Different Edition Rules

[Xero279]

Alright, i was wondering what the diff is between say.. first, second, and third edition rules for D&D. any input is appreciated

BTW, my friend said they are gonna be done with 3rd edition rules and are making a 3.5 or 4th edition or something.. maybe thats just for tabletop D&D though.

[Zuvio]

Things are just getting simplified per new edition: take AC, 2nd -> the lower the better, 3rd -> the higher the better (as it should be).

Some stats are altered: take ADHW for example. In 2nd AD&D it only hurt foes, in 3rd D&D it simply HURTS (everyone that is, except for the caster).

[Vedran]

Originally posted by Zuvio: in 3rd D&D it simply HURTS (everyone that is, except for the caster).

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Dundee Slaytern]

Originally posted by Vedran: Quote: Originally posted by Zuvio: in 3rd D&D it simply HURTS (everyone that is, except for the caster).

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!![/QUOTE]"Who cares?", said the soloists. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Xero279]

thanks zuvio, i had a good idea but wasnt sure.

that sucks abot adhw... looks like my party is gonna have to be resurected a lot

[karlosovic]

adhw doesnt hurt party members ? I thought all gas cloud type spells hurt everyone. Is it a bug ?

[LennonCook]

Originally posted by karlosovic: adhw doesnt hurt party members ? I thought all gas cloud type spells hurt everyone. Is it a bug ?

Read the spell descriptions
ADHW doesn`t affect the party, Cloudkill, Stinking Cloud, Death Fog, etc. all do. I don`t *think* that Creeping Doom does, but I could be wrong. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Zuvio]

Originally posted by Xero279: thanks zuvio, i had a good idea but wasnt sure. that sucks abot adhw... looks like my party is gonna have to be resurected a lot

Took me quite some time to figure that out as well. I was running around with three high lvl casters and when the ADHW flower-animation (it's a flower in 3rdD&D, not a farting skull) gloriously decayed, well... let's just say no more casters and a lot of ROFLTAO baddies....

[Butterfingers]

D&D can be vastly confusing, especially considering the 3rd Edition is not actually the 3rd Edition.

There was the very first edition. There was no THAC0. Everything about to hit was % based, rolled on a d100. Armors added or lowered the %, depending on what weapon was attacking. Certain armors were weak against certain weapons. Whom ever had the higher % determined hit or miss. + weapons added a % to the roll, armor added a % for defensive values, as did other factors. It was complicated, but, once you learned it, easy. This whole system was loosely based on something called Chainmail. It was also based on the whole Lord of the Rings fad going on at the time. There was a law suit. Some things were changed. The small parent company of D&D was taken to the brink by the law suit.

Another company stepped in and pulled the struggling outfit out of the fire. Rules were reprinted, and, touched up a bit. Some things were improved, some where severely dumbed down, and, the game was given a cartoony look and put in to a nice boxed board game set. Much was taken out, so little kids could play it. It was advertised as a family game. If you are REALLY lucky, you will find one of the rare D&D boxed sets put out by of all folks, Milton Bradley. I kid you not. There were several folks who had the right to distribute.

TSR took over control. The game was dumbed down even further, as it was becoming quite a fad and really stupid people wanted to play it but it was to hard. It was at one time, a game that folks with Ph.D.s liked to get together and play, and now, it was already going down hill. There was a brief period where the rules were changed around a good bit, some times there were wild changes from box to box it seems. There was a massive PR thrust, and, there was a Saturday morning cartoon released, a breakfast cereal, some toys, a comic book, basically a massive saturation move. Some time in this chaos, the official 2nd Edition was put out.

Even the second edition was flawed, and, there was several revisions. Many things were removed to please the stupid folk flocking to the game that were not happy with the complications. Things like spell components, many types of stat rolls, etc, were completely erased. All of the things that really made the game fun were hosed. It was so simplified and streamlined that an average family could buy the box, take it home, and be playing in a day.

It was about this time I stopped keeping up with the changes and stopped playing with the new stuff.

Ever wondered why specialist mages needed a secondary stat? Stat rolls, something sadly lost. So many good things, all lost.

I have taken a look at the 3rd Edition a bit, and, it seems they have brought back some of the old system of play, little bits and pieces, dice rolls etc, but, the fun is still gone.

[Morgeruat]

Originally posted by Zuvio: Things are just getting simplified per new edition: take AC, 2nd -> the lower the better, 3rd -> the higher the better (as it should be). Some stats are altered: take ADHW for example. In 2nd AD&D it only hurt foes, in 3rd D&D it simply HURTS (everyone that is, except for the caster).

in PnP (and IWD) ADHW hurt everyone in the radius in 2nd ed. depending on the supplements you owned there weren't a whole lot of changes from 1st to 2nd ed, THAC0 was a big one, as well as most things becoming optional (spell components, and encumberance are good examples) as well as proficiencies becoming part of the core rules (they were added in the wilderness and dungeoneers survival guides) the Monk, and Assassin were removed, as well as 1/2 Orcs as playable a race, paladins were dumbed down, and Rangers skills became level based, instead of having non-improving abilities that started out kick-ass, fighter HP were standardized (rangers originally got d8's for HD but got 2d8 hp at 1st lvl), secondary skills became alot less important in 2nd ed (with proficiencies it didn't matter if you were a stableboy before becoming an adventurer or a jeweler (stableboys had the advantage of knowing which horse to steal, while jewelers could identify and cut gemstones, most secondary skills were alot less useful)