D&D General DnD Version History Timeline

[pac71]

I have always struggled to understand the history of Dnd given all the different versions. I thought I might share my process to come to grips with the different versions over the years.

What helped a bit was making a map of content in Obsdian (markdown notetaking software) that showed the different covers of the different version but I wanted to drill a bit deeper into the evolution and relationships between the versions.

But once again, drawing has help me get my head around things and given insights that I had not realised from just reading wikipedia articles and normal notetaking.

My thought is that it probably should look like an evolutionary tree but different as some branches have stopped but others have filled those evolutionary holes after the d20 SRD.

But how to visualise that ... well I had a go.

DnD/OGL Timeline

The graph is not exhaustive but I think I got most of the DnD versions and popular OGL rulesets that I know. The colours are by the general colours I associate with the versions (absolutely not much logic there).

What I learned.

The OGL rule space is better with freedom than without. See the difference between the first 20 years and second 20 years. 4e is rather obvious as a short, dead branch with its more restrictive GSL. OGL Licencing freedom allows for unintended/emergent systems such as the retro clones and the Post OGL Crisis 5E compatible (but legally not 5e OGL) derivatives.

What am I missing? I would love to hear what you think I have missed. A few points I know.

• I might have fudged the dated a bit but I think its mostly sorta okay.
• Yes there are a lot of systems missing (esp retro clones) but its hard to get details on when stuff is released or updated
• Are there more popular/persistent/active d20 and 5e rulesets that I have overlooked.
• Are there more 5e (but not) rulesets like BlackFlag/TOV or Flee Mortals! coming?

All thoughts and comments welcome.

[edit 1] One glaring oversight. I should have included d20 Modern and d20 Future.
[edit 2] Should add Unearth Arcana, Player Options and fix MCDM Flee Mortals to Unnamed RPG.

 

[Ondath]

Really informative timeline! But I don't understand why you put Flee Mortals as a separate branch from 5e, since it's a 5e monster book. The MCDM RPG might be a separate line, but I think that system is too far removed from D&D to be included in the chart at all.

 

[pac71]

Really informative timeline! But I don't understand why you put Flee Mortals as a separate branch from 5e, since it's a 5e monster book. The MCDM RPG might be a separate line, but I think that system is too far removed from D&D to be included in the chart at all.

That was a Google fail on my part. I do not follow MCDM closely and I did mean their currently unnamed rpg which seemed it be a 5e spin off after the OGL fiasco. I am currently calling these "5e (but legally not) rpgs" and I only knew of BlackFlag/ToV and the MCDM rpg.

 

[Lanefan]

In the 2e-adjacent group you might want to include Adventures Deep and Dark.

 

[Grinton]

Really interesting and helpful to understand.

Side note: what program did you use to map the info there, the graph?

 

[Reynard]

That was a Google fail on my part. I do not follow MCDM closely and I did mean their currently unnamed rpg which seemed it be a 5e spin off after the OGL fiasco. I am currently calling these "5e (but legally not) rpgs" and I only knew of BlackFlag/ToV and the MCDM rpg.

The MCDM RPG is not a 5E variant.

 

[Parmandur]

I .eqn, if yoy are going to include random newer games on this, you should also include older D&D spin-offs like Runequest/Basic Roleplaying or Rolemaster.

 

[pac71]

Really interesting and helpful to understand.

Side note: what program did you use to map the info there, the graph?

It was explorative drawing translating my research into the various releases into what I envisioned as an evolutionary tree.

I used Excalidraw which is a vector based web app/javascript plugin with a hand drawn asthetic.

I utilised the grid system to keep it basically aligned. The grid was used as an arbitrary guide as one grid per year horizontal and typically 5 spaces per version lane vertically. Drew the background scale in black and grey added the time scale at the bottom and then used double ended "arrows" with dot at each end for the arrowheads. Text was added and rotated manually and then duplicated and edited as that was faster than making new text for each entry and rotating correctly. The colours were mostly app defaults being close enough to what I wanted and I only added tan for d20 and a d20 dark red for Pathfinder.

I have been thinking I should do something more data driven but that is a project for another day. It always amazes me how much you can achieve by just drawing a mock up .... each and every time i do it! You would think I would learn that lesson

The tree did require some thought as evolutionary branches typically do not come back to life after extinction. How was I going to show this ... which is where the colours came into the visualisation for the version lanes. I thought it interesting even with WotC abandoning the earlier versions like nature, the retro clones evolved to fill that evolutionary gap.

 

[Stormonu]

A quick couple side notes about older D&D - 1E's Unearthed Arcana should probably be considered the "1.5" version of that edition, as it made several significant changes, and was the start of the "second round" of AD&D books that brought in non-weapon proficiency to the game and the first murmurs of THAC0 (and thus the move away from the DMG's attack matrixes as well as moving it from a DM "secret" to the player's toolbelt of information).

Basic D&D did not stop with the Rules Enclyclopedia in 1991. The next iteration was "Challenger" in 1992. It was a large boxed set (black) and had supplements Dragon's Den, Goblin's Lair and Haunted Tower as well as the "Cave Mouth" adventures like Quest for the Silver Sword, ending with a campaign overview "Thunder Rift". A smaller boxed set came out in 1994 with rules up to level 5 . The line finally ended in 1994 when Mystara was merged into 2E rules with the Karameikos and Glantri boxed sets.

There was also a "Fast Play" 2E version (Crypt of the Smoke Dragon) that used only (3) six-sided dice for the game. It was a free flyer meant to promote purchase of the last 2E starter box set put out in 1999, just a bit before 3E came along.

 

[pac71]

Really informative timeline! But I don't understand why you put Flee Mortals as a separate branch from 5e, since it's a 5e monster book. The MCDM RPG might be a separate line, but I think that system is too far removed from D&D to be included in the chart at all.

The list could be endless so I was limiting myself to rulesets with directly links such as retro clones or SRD derived rulesets. My logic for the random other rules was they were prompted/accelerated by the OGL crisis and try to be compatible with 5e mechanics within the limits of copyright. I appreciate its a long bow to draw but rough enough to suit my needs.