D&D General What's the weirdest old edition material have you stuck in your 5e game lately?

[el-remmen]

Aurora's Whole Realms Catalog. Will use it until it disintegrates or they release a new edition.

Yes. I used to have two copies just for this reason, but one copy "disappeared" (probably borrowed by a friend and then forgotten).

 

[commandercrud]

I run Mystara all the time straight from the old books in my current 5e campaign with little to no "conversion prep" at all. So, in short, everything. Spells, monsters, war machine rules, etc.

 

[not-so-newguy]

ghouls Thouls

Thouls are a bizarre humanoid species from the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. Thouls are a crossbreed of magical origins, a mixture of traits of hobgoblins, trolls and ghouls. Despite their partially ghoulish origins, they are alive, not undead, and are capable of normal reproduction.

The origins of the Thoul are a topic of much discussion [1]. One common theory chalks their creation up to a mistake[who?]. Their first appearance in print was in an introductory mini-module included with an early D&D boxed set. They were intended to be a pair of ghouls, but showed up as "Thouls" due to a typo. TSR received several inquires as to what exactly a 'Thoul' was, and made up the creature on the spot[citation needed].

The Thoul was most recently showcased in Zeitgeist Games' d20 publication "Dave Arneson's Blackmoor," where it was updated to the d20 rules system and incorporated into the Blackmoor campaign setting.

Thouls are native to Mystara, one of the early settings for DnD.
/quote]

 

[Quickleaf]

I used a homebrewed necrophidius two sessions ago (The not-a-bone-naga with a hypnotic gaze) in tandem with an expanding gas trap that made for a tense scary combo.

 

[Bacon Bits]

I ran an old dungeon I had made 20 years ago that had an AD&D flame tongue in it. You know, Sword +1, flame tongue, +2 vs. regenerating creatures, +3 vs. cold-using, flammable, or avian creatures, +4 vs. undead. In the end nobody found it -- it was hidden under flagstones and the PCs forgot to search that room with detect magic -- but I'd have given it to them as written just for the nostalgia of it.

 

[darjr]

I used the Temple of the Frog as a base for players using this The Dab: A Froggy 5e Race Option - Dungeon Masters Guild | Dungeon Masters Guild

Alien invaders with giant mech were trying to reclaim the temple.

 

[cbwjm]

One time I updated myconids from to throw at my players and then afterwards found out that they actually had been printed in the MM. I couldn't recall them being in there so I just didn't check.

 

[Jack Daniel]

I can't answer this question because I only play the old editions.

But in reverse: what's the weirdest new-edition material I've stuck in my 1e/2e game lately?

…Nothing that literally comes from the WotC editions, but attitude-wise, the closest thing would have to be the fact that I always give monks a hadōken attack that evolves into a kamehameha as the class goes up in levels.

 

[SkidAce]

I steal from prior editions a lot. Last week an ogre mage (I tailor the spells for the ogre mage and similar creatures) used Wraithform and Contagion on the PCs, both spells updated versions of 2E spells. I also threw both an Auromvorax and Obliviax (Memory Moss) at PCs recently as well.

DUDE!

I was just going to re-create the Obliviax? Got stats I can borrow?

 

[ccs]

I guess the weirdest (from most of my players perspective) would be;

A) I'll often ask them to roll an ability check - d20, looking for = or lower than your stat. This has perplexed a number of them over the years.....
I do this because this is how we did/do it in 1e.
I do this because I'm lazy & don't care to set a DC.

B) Searching =/= to "Make perception check, report #, receive varying degrees of info/etc." in my games.
Oh no, I went to the trouble of describing the room or whatever to you & deciding details. Now it's your turn. Use that info & I'll tell you what you find based on what you do/don't do. Maybe I'll also ask for a dice roll, maybe I won't....
But if you just declare "I search." & roll a #, & leave it at that? I guarantee you won't hit the DC.
The players who have the hardest time with this approach are those with heavy 3x/PF experience.

C ) My frequent use of my 1e DMG to roll up treasure & magic items.
The idea of such.... randomness ...... is not a familiar concept these days it seems.