Adventures 2 thread (possible spoilers!)

[larsdangly]

This thread is for digging into details and discussing the new Adventures 2 volume. Note it is likely that this will contain spoilers, so don't read if you would like to play one of these and keep it a surprise!

I'll open with a bit of house cleaning from the Old School Adventure. The skeletons presented here have quite a few irregularities in their stat blocks that depart from standard rules. Whatever the intent/cause, here is a list of the ones I noticed on a quick skim through:

pp. 1-4 and 1-8: Zombies have no intrinsic IQ (these are all given IQ 2). Plausibly a variant rather than a mistake, but contradicts ITL.

p. 1-8:
“…and none of the skeletons has a polearm to jab back.” #2 has a spear.

#3 uses a saber, which should do 2d-2, not 2d-1 (unless it is ‘fine’, which isn’t specified)

#3 carries a large shield, which should reduce adjDX to 10

#4 wears equivalent to cloth, which should reduce adjDX to 12

#5 uses a 2H bastard sword, which should do 3d-2, not 2d+2

#5 wears equivalent to cloth, which should reduce adjDX to 11

[larsdangly]

Two pleasant surprises re. things you can 'harvest' from A2 and use in other places:
1) all the useful extra counters that were dropped into the sheets, eg., the 3 hex demon (which is very cool looking, and wouldn't make a bad giant minotaur as well), and all the objects to use as dungeon dressing.

2) the great number and diversity of new creatures! There is a quarter of a respectable monster book in there.

[Kieddicus]

Yea it is a bit odd that they only list the adjDX for one of the skeletons and not the others. However a 2-H Bastard sword does deal 2d+2 in the legacy edition.

[phiwum]

Originally Posted by Kieddicus

Yea it is a bit odd that they only list the adjDX for one of the skeletons and not the others. However a 2-H Bastard sword does deal 2d+2 in the legacy edition.

Not since the last PDF update, it doesn't.

[Kieddicus]

Oh, weird...

[phiwum]

It's one of the many errata items updated in the new PDF.

[Kieddicus]

Originally Posted by phiwum

It's one of the many errata items updated in the new PDF.

Yes, I double checked when you mentioned it. I just found it weird since I'd say it is a nerf, and I don't really feel like it was needed.

[larsdangly]

2d+2 vs. 3d-2 is basically a toss-up — the former has a slightly better average but the latter might be more attractive to some players for its higher max. In any case, I think they switched it in the errata because 3d-2 is the way it worked for 40 years in 'classic' edition and there is no obvious reason to change it.

[Shadekeep]

Just a note that The Paradise Vault was written pre-pandemic. I suspect players may react differently to the scenario now.