(RPG) AD&D 2E Retrospective
Whether it's chat on game nights, or just wandering thoughts, I sometimes reminisce on old games and what we experienced versus what was actually in the rules. I just dug out my 2E Players Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide to have a look at some of those old rules and have a look at some things...
- Ability Scores have some uneven bonuses, usually only kicking in at 15+. 3E consolidated a lot, 2E bonuses are all over the place, but you generally don't get anything of note for a score below 15 or 16. Only warriors get a HP bonus for Con above +2. Int places a hard limit on the maximum spell level of wizards and their chance to learn a specific spell (failure means able to try again next level). Priests have it a little easier with a chance of spell failure at less than 13 Wisdom, and bonus spell slots for 13+. Classes have hard ability requirements.
- Races make a lot of difference. Demi-humans are seriously limited in available classes, cap out at a maximum level of 8-16 (except half-elf bards or using optional rules that increase that by up to 4 or incur slower advancement), but can multi-class. Humans can dual-class, be anything, and advance to any level. Amusingly, the maximum levels are only specified in the DMG.
- A "non-aligned" alignment exists for things such as non-sentient animals.
- Proficiencies are flagged as optional, so the true core rules only have ability checks, really, as resolution for anything not explicitly stated elsewhere. And even the non-weapon proficiencies are ability checks with minor modifiers.
- THAC0! Calculate your modified To Hit Armor Class 0. When attacking, subtract the AC of your target from your modified THAC0 and that's what you need to roll on a d20. The math is, perhaps, less straightforward than roll, add modifiers, compare to defense. But there usually weren't too many modifiers either.
- Individual initiative was optional, as was weapon speeds. Multi-weapon attacks (claw, claw, bite) go on initiative count, multiple attacks with one weapon (due to level, etc.) get their first, then the rest wait until the end of the round. Rounds are 1 minute, and moving limits you to one attack.
- Massive damage can potentially kill anyone - over 50 HP in one attack provokes a save versus death.
- Individually-awarded experience points were optional. One of our gaming group references rogues getting XP per gold piece value of treasure, which I didn't remember at all - because it's an optional rule we didn't use.
- Natural 20's always hit (and 1's missed), but critical hits were optional. I think we used double damage on 20's for as long as I can remember.
- Firing into melee was dangerous business - every target in the immediate area of the intended target could be hit randomly. I seem to remember a house rule where missing by a small amount could lead to hitting neighboring targets instead.
- Magical items listed an XP (the value earned from making the item), but no GP. That always bugged me. There's even a section in the DMG that actively discourages the buying and trading of magical items, arguing it diminishes their worth. I remember magic item sales being not uncommon in our games.
It's strange to think about how much really wasn't addressed. I remember improving a lot with Charisma rolls to convince or sway NPCs, or Dexterity checks to perform acrobatic feats. Non-weapon proficiencies give some vague guidelines, but characters start off with 4 at the most so there's no way they could cover everything. No, it usually came down to ability checks (where you wanted to roll low) and a DM judgment call.
- Ability Scores have some uneven bonuses, usually only kicking in at 15+. 3E consolidated a lot, 2E bonuses are all over the place, but you generally don't get anything of note for a score below 15 or 16. Only warriors get a HP bonus for Con above +2. Int places a hard limit on the maximum spell level of wizards and their chance to learn a specific spell (failure means able to try again next level). Priests have it a little easier with a chance of spell failure at less than 13 Wisdom, and bonus spell slots for 13+. Classes have hard ability requirements.
- Races make a lot of difference. Demi-humans are seriously limited in available classes, cap out at a maximum level of 8-16 (except half-elf bards or using optional rules that increase that by up to 4 or incur slower advancement), but can multi-class. Humans can dual-class, be anything, and advance to any level. Amusingly, the maximum levels are only specified in the DMG.
- A "non-aligned" alignment exists for things such as non-sentient animals.
- Proficiencies are flagged as optional, so the true core rules only have ability checks, really, as resolution for anything not explicitly stated elsewhere. And even the non-weapon proficiencies are ability checks with minor modifiers.
- THAC0! Calculate your modified To Hit Armor Class 0. When attacking, subtract the AC of your target from your modified THAC0 and that's what you need to roll on a d20. The math is, perhaps, less straightforward than roll, add modifiers, compare to defense. But there usually weren't too many modifiers either.
- Individual initiative was optional, as was weapon speeds. Multi-weapon attacks (claw, claw, bite) go on initiative count, multiple attacks with one weapon (due to level, etc.) get their first, then the rest wait until the end of the round. Rounds are 1 minute, and moving limits you to one attack.
- Massive damage can potentially kill anyone - over 50 HP in one attack provokes a save versus death.
- Individually-awarded experience points were optional. One of our gaming group references rogues getting XP per gold piece value of treasure, which I didn't remember at all - because it's an optional rule we didn't use.
- Natural 20's always hit (and 1's missed), but critical hits were optional. I think we used double damage on 20's for as long as I can remember.
- Firing into melee was dangerous business - every target in the immediate area of the intended target could be hit randomly. I seem to remember a house rule where missing by a small amount could lead to hitting neighboring targets instead.
- Magical items listed an XP (the value earned from making the item), but no GP. That always bugged me. There's even a section in the DMG that actively discourages the buying and trading of magical items, arguing it diminishes their worth. I remember magic item sales being not uncommon in our games.
It's strange to think about how much really wasn't addressed. I remember improving a lot with Charisma rolls to convince or sway NPCs, or Dexterity checks to perform acrobatic feats. Non-weapon proficiencies give some vague guidelines, but characters start off with 4 at the most so there's no way they could cover everything. No, it usually came down to ability checks (where you wanted to roll low) and a DM judgment call.
Rose colored glasses. I remember the Red Box D&D in grade school, but not having many friends who wanted to play.
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