How many D&D versions have there been?

Arbiter of Wyrms said:

So, was Basic D&D just a long-lived version of the D&D Adventure game (yellow box with iconic party) or that newer version I see in the bookstore sometimes with the miniatures included: just a toned-down version to give to your sister's kids at Christmas because you think they might eventually want to play the 'real' game?

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Not really.

The original 3 books published in 1974 was the beginning of the game. Several booklets followed and expanded upon that material, as well as material that appeared in magazines like The Strategic Review and Dragon (then known as The Dragon). After 3 or 4 years, the division between Basic and Advanced appeared. The original rules were revised and published as Basic D&D, while co-creator of the game Gary Gygax introduced AD&D as an expansion of the original rules. At first the differences between the two probably weren't significant, but in the early 80's another revision of the Basic game appeared, and at that point the 2 games started to diverge.

Basic D&D (published as simply D&D) consisted of 5 sets of rules that covered gameplay from 1st to 36th level, and those rules were compiled in the Rules Encyclopedia published in 1989. However, as AD&D became more popular, D&D eventually ended up going OOP. An introductory set of rules was published in 1998 and 1999 as "D&D Fast Play Rules", but this was not related to the old Basic game, but was rather a simplified version of 2e rules meant for beginners.

AD&D remained relatively unchanged until 1989, although a series of hardcovers gradually expanded the rules. In 1989, the second edition of AD&D was published which revised the and consolidated the 1e rules. Like 1e, 2e existed relatively unchanged for about a decade when 3e was released. Although the the game is now published as simply "D&D" (because the distinctions between the old Basic game and AD&D no longer exist), it's based on the AD&D ruleset, thus the term "Third Edition).

I doubt that anybody will agree with me but my answer is ONE. I play Dungeons and Dragons and have for the last 24 years. The specific books are just guidelines to facilitate play. I'm currently in groups playing both 1st and 3rd edition and use material fairly interchangeably between the groups. I've used 1E materila for the 3E group and 3.5E material for the 1E group with minimal difficulty.

The attached picture is a little old (I made it back in 2001), but it has a pretty good overview of the different editions of D&D.

How are we counting the Eldritch Wizardry/Blackmoor stuff?

Dannyalcatraz said:

How are we counting the Eldritch Wizardry/Blackmoor stuff?

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I would assume it would go under the second block in the diagram above; Greyhawk, Blackmoors, Eldritch Wizardry are all expansions on the original three book set. Since they introduce new classes and ways of doing things, I'd consider them core books rather than just optional supplements.

Of course, you could say that the Greyhawk supplement was D&D 2.0. It changed many major facets of the game, such as adding classes, changing alignment, diffentiating weapon damage and hit dice.

It's also worth noting that in many ways, the release of Unearthed Arcana changed the way 1st edition was played about as much as 3.5 changed 3rd edition. So, if you choose to count 3.5 as a separate edition, arguably you must count the post UA period (which would include OA and the Dungeoneer's and Wilderness Survival guides) as AD&D 1.5.

Celebrim said:

It's also worth noting that in many ways, the release of Unearthed Arcana changed the way 1st edition was played about as much as 3.5 changed 3rd edition. So, if you choose to count 3.5 as a separate edition, arguably you must count the post UA period (which would include OA and the Dungeoneer's and Wilderness Survival guides) as AD&D 1.5.

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And then there are the 2.8e "Option" books (Skills & Powers, Combat & Tactics, Spells & Magic and High-Level Campaigns).

Arbiter of Wyrms said:

How many incarnations of the D&D rules have there been thus far?

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16

I know of:
Dungeons and Dragons
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition
3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons and Dragons v.3.5
What am I missing? I only started with 2nd edition, so I'm afraid there are bound to be holes in my D&D history.

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OD&D(1974) is the only true game. All the other editions are just poor imitations of the real thing.

Dungeons & Dragons [current edition] is the one true game. All previous editions were just attempts to achieve this level of excellence.

OD&D was concept notes.
BD&D was alpha.
AD&D1 was beta.
AD&D2 was beta revised.
D&D3 went gold.
D&D3.5 is gold with patch.

D&D has reached this stage of excellence due to a 30-year development cycle with expansive play testing.

Arbiter, Staffan has it nicely placed in his graphical chart.

As a footnote, Basic was not a 'beginner' D&D game, it was a "simpler" D&D game. I entered the game with the D&D basic set in 1981. I slipped over to AD&D1e for a few years, but left it and never came abck to the AD&D stream until 3.0 was released. Instead we worked entirely within the D&D stream of products and loved them.

For perfectionists, there was a major revision in D&D4e that a lot of people don't note when describing the evolution of the game - the Thief class got SERIOUSLY reduced in skill levels for the first 14 levels of his career when compared to the older editions, and a whole new weapon proficiency / mastery system was introduced at this time. This supplanted the prior rules sets, as that seems to be your primary concern in the distinctions.