Which version of D&D is your favorite now?

SigmaOne said:

I disagree. People paying attention don't even have to own the PHB at this point to be able to get a ton of knowledge of the game, including how the "non-basic" classes are shaping up. We already know what the key new principles are (such as bounded accuracy, concentration, multi-class mechanics, legendary monsters), and many of us have been playing with the "official" rules for over a month now. We have a bunch of monsters out, between the Starter Set, the PHB, and the HotDQ supplement. At this point, I feel confident that I could go on playing 5e without ever reading the DMG if I wanted to. And I don't see how seeing the rest of the monsters in the MM will affect my opinion.

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And we had a quite long playtest too which already had a lot of the foundations of the new edition in it.

7.5

I'm holding out for 7.5e. No other edition can possibly hold a candle to the immaculate glory and power that will be 7e...until it is realized/complained about for enough months. Then...hoo-hoooo, boy...THEN I'm tellin' ya, we'll see a REAL D&D game when they release the revision as 7.5! It will be THE definitive D&D edition.

All other editions are anywhere from utter crap to lacking in personally-specific-preferences that will cater to eachybody [it'll be the trendy individual version of "everybody", as "ain't no one got time for anyone 'side theyselves", that is universally used by the time 7e is coming out.].

ALL HAIL D&D 7.5e!
Resistance is futile.

SigmaOne said:

I disagree. People paying attention don't even have to own the PHB at this point to be able to get a ton of knowledge of the game, including how the "non-basic" classes are shaping up. We already know what the key new principles are (such as bounded accuracy, concentration, multi-class mechanics, legendary monsters), and many of us have been playing with the "official" rules for over a month now. We have a bunch of monsters out, between the Starter Set, the PHB, and the HotDQ supplement. At this point, I feel confident that I could go on playing 5e without ever reading the DMG if I wanted to. And I don't see how seeing the rest of the monsters in the MM will affect my opinion.

I have no trouble at all saying this is my favorite edition; and given that "picking favorites" is one of the most personal and subjective processes in existence, I don't really see how you could be surprised that people are picking favorites. If you feel that you can't answer this poll adequately until reading the first three books, that's fine. It's your choice of "favorite".

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Of course someone can say 5E is their favorite edition. Just like someone can say "the Guardians of the Galaxy film trilogy is my favorite trilogy of all time because I've seen the first movie now and understand the themes and characters." Okay, sure anyone can make such a claim, but I still think its a little premature until the second two are actually released.

Still 4E followed by RC for me. Ironically PF improved a lot with my recent re-appraisal of it - I'd rate both it and 5E as "happy to play but not to run". DMG may change that.

Right now, 4e is my favorite version of D&D. I feel that with some fairly simply houserules it is perfect for encouraging roleplaying for my group, while 3.5 seems to have too many fiddly bits and limits that made roleplaying a bit harder for how our group plays.I picked up the 5th edition PHB on release day and I have to say, this is shaping up to be my replacement for 4e as my favorite edition. I haven't played it at all yet and I have only DMed for the Next playtests, so my suspicions will be tested when I finally get to get into the player's seat. I won't officially change my favorite until I find out what it's all about. I have to say, I'm excited to play the Eldritch Knight when I can.

Kai Lord said:

Of course someone can say 5E is their favorite edition. Just like someone can say "the Guardians of the Galaxy film trilogy is my favorite trilogy of all time because I've seen the first movie now and understand the themes and characters." Okay, sure anyone can make such a claim, but I still think its a little premature until the second two are actually released.

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Poor analogy. In order for your analogy to work, the other two films would have been released (playtest). The "official" release might have some minor changes, like a Director's cut by comparison. But one can still make a relatively reasoned analysis based on playtest material.


To the OP, the poll struck me a bit odd since there are at least 6 editions in the "2e or older" choice (OD&D, 1e, 2e, Holmes, B/X, BECMI). For me, 1e with some 2e elements have been my favorite version for a long time. However, 5e is quickly taking that spot.

5e. It's the edition I've been wanting for a long time.

I started playing D&D by running the 3.5 boxed set (which only allowed play to level 2!). I've since bounced around a few different systems. Full 3.X wasn't my cup of tea as a DM (did an extraordinary ability grant an AoO, or was it a spell-like? I was fourteen at the time, didn't want to deal with all the fiddly rules), and our trying to play Keep on the Shadowfell was a fiasco. I couldn't ever convince any of my peers to play anything older than 3e (THAC0 sent them running). There were a couple of OSR games I liked, Labyrinth Lord and Microlite 74, but by then I was on hiatus as a DM, instead playing a science-fiction RPG with another GM. I could never convince any of those players that a more streamlined game might be fun, or was "real" D&D.

Then the first D&D Next playtest came out, and I've been either playing or running some form of 5e from the very first playtest packet. The playtest was a blast, both as a DM and a player. From the first conversion of the Caves of Chaos, to the final packet with the Bard, it was fantastic. We didn't have confusing rules in the way, and few rulings needed to be made. Everybody felt like they had their own contributions to make. I've been running the Starter Set for a few weeks now, and I still love it. This edition is the closest to my ideal D&D I've ever seen, and I'm very much looking forward to having the core three.

The proof is in the pudding. But judging by a six month playtest, and the contents of the Starter Set and PHB, 5E is shaping up as my favourite. I've played every edition going back to Holmes Basic, and 5E hits a sweet spot for me in terms of simplicity versus complexity and familiarity versus innovation.

So far 5e is well put together and fun. Also, it has that New smell where every nook and cranny of the rules have not yet been examined and explored so it wins hands-down even though I would still enjoy playing many other editions.

Really, guys? D&D5 isn't even really /out/ yet.

And yeah, I know it's been said repeatedly in this thread. Frankly it bears repeating.