Changes from AD&D to AD&D 2e

This is going to be another one of those posts that keeps getting updated and referred to about once a month. As I think of more changes, I will update this blog post.

Changes from AD&D1e to AD&D2e

Bolded are the most impactful to how the two systems result in play.

Macro changes

• Multi-classed characters were weakened (multi-class clerics limited to cleric weapons, multi-class magic-users limited to non-metal armor)
• Stronghold construction, particularly for magic-users? So less emphasis on potential domain play.
• Weird standardization of 10's of yards which resulted in 10's of feet in 1e on spell ranges being 10's of yards. A 10th level fireball can travel 200 feet in 1e. A 10th level fireball can travel 330 feet (or 110 yards).
• Spell lists conflated into just wizard and priest spells, divided up by school. This changes the effective level certain classes gain access to some spells.
• Demons renamed to Tanar'ri, Devil's renamed to Baatezu, etc
• Many monsters changed between editions (example: Dragons are beefier)
• XP for gold replaced by a more fiat (quest, roleplaying, etc) XP reward system, a raised monster XP award, while keeping magic item XP.
• (Optional) Although nonweapon proficiencies were mentioned to be optional, it's worth mentioning that they were brought forward into the core game as most 2e products released after the core books referred back to NWPs. It's noted that the Rangers tracking ability directly refers to the Tracking NWP.
• 2e introduced size categories above Large
• In addition to spells being moved around to accommodate two lists, which changed level thresholds, some spells would change in an insidious way. Example: Command being almost exactly the same but the range increasing from 10 feet to 30 yards.
• Many spells have a cap on potential. For example, Fireball being capped at 10 dice.

Misc. Changes

• Ability score tables now list scores from 1 to 25.
• Minor ability scores changed slightly, such as weight allowance for scores less than 10, open doors changed to a d20, and % chance to learn spells for scores from 10 to 16.
• Silver is 1/10th of a gold

Race changes

• Racial level limits are significantly higher
• More multi-class options
• Removal of Half-Orcs
• Gnomes now get -1 wisdom, +1 intelligence
• Elves can be resurrected
• Halfings ranged bonus lessened (counting 1e MM as a source for racial bonuses)
• Many minor changes (such as halfings only having a change to have infravision)

Dwarf Feet

Class changes

• Fighters get specialization
• Ranger is completely different, opting for a lighter armored scout in 2e.
• Specialty wizards for all schools of magic
• Illusionist replaced with specialty wizard of the Illusion school
• Specialty priests for all spheres
• Druid replaced as a specialty priest
• Bard as a 'prestige' class now is a subclass of Rogue
• Assassin removed
• Monk removed
• Removal of name-levels, which meant also the implications such as druids only being able to have 3 archdruids, as an example.
• Adjustable thief skills

Equipment

• Addition of UA armor (Field Plate, Bronze Plate, Full Plate) to the core equipment list.
• Addition of UA weapons (Examples: Whip, Hook Fauchard, Garrot) to the core equipment list.

Combat system

• Surprise is no longer in segments, but in an entire surprise round.
• (Side-eye) The surprise mechanic isn't even in the combat section of the book. This was an often overlooked mechanic.
• Surprise from 1 or 2 on a d6 to a 1, 2, or 3 on a d10.
• You can move half movement and attack (melee and missile), no more engage in melee lessening the impact of charge.
• You can target which melee combatant to hit
• Initiative is done a d10 vs a d6 with no round 'spillover'. (example: spells always complete mostly)
• Casting time is straight additive to initiative
• Weapon speeds are now additive to initiative
• (Optional) Death at -10 HP is now an optional rule, though most every group used it.
• To hit tables now flattened into THAC0
• Specific small modifiers to initiative, called shots, etc
• (Optional) Weapon vs Armor type tables have been flattened out to three categories and the math of that consideration changed. Most groups didn't use this.
• (Optional) Initiative modifiers were flatted for magical items. A wand in 1e might have specific segment costs, but it's presented that all wands cost +3 segments. (example: Wand of Fear is specified to cost 1 segment in the 1e DMG, the segment cost is omitted in the 2e DMG)
• Unarmed combat is completely different.
• Turn Undead affects 2d6 instead of 1d12

Explaining the bolded changes, in order...

Spell lists flattening. The entire casting system has been combined into two lists, partitioned by schools of magic. This has a few median effects:

1. Spells for Druids or Illusionists no longer being in their own lists results in a certain amount of spells that are now attainable at different levels of spellcasting. (example: Dispel Magic)
2. The resulting specialty wizards were pretty popular, but the real effect came when priests could opt into being a specialty priest. Though, this was largely controlled by what splatbooks or house rules were allowed.

XP for gold being replaced resulting a lot lower money campaigns. However the massive change that this brought was the direction of motivations in AD&D. The adventures were now more geared towards story-focused, overland travel rather than exploration in the wilderness and seeking out dungeons and other adventure sites for monetary reward.

Racial limits being significantly higher resulted in a lot more demi-human play. In fact, humans were hardly ever played compared to AD&D. Even though they had level limits, those limits were often so high that it wasn't at all a decision point for players.

The class discussion is a branching web of a ton of minor deviances. The removal of Monk, Assassin, and the traditional Bard weren't as huge. The change to Rangers elevated them up even higher than they were, but the Bard was a fast leveling caster which often made it an extremely attractive choice.

Being able to move half-movement and still attack, on top of being able to choose your melee target, is one of the biggest differences between AD&D and any other game. 2e, in this regard, opted for the B/X combat methods which de-emphasized positioning, movement utilization, and the impact that charge has. In other words, combat became less tactical and more 'I hit the one who was already hurt' on repeat.

Further reading: Melan's take on 2e as an old school game

Dragonsfoot thread