What's Old is New (Part 1)

I recently got a copy of the Premium 2nd edition Dungeons and Dragons (Advanced Dungeons and Dragons) Dungeon Masters Guide as a birthday present. This completed my set of the 2nd edition premium books and decided to run a game for some friends. I haven’t run 2nd edition in a long time but decided it would be fun to run a a game again. So before the game I spent a few days rereading the Players Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide to re-quaint myself with the 2nd edition rules. Although, I'd played and ran 2nd edition before, it was old to me and I wanted to get up to speed again.

My friends and I met at a local hobby ship and they rolled up characters. Of the various methods of generating ability scores. I had them use Method V (Roll 4d6 drop the lowest value and assign the value to the ability score of their choice. But I was also more lenient. Some 2nd edition character classes have specific ability score requirements like the paladin. For instance, the paladin in 2nd edition requires a Charisma of 17 and a Wisdom of 13. One player wanted to play a paladin so I allowed him to assign the minimum required ability score to his Charisma and Wisdom. The other abilities I had him roll 3d6 straight. I felt like this allowed him to play the character class of his choice rather than penalizing him as a result of his die rolls.

Some of my friends were old enough to have played 2nd edition when it was published. But they spent a few minutes looking over the PHB again, because the system was in a way "new" to them as well. Two of them even had their old 2nd edition books around and brought them to the game. A new player in his twenties was only familiar with 3rd and 5th edition. It took him a bit longer to make a character because he’d never looked at the 2nd edition Player’s Handbook and classes among other things, for instance, are a bit different than in Fifth Edition D&D. For instance, paladins are required to be lawful good and human in 2nd edition where as in Fifth Edition, there is no racial or alignment restriction on paladins.

Another interesting difference is descending armor class. Basic Dungeons and Dungeons, 1st and 2nd Edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons uses descending Armor Class. The highest armor class value is -10 where as in Fifth Edition Dungeons and Dragons and Dungeon Crawl Classics, the highest armor class can be around 22. This can be confusing at times. Each armor type is assigned a different value. For instance, Leather gives an AC of 8 in AD&D and 7 in Basic. It is 11 in D&D 5e and 12 in Dungeon Crawl Classics. If you're looking to convert 1st or 2nd edition monsters for your Fifth Edition Game this site has a quick AC convesion chart.

Another important difference between 2nd edition and other editions of Dungeons and Dragons is that 2nd edition uses THAC0 (To hit Armor Class Zero ) In 2nd edition under the THACO system, to calculate if a hit succeeds you would take the AC of the target and subtract it from the attacker's THAC0, then roll a 20-sided dice; if the dice rolls equal to or higher than the calculated number, the attack is successful and hits the target. That is, THAC0 − AC = roll needed to hit. Where as in 5e, you add your proficiency modifier, ability score modifier and any other relevant bonuses to your die roll and the Armor Class of the opponent is the target number. For example, if Bob the fighter was fighting an orc with an Armor Class of 13. He has a proficiency modifier of +2 and an ability score modifier of +3 then he would add +5 to a d20 roll in Fifth Edition to see if he hit the orc. In 2nd edition each class and level have a different THACO. Bob would have to look up his THACO value for his class to see what it was then subtract the value of the opponents Armor Class from your THACO.

Next time getting down to playing….



Let me know what you think about this in the comments or join the discussion on Twitter!

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Eberron announced for 5th Edition!

Eberron fans were rejoicing on Monday when Wizards of the Coast published Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron on dmsguild.com The setting first published in 2002 for Third Edition, is a mix of high magic and technology in a novel fantasy setting. The Wayfinder’s guide is a 176 page pdf. Credits are given to the creator of Eberron Keith Baker and Ruty Rutenberg from Maze Arcana.


It’s broken down into 4 chapters. Chapter 1 is What is Eberron. This is a brief overview of the setting. Chapter 2 Welcome to Khorvaire is an introduction of the lands and nations of Eberron. 3 Races of Eberron is a brief overview of the various races of Eberron. Notably lacking are dragonborn and tieflings which DMs can feel free to introduce in their own Eberron campaigns. Chapter 4 Dragonmarks is an overview of a key feature of the Eberron setting. Dragonmarks are tattoos of mystical power. Chapter 5 magic items updates the magic items of the setting for Fifth Edition. Chapter 6 Sharn City of Towers discusses the various areas of the large city.

Fans of the setting will want to pick of the pdf which updates a lot of the magic items to Fifth Edition. A lot of other materials for Eberron are also available on dmsguild.com as well.
Fans of this blog and from my posts on Enworld know that I’m a big fan of converting monsters. So for the new Eberron pdf here’s two Eberron monsters for Fifth Edition.


Warforged Titan

Alchemy Beetle

Let me know what you think about these critters on the comments or join the discussion on Twitter!


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What is DCC?

Wow it’s been ages since I’ve posted a new blog but I recently played a new system and wanted to share the experience.  I've heard about Dungeon Crawl Classics or DCC, for a number of years. I've been wanting to play and a friend of mine is a big fan. Recently he invited me to play and set up an event on Meetup to find a few more players.

Dungeon Crawl Classics by Goodman Games. is a RPG based on Basic Dungeons and Dragons that uses the OGL. It was first published in 2012. Goodman Games advertises the game as "an OGL system that cross-breeds Appendix N with a streamlined version of 3E." Although Goodman Games advertises it as a "streamlined version of 3E" DDC has much more in common with Basic D&D than 3E. The 488-page book features artwork from former TSR artists such as Jeff Easley and Earl Otus. This contributes to its appeal to players of Basic and AD&D. Newer artists such as Stefan Poag also contributed to the game. DCC uses the standard dice set (d4, d6, d8, d10, tens ten, d12 and d20) as well as a d3, d5, d7, d14, d16, d24 and d30. These extra dice are often referred to as the Zocchi dice set after the creator Lou Zocchi. My friend and another player had the Zocchi dice set but if you're very interested in the game you'll want to pick up the additional dice set.

The book has nine chapters- 1. Characters 2. Skills 3. Equipment 4. Combat 5. Magic 6. Quests and Journeys. 7. Judges Rules, 8. Magic Items. 9. Monsters DCC uses a different set of abilities - Strength, Agility, Stamina, Personality, Intelligence, and Luck. All characters can burn Luck during the game to enhance their die rolls. Abilities are generated "old school" using 3d6 rolling once in order for each ability. There is no point buy for abilities in the system. There are simplified classes - the Warrior, the Thief, the Cleric, the Wizard, the Dwarf, the Elf and the Halfling. As in Basic D&D demi-humans are classes in themselves rather than races. It's also similar to Basic D&D in that no monk, paladin, druid, or ranger classes exist. Equipment is familiar to any edition of D&D.

Skills and Combat are similar to any version of D&D. You roll a d20 and add an applicable modifier. Skills are simplified and are based off abilities, such as Balancing is based off of Agility. Armor Class is an ascending number rather than a decreasing number like in AD&D. There are 3 saves Fortitude, Reflex, and Willpower similar to 3E. Spellcasting a bit different where as a wizard rolls a d20 to cast a spell. Wizards can regain a spell depending on their die roll.

We started off by generating four zero level characters. Zero level characters was a concept first mentioned briefly by Gygaz and in Basic D&D. After Gygax left TSR full rules for zero level PCs were introduced in the Greyhawk Adventures hardcover. My friend had us generate four PC's in the expectation that most if not all of our characters would survive. I rolled up abilities for each of my four zero level PCs. There was a table for occupations and that table also chose if the character was a demi-human. Each occupation gave accompanying special equipment. Two of my characters were demi-humans - a halfling and a dwarf. One of the other players rolled up a human farmer with a goose! The adventure was based off a published DCC module. Most of each of the players had a number their characters die. That was the reason why four PCs were rolled up. I ended up having a great time. Each of the players laughed at the various antics of their characters and the DM used descriptions to flavor the combat. A lot of characters died but the goose ended up surviving! Goodman Games does a great job with DCC in capturing the old school feel of Basic D&D and AD&D. There's varying OSR or Old School Renaissance games out there but none have the in-depth artwork and product support that DCC does. It aims to appeal to both older players as well as newer players with its simplicity. If you're mainly looking for detailed character class choices with varying rules for race and class in games such as Pathfinder or Rolemaster than DCC isn't for you. But if you're looking for a relatively simple yet fun fantasy RPG for both player and GM than Goodman Games DCC is for you.

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