Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 7:17 pm
Fiffergrund wrote:
Re: Kits:
I have several 2E campaigns under my belt, and without exception, kits were detrimental to game balance and enjoyment.
The worst offenders were the elf and ranger kits. Nothing but ridiculous power-gaming madness.
Re: sourcebooks:
Creative Campaigning is an excellent book, but I also recommend the Campaign Sourcebook and Catacomb Guide. Paul Jaquays was the prime mover on that one, and it shows.
Agreed on kits. On the one hand you had the Complete Thief (or whatever it was called) in which no kit gave you ANY game crunch, then on the other hand you had Complete Elf, Ranger, Ninja that gave you all sorts of Power Crunch!
The green-covered historical books were hit and miss as well: Nice historical info, but hit and miss on the game bits for sure.
The DM's Necromancer book is a good one (love the spells) and should be considered for PC use, but C&C's Black Libram is even "darker".
I played 2nd edition a lot in the day, but for my money 3.X and C&C are my favs. I purged most of my 2nd edition collection to $recycle$ for 3.X and C&C products. I still kept my Ravenloft and Al-Qadim stuff (and, I admit, my Spelljammer stuff). As for core 2nd edition material, I kept the Monstrous Compendiums and Appendices; I, Tyrant; Illithiad; A Mighty Fortress; Complete Necromancer; Drow of the Underdark; the Volo Guides (bathroom reading); and the last printings of the PHB and DMG.
Lee