Favorite Edition of D&D? (Also D&D General Discussion)

[Major Kusanagi]

Don't know if there is a D&D general discussion thread on here or not, but I figured I'd start a thread dedicated to one of my favorite games of all time. The original role-playing game: Dungeons & Dragons.

I love D&D and I am a fan of nearly every edition except Fourth. I started with 3.5 but I recently have gotten into the old-school TSR editions of D&D and their various OSR retro-clone games. I also like Pathfinder, and I'm wondering what everyone's favorite version of the world's first RPG is.

Also, to my fellow DM's and Players, any memorable moments from the gaming table? Any character concepts you'd like to share?

 

[Alvis Alendran]

I got started late 2nd, and then into 3rd. There wre a lot of flaws in both systems, but I enjoyed the very open feel of 3.5.

I'll avoid getting too carried away with the tales of the tabletop, since I could probably just spam the thread for days with all the stuff that I've done/seen happen in games I've ran.

A really memorable one would be a campaign I ran in the outer planes, Ysgard specifically, where every creature killed violently in that realm get a True Res every morning. So much fun seeing how players would react to the different set of circumstances. 2nd level party throwing itself at a Frost Giant to buy time for people fleeing? Absolutely. Ground into a red smear on the road, but they all woke up the next morning with the same Frost Giant sitting down with a fire going, offering them breakfast in acknowledgement of their bravery for fighting a hopeless battle.

 

[Major Kusanagi]

I've been getting into Original D&D lately, and I have to admit that I love the Early Installment Weirdness of 1970's D&D. Even with just three classes and four races, OD&D feels so much more open and accepting of non-standard characters and campaigns. The classes in OD&D's White Box, while few in number, feel a lot more like broad archetypes that can encompass many different concepts instead of confined stereotypes and builds like in the later editions.

Plus it's well-suited for sandbox play with wilderness adventuring and I like that there is an "endgame" of sorts where high-level characters build their own strongholds and fiefdoms. Plus it emphasized the importance of hirelings and followers. I like that and it's sad to see domain building completely gone from modern D&D. Now, to be fair, this started with AD&D 1E de-emphasizing the concept of strongholds and baronies at higher levels, so it's not just an issue with WOTC's approach to D&D.

Don't get me wrong, I love 3.5 and 5E, but there is a certain charm to Original D&D and its gonzo pulp weirdness.

 

[Xanaphia]

Like Alvis, I started in 2nd, and moved onto 3rd, and eventually 3.5. I loved how streamlined 3rd edition made things, and how it simplified rolls. (Wait, is this a roll over or roll under? Or is it a roll over to get under a number?) I played a bit of 4th, but did not care for it.I am running a 5th edition game IRL, and am enjoying it well enough right now. Really, when I gm (and play, tbh) I tend to focus on teh storytelling and roleplaying aspects, so I eschew rules when they get in the way of that. (Well, there isn't a rule that allows for your character to do that thing, but it sounds cool, so I will let you do the thing) IDK if I am doing 5th right because all I am doing is offering a chance to roll if the characters attempt something that has a chance of failure that will affect the story.

 

[TheCorsair]

The first D&D I owned was Red Box Basic, picked up at a yard sale for the princely sum of $0.50, and my friends and I played that game hard. From there I went to 1E, picking up all three books at a second hand bookstore and mixing and matching with my Basic set as needed until I had all the books.

Generally, though, I'm an edition agnostic. I didn't quite get into 4E, but I played it when a friend of mine ran a campaign. Not quite knowing what I was doing made it a liberating experience, especially since I walked into it with a Basic edition mindset. The DM described the entrance to a dungeon as having platinum wall sconces enchanted with Continual Flame, and my neutral dwarf immediately set to ripping them out of the walls. The horrified other players told me "but they're sacred to Bahamut", and I responded with "they're solid platinum and enchanted. Shut up and pry."

Good times.

 

[Major Kusanagi]

I must admit that Basic D&D is pretty cool. I am a fan of the Rules Cyclopedia, and its free OSR version, Dark Dungeons.

 

[Nihilistic_Impact]

I got my start with 3.0, though we were also using 3.5 books, but that didn't last long. Didn't have any game group through most of 4th edition and came back for some pathfinder which I have eventually grown to hate for it's dumpster diving and poor balance. I was eventually burned on pf and began delving into the OSR where I found Lamentations of the Flame Princess which I just adore as an easily modded system while Raggi just puts out some of the most interesting D&D books. I did partake is the D&D Next play test and enjoyed most of what I saw and do find 5th edition to be on the whole an interesting game which seems to appeal a lot to my current game group.

This is why I voted for Basic since my favourite clone is based upon it. There's just too much out there which I do not need to convert for it.