2nd Edition Resources, Sites, Tips, Info, Etc.

[Tormsskull]

Hi all,

It looks like I might be running a 2nd edition game here within the next month or so, and I was curious as to what resources are available out there for 2nd edition?

Specifically, I was thinking of homebrewing a world with a heavy martial arts flair, and I seem to remember there being a martial arts system in 2e that revolved around a d20 roll where each number corresponded to a particular "move".

So, any info, tips, etc. anyone is willing to share regarding 2e is much appreciated.

[bosssmiley]

Is that the Oriental Adventures system you're talking about?
Paizo.com should have you covered for a pdf download.

IIRC the OA martial arts system was updated into a (kludgy) schools-via-feat chains thing in a Dragon magazine (#318?). Really, really not worth the bother.

*Casts Old School Planar Ally spell to get some 2nd Ed. maven help in here*

[Thane of Fife]

The Martial Arts system you speak of is in the Complete Priest's Handbook. It's almost identical to the Punching system in the Player's Handbook (page 97 in the one I'm looking at). The difference being that you have to spend a Weapon Proficiency slot to learn it, and I think most of the moves do more damage or have better knockout chances.

Combat and Tactics has a different variant, which essentially lists 4 styles (I think they're Punching, Kicking, Dodging, and Throwing), and gives a bonus to something depending on which style you're using.

http://www.fortunecity.com/rivendell/stonekeep/25/ is a generally good AD&D site - I recommend the Treasure Chest and Links in particular.

And of course, there's always Dragonsfoot.

[Matthew]

Depends what you want.

Dragonsfoot is probably the premier site for AD&D resources. OSRIC provides you with a free version of the 1e AD&D rules. Wizards offer a reasonable catalogue of free Previous Edition Downloads. Paizo offer a very reasonably priced and pretty complete archive of AD&D PDFs. There's the Oerth Journal, the Grodog's Dungeons & Dragons. There is also a PDF version of Ivid the Undying. It's also well worth reading Robert Fisher's Blog.

David 'Zeb' Cook is answering questions once a week on the Dragonsfoot Forums.

As for tips and such, there are quite a lot of 'issues' with 2e that you need to decide how to handle beforehand. Two Handed Weapons, Initiative and Action Resolution immediately come to mind. Essentially, you need to decide what is available to the Player Characters beforehand and what Optional Rules to institute.

The most extensive Martial Arts System turned up in the Complete Ninja's Handbook, but I think the Player's Option series also presented something along those lines.

In general, I highly recommend the use of Character Points from Player's Option: Skills and Powers if you are want Players to be able to purchase abilities for their Characters, but I wouldn't recommend using the system presented there wholesale.