There has been a lot of discussion on the boards this month about the
pros and cons of the latest edition of Dungeons and Dragons, a game that
has gone through more changes than a chameleon on a paisley sofa. Staff
has come and gone, ownership of the publisher has been traded around,
and the target audience has changed in many ways.
If you're like a typical role-player, you've got a ton of books for your favorite
game. Not only do you own the core rule books for the 2nd edition, you've
got all the "Complete" books, the whole set of "Handbooks", several binders full of
monsters, and a stack of modules and accessories as high as your waist.
But the question is, is it worth switching over to the new system, or
would you be happy just staying where you are? Here are a few options
to consider which should help you make up your mind.
You could stay with the edition you've got. Whether it's first edition,
second edition, or even the old boxed sets, you can continue playing as
normal. You don't have to spend any money on new books and you don't have
to learn a new set of rules. In addition, there is no “jarring” of your
game world/characters. In other words, no need to convert them to the
new edition and then having to explain why they have new abilities all
of a sudden, or can no longer perform something that they used to do.
There are problems with this plan, however. There will be little or no
official support (rules errata or clarifications) for any previous editions.
There won’t be any more new material, so forget about any new manuals,
modules, or accessories. You are stuck with whatever was printed before
the new edition. And good luck if you accidentally lose or damage a book
you already own. As time goes on it will become more difficult, and more
expensive, to replace lost materials. Then there is the player problem.
It will become more and more difficult to find new players, since most
new players tend to be most familiar with whatever is in the stores when
they start playing. Since the gaming and bookstores are inundated with
3rd edition material, it is unlikely that very many will opt for 2nd or
1st edition.
So, you’ve decided to go to 3rd edition, but what are you going to do
with all your prior edition material? One approach is to sell everything
you own and use the money to finance your new purchases. By doing so,
you can get a complete (or mostly complete) set of 3rd edition materials
(depending on how large your D&D collection is). The core books themselves
(PHB, DMG, and Monster Manual) together can be purchased relatively cheaply
(about $45 for all three books on Amazon.com). Probably the best method
for selling role-playing materials (at least the best that I’ve found)
is on E-Bay or similar auction service. The more rare items tend to sell
for more money, and as time goes on prior edition materials become rarer
and rarer. 1st edition items are already worth a lot, and 2nd edition
items are rapidly gaining value. And even if the items aren’t in the best
condition, you can almost always find someone who will buy it.
Of course there are drawbacks to this as well. You can forget about having
a D&D “collection”, unless that collection consists entirely of 3rd edition
products. This is no big deal for some people, but many gamers tend to
be avid collectors of gaming materials of all sorts. Also, you will probably
lose some great source material. 3rd edition products that replace older
version products (like the DMG or PHB) will always be at least a little
different, so whatever information or ideas were cut will be lost forever.
This is especially true for items like the “Complete
Handbook” series and any modules designed around prior editions.
OK, so you want to go to 3rd edition, but you don’t want to give up all
your cool books. There is hope for you. While letting your collection
collect dust in the attic or converting everything you own to 3rd edition
both seem like bad ideas (and they probably are), you can happily ride
the middle ground between the two. Just convert material on a case by
case basis. You will only have to purchase the very basic books (just
the DMG, PHB, and possibly the MM) and can ignore everything else. You
will have a large amount of source material available for your gaming
(as large as your collection!) and it won’t take too much time since you
will only need to convert a specific item once.
The only drawbacks here are that you must spend a little extra money to
get the core books (although not too much), and that you may have to take
some time out of your game sessions to do conversions. Of course, once
you become an expert at converting on the fly, your players may never
notice.
So it basically all boils down to your particular tastes. Each option
has its benefits as well as its drawbacks, and it’s up to each individual
player to ultimately decide what he is going to do. And whether you decide
to stand fast, replace, or convert, just remember that the point of the
game is to enjoy yourself. If you’re having fun, everything will take
car of itself.