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Kobolds do damage by whatever weapon they use, which is what "damage by weapon" means...
Most of the weapons listed in their entry do either 1d4 or 1d6, so just pick a weapon and use that weapon's damage...
Don’t let the Monstrous Manual’s entry be a strait-jacket! You are not tied to only what the entry lists for weapons as kobolds will use whatever weapon is available to them...
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Kobolds do damage by whatever weapon they use, which is what "damage by weapon" means...
Most of the weapons listed in their entry do either 1d4 or 1d6, so just pick a weapon and use that weapon's damage...
Don’t let the Monstrous Manual’s entry be a strait-jacket! You are not tied to only what the entry lists for weapons as kobolds will use whatever weapon is available to them...
This. Damage by weapon does indeed mean choose a weapon and use that damage. They give examples of the type of weapon Kobolds (in this case) are likely to have access to / use. You might want one to have a magic weapon - your call as DM (yes DM not GM in this case).
2e is like the red haired child of D&D. Not confusing enough for the 1e to paw over and not d20 enough for the 3e crew...
Poor, poor 2e. But secretly my one true D&D love. And sometimes red haired people grow up to be like this...
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Yes, for me 1e is too confusing - rules all over the place. The amount of skills puts me off of 3e. 2e is a nice balance with optional extras. 4e is too mini-focused and monsters have way too many HPs. Nice red-head ;)This. Damage by weapon does indeed mean choose a weapon and use that damage. They give examples of the type of weapon Kobolds (in this case) are likely to have access to / use. You might want one to have a magic weapon - your call as DM (yes DM not GM in this case).
2e is like the red haired child of D&D. Not confusing enough for the 1e to paw over and not d20 enough for the 3e crew...
Poor, poor 2e. But secretly my one true D&D love. And sometimes red haired people grow up to be like this...
I agree with your points. 2e has a skill system, enough I think to cover most situations. Was the only 'A'D&D not to use miniatures in play, came in three books (talking the black ones here) with all others being optional extras. Gave us Dark Suns and Ravenloft. Removed the class that sort of stands alone given the feel of the other classes, the monk. Had a really good initiative system that made the you-go / they-go nature of a turn based game not so clear cut and required thinking round to round. Made Thieves and Bard fun to create with the point system to define class abilities - no more 'all the same' of 1e, or the 'every class can do as well' of d20.
I'm hoping that the reprints of 2e will revive this version of the game.
S.
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My first D&D was 2E and I played pretty steady for the whole run of the edition. Using an XP budget may be more work than it's worth. Without the CR system it can be a bit of a stab in the dark about encounter design. So here is what I used to do.
Take a look at the HD of the opponents and gauge it roughly against the average party level. So if you have a 1st level party about three or four kobolds is going to be a challenge. I don't recall the HD of a kobold because it has been so long since I played 2E but you get the point.
Once you run a few sessions you'll get the hang of it. It's pretty straightforward. Just keep in mind that 1st level characters are really fragile and high HD monsters can have some powerful abilities. By the time you get past fighting orcs, kobolds, and skeletons you will have a feel for the game.
Mostly, just relax and have fun with it.
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Joshua G above is right; just averaging the party's level against the average Hit Dice of their opponent's is a very good place to start... Experience however, is the best way to gauge encounter strength, so just keep at it and it will become second-nature to you as a DM. Though, the DMG has some good advice on how to deal with encounters that are too powerful or too weak for the party:
The Encounter is Too Difficult
The DM has accidentally pitted his player characters against a group of creatures too powerful for them, so much so that the player characters are doomed. To fix things, the DM can have the monsters flee in inexplicable panic; secretly lower their hit points; allow the player characters to hit or inflict more damage than they really should; have the monsters miss on attacks when they actually hit; have the creatures make grievous mistakes in strategy (like ignoring the thief moving in to strike from behind).
The Encounter Was Too Easy
As long as the treasure the characters earned was not excessive, this is not a problem. The DM can always make things tougher for them in the next encounter.
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I always used number of total HD as a guide (loosely) so 4 1HD characters vs 4 1HD monsters is a tough fight.
Party has a 2HD wardog? up it to 6 1HD monsters.
and use the optional dont die til -10 rule. so a character can fall unconscious but not die.
combine that with the next two guide lines and you'll be set...
2. No monster with more than double the hit points of the highest character.
3. No monster that can do enough damage to take a character to -10 with one 1 hit...
(so a 1st wizard will need 14 total...as long as the monster doesnt do 14 in one round with max damage..youre good)
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Dragonsfoot is a good resource usually for editions of AD&D. They've got some Second Edition Resources available for you to download for free. Their forums are very active most of the time and I've used them before to ask questions on 2nd edition with good results.
The errata section I know about on Wizard's site (Here) doesn't seem to list any errata. Also not seeing any listings for 2nd Edition errata on the Dragon Dex index of articles so I'm inclined to suggest that there might not be any.
Your best bet is likely to be something like the Sage Advice Collection if you've got specific things, just make sure your looking at second edition era stuff. I believe Skip Williams will still answer email questions if he's got the time and your polite.
(Hope that's enough links.)
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2e doesn't have errata it has features... :)
Errata is a concept born of the interwebz - prior to that we had either a discussion in our group or the DM made a call.
I haven't really found anything in the 2e Black Books that is a show stopper during our games. I can't really remember the original 2e books other than they, in a reprint, cleared up that thieves don't multiple anything other than weapon damage on a backstab.
S.
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The black books changed information in the DMG about the planes bringing it into keeping with Planescape but those were the only changes I ever noticed aside from layout and artwork.
I'm guessing the reprints will be the black books because those were the books developed under Wizards when they took over.
2e doesn't have errata it has features... :)
Errata is a concept born of the interwebz - prior to that we had either a discussion in our group or the DM made a call.
I haven't really found anything in the 2e Black Books that is a show stopper during our games. I can't really remember the original 2e books other than they, in a reprint, cleared up that thieves don't multiple anything other than weapon damage on a backstab.
S.
2e doesn't have much errata but I would dispute the idea that it's an idea borne of the internet. MegaTraveller had a number of pages of errata for its first printing - much of it providing corrected table entries for starship design. You could send a SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope for those of you snailmail-impaired) and they'd send the errata out to you.
Anyway, on 2e and errata, Players Option: Spells and Magic made some rearrangements of clerical spheres to better balance the spheres and differentiate between the druid and cleric (restoring some of their difference from back in 1e). I would suggest checking them out if you can find a copy of the book.
:D I understand what he's saying I just like to make sure I'm doing things vaguely right.Dude, you've posted about 4 or 5 AD&D 2E questions now. I'm assuming you're the GM. Just read it, determine what you think is best, and play it that way. If it's not RAW by the book, TSR isn't going to burst down your door and attack you.Someone was hit by a grumpy stick today... ;)
I'm getting the impression that learning just from reading a text may not be your optimal learning style, but that you do better engaging in communication to work through the concepts. If that's true, keep the questions coming, we're happy to help.
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I'm hoping that the reprints of 2e will revive this version of the game.We can hope right!?
I love 2nd Edition, it IS my favorite edition of the game...
In my case, it is my 2nd favorite edition after PF. A darn fine game that, along with 1e, is much better designed than a lot of critics think.
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I'm getting the impression that learning just from reading a text may not be your optimal learning style, but that you do better engaging in communication to work through the concepts. If that's true, keep the questions coming, we're happy to help.:D I understand what he's saying I just like to make sure I'm doing things vaguely right.Dude, you've posted about 4 or 5 AD&D 2E questions now. I'm assuming you're the GM. Just read it, determine what you think is best, and play it that way. If it's not RAW by the book, TSR isn't going to burst down your door and attack you.Someone was hit by a grumpy stick today... ;)
Sorry if I came off as rude or grumpy. Reading text isn't the ideal way to learn to play an RPG, I agree. But I think the best way is to dive right in, play it and make mistakes. Sometimes you'll end up deciding that the "mistake" you made was better than the actual rule.
2E was a lot of fun with great settings. I look forward to buying the reprints to go with my other reprints. 3E definitely scratched an itch at the time it came out though and resolved some issues we had with 2E, such as limited spell access, etc. for casters at low level. I did like the design of the kits in general.
As for monsters, we played a lot of pre-made adventures running encounters as is but I generally eyeballed it for random stuff - one on one for average critters (HD near PC level), 2 on one for weak, 1 for two PCs for strong, that sort of thing.
L
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Anyway, on 2e and errata, Players Option: Spells and Magic made some rearrangements of clerical spheres to better balance the spheres and differentiate between the druid and cleric (restoring some of their difference from back in 1e). I would suggest checking them out if you can find a copy of the book.
To the OP.
Although I would suggest playing without any of the Options books to start with. 2e seems to work fine without them and they complicate things. Having said that if you like the miniatures game style combats of the d20 system then Combat & Tactics will be required.
Also you might want to pick up a copy of the Psionists Handbook (get the 2nd printing). Annoys me to this very day the the Black MM has creatures with Psionic powers. Spells & Magic has information on these powers but the all rules are still only found in the Handbook.
S.
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I'd recommend against the Player's Option books. In my opinion they muddied up a system that didn't need to be muddied as it was already really counter intuitive in a lot of places.
I played 2E for a number of years and enjoyed it while it lasted but I was done by the time 3E was on the horizon. I didn't get into 3E for some time because 2E burned me out. I'm not a fan of the rules-set and I never really was. Once you add the Options book you add a whole level of complexity that doesn't need to be there.
If you want streamlined rules to play from the imagination you are on the right track. I'd say also to avoid the Player's Guide books and the kits they include. They might seem like they add some variety but the kits especially are terribly broken.
Keep it core rules and I think you will get exactly what you are looking for. I believe that to the point that this conversation has almost made me want to turn my PFRPG game over to 2E and revel in old school glory. However, I'd probably get annoyed after I had to explain how to calculate THAC0 for the billionth time.
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I think I'm just going to stick to the core books for a while. One of the reasons I chose to go with 2E is because I want to play the game completely from the imagination.
So just trying to start out as simple as possible and see how it pans out.
You sir are a man after my our heart. 2e tops my D&D choice perhaps more now than when it was in print. I brought every setting & splat book that T$R could produce and we tried them all in play at the time. Reality is 2e D&D PHB + DMG + MM + Imagination for the win and hundreds of years of exciting game play.
Luck,
S.
I want to determine which weapon each monster is using (if any) so that players can loot their weapons if they want to. Does anyone do this or is it a waste of time?
Digital elf gave the right answer. Don't be dissuaded by the version flames here.
:-)
Old school gaming has its own charm. Check out old School Gaming article.
In service,
Rich
Www.drgames.org
I was thinking about using the XP values of monsters to build encounters, similar to what Pathfinder does, but not sure of what XP ranges the difficulty of an encounter would fall within.
Dungeon Master's Guide, Table 55. Page 99 if you have the original 2e DMG, dunno what page if you have the black border. Treat the "creature level" as more-or-less equivalent to a CR. Remember that judgment calls may be required.
(Traditional megadungeons were scaled so that the number of levels you were down translated to the usual "level" of the monsters randomly encountered, and the level of the characters in their classes was matched to the level of the dungeon they were supposed to be able to deal with.)
The CR system was a revolutionary development for 3rd edition. Before that, everyone was uncertain about how any given combat would go. PCs had very little hit points, around a hundred or so was max, and any kind of heavy damage could kill PCs fast. One solution that I once saw given the name "Goblin crusade" was to keep using goblinoids and a few other creatures, such as goblins, orcs, bugbears, trolls, hill giants, and so on, to the point that everyone felt most campaigns dealt primarily with this. This was lampooned in the Order of the Stick, too. Seriously, making good encounters in 2nd is HARD. With little guidance, it's easier to err on the side of caution. You also had no way of judging whether a magic item was appropriate or not for a party, you had to guess your way through that. Finally, since there were no WBL guidelines, the total amount of treasure doled out varied wildly.
Still, 2nd edition has outright the best settings and the best fluff.
In 1st and 2nd editions of AD&D, I found that players were more likely to decide to run away from really tough opponents than in most 3rd-edition games I've played. I think it's because, as Sissyl said, there was no concept of Challenge Rating or Encounter Level, so designing encounters to match the PCs' power level was a lot more hit-and-miss.
And the wandering monster tables, especially for wilderness adventuring, would often turn up a monster that COMPLETELY outlcassed the PCs. Running away in that situation would be the only way to survive the encounter.
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Check out old School Gaming article.
I can agree with a lot of that article, but much of it has to deal with individual style of play and perhaps a lot of that author's personal anecdotal experience with the older games systems. Take for example his fourth point on internal logic; in my experience, the game had consistency and an internal logic from very early on in my gaming "career". And the idea of internal logic and consistency didn't come from out of nowhere; I mean Gygax tossed around the term "verisimilitude" (in the narrative sense) from darn near the beginning...
Another such article on "Old school Gaming", by the same people that made the 0e retro-clone "Swords & Wizardry" can be found (on PDF for free) HERE...
Dungeon Master's Guide, Table 55. Page 99 if you have the original 2e DMG, dunno what page if you have the black border. Treat the "creature level" as more-or-less equivalent to a CR. Remember that judgment calls may be required.Thanks, how did I miss that!
Well, it helps a lot if you already know that the closest equivalent of an XP-CR table will be under making random encounter tables for dungeons, because you used the thing in building your own dungeons nigh twenty years ago.
(I'd also refer you to the Monstrous Compendium Volume 2 random encounter tables, but they weren't reprinted or updated for the Monstrous Manual, and the package of loose-leaf pages isn't easy to acquire.)
WBL is Wealth By Level, the guidelines for the suggested amount of money a character should have at a certain level that debuted in 3.0.
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Speaking of 2e MM nothing was better than how awful the drawings were and the infamous "Invisible Stalker" ...just a picture of a blank page. It was so overwhelmingly lame it could make even the grumpiest gamer laugh.
Yet still the Black MM I suggest is the best D&D (or D&D like) Monster book produced to date. When you have heart & soul you can forgive a little ugly...