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Message: <blockquote data-quote="rabindranath72" data-source="post: 9742931" data-attributes="member: 34007">I have been thinking about the OP's topic of late. I started playing D&D with BECMI, then we moved to 2e as soon as it hit the market. Originally I only bought the 2e DMG, as I thought it was a simple expansion to make our D&D game "advanced", and since I was always the DM, I didn't need anything else...<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f633.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":oops:" title="Oops!    :oops:"  data-smilie="10"data-shortname=":oops:" /> <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f923.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":ROFLMAO:" title="ROFL    :ROFLMAO:"  data-smilie="18"data-shortname=":ROFLMAO:" />Anyway, 2e became the longest running game I have ever run, and I will always a soft spot for it (and BECMI). Fast forward decades, I discovered 1e (some years ago) after a hiatus from gaming, and now I am planning a campaign, I am thinking what edition to run, and I am really torn. As someone said above, 1e does feel more "complete" out-of-the-box (and I have always been a minimalist DM even in the 2e days; never used any of the class or race splats, for example). Between PHB, DMG, and MM you get a lot of stuff that in 2e requires extra books; from more classes; to half-orcs; artifacts; rules for castles/constructions; detailed gem/treasure tables; clear dungeon crawling/exploration guidelines (which unfortunately are very vague or nonexistent in 2e); clear reward system (XP for gold is a staple; something we were suprised to find was optional when we transitioned from BECMI). Also, the classes feel more distinctive, in particular spellcasters' spell lists (2e nerfed Druids, and the Clerics are way too powerful, stealing many Druid spells; the PO:S&M reworking of the spell lists are pretty much mandatory); Paladins are more powerful; Rangers are more interesting and powerful; Fighters with multiple attacks auto-win initiative; Thieves have fixed scores (yes, I never cared for customisable thieves...) We never cared particularly for specialists (which in 2e aren't very distinctive anyway), nor specialty priests (most of which turned out extremely overpowered.) All in all, for an "old-school experience" which is a step above B/X/ECMI, and I had to run a game in Greyhawk, or the original Forgotten Realms, or even BECMI's Known World (my current choice), I would choose 1e over 2e. On the other hand, if I had to run Birthright or Dark Sun, 2e would be my choice simply because the settings provide tons of rules changes which would be awkward to port back.</blockquote>

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