Monthly Archives: February 2011

While translating AD&D 2nd Edition into a d20 OGL styled combat was easy, the translation of Non-Weapon Proficiencies is proving to be a bit more difficult.  The mechanic itself is easy – the DM assigns a target result, and the player rolls d20 and adds their modifiers.  The DM’s target is easy, as it’s laid out very plainly in the d20 ruleset.  Additionally, it is easy to assign a +1 for each NWP slot a character has put into a proficiency.  The problem comes in applying an ability modifier.

In the d20 implementation of the 3e ruleset, WotC created a single modifier table for all abilities.  An ability score of 10 or 11 was considered to be perfectly average, with no bonus or minus.  For each pair of points about that, the character received a +1 to their Skill Check (the 3e version of an NWP).  So, a character with a 12 or 13 receiving a +1 to the appropriate skill check, and a character with an 18 or 19 received a +4.

For comparison sake, below is a table of the d20 OGL 3e ability score bonus and the various 2e AD&D bonuses:

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REEDITING SINCE I RECALL MORE OF THE SITUATION NOW

WILL POST WHEN it is actually updated(currently in progress)

A quick post to update those who been playing the same campaign we played many years ago.

The story so far…..

as far back as I can remember the party enters a village with the idea to take shelter from a brewing storm in the Inn.

Fully clad in adventuring gear, the party walks up and enters the inn, glad to be inside from their travels.  They order food and drink and sit around the table talking and just relaxing.  Soon enough the party is drinking and having a good time.  They spy a medium build man drinking at the bar who is eying the party and their weapons.  The man disengages from his drink, and saunters over to stand in front of one of the party’s fighters, Graston Oldwell.  He speaks with Graston a bit, until Graston becomes agitated.

The party then notices a bear-of-a-man enter the inn, who immediately goes to the bar for a drink.  Graston decides he has had enough and tells the man to back off and the two dwarven fighters in the party (battleragers, yeah in bar…. bad news huh) start to pay more attention to this dude messing with their buddy.

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We played The Outsiders campaign this last Saturday and the initial Simplified 2e was a huge success.  Combat ran much smoother, with fewer questions or pauses for clarification.  Additionally, the newer players said that it was a much more enjoyable experience.

The implementation itself was quite easy.  As each player arrived, I explained what we were going to be changing and then made two adjustments to their character sheet.  First, I “inversed” their Armor Class; adding the armor and dexterity benefits to the base AC of 10.  Second, I added their “attack adjustment” modifier to any additional ability bonuses from dexterity or strength.

This created one set of bonuses for the “Attack Adj / Damage Adj” on the character sheet, and left the THAC0 field blank.  During combat this new “To Hit” modifier is simply added to attack rolls.

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I’ve decided to put together a Simplified version of AD&D 2nd Edition, primarily to help streamline my current AD&D campaign – The Outsiders.  This won’t be a complete overhaul, and it won’t be an attempt to re-create AD&D in 3e.  But, it will use the OGL d20 mechanic to make things easier for players and DM alike.  You can get the details at the Simplified 2e page here on Alden Minor.

After years of playing the different versions of Dungeons & Dragons, I am back playing an AD&D campaign.  I always realized the game was complex, but after years of playing 3e/4e and other (d20 OGL games) I’ve finally realized how needlessly complex the AD&D rule set is.

I searched for existing systems or conversions that would simplify the AD&D rules while allowing me to use existing products and adventures.  The most promising were the Microlite20 and Microlite74, which focus on simplified rules and “OD&D flavor”.  However, these rules strip things down too far for my taste, and remove compatibility with the printed AD&D products.  While the AD&D products could be converted for the Microlite system, I have no desire to convert all the products and resources I use.