D&D 5E If you've ever left D&D, what made you come back?

I left in the early 1990s for two reasons. First, I was feeling straight-jacketed by the class/level system. Second, and more importantly, TSR completely botched their early handling of the internet. They were actually threatening to sue folks for talking on BBS and Listserve platforms for using "copyrighted" terms like "armor class" and "hit points" without getting written permission (yes, seriously, and no, I'm not exaggerating). My group went off and played Champions, World of Darkness, and Fantasy Hero for a while, among other games. Over all, I rather enjoyed the lack of monogamy.

I came back to D&D shortly before 3E was released. I moved to a town where one of my college buddies was living and found that he'd started running a 2E Dragon Mountain game. I ended up joining the game, playing a psuedo-sorcerer using the fatigue option from PO: Spells & Magic. In the intervening time, I had realized that the class/level model of D&D is as much a tool of abstraction and ease of play as it is a barrier to character customization -- it no longer really bothered me and, for D&D, at least, it's a feature, not a bug. Anyway, we ended up migrating to 3E and Return to Temple of Elemental Evil. Overall, I prefer to GM and my friend prefers to play, so things eventually migrated that way.

The standardized math and customization options for 3E were very appealing, especially when compared to 2E. As we had a couple of campaigns advance to the teen levels, I began to view d20 as combining the worst aspects of the the AD&D class/level model and the complexity of heavy-crunch, point-based games like Hero. I was ready to throw in the towel about the time 4E was released (okay, I was ready before that, but still in denial). I ended up narrating the end of the campaign we were running, to close it out, and still have zero desire to run or play a d20 game ever again. We tried out 4E for a few months and found it to be completely alien to what we would consider a D&D system. It's a fine system for tabletop skirmishes, but that's about all I'd do with it. So, we switched to nWoD, but it was at a time where some of the players were having life happen, so it didn't really stick and we ended up doing a few more board games and such.

I was really getting the itch about the time "D&D Next" was announced. So, I got the band back together and we started doing the playtest. We poked at it a couple times, but only really got serious when LMoP came out. The group created "trial" characters with little investment to give the new edition a try. When the group finished the adventure, they voted to continue playing those characters into PotA. It's becoming apparent that continuing with the trial characters was a bad idea because we're only halfway done with PotA due to life (we're all busy people and only average one session every other week), but also because there's low player investment in the outcomes and planning. We're actually having a conversation, right now, about what to do with the game. Half the group wants to start fresh with CoS and intentionally make characters who are integrated and interesting. Half of the group doesn't really like making up new characters (one player just got a $30 custom mini for her character and then paid someone to paint it) and just wants to figure out why stuff is moving slowly and fix it. I've gotten sick of the rules minutiae conversations that seem to be carried over from 3E and am just ready to switch to Fate. We'll see what happens.

I left D&D toward the end of high school when drinking beer and trying to get laid were higher priority than sitting in a basement rolling dice. Well, that may have played into it, but weekend and summer jobs ate into the free time I was willing to devote to gaming. This was the late 80's and we were just transitioning from AD&D/Greyhawk to 2E/Forgotten Realms.

Through the late 90's and early 00's, my wife and I enjoyed playing Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights & Dragon Age, but that was as close as I got to RPGs of any type.

My family brought me back - that and 5E. Two years ago when taking my kids out to spend their xmas $, my wife & daughter saw the LMoP/Starter Set and said "Wouldn't it be fun to play as a family?" So now I DM for them and we have a blast and now I am addicted to the game again... I also participate in a Roll20 campaign and have played in a couple other Roll20 one-shots.

Started withe AD&D2e.
In the early 90s, I left for Champions and eventually moved and stopped playing RPGs altogether.
Found a new group about 10 years later playing 3e. Then there was a drug & sex scandal in the group, which caused everything to implode and I just didn't have the energy nor desire to be near another group for awhile.
Eventually, I found another group when 4e came out, tried it, switched to Pathfinder, Star Wars and alternated between PF and SW for years.
Finally, 5e came out, I have a solid, non-crazy group, and we've been having a great time.

You’re not alone in that. When I went to college, I was busy with that and being in a band, and told myself I just didn’t have time to game (nevermind that one summer I did indeed DM a 2e campaign for some friends). After college, it was just downloading that first trailer for the LOTR movies that would lead me back. Soon after that I re-read the LOTR trilogy. That in turn got me thinking about things fantasy and gaming. I saw an issue of Dragon on the magazine rack of a grocery store, and the next thing I know I’m picking up the 3e core books and running a game.

rgoodbb said:

I stopped playing for a while because work and life took over for a bit.

Sounds naff, but the LOTR movies brought me back.

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I started with the red box also, played AD&D until the late 80's (didn't like 2e so we stuck with AD&D)

Step forward until December 2015, was looking for a hobby and found D&D group at FLGS on Meetup, played, and thoroughly enjoyed 5e, for about 6 months and then took over DM'ing duties still DM'ing now and living it.

To put it into perspective I find 5e to probably be the best game system I have played, and I have played quite a few...

Basic D&D
Expert D&D
AD&D
COC
Star Trek rpg
TMNT rpg
Tunnels and Trolls
Gamma world
Lords of creation
Rolemaster
Space opera
Bushido
And many others, jeez, I tried a lot of games in the 80's.....


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I started with Holmes's Basic and quickly switched to AD&D.
I left AD&D 1e for Fantasy Hero and Rolemaster, but when I returned home from college, most of my friends only wanted to play D&D.
I returned to AD&D and was going to drop it, because I developed a strong dislike for the patchwork nature system and the cleric. However AD&D 2e came out and I liked Priests of specific mythoi, several of the settings, and a few of the Complete Handbooks. Plus, several players wanted to stick with AD&D 2e. Eventually, we had two players leave the group (one for marriage and move) and the replacement players were willing to try Rolemaster so we switched to RM for fantasy.

Third edition came out and fixed several issues I had with D&D. It now had unified ability score progression, unified core mechanics, the sorcerer, the skill system monsters had ability scores, and monster AC's were broken down and included natural armor and dex bonus. What sold me on 3e were several third party products and 3.5 Unearthed Arcana which allowed me to tailor the game even further.

Eventually, I stopped running 3e and started running a few Savage Worlds campaign followed by a multi-year superhero game using Mutants and Masterminds. As of yet, I still have not returned to D&D. I liked several things about 4e, but disliked the design of the barbarian, cleric, and sorcerer, the lack of a skill point system, and. more importantly, both Paragon and Epic tiers. I also disliked how the demon princes and several 1e MM 1 monsters were spread out over multiple sources. Realizing I had no interest in running or playing 2/3 of the levels (I already have 3e for that) , I passed (I still own a few books).
Fifth edition is in a similar position as 4th- there is a lot I like, but several things I don't. Among the things I dislike again are, again, the Barbarian, the cleric, and the sorcerer, the lack of an official skill point option, and a dislike the system starting beginning around level 10-12. In addition, i don't like the multiclassing rules for 5e (much like I disliked 3e's multiclassing). Again, I would need to house rule the system as much as 3e (just different spots) and, unlike 4e, there is a lot of third party support to make it easier. Currently, I am waiting to see what WOTC does with their big book of crunch.

I stopped playing in 1997 when I left for college, started playing again in 2003 after my gaming group reconnected post college and restarted the old campaigns. We've been playing mostly 1st and 3rd editions since then with a couple forays into 4th and 5th edition using the basic document. I pretty much stopped being a customer of WotC's D&D in 2009.

Prakriti said:

... 4E, meanwhile, looked like table-top World of Warcraft, and I was too busy with the actual World of Warcraft to have any interest in playing it with dice.

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Gwarok said:

... Felt like I was buying expansions to an MMO. ...

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Including video game comparisons in criticism of a D&D edition is strongly associated with edition warring. So let's not do that, please.

interesting that nobody mentioned video games bringing them back to D&D.

For me, it was buying and playing Skyrim that opened the floodgates after decades of not playing TTRPGs or video games.

I was heavy into D&D in the 80s. I was lucky to have a large groups of friends in Junior High and High School and I ran an AD&D campaign at my local library.

I had friends that would run games in other systems, but I stuck to DMing D&D until I was given the original Warhammer fantasy roleplaying game. I feel in love with the gritty fantasy world, the "realistic" combats, and that the rules were tighter. It has been so long since I've played Warhammer, that I cannot remember what exactly I like better about the mechanics, but I remember really taking to it and I started running Warhammer games instead of D&D.

Then I went to college. I played a couple of games, but started hanging out with a new groups of friends, who didn't play TTRPGs, and became focused on political activism, sex, drugs, and my studies. I didn't have the time or interest to play D&D or any TTRPG. Then I got married, focused on my career, moved around the world, had kids, and after two and half decades of not playing, D&D was just a childhood memory.

When I moved my family back to my hometown, I reconnected with some of my old high-school friend, some of whom were still gamers, but they primarly played card and board games and I started building my collection of games, but didn't even think of playing TTRGs.

Then I bought Skyrim on a whim when I had a chunk of free time. I hooked my PC to a large plasma TV and was just blown away. I hadn't played or had an interest in playing video games since the days of the Commodore 64. I was totally sucked in.

By the time I completed the main story quests, it had already started feeling like a bit of a slog, the side adventures started to feel repetitive, and when I caught my self staying up until the wee hours of the night customizing one of my several fictional houses, I said "whelp, that's enough of that" and uninstalled the game.

But it rekindled my love of fantasy role-playing. At a 4th of July party I started to talk to a budy who was visiting from out of state, who was still heavily involved in the gaming community, role playing and otherwise. He recommended that I look into Pathfinder. I did, but was immediately turned off by the aesthetics of it. It sounds petty, but I didn't like the artwork. Especially the cartoonish, football-head-shaped goblins. Even more, I was turned off and intimidated by the complexity and volume of rules. I was looking for something to DM and could not see DMing Pathfinder.

Then 5e came out. The Players Handbook was beautiful, the artwork spoke to me, and the rules not just manageable but seemed custom tailored to what I was looking for in a fantasy role-playing game. I started building my word while waiting for the other core rulebooks, played in a game at a local convention to become more comfortable with playing it and to see how an experience DM ran it, and then I put together a group of old high-school friends and some people I found through Meetup.com to play a monthly game.

I have also played some other games as one shoots. I don't have to play in, much less run, multiple on-going campaigns, but the occasional one-off is fun. These tend to be more experimental, indie games with simple mechanics and which are heavy on role-play, such as Inspectres, Dread, and Grin. Parinoia is another system that works well for one-offs. But the 5e ruleset is what I prefer for long adventure paths and on-going games.

Each time I've left was because I found a game I enjoyed more: Shadowrun, Earthdawn, MHRP, etc. I always come back to D&D because I just don't have time to create my own adventure material in the long run.

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