the royal infantry, or the one who cleared Castle Taupe Falcon at the cost of only a few hundred patsies, might not be so regarded.
I think "Blade" best encapsulates my thoughts on going from 5e to 2e:
Some MF'ers are always trying to ice skate uphill.
Exactly. If you want to model an heroic story, you strap on heavy plot armor from the get go. If you want to have some hazing or dues-paying and some funny death stories, first, but eventually get to some heroic stories in, you issue it a bit later.In the context of an RPG, it becomes a matter of preference.
My attitude is no one gets plot armor, not villains, not important NPCs and certainly not PCs. You want to live to see 20th level? Act accordingly? If that gets in the way of your conception of how your character's story is supposed to look, that's something we need to talk about. It's a conversation worth having. But generally speaking when it comes to D&D, you're going to find that my table is not the one you want to be at if you already know what your character's fate should be.Exactly. If you want to model an heroic story, you strap on heavy plot armor from the get go. If you want to have some hazing or dues-paying and some funny death stories, first, but eventually get to some heroic stories in, you issue it a bit later.
5e & 2e are pretty similar in that regard. You get a little leather plot-jerkin at first (5e the wizard and Rogue's are slightly less inadequate), and rapidly upgrade. About half way to 20th, your 2e full plate is at its best, while in 5e you keep upgrading through to the Tony Stark special by 20th.
But, through the sweet spot, very similar.
Kobolds. Point of racial pride, really.. Who traps random stretches of hallway anyway? And with no way to identify the trapped area afterward? It's goofy.
Ahh, but then a Kobold lair is one of those places where PCs might reasonably expect to find a trap.Kobolds. Point of racial pride, really.
ALL rules are house rules. The ones that are printed in books are just the ones that everybody starts with and have no greater "authority" than what the DM and players agree to give them. Whether a particular edition has ever said it in so many words or not, the printed rules are subject to change, sometimes even at the mere whim of the DM. However, just because you can doesn't mean you should, and if the players and DM disagree strongly enough on the changes a compromise needs to be found, but that still doesn't mean the printed rules have the final authority.As presented in the core books, the rules for XP and advancement have the same authority as the rules that prescribe the damage of an attack with a long sword or the range of a fireball spell. DMs who choose to adapt the pace of leveling to the specific needs of their groups, in this sense, are using a house rule.
I have but had a page of houserules and I used BAB over THACO. Dumped level limits, buffed humans kept racial and alignment restrictions.
It's better balanced than 3E and you can use it as s 2.5 or hard core OSR. And you can play the settings bas intended.
2E is the best toolbox D&D as well.
ALL rules are house rules. The ones that are printed in books are just the ones that everybody starts with and have no greater "authority" than what the DM and players agree to give them.
What buffs did you give humans?
Bonus wp, nwp plus one to ability score if their choice.
Just a notion, but while they might all be optional, that doesn't mean there aren't elements of internal balance. Changing random rules without some foresight and planning is like managing an acne problem with a chainsaw. Unintended consequences could be rife.