D&D General DnD Version History Timeline

[pac71]

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 . 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.

Good points. I should have included Unearthed Arcana. One of my fav books actually! So easy to get tunnel vision when working on a project which is why I posted to fix my blindspots.

Thanks for the other references. I am only just coming to terms with there being 3 versions of DnD before my 1983 red box basic :>

 

[Stormonu]

Good points. I should have included Unearthed Arcana. One of my fav books actually! So easy to get tunnel vision when working on a project which is why I posted to fix my blindspots.

Thanks for the other references as I am only just coming to terms with there being 3 versions of DnD before my 1983 red box basic :>

BTW, the Holmes basic came out in '77 as far I know, not '74. Which boggles me, as I got that edition in '79 and until now thought it was released that year!

 

[pac71]

BTW, the Holmes basic came out in '77 as far I know, not '74. Which boggles me, as I got that edition in '79 and until now thought it was released that year!

Even with my research, I missed the later black box Challenger edition. I found some evidence but could to pin it down and just assumed it was a 90's computer game spin off. Totally forgotten Mystara and how it falls between the edition cracks.

I just googled challenger box and this thread is already 2nd search result. We might be pushing back the frontiers of lost knowledge remembered here > Or google is just serving me what i already know ... but it is sort of good starting to distil the list down to a bit of a definitive timeline/list of versions.

 

[Stormonu]

If you pick up with the d20 Modern/Future/Past, there's a whole rabbit hole down that path as a lot of other companies (as well as WotC itself!) branched off that - including Star Wars, Spycraft, Mutants & Masterminds, Call of Cthulhu, Gamma World, Masque of the Red Death, etc. and the 5E rebirth of the likes of Everyday Heroes.

Also, long before the OGL, there were other companies producing "off-brand" supplements for D&D - the biggest I think was Guidion's Grimoire & Judge's Guild stuff, but several companies were doing "D&D adjacent" products clearly meant for D&D but because of TSR not wanting to share its IP back in the day the other companies had to tiptoe around trademark.

 

[JEB]

Very interesting chart! Some notes/questions:

• Pathfinder 2E was released in 2019, not 2014.
• What is "5E Expanded" from 2022? If you mean the "post-Tasha" era (where they began to adjust things like species and backgrounds with an eye towards 2024) that should probably start after Tasha's Cauldron of Everything in 2020.
• Regarding other 5E spin-offs, you may want to consider including Cubicle 7's C7d20 and The Dungeon Coach's DC20.
• There are some notable 3e SRD derivatives you may or may not want to include as well, such as Castles & Crusades and Dungeon Crawl Classics.

 

[pac71]

Very interesting chart! Some notes/questions:

• Pathfinder 2E was released in 2019, not 2014.
• What is "5E Expanded" from 2022? If you mean the "post-Tasha" era (where they began to adjust things like species and backgrounds with an eye towards 2024) that should probably start after Tasha's Cauldron of Everything in 2020.
• Regarding other 5E spin-offs, you may want to consider including Cubicle 7's C7d20 and The Dungeon Coach's DC20.
• There are some notable 3e SRD derivatives you may or may not want to include as well, such as Castles & Crusades and Dungeon Crawl Classics.

My mistake. Put PF2e before the wrong dark line. When I reviewed it, I thought it a bit weird Starfinder was after PF2E. I should have picked that up!

I used the release of expanded giftset as the consolidation of the expanded rules. I realise some of the individual books were published earlier.

I initially kept DCC out for the dice pool being too different but I will rethink that. Thanks for the other suggestions.