2nd edition in a nutshell

HOME 3RD Gate Defenders De'Shar'Mach AT/!\RI's PC's

Info on 2nd ed. and Personal DM Mods involving my 2nd edition style

I was apparently born in the wrong generation. When I began playing 15 years ago, 2nd ed. had just come out and all the old school players were still playing 1st ed. Now I'm an old fogey and everyone is playing 3rd ed. I am just now learning 3rd. ed. rules but in the meantime I must still DM from 2nd ed rules. Below are some things you may need to know in order to understand my unique version of 2nd. Certain things are different than in 3rd, but it's still basically the same character set ups. Basically you will have all the same die rolls, (attack roll, damage, Saves, initiative) but they will be scored slightly differently.

A few of the following rules apply only to my DM'ing style.

Quick links: 2nd edition Proficiencies: What the heck is THAC0??

Weapon Specializations: # Attacks per Level Speed and Movement

Perception Experience Point Awards Class rules and personal tweaks.

1-We'll start with the 2nd edition Proficiency Table:

Table 34: Proficiencies
Weapon proficiencies			(ignore this one)	Non-weapon Proficiencies
Class	Initial	#levels to earn 1	penalty for non-proficient	initial	#levels
Warrior	4	3	-2	3	3
Wizard	1	6	-5	4	3
Priest	2	4	-3	4	3
Rouge	2	4	-3	3	4

Before Feats and skills, we had Proficiencies

*Note: You may use any 3rd edition feats (combat related) that you want in the Weapon Prof. slots. And skills in the non-weapon slots.

How many Weapon proficiency slots do you get? You will all have started out as Fighters, regardless of your dual-class.

So at 1st level you get 4 weapon prof.(initial), At 6th level fighter, which all 3GD's are, you would have earned 2 more(1 per. 3 lvls). so that's at least 6. Now for you using my special Dual-class rules you can also gain weapon slots from your new class, none initially but as you level up.

Example: 6th level fighter has 6, dual in Rouge up to level 4. The rouge gets a new slot at 4, so a dual Fighter 6/Thief 4 would have 7 weapons slots.

Non-weapon proficiencies. ( you may use 3rd edition skills for proficiencies, also some feats would be under the non-weap, area)

As a fighter you began with 3+your language number under INT. then gained 2 since then. Dual class PC's do get their initial number and level for their second class, but not the INT bonus

So that Fighter 6/Thief 4 with Language: +2 would have 9 non-weapon proficiencies. 5(fighter)+3(rouge initial)+1(rouge level 4)=9

I'll help you determine how many of each of these you have, but it's just good to have an idea of how many weapon slots you have to work with before you make a PC.

2-What the heck is THAC0?? I'll admit, THAC0 is whacko, but It's what I've DM'ed with for 12 years, so I'm sticking with it for now. I'll try to make sense of it for you.

One major difference between 3rd edition and 2nd ed. is the combat rolls.

In 2nd ed. a human starts with a 10 Armor Class, just like 3rd.

But when that human puts on Chain-mail he becomes a 5 AC. You subtract armor bonuses, It goes backwards basically.

So now we come to THACO Which means To Hit Armor Class Zero.

A 5th level fighter has a base 15 THACO with her fist. So if a guy had full-plate with an armor class of 0. she would need a 15+ on a d20 to hit. To hit the chain-mailed guy (AC 5), she would subtract the AC (5) from her THACO (15) so she would only need 10+ to hit a guy with chain. You can add the AC to the die roll if that makes more sense to you, it works out the same.

So for both of these stats, AC and THAC0, the lower the better. Any thing that gives attack roll bonuses (also known as 'Hit prob. bonus' in 2nd ed. lingo) are subtracted from THAC0. AC penalties are generally added, while bonuses are subtracted. This can and does get into the Negatives. This is why I do not yet use 3rd ed., because I would not yet be able to accurately determine the power of my monsters in the new system. But some day I'll cross over.

3-Notes on Weapon Specializations: You are all part fighters so you can choose any weap. specialization/Feat you want

You can Specialize up to 5 times beyond the basic proficiency for a weapon.

each specialization gives you +1 to attack, +2 to damage, and -1 to Weapon speed. This will stack with 3rd edition feats (except 3rd edition specialization).

Also, to wield two weapons without penalty you will need both Two-Handed Fighting, and Ambidextrous, as weapon slots. Here's how this breaks down.

Normal penalty -2 good hand -4 off hand

Amb only -2 good hand -2 off hand

2-hand only -0 good hand -4 off hand

Both -0 both hands

both and 1 specialize -0 both hands + 1 bonus attacks with the 2nd hand.

Without these proficiencies, you gain 1 extra attack for each hand beyond the 1st, but suffer the various penalties. The Specialization combo gives you 2 attacks per extra hand (basically the normal and the bonus stack on each hand).

# Attacks per Level: I follow my own system for # attacks per round.

lvl	Melee	Missile
1-3	1/1	1/1
4-5	3/2	2/1
6-8	2/1	3/1
9-10	3/1	4/1
11+	4/1	4/1
20	5/1	6/1

This is a standard for all classes. So whichever class's level yields you more attacks you use. Thus a 10th level Mage could conceivably have more base attacks than a 6th level fighter. Though the fighter's attacks will no doubt me more effective, and other attack rates for weapon proficiencies will apply.

Speed and Movement. In 2nd ed. Movement refers to how far you can move in 1 round (1 min), while Speed refers to how fast you can perform a certain action in regards to initiative.

Most Humans start with a base of 12 Movement, you then add your DEX rec. adj. and any other modifiers (like a running proficiency). This number roughly refers to how many feet you can travel in 10 seconds, how many yards per round(1 min) and how many miles you can cover in a day, both traveling at a moderate walk. This number is halved if you engage in combat the same round, except when Charging. Movement Rate can be doubled by jogging, and tripled in short-distance sprints (light load). You can sprint for as many rounds as your CON.

Each (running) non-weapon proficiency will add one to your movement rate.

In a foot race between two or more Characters, each racer rolls a d20 then adds their movement to the roll. So if an Orc with Mov 12 is chasing a goblin with movement 16 they both roll 20's. Now if the orc rolls a 20 +mov=32 and the goblin rolls a 10 +mov=26, then the orc gained 6 feet on the goblin.

*Note: a hast spell doubles all movement rates, while slow halves them

Speed in 2nd. edition refers to initiative modifier. In 2nd, initiative is usually rolled with either a d10 or d12, with the LOWEST number going 1st.

Everyone's base speed is 0. You then add the speed of whatever action you wish to do. (other factors may effect speed as well) Example: a 2nd level spell has a speed of 2. So to cast the spell you add 2 to your initiative roll. (remember, lowest goes 1st in 2nd)

Almost all spells have the same speed as their level.

Each weapon also has a speed (a dagger has a 2, while a 2-handed sword has a 10). In rounds where you are attacking and/or moving you subtract a weapon's speed by your DEX reaction adj. and by the number of specializations in the weapon)

So, wielding a 2-handed sword, a fighter with the following stats:

Reaction adj +2, and 4 weapon specializations(2-handed sword)

would add -6 to his initiative/speed modifier, this would give him a speed of 4 with the 2-handed sword (10-6). So he would add 4 to all initiative rolls with the sword.

*note: a Haste spell halves a player's total speed (initiative roll + modifiers) for any action. Making him twice as fast. Slow spells double the speed.

Perception: Perception refers to your all around awareness. Any attempt to use a natural sense (sight, smell, hearing, taste, touch) is based on your Perception #. This number is equal to the average of your Wisdom and Intelligence scores.

To make a perception check you roll a d20, (usually with a modifier depending on the action taken). The object is to roll as low as you can. How much lower you roll than your Perception # will determine your results for the check.

Example: You have a Perception of 14, (we'll ignore other modifiers for now). You walk into a room and want to detect any odd smells. Say you roll a 13, you just made your check by 1, So you might detect a foul tinge to the air but aren't quite sure what it is. Now, say you rolled a 2, Then you could actually determine the smell of rotting apples, Orc blood, etc... Rolling above your perception # is a failed attempt.

Note: Obvious things do not need a perception check, like strong odors, loud battle sounds, soft sand under your feet. Though sometimes I may ask for a perception check from everyone just to see who notices certain things first, so they may comment on it within the game or inform less perceptive PC's. Sending a (d20) labeled p:(d20) with every post is always recommended, but not necessary.

My Method of Experience Point Awards:

I work with 2 types of Experience Points; Technical, and Quest-Sensitive.

I'm Used to DM'ing 1 four-hour session a week then awarding XP at the beginning of the next week's Game. For on-line DM'ing I'll post XP here when I deem it necessary. Below is a rough breakdown of my award system

XP Award Table

Technical		Quest

GROUP: These are Points divided equally among all		Individual Quest XP
Solving Quest/Chapter..Varies		Good Role-Playing
Combat XP.. An Enemy’s XP value will be evenly divided among		Good tech playing
all PC’s scoring at least one hit or spell-effect on that monster,		Solving problems
regardless of Damage. Players not scoring a hit but casting spells to		Creative ideas
aid others in battle (Haste, protections, healing) will also get a share.		Adding to Quest
		Getting others involved

Individual by Class:		These are given at my discretion
Warrior		On a M.Y.P.I./M.Y.G.O. system
XP of Enemies Killed		More you put in, More you get Out
A Pure-Warrior (non Dual, Multi) never gets less than		There is more XP potential here
1/2 the XP value on any Creep he scores a hit on.		then anywhere else
He is still counted as 1 person taking from the total Group share,
but regardless of the (actual) amount, his share is always adjusted to 1/2
This balances the many other ways the other classes can gain XP
		Using Defender Sub-Class
Wizard		Ability in Meaningful way
Spells aiding quest (1,000xSpell level)		gains anywhere from
Spell research (500xspell lvl)		(100XP-1,000XP)
Item Creation (Varies)		Depending on Success
		And relevance
Priest
Meaningful use of innate ability (100xp)
Spell Aiding Quest or furthering Ethos (1,000xSpell Level)
Item Creation (Varies)

Rouge
Successful thieving ability aiding Quest, or character (1,000xp)
Thieving ability gaining profit (XP equal to gp value)

Individual Class rules and personal tweaks.

Magic: I do not require PC's to rest in order to re-gain spells. Both Priests and Wizards can learn/pray for 1 spell in 10min of uninterrupted concentration.

Cleric: In addition to their learned spells, Clerics can cast their number of WIS bonus spells (if any) in each level without memorizing them. (XP is much less for spells cast this way.)

Fighter/Mages may wield any weapon, they may not wear any metal armor and still cast spells (some races can wear specialized metal armor). No shields.

Fighter/Thieves: F/T's can wield any weapon as long as they can tightly sheath it when doing Thieving skills. (no pole-arms) they can also carry a small light-buckler under the same conditions.