I have the first edition "Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea."  What are the major differences in it and the new 3rd edition?  Should I upgrade?  Is 2nd edition worth considering?

Thanks.

I think it depends on your preferences.  I got into Hyperborea with 2e and that remains the version I prefer.  Here are the reasons:

1.  Everything is in one book.  Sure it's a beast, but still just one book and incredibly well made.  I had a flood in my apartment that saturated part of the book, but once it dried, it's been totally usable for 5 years now; just some wavy pages.  You also get the gazetteer and a sample adventure in the book.
2.  3e comes in two books, one for the player and one for the DM, plus a separate gazetteer.  That has some utility, I guess, but I prefer it all together.
3. In 3e, for some weird reason, Jeff changed the monster stat blocks so they're now crammed together and harder to read.
4. A couple character classes, particularly the monk, were tweaked for 3e, but I don't think it added anything.
5. The art for 3e is inferior and less consistent, IMO.
6. There were some rules changes to things like combat sequence, but we always played Hyperborea like our house-ruled AD&D anyhow so I never paid any attention to the convoluted RAW.

The game is still great and if you prefer the set-up and organization of 3e, have at it!  But I backed 3e in the KS then ended up trading it away and hanging onto my water damaged copy of 2e.

Agree with the above. I got the 3rd KS super special edition after I traded my 2nd edition away. Honestly I think that was a mistake and wish I had kept it and avoided 3rd. 1st~>2nd is a major upgrade and worth the money.

Also the name changed and I liked the original better. Sounded more RPG; Hyperborea sounds like I'm about to read an atlas.

I agree with the prior two comments. I was in a long-running ASSH game when 3rd edition came out, and pre-ordered it. The rules changes from 2e to 3e are minor at most; honestly, you have to go looking for them to even notice they're there. The 2e book is better presented, and the pdf is much easier to navigate. 2nd edition is still one of my favorite OSR games. Because 3rd is basically the same game, it's still good, but it was not worth the roughly $120 I spend on it.

Unfortunately, the 2E book is almost impossible to find.  If someone has a source, I'd appreciate it.

Quote from: JRR on June 02, 2024, 04:37:30 PMUnfortunately, the 2E book is almost impossible to find.  If someone has a source, I'd appreciate it.

Yeah, I don't think the full 2e book is for sale anywhere anymore. North Wind Adventures is still selling the Player's Book for pretty cheap (https://www.hyperborea.tv/store/p28/HYPERBOREA_2E_Players%27_Manual.html), but as far as I know the referee's material is only around in secondhand or pdf.

It ought to be stressed that while I prefer 2nd edition, 3rd edition is by no means a bad game. Really the important question here is whether 3rd edition is an upgrade over 1st, not over 2nd. I didn't play 1st, but it looks like none of the editions are that different from each other. You could probably buy the 2nd edition player's book and still use all the referee's material from first. 3rd edition might not be a presentation upgrade from 2nd, but I think most people would consider it an upgrade from first. If that's worth it to you, as well as some new ethnicities to for PCs, then it's worth it.

It was worth the upgrade for me, even if there aren't huge differences.

One of my favorite OSR iterations.

I've only read 3e, here are my impressions.

https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2024/04/hyperborea-players-manual-review.html

Good game IMO, although I'd prefer something simpler.

Quote from: JRR on June 02, 2024, 10:40:51 AMI have the first edition "Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea."  What are the major differences in it and the new 3rd edition?  Should I upgrade?  Is 2nd edition worth considering?

1E's what I use because I prefer the layout/aesthetics and functionality of the smaller spiral books. It has some sentimental value too - I was so pumped when that box set arrived. The Baggley art throughout took it over the top for me, a perfect complement to the tone, cementing the setting/rules as a cool take on AD&D. I ran a bunch of con games and a few campaigns with them as a result.

In 2e/3e, Jeff introduced several new classes, monsters, magic items and spells. He also streamlined some rules, like initiative/combat, two-weapon fighting and other little things here and there. I would say that functionally it's mostly the same (except for the content addtions I mentioned). Maybe consider getting the 3e PDF, checking it out and going from there? You can always bring in the new material (if you like it) without using the new books.

I have 2e and 3e bug I haven't really compared them, the only reason I have 3e is cause I wanted physical books so I helped tbe kickstarter. A lot of the 2e art is still in the book but by and large the newer art is much worse. I know Monks got a lot of changes too.