Hot answers tagged adnd-2e
17
Outside of Combat
If the characters have different skill-sets (i.e., there's one mage, one cleric, one thief, and one fighter in the group), then you can tailor your non-combat encounters to scale to the skills that are in play. Somebody brought a master thief? Then the locks and traps are suddenly masterwork. Only a first-level thief? Then the locks and ...
16
Maps are fun. Make maps when you want to. You don't have to map anything, ever. But you'll want to, because maps are fun.
Maps are just another tool that you have as DM to convey information to the players. When you want to convey something that is best done spatially, a map is useful.
Personally, I find I often sketch very rough maps all the time during ...
15
Because they are silly and ridiculous in a game setting where players generally try to take the fictional world seriously. It was part of an unfortunate trend at the time to put things that were generally considered "silly" into otherwise coherent milieus - the greater outrage was a year earlier when WG7 Castle Greyhawk turned out to be a huge megamodule ...
15
Resolve the Dramatic Conflict
Whether this will work for you depends entirely on your GM and how he sees the Ravenloft setting.
One interpretation is that people are drawn through the mists to take part in a mystery play that shows them and the Lord the consequences of that Lord's evil. The only way out of a domain in this case is to finish the play.
A ...
14
Here is the AD&D first edition version.
First, it depends on whether you are talking about the clerical or mage version. The clerical Darkness was actually the reverse of the Light spell. The PH makes no mention of how it affects infravision or ultravision... only the duration and area of effect.
Now the Mage spell, Darkness 15' radius, does state ...
13
Go wander outside your house or apartment or whatever and look for a wooded area. Write down a description of it. You've created an environment, then when you read that to your players, they are in it.
Does it have corridors or rooms? No. It might have paths, and clearings that might make good places to have something happen, but the outdoors largely ...
13
There are major differences, but nothing too insurmountable.
AD&D 1E adds non-weapon proficiencies in DSG, WSG, and OA, while they are core in AD&D 2E
2E allows points to be spread amongst thief skills, rather than using a fixed table per skill.
2E groups classes differently, and lacks the assassin and monk.
Minor differences in several tables
...
12
No rules changed in that run.
The only things changed were trade dress, layout, artwork, (the interior artwork is just as bad as the covers), and possibly some trivial copyediting of language that didn't affect the rules, though I never actually noticed any text changes.
There is a grain of truth to the "edition 2.5" though: that trade dress was introduced ...
12
No. The spell stoneskin (PHB p. 163) says in no uncertain terms that the target of the spell is completely immune to physical attacks, specifically including magically-enhanced physical attacks such as from a sword of sharpness. The vorpal sword's description even says that it is just like the sword of sharpness, except with a better bonus.
The way to ...
12
I think the two things you have to do "manually" are monsters and treasure conversion, which will actually probably be more of a "re-imagining" than a conversion. That can be fairly labor intensive, though, and I don't know a way around it. Using the compendium and monster builder can definitely help in tracking down and/or creating equivalent monsters, ...
12
As you say, this is how Green Slime is presented in the DMG (3.5e p77, 3.0 p117). Note that Green Slime is considered a hazard, much like a flow of lava, raging river, or 40' pit would be a hazard.
Green slime is green slime. Does the module say the slime is invisible? That the players can't see it? Is there an illusory wall or darkness spell concealing ...
11
Apparently there was an entire book on the topic of Krynnspace. There's since been a fan book updating that material. The Dragonlance FAQ confirms the connection. So Krynn looks pretty accessible, assuming you want that in your game.
11
I can't check on it from work, but this post (about Baldur's Gate, of all things...) seems to confirm that, although the PHB does technically allow ranger/druids, it was only in the Complete expansions that the alignment conflict was corrected. The post also implies this requires a Neutral Good alignment.
Turns out the information about this combination is ...
10
Fights aren't played out on grids.
Well, they are played out on grids, on tables - but in "real" life they take place in dungeons and swamps and forests. Use this to your advantage. Make one fight in a tight hallway so your players have a hard time maneuvering or are trapped between two sides. This makes your players change tactics between fights.
If you ...
9
Typically, the only way to faithfully "convert" a character from one system to another very different system is to re-imagine them as a new character made from scratch in the new system.
Ironically, trying to convert them by-the-numbers is likely to be less faithful than a character created from scratch in their image. There are parts of AD&D 2e that ...
8
Yes, Second Edition monsters have THAC0. The Second Edition monster books were first the Monstrous Compendiums (looseleaf binders) and then later the Monstrous Manuals (hardbound).
AD&D Second Edition came out in 1989. You appear to be looking at First Edition AD&D monster books (Monster Manual, Monster Manual II, Fiend Folio). These do not have ...
8
Awaiting Action Page 63 1st edition Dungeon Master Guide. Like Gygax said the title is self explanatory. Note it is under Encounter Reactions but it and the other encounter reactions are listed a possible choices when you gain initiative.
Personally I allow a player to hold their initiative allowing them to interrupt another player or monster until the ...
8
It's quite possible that I'm not taking advantage of my abilities, but what I got from our DM was "since you're a hero, no backstabbing'.
I would tactfully try to convince the GM that you agree no backstabbing. However lets look at the backstabbing mechanic more as a sneaky attack. You dive between the enemies legs with your attack and the additional ...
8
For 3.X monsters:
Keep the HP and HD as listed in 3E.
Assign the THAC-0 based upon the HD.
Convert spells by name; most early 3E stuff is direct from 2E.
Convert saves by feel; level should be same as HD. Combat monsters should be as fighter; spell-users as MU or Cleric. Sneaky poisoners as Thief, etc.
Assign asterisks as per the DMG guidelines.
Note: ...
8
Map anywhere where a player needs to make a decision based on geographical layout. If the characters are going to get up to a lot of mischief there then draw a map. Doing mischief will often mean deciding which roads to use, where to put a safe house, whether the guards can see the taven from the castle etc.
Edit: If you're going to have a fight, you'll ...
8
Ability checks sort of fill this role – a Wisdom check, in the case of noticing something. I say "sort of" because the way you describe where the characters interact with the environment and directly uncover information is the default assumption about how searches and such are to be conducted in AD&D and earlier, but it doesn't always serve the group's ...
8
In addition to what Paul Marshall wrote:
Challenge the players
Include puzzles that challenge the players' brains, and it doesn't matter who is how excellent or weak.
Also, investigation and other social-based adventures means that player's abilities make the main difference. ADnD 2e don't have very strict rules on social interactions, so it's possible to ...
8
I'm afraid there's just no way for a party to escape Ravenloft if their DM doesn't want them to leave. There are no mechanics that could get you out of there without your DM's approval, and, in game, there are no known and not even remotely reliable methods - no spells, no special abilities, no nothing - that would work. There might be portals back to your ...
8
A quick and dirty tweak would be to flip THAC0 and AC related changes.
Armor adds to AC instead of subtracts, and every time your THAC0 would go down, you instead get a larger attack bonus.
5 AC (10-5) would then become 15 AC (10+5)
18 THAC0 would then become a +2 base attack bonus.
Both of those would equal a hit on a roll of a 13.
I obviously haven't ...
8
Major Differences
the list of classes
the presumption of Non-Weapon Proficiencies
Advancement of Thief Skills
nature of Bards
Kits
Specialist Mages
Clerics
THAC0
Psionics
The list of Classes
AD&D 1E Core: Assassin, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Illusionist, Paladin, Ranger, Thief, Wizard. Bard is special, see below.
AD&D 1E+ UA: Assassin, Barbarian, ...
7
I don't think there's a quick fix, but I do think it's something you can do on the fly once you've got some practice. The idea is to used the 3.5 material as a guide for what to put into the game rather than as a (more, or less) strict recipe for the adventure.
For fights, it depends on how you run your AD&D. If you don't worry about encounter balance ...
7
There are four shield types in Second Edition - body, buckler, medium, and small. The benefits and penalties are clearly spelled out in the rules.
Shields: All shields improve a character's Armor Class by 1 or more
against a specified number of attacks. A shield is useful only to
protect the front and flanks of the user. Attacks from the rear or rear
...
7
No, there's nothing in stock 2e (probably there is in Skills & Powers, but that doesn't really count as 2e). There's the usual Light & Vision chapter and "Hide in Shadows," but that's way insufficient and doesn't do all that Spot does.
I ran 2e for a long, long time and this was a major pain point for me - the two consistent house rules I used were ...
7
To address your first question,
Why is this trap so special and hardcore - and one of the very first one in the dungeon, no less?
Think of the alternative. If the first few traps the players encounter are easily avoidable, or can be shrugged off without too much effort, that sets the tone for the rest of the dungeon. The paradigm becomes one of "Move ...
7
Gaining an animal companion wasn't a thing druids could do any better than any other class in 2nd Edition, at least not without using kits* and other options from non-core books.† (This was more the province of 2e rangers, who acquired animal companions instead of human followers at higher levels.)
To get an animal companion in 2e as a druid you had to do ...
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