What do you love about your favorite edition that ISN’T rules related?

pogre · Jun 13, 2019

4e for the Points of Light setting. My group never embraced the edition, but I loved the default setting.

Gilladian · Jun 14, 2019

My favorite system is 3.5e, but the only non-rules reason is because I have a large personal campaign setting written for it.

Garthanos · Jun 14, 2019

Laurefindel said:
I know the OP mentioned Vancian Casting as an example of undesirable subject but, here I go: Vancian Casting

Not as a game mechanics - that is not being discussed here - but as an in-game (fluff) property of magic.

I found the game didnt do justice to Vances flavor but reading Vance helped D&D feel a little better it was still the part of the system most often hacked back then.
Not ironically my favorite edition people often think removed Vancian is actually functionally closer in terms of use frequency to Vance and makes flavor completely adjustable. Also pretty sure I remember Vance also described in the stories exceptions to the living spell that struggled to escape your brain flavor (basically cantrip effects that were almost side effects or changes in the caster) - of course this was a bloody long time ago so I cannot claim precise memories.

I love that my favorite editions flavor is entirely my own and that it doesnt take hacking to make it so.

HJFudge · Jun 14, 2019

The best non-mechanical part of my favorite DnD edition (4e) was the cosmology, the World Axis, as well as the base setting background.

It was vague enough to be very customizable, but had a wealth of different ideas and concepts you could delve into it. It was unique and different and it honestly was what made me initially excited about 4e when it was released.

The Dawn War is...well, very classic greek myth in style. As an appreciator of myths and legends, it struck a chord.

The Crimson Binome · Jun 14, 2019

I really liked AD&D 2E, in how the world seemed like a more-grounded and consistent place. Arcane magic worked in one specific way, and bards could learn to use that, but there wasn't also sorcery and song magic and warlock-ery and whatnot. I like that druids were part of the priest class, because it meant the world wasn't over-loaded with redundant methods to worship nature, only one of which was forbidden from using metal armor.

The world just seemed so much more straight-forward, and easier to understand.

Garthanos · Jun 14, 2019

Elfcrusher said:
5th edition. What I love is that it replaced 4th edition...

I love that Elfcrusher still gets to have fun with his e-war...

Garthanos · Jun 14, 2019

Zardnaar said:
The settings of 2E, fluff, lore, niche.

The character class descriptions were for me quite evocative

Zeromaru X · Jun 14, 2019

I really love 4e because of the PoL setting. I like its associated lore, such as the Dawn War, the World Axis cosmology (for reasons already stated here by many), and the lore behind the Nentir Vale's world. I like that it's a dark setting, but also a Big Damn Heroes setting, making the players the protagonists (instead of the settings' NPCs). I love the fact that while it's a "traditional" setting, is not as humanocentric as the rest of them, leaving room for the non-human and non-"Tolkienian" races to shine. And I also like that is a "blank setting", allowing you to customize it as you see fit.

I guess is like Greyhawk in that regard, but more fantastic-oriented (instead of real history simulator with Tolkien's stuff). I like that.

Legatus Legionis · Jun 14, 2019

77IM · Jun 14, 2019

My favorite edition is 5E:

Slow release schedule.
Frequent mention of multiple classic D&D settings (instead of picking just one, like 3E picked Greyhawk, or trying to pick none and failing, like 4E produced Nentir Vale).
Monster Manual descriptions that are story-based. Each monster description has subheadings that are basically adventure hooks. I find this WAY more useful and evocative than "Ecology" and "Society" and "Behavior" and similar bland categories from earlier Monster Manuals.
Pulls in lots of new and lapsed players. This is extrinsic to the edition as a text, but is part of the edition when viewed as a cultural phenomenon.
Some of the best art of any edition. Granted, older editions had some amazing art, but it was always interspersed with art that was... less than amazing. All the art in 5E is top notch. (Very close second place in this category goes to 2E.)
Most variety of real-world cultures, races, genders, and orientations represented, compared to earlier editions.
Disclaimers!