It is time for someone (me) to create a product for someone looking for 2e-esque gameplay.  2e falls into an overlooked area between the dungeon-focused OSR and the character-focused games of today.  2e was about curating a setting.

Old-school players have a dungeon-delving mindset.  They purchase dungeons "adventure modules".  When they look at 2e they look at the published adventures and see a bunch of railroading.  Guess what?  Actual 2e players didn't buy adventures, we bought campaign settings and splat-books.  In the same way that OSR games need to be compatible enough so that you can run your characters through any dungeon, a 2e-esque game needs to be compatible with the specifics of any campaign setting.

WotC fundamentally disagrees with this philosophy which is why their attempts to adapt 2e settings were such disasters.  For example, they added Eladrin and Dragonborn to their Dark Sun product, which goes against the setting ethos completely.  2e and 3e were the splat-book editions, but there is a fundamental difference in how the character options were used.  WotC thinks that every setting needs to contain everything, whereas the 2e approach is of curation.

In 2e a character's class had three components: the group (warrior, priest, rogue, wizard, psionicist).  Each group had multiple classes (example: fighters, rangers, and paladins were all warriors).  Each class was eligible for dozens of kits.  Most kits were restricted to a group (such as a kit usable by all rogues: thieves and bards) whereas others were restricted to a single class (such as a kit usable only by bards).

To simplify this I am promoting the kits to classes.  Each group will have a page of common information (hp/level, etc...), along with a page for motivations (an xp mechanic) to create a spread.  Warrior and Rogue classes will take up a single column, two to a page, four to a spread.  Wizards, Priests, and Psionicists will take up a page, two to a spread.

Curators will be told to make 6-12 classes available to the players.  Note that this means that balance between any two particular classes is much less important, because they probably won't both be used in the same campaign.

Here is what I have so far:

WARRIOR: Beastmaster, Berserker, Brawler, Gladiator, Knight, Sharpshooter, Slayer, Soldier

PRIEST: Cleric, Druid, Pilgrim, Shaman

ROGUE: Acrobat, Burglar, Chanter, Minstrel, Scout, Swashbuckler, Tinker, Trader

WIZARD: Alchemist, Channeler, Conjurer, Enchanter, Illusionist, Spellblade

PSION: Dreamwalker? Mystic? Mindbender? Etc..?

That's 30 kits, so any given campaign will only use 20-40% of them.  If I were to make a Dark Sun campaign I might allow the following: Gladiator, Soldier, Cleric, Druid, Acrobat, Burglar, Trader, Channeler, and Mindbender.

I am doing something similar with the races, including 10 with the expectation that they won't all be allowed.

Another key element of capturing the 2e feel is that there are no half-orc, tiefling, assassin, or necromancer PCs.  Bad guys are evil and can be killed without remorse or mixed feelings.  Necromancers etc... exist as enemies, but they won't have class levels; they will have monster stats so that they can be generated quickly by the curator.

I have been working on my weapons, not just the list but the mechanics that surround them.  2e had a huge weapon list, probably the biggest in D&D ever, but so few of them were used.  I decided to streamline it a bit, as well as increase historical accuracy.

At the same time I was trying to figure out how the weapon proficiency system should work.  I want warriors to be able to pick up a weapon and fight with no problem, but I also want to push characters in the right direction.  I ended up with something inspired by the mastery system of the Rules Cyclopedia, with additional research taking me to the following: 6e mastery system, riddle of steel, song of swords, sword & scoundrel, plus reading about the real weapons.

Every character can pick up and use every weapon.  If you are proficient in a weapon, not only do you get to add your attack bonus to hit AND to damage, but you also get to use one of that weapon's mastery traits whenever you use that weapon in an action.  Thrown and sidearm aren't mastery traits (you can shatter while throwing a hand-ax).

One of the nice things about this system is that it really works well with polearms, which gives it a 2e feel.

Name   Price   Weight Size Type Damage Mastery
                  
Dagger................3   0   T     S   d4   sidearm, cut-and-thrust
                  
Ax, Hand.............3   1   S     C   d6   thrown, shatter
Dart....................1   1   S     P   d4   thrown
Sword, Short.......10   1   S     S   d6   cut-and-thrust
                  
Mace...................5   1   M     C   d6   shatter, puncture
Spear..................2   1   M+   P   d6   thrown, mounted
Sword, Curved....15   1   M     S   d8   mounted
Sword, Straight...15   1   M     S   d8   cut-and-thrust
                  
Ax, Battle............5   2   L     C   d10   shatter, push
Bill.....................5   2   L+   S   d8   bypass, hook, trip
Flail....................5   2   L     C   d8   bypass
Glaive.................5   2   L+   S   d8   cut-and-thrust
Glaive-Guisarme..7   2   L+   S   d8   cut-and-thrust, hook, trip
Halberd...............7   2   L+   P   d8   trip, hook, puncture
Morning Star........5   2   L     C   d8   push
Pike....................3   2   L++   P   d8   set
Staff...................1   2   L     B   d6   trip, push
Sword, Great......40   2   L     S   d10   push, puncture, cut-and-thrust
War Hammer........5   2   L     C   d10   hook, puncture, shatter


Here are the mastery traits, as they are currently defined:

Bypass (Bill, Flail): ignore enemy shield

Cut-and-Thrust (Dagger, Short Sword, Straight Sword, Glaive, Great Sword): +1 to hit, and damage type is your choice of P or S.

Hook (Bill, Halberd, War Hammer): beat becomes disarm, shove becomes trip

Mounted (Curved Sword, Spear): deal bonus damage if you moved while mounted this round.

Puncture (Mace, Halberd, War Hammer): get bonus to hit vs armored foes

Push (Battle Ax, Morning Star, Staff, Great Sword): when you force an opponent back, you get to choose if you follow (instead of the opponent)

Set (Pike): extra damage when an opponent engages in melee with you

Shatter (Hand Ax, Mace, Battle Ax, War Hammer): If you hit, or if you miss but roll an even number, the target's armor is reduced by 1.

Sidearm (Dagger): you can use this weapon's other trait(s) even when it is in your off-hand.

Trip (Halberd, Staff, War Hammer): When you hinder with this weapon, the opponent falls prone if you succeed.

The attached pdf is for my druid class.  He is magical but not a spellcaster in the traditional sense.  His main combat ability is that he can craft a magical weapon that allows him to cast one spell per encounter (unless he gets lucky and recharges it).  Outside of combat, he can change the weather, get answers from the gods, isn't attacked by animals or thorns, and can heal effectively using herbs.

I started with the 2e druid base and shifted it slightly towards the druid's historical role as a priest.  I didn't not take the Warcraft/WotC approach and turn him into a shapeshifter.  In my system 10th level is the maximum level.  At that level you get a capstone ability (shapeshifting for the druid) and you can build a stronghold to attract followers (druids build a sanctuary and attract apprentices).

What do you think of the class?  Does it need another ability?  What do you think of the formatting?  I am going for a clean, larger-print approach.  I would really appreciate some feedback.