AD&D 2nd Edition

The Bridge between Old and New!

Coming after E. Gary Gygax had left TSR and spanning the transition period during which Wizards of the Coast acquired TSR, AD&D 2e connects old and new and therefore seems to form a bridge between many changes to the franchise. It's a bridge on a road which I didn't journey on until recently. I altogether skipped playing 2e when it was the current edition of the world's most popular role-playing game, but have recently developed an interest in this edition as a cleaned-up and more player friendly version of the older "advanced" style of play. 

My first 2e Players Handbook was acquired mid-to-late 1980s. I purchased this book new and stuck it in a milk crate (I suppose intending to get back to it). There it sat along with some other seldom used gaming materials until recently. Never one for easily abandoning anything that I really enjoy - I have continued to play my beloved white box edition (5th printing) consisting of the three original little brown books all these years, incorporating various aspects of Advanced and Basic/Expert as "additional material". Advanced was the most popular game once it came along and like most folks I gamed with, I grabbed onto the nice hardbacks of 1e as they were released. Advanced wasn't a complete game at first - there were no "to hit" tables until the DM Guide which was the last volume to be released. In the mean time, I mined the Advanced Monster Manuel and Players Handbook for content to add to my game based on the little brown books. Mixing and adding to my game was something I had grown accustomed to drawing on the official supplements and also from a lot of other sources - some aimed at D&D and some more "generic". It seems even to this day that I prefer borrowing and combining from various sources as "the way" to play any RPG. 

Red Box Basic came along a few years after the first Advanced edition and has probably had more influence on the way I run my personal games than any other with the exception of the original little brown books (plus maybe the Advanced hardbacks). I recall Red Box being my introduction to race as class (Tom Moldvay coined race-as-class in practice, but I didn't own his B/X until later). I think race-as-class makes sense in a human-centric milieu, but that is a story for another day. This post is about Advanced 2e, which is an edition that I am becoming rather fond of - now that it is 35+ years old!

I recently remarked to a gaming buddy that for this past year 2e has been my passion. The epiphany (that 2e is a really good game) started with the pandemic and suspension of my face-to-face games. Turning first to watching some online role-playing to see what that could be like, I became a follower of the Dungeon Musings YouTube channel where they are playing AD&D 2e using Roll20. (Roll20 is virtual tabletop software that offers a tactical display and additional features to support online play -m just in case there is anyone out there that doesn't already know this.) I didn't become convinced there was much for me personally in the virtual tabletop software, but the 2e system caught my attention as both familiar and new and improved when compared to what I recall of 1e. At the same time I started watching another YouTube channel, GROGTALK, which is devoted to the 1st edition of the Advanced game. Pulling out the old books and re-acquainting myself with 1e as well as taking a "first look" at 2e, I found that 2e is very similar to 1e in many ways, but seems better organized and some of the more ambiguously worded mechanical sub-systems including initiative and surprise are arguably "cleaned up".

The lead designer/editor of the 2nd edition is David "Zeb" Cook who previously had done excellent work on the Expert rules for the Basic D&D line (B/X). I find Mr. Cook's writing style is both concise and easy to read and I think he succeeds in giving the hobby a game that reflects how many, if not most, of us were using the Gary Gygax authored Advanced books. In other words by simplifying select sub-systems and leaving off others entirely - like the seldom used 1e "to hit" adjustments for armor class by weapon type. 

Advanced 2e is not without its "disappointments", however. Development of this edition occurred during the transition that would see Gary Gygax ousted and which ushers in new design philosophies that exclude some of the game's aspects that were being perceived as "troublesome" from a public relations standpoint. Half-orcs and the assassin class is removed. The art and illustrations become more "colorful" (literally with the introduction of color) and at the same time less controversial (no bare-chested females, although the chain-mail bikini persists). 

The transition to the 2nd edition "philosophy" also involves a shift in thinking about how the game should work at the table. Mr. Cook's Players Handbook includes the vast majority of game rules in that single volume making full knowledge of how the game works available to players and DMs alike. The Dungeon Masters Guide - which in its 1e version contains most of the necessary game rules other than character creation and spell descriptions - is now devoted to advice on strictly DM topics such as world creation and handling table dynamics. Personally I rather miss the approach of rules being the DM's prerogative and the unique "Gygaxian" prose style found in the 1e volumes and will continue to read those volumes for the pleasure of enjoying Mr. Gygax' voice if nothing else.

Up to this point I have been talking strictly about the TSR era 2nd edition game. In 1997 TSR is sold to Wizards of the Coast, who continues to publish the world's first role-playing game to the present day. The folks in Seattle redesigned the physical look of the Advanced game and introduced a number of changes through the addition of supplemental volumes - a practice first started in 1975 and continues through the current 5th edition. I have generally been less enthusiastic about material I have found in the various "supplements" (regardless of edition) and generally stick to the core materials (and my own "homebrew") when I am behind the referee screen.

As a referee I prefer to create my own setting for the games I run, but I read and borrow from a number of sources in doing so. Drawing from novels, history books and setting materials published for a variety of game systems, like many, I pick and choose ideas that appeal to me or seem to offer the greatest potential for use at my table. There are a number of settings that are designed for use with the 2e version of the game - some have been adapted for use with later editions and some have not. The variety and unique nature of the many 2e settings (Planescape, Dark Sun, Spelljammer, etc.) can be one reason to pay attention to this edition. 

The 1990's saw publication of a number of 2e supplemental rules tomes as the new owners sought to broaden the scope of the Advanced game and to experiment with new gaming ideas (skills and critical hits, prestige classes and more). Some of the new concepts found favor with consumers becoming permanent elements of the game starting with 3e and 2e can be seen as a bridge that spans the intellectual gulf between the older TSR era game philosophies and what has come about since and starting with late 2e and then 3e, etc. brings us to the present state of the hobby.

In addition to spending more viewing time online, the pandemic has afforded me more reading time which I have largely devoted to the hobby. With a nearly a half century of role-playing material available there has been no shortage of entertaining sources. In the past year I have been introduced to the very first published adventure "kit" - Palace of the Vampire Queen by Wee Warriors - as well as many other releases that I have missed out on until now - Night Below, the 2e mega-adventure by Carl Sargent, comes to mind. 

What is old is new if it is your first experience with it. The future looks bright, even when viewed from my spot on the couch by the reading lamp. One of my face-to-face groups has started With a little more (enforced) leisure time on our hands, many are discovering that there is a lot of old/new treasures just waiting to be (re)discovered!