What is your second edition experience (no edition war!!!)

[Agamon]

Started in B/E, went to 1E, then to 2E. 2E nearly killed D&D for me, then 3E was announced. Then 3E nearly killed D&D for me, then 4E was announced. I'm going to do my best to make sure it doesn't happen again...

 

[Wombat]

Let's see...

I started in 1975 with OD&D (the Three Little Books) and never made the changeover to AD&D (1st ed). Instead I moved latterly into Traveller and RuneQuest.

In the intervening period I tried 2nd ed a few times, but it was never quite my thing. I moved onto 3e for a variety of reasons, but have not made the move to 4e. Now I am running Changeling.

I am not really a person of "system loyalty"; instead, I try to match the system I am using to the game I am setting up -- the idea is to have the system work well with the genre, rather than forcing the setting to fit into a system.

 

[Henrix]

I started with (heavily houseruled) 1st ed and played that for a while. Drifted away to other games, notably RuneQuest.
When 2d ed came out it seemed very oldfashioned, and not at all what I wanted. I played it a few times, but not many.
Started playing D&D again with 3rd, and been there since. Except that we're switching to 4th now

 

[Hussar]

One of the things that I still love about 2e is the idea of cleric spheres. That is simply one of the best systems for creating unique clerics in D&D IMO. A combination of domains and spheres would go a long way in 3e I think towards creating more interesting clerics.

 

[Mark Hope]

This is just a simple poll to see how many people played second edition and if not, what D&D DID they play during those times.

It seems many of the people here didn't play it, or have very bad memories of it. I'm curious if it is a majority or a vocal minority.

Vote honest. Thanks!

I started with B/X, moved to 1e, then moved to 2e when it came out. I enjoyed it and was still playing 2e when 2e came out. I didn't switch over to 3e until 2003.

I found that 2e had its problems, but we just worked around them. Its boundless creativity, enthusiasm and richness more than made up for its warts. Those things that we missed from 1e (barbarians, monks, assassins, ninjas, demons, devils etc) we just kept in the game without batting an eyelid. As far as demons & devils were concerned, the Bloodwar/tanar'ri/baatezu angle gave them an interesting twist.

Some 2e releases were rather lame (bad DMG! bad!) while some were wonderful (Spell Compendiums and Magic Item Encyclopedia) and some were out of this world (Dark Sun and Planescape settings - still unequalled, imho). As DM, you needed to keep an eye on balance, yes, but we took that as read, dove in and had 14 years of outstanding games. I'd play it again in a heartbeat.

 

[Mark Hope]

I ran my players through a "Avatar" series of adventures to mod their characters and transition from 1st to 2nd edition. I think my players would agree that this was a favorable and memorable experience.

If by "Avatar series" you mean the FRE Shadowdale/Tantras/Waterdeep adventures, and if you feel like it, head on over to this thread, which discusses folks' experiences of the Avatar series. Your perspective would be interesting to have

 

[Griego]

Started with Basic, moved to AD&D 1e, then to 2e, took a long break, then picked up 3.5 which I have been playing ever since. Might move on to 4e eventually, but for now my group is sticking with 3.5.

 

[Serendipity]

I was a late adopter to second edition, not moving over until sometime in 1993. I played the hell out of it for a good three years though. Got kind of burned on D&D in the mid-90s and didn't come back til 2002.
Though I came in with blue book basic,the expert set (first) and the 1st e. PH.

 

[Stoat]

I started playing about 6 months before 2E launched, and my group switched to 2E as soon it was out.

I played a bastard hybrid of 2E, 1E and BECMI until 3E came out.

 

[EricNoah]

I played two versions of Basic, then AD&D, then AD&D 2nd edition, then added Skills & Powers. Then of course, 3E and then on to 3.5 --- which is what I play now. I have played one session of 4e. I enjoyed every edition I played, but I also completely abandoned each edition as the new one came out (with the exception of 3.5 -> 4).

Nostalgia could bring me back to an old edition for a one-shot, but I don't think I could truly enjoy playing an old edition for any more than that.