It won't be scary at all. It will feature actors pretending to barely escape from the world's most incompetent predators in front a green screen, none of the big name actors will die, and any kids will surely survive. That, and the PG-13 rating will preclude any real carnage or bloodshed.

Plus, a good DM would reward XP for finding creative solutions to problems and role-playing well. For instance, I generally think avoiding a potential combat scenario through diplomacy should be worth about as much XP if the PC in question actually fought their opponent.

The 2e PHB specifically tells you that combat isn't the the be-all and end-all of play. The chapters on experience suggest awarding players XP for role-playing well. The 2e DM Option book for high level campaigns also specifically advises you NOT to depend on dice, as in don't make everything about combat. The kits offered by the various splatbooks were far more about making your character flavorful and interesting than powerful. The brief, fairly unsuccessful foray that 2e made into historical settings was also a bold experiment that showcased the versatility of the system, as this sort of thing wouldn't have been attempted at all if the designers thought the game was only about dungeon crawling.

The Complete Book of Villains splatbook has almost no rules at all, and it's leaps and bounds above something like the Book of Vile Darkness. It is not useful for any system, it's a seful as a tool for writers in general. I myself ran several AD&D 2e sessions where not a single die was rolled.

What is this idiot's obsession with slamming 2e as being solely about combat? A perusal through actual 2e material demonstrates that this isn't the case at all, especially when compared with older editions and boxed sets.

The fact that the author only mentions Planescape, Darksun, Ravenloft, Forgotten Realms lore, story-driven Dragonlance modules and novels, etc. as a footnote and dismisses them as irrelevant to the article is utterly risible.

And more rules don't always make for a better game. Some things are indeed best left to the players and DM to role-play or to use their imagination to work out. Many veteran and OSR gamers today understand this.

Not to mention that 2e was the era of the campaign setting. Some of the best fluff material, especially for the likes of Planescape, Dark Sun, and Ravenloft was written for this edition.

The Torment novelization was atrocious. The game itself has a novelistic density of theme, character, and incident, and absolutely deserves the praise it receives. The people to credit with this story, however, are Chris Avellone and Colin McComb.

Here's what your list should have been, if you had to narrow it down to ten:

10. Big Trouble in Little China

9. Princess Mononoke

8. Conan the Barbarian

7. Excalibur

6. The Princess Bride

5. The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad

4. Jason and the Argonauts

3. The Wizard of Oz

2. The Lord of the Rings

1. Pan's Labyrinth