D&D 5E What books from previous editions do you tend to mine for material?

[Saint_Ridley]

One of the things I've always liked about D&D is that even when the editions change, you can always still find a use for some aspect of the older books. Mechanics can change, but that doesn't mean you have to toss concepts out. Monster conversion is quite popular, and it doesn't take much effort to keep fluff from edition to edition too.

I spent a lot of money on 3rd edition books, and although I probably wouldn't touch 3rd edition with a ten foot pole anymore, I still quite enjoy keeping the books and making use of them (as well as the few 2nd edition books I have). Really, Lords of Madness was one of the single best books produced in that edition. I still borrow heavily from it when putting abberation and Far Realms stuff in a game, and bringing in the 2e Illithiad when specifically focusing on Mind Flayers is great. Combine with Volo's and I have everything I need to handle the Illithid-heavy portion of my campaign. The Fiendish Codices and the Planescape material on the Blood War scratch my planar itch. 3rd edition Eberron books give me enough to work with in putting together ideas relating to Changelings and Warforged, the two things about the setting that hold my interest.

So I'm curious how you find yourself making use of sourcebooks from previous editions in your 5e games.

 

[ArchfiendBobbie]

Right now, I'm mining a lot of setting material from prior editions. Sometimes making alterations to reflect details I like better.

Monsters and such I'm leery about converting at the moment because it's looking like WotC may start doing those conversions on a much larger scale.

 

[Greg K]

Off the top of my head:

1e:
Unearthed Arcana
Witches (Mayfair Games)

2e:
Complete Fighter's Handbook, Complete Priest's Handbook, Complete Thief's Handbook, Complete Druid's Handbook
Al Qadim, Dark Sun (non-revised), Ravenloft; Realm of Terror

3e:
AEG: Toolbox
Avalanche Press: Noble Knights: d20 Guide to Knightly Orders, Noble Steeds
Bards and Sages: Sharks!, Snakes!, Spiders!
EN Publishing: Tournaments Taverns Faires
Green Ronin: Cavalier's Handbook Shaman's Handbook, Witch's Handbook
Monkey God/High Moon: From Stone to Steel, Frost and Fur
Skirmisher Press: Experts 3.5
WOTC: DMG (3.0), Unearthed Arcana

 

[Klaudius Rex]

I'm an FR fan.
I know a lot of people hate it, but I just love that
I like a lot of thier accessory guides from a lot of the regions like the Silver Marches and Waterdeep 3e book for cannon or niche ideas.

 

[Dualazi]

Mostly cosmology stuff from 4e such as The Plane Above and The Plane Below since I find that 4e's structure of the universe is much better than the variations of the great wheel. If/when I go back to established settings it'll also be the 4e versions since they were pretty good and we really have no setting books so far with only speculation as to when they'll appear.

I'm with ArchfiendBobbie on the monsters front, at least till I've worked through more of the Tome of Beasts.

 

[Iosue]

I often raid Expert D&D's wilderness encounter tables.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

Oh, I use a lot of older edition books as reference... let's see:

I use older edition setting materials when I run campaigns not set in a setting of my own creation.

I use the Rules Cyclopedia and the AD&D 2nd DMG for some rules bits I like better in them than I do in the 5th edition DMG or that aren't covered (pursuit & evasion, mass combat, pricing of various expenses, and probably more I'm forgetting).

I've even actually incorporated a few things from books that aren't actually D&D, but are close enough to it (like Pathfinder, ACKS, and so on - plus we've stuck in a rule from a Star Wars RPG).

Basically, I will use whatever I like, no matter where it comes from.

I use older edition adventures frequently, both converted entirely and just mined for parts I wanted to fit into campaigns of my own devising.

 

[cbwjm]

Counting only what is included in my current campaign. I have borrowed material from becmi (karameikos, alfheim). My planes have material from 2e & 4e, specifically the fey wild and elemental chaos (the elemental planes are separate but mix around the edges and merge into chaos in the centre. I will also be including the sha'ir from 2e, or at least an updated version of it.

Those are the main things I can think of at the moment. I know that I have also taken titles or names from other supplements like coronal for the elven kings and Khorvaire for the name of the Dragonborn empire.

Sent from my SM-G925I using EN World mobile app

 

[Ath-kethin]

I use stuff from 3.5's Heroes of Horror and Fiendish Codices a fair bit, plus material from the World of Xoth (which is written for Pathfinder rules). I also use the 2e Complete Book of Necromancers and a bunch of al-Qadim material, and I'm going to be using Spelljammer stuff soon.

I still have my D20 Call of Cthulhu, Lords of Madness, and my Illithiad, but haven't had a need for them in this campaign yet.

 

[mflayermonk]

(1e) Dungeoneers Survival Guide lately
(2e) Rock of Bral
(2e) Wonders of Lankhmar
Gygax's Canting Crew