D&D 2E Returning to 2nd Edition

[Fenris-77]

Yes. 2E was an edition where it was the DM’s job to bring balance to the game. Some optional rules changes the balance. 2E may not be for some people. I have no problem balancing a 2E game on the fly. But I’ve been doing it for over 30 years. This was just kind of expected by my generation imho. You were supposed to customize for the type of setting or game you wanted to play.

I feel ya. There's a pretty significant understanding gap between the people with long term actual 2E experience like you and I, and people who only understand it as an artifact. Thats not a value judgement either, before anyone gets up in arms. A huge part of that is that at the time each group was figuring it out for themselves as there was no site like this one. Just a different experience.

 

[Orius]

There may be a lot of different directions TSR material was going in the 2e era, but I think its core is a lot less of a hodgepodge of semi-disconnected ideas than 1e was.

Core yes. But I'm talking core, and splats, and PO, and that's not even getting into supplements.

Yes. 2E was an edition where it was the DM’s job to bring balance to the game. Some optional rules changes the balance. 2E may not be for some people. I have no problem balancing a 2E game on the fly. But I’ve been doing it for over 30 years. This was just kind of expected by my generation imho. You were supposed to customize for the type of setting or game you wanted to play.

That was a problem for me BitD when I didn't have enough experience to balance and customize things properly. These days, I can handle that better, but much of what I want to do 3e does already.

 

[Arnwolf666]

I loved the oddball books. I loved the jakandor series. There will probaly be nothing like that again. The crusaders handbook and the Viking handbook were phenomenal. I can go on. There was a good book on seven sisters and another on elves of evermeet. And u could very easily adapt things from becmi. I loved the creatures crucible series too. And still play with those wonderful rule and setting books. Heck I have a friend playing a human ninja/wu-Jen from the 1E oriental adventures with a custom martial arts from that book. Had another play a pooka from the creatures crucible. While another is playing a thief with the swashbuckler kit. Our cleric is a specialty priest of weejas. And the fighter is like all I need is to specialize in this long sword and I can have fun. Another is a paladin that just reached eight level and excited about getting spells.

 

[TBeholder]

Core yes. But I'm talking core, and splats, and PO, and that's not even getting into supplements.

Well, yes. PO was a fair attempt to sort this mess, but too rushed. And had some otherwise good components made needlessly clunky (Severity rolled separate from damage, Character Points rather than costs in XP).

The crusaders handbook and the Viking handbook were phenomenal. I can go on.

HR series? Yes, good stuff.

 

[Yardiff]

I would like to see a 2e based game with some of the options from later editions.

Some changes I'd like to make are fairly simple.
No gender limitations.


Cant think of others, gotta head to work.

 

[cbwjm]

I would like to see a 2e based game with some of the options from later editions.

Some changes I'd like to make are fairly simple.
No gender limitations.


Cant think of others, gotta head to work.

Do you mean the strength limitations for women, because 2e didn't have that.

 

[Ancalagon]

The 2e monster stat blocks are still my favorite of all the editions. So much info was packed in there, and i guess they were just more fun to actually *read* as opposed to a purely gamist reference.

The 2e monster manual is a treasure, it's a good resource for any edition.

 

[Ancalagon]

Bingo, Psionics in 2E were way overpowered. In fact, they broke the game at my groups table.

They were a huge pain on our table...

 

[Ancalagon]

No.

You should have to justify it, in much the same way a person has to justify a love for gnomes. "What, like, a garden gnome? Wait ... you want to PLAY a gnome? Why would you ever do that?"

2e is the rapier of editions. I mean, sure, I suppose there are people out there, justifying it, telling themselves, "Self, you know what would be awesome? Smiting with a rapier!"

Don't be that person.

If you're going back old-school, go 1e. 1e, also known as "The Katana of D&D" is the only appropriate past edition to play.*

AD&D. Accept no substitutes.


*Okay, the Committee also accepts B/X (Moldvay/Cook) as an answer.

You need to try the GLOG. I recommend the rat on a stick edition.

 

[Ancalagon]

This is not my recollection of 2e at all, and I played A LOT of it in high school and college!

Once you got past the lower levels (where admittedly mages, at least, could have a rough time), casters were basically superheroes. The linear fighter, quadratic wizard was a huge issue back then. I remember getting access to stone skin: when the DM has to change his approach to encounters just to challenge 1 spell, there's a problem.

And once you got past those low levels, low magic as a setting ceases to exist for the players - casters had access to too much.

Now if you dump/nerf casters, maybe you'd get there.

The quadratic wizard absolutely was a thing BUT there were a lot limits to the wizard's power that arent' there in 5e:

Super low HP - 1d4, harder to get a con bonus
Casting time and interuption. When we played, the 2 fighters kept daggers with them to gang up on a wizard and interupt their spells. Due to casting time modifier to initiative, they usually interupted
Monsters with spell resistance, or even almost magic immunity (like golems).

I think the peak of quadratic wizard was 3.X though, with several of these limits removed

The 5e concentration mechanism, as well as more limited slots, did much to reduce (not sure about eliminate) the quadratic problem.