D&D General 50 years, 50 publications - results

JEB

Legend
The poll is finished! Here are the 50 best first-party RPG publications ever made for D&D, according to voters on ENWorld!

Rank (count)PublicationVotes
1st (1-2)Players Handbook (1e)
Dungeon Masters Guide (1e)
28 (52.8%)
2nd (3-5)Monster Manual (1e)
I6: Ravenloft (1e)
Player's Handbook (5e, 2014)
23 (43.4%)
3rd (6)B2: The Keep on the Borderlands (Basic D&D)22 (41.5%)
4th (7-8)X1: The Isle of Dread (Basic D&D)
Player's Handbook (2e)
20 (37.7%)
5th (9)D&D Basic Rules (Mentzer, 1983, BECMI)19 (35.8%)
6th (10-11)D&D Rules Cyclopedia (Basic D&D)
Planescape Campaign Setting (2e)
17 (32.1%)
7th (12-14)D&D Basic Set (Moldvay, 1981, B/X)
Fiend Folio (1e)
D&D Starter Set (Lost Mine of Phandelver) (5e)
16 (30.2%)
8th (15)Monstrous Manual (2e)15 (28.30%)
9th (16-19)B4: The Lost City (Basic D&D)
Deities & Demigods (1e)
Player's Handbook (3e, 3.0)
Monster Manual (5e)
14 (26.4%)
10th (20-21)T1: The Village of Hommlet (1e)
Dark Sun Boxed Set (2e)
13 (24.5%)
11th (22-26)D&D Expert Set (Cook, 1981, B/X)
U1: The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh (1e)
Al-Qadim: Arabian Adventures (2e)
Curse of Strahd (5e)
Xanathar's Guide to Everything (5e)
12 (22.6%)
12th (27-30)D&D Expert Rules (Mentzer, 1983, BECMI)
S4: The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth (1e)
Forgotten Realms Campaign Set (1e)
Tasha's Cauldron of Everything (5e)
11 (20.8%)
13th (31-38)Dungeons & Dragons (original boxed set, 1974)
G1-2-3: Against the Giants (1e)
Oriental Adventures (1e)
World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (1e, 1983)
Dragonlance: Dragons of Despair (1e, DL1)
Dungeon Master Guide (2e)
Eberron Campaign Setting (3e)
Player's Handbook (5e, Revised, 2024)
10 (18.9%)
14th (39-48)D1-2: Descent Into the Depths of the Earth (1e)
N1: Against the Cult of the Reptile God (1e)
S1: Tomb of Horrors (1e)
S2: White Plume Mountain (1e)
S3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks (1e)
Manual of the Planes (1e)
Encyclopedia Magica, Volumes 1-4 (2e)
Dungeon Master's Guide (5e)
Ghosts of Saltmarsh (5e)
Eberron: Rising from the Last War (5e)
9 (17.0%)
15th (49-59)X2: Castle Amber (Basic D&D)
D&D Gazetteer: The Grand Duchy of Karameikos (Basic D&D)
WG4: The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun (1e)
Tome of Magic (2e)
Ravenloft: Domains of Dread (2e, 1997)
Spelljammer: AD&D Adventures in Space (2e)
Dungeon Master's Guide (3e, 3.0)
The Forge of Fury (3e)
The Sunless Citadel (3e)
Monster Vault (4e, Essentials)
Monster Vault: Threats to the Nentir Vale (4e)
8 (15.1%)

As you may have noticed, there are 59 publications in the table above, not 50 - that's because of all the ties. You can freely assume the two publications at the 15th rank you like best were #49 and #50...

Some general observations:
  • A majority of voters apparently considered the 1e core rulebooks the best ones produced for the game. (The 2014 5e core rulebook did make it into the top five, though!)
  • A plurality also consider the original I6 Ravenloft the best adventure produced for the game. (Although B2 Keep on the Borderlands was close behind.)
  • The "red box" is the highest-ranked introductory product, and the highest-ranked version of the Basic rules. Though I didn't expect Moldvay and especially the Rules Cyclopedia to get so close to beating it.
  • Planescape was the highest-ranked campaign setting, in its 2e incarnation. And it beat Dark Sun, the Realms, and even Greyhawk!
  • The original boxed set scored surprisingly low (though it did get a lot of late votes!).
  • Domains of Dread is apparently considered the best of the three Ravenloft setting books.
  • 4e only maybe made it into the top 50. I was hoping for a more secure foothold.
  • Going to be honest, I did not expect any version of Oriental Adventures to make it into the top 50.

More thoughts later, but what do you think ? (Curious how folks feel about the ones that didn't make it to the top 50, as well...)
 
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pemerton

Legend
The "red box" is the highest-ranked introductory product, and the highest-ranked version of the Basic rules. Though I didn't expect Moldvay and especially the Rules Cyclopedia to get so close to beating it.
Some of us regard Moldvay as the best version of D&D ever published, as far as rules clarity and playability of the game just by reading the box and doing what it tells you to do is concerned.
 

Tonguez

A suffusion of yellow
yeah cant say theres anything suprising on there, especially given ENWorlds demographics. Even 1e Oriental Adventures deserves its place as an attempt to expand DnD out of the Western European milieu and introduce new rules (NWPs and Honor).

Great to see The Grand Duchy of Karameikos earn its place as #49
 

Whizbang Dustyboots

Gnometown Hero
Well, made by TSR/WotC. I'd argue that Ptolus is probably the best campaign setting ever made for D&D, but it wasn't part of the poll, since it was made by Malhavoc/Monte Cook Games.
 


JEB

Legend
Other more random comments:
  • Unlike the Basic Rules, where Mentzer/BECMI won out, voters preferred the Cook/B/X version of the Expert Set. (If only by 1 vote.) Does Cook's Expert Set have something going for it that Mentzer's doesn't?
  • B2 Keep was radically more popular than B1 Search, the original Basic starting adventure. Was B2 just that good, or was B1 a serious disappointment? (I have the Goodman Games collection that reprints both, but haven't read and compared.)
  • What makes S4 Tsojcanth better than the other three S-series adventures?
  • None of Dragonlance's campaign setting books or sourcebooks made it into the top 50, but the original adventure did.
  • Every PHB made it into the top 50, except for PHB 3.5 and PHB 4e (which tied at 7 votes). I was surprised, in fact, that 3.0 overall did better than 3.5 (only 3.5 representation in the top 50 is Eberron; even the 3.5 core didn't make it).
 

Whizbang Dustyboots

Gnometown Hero
B2 Keep was radically more popular than B1 Search, the original Basic starting adventure. Was B2 just that good, or was B1 a serious disappointment? (I have the Goodman Games collection that reprints both, but haven't read and compared.)
B1 has some iconic rooms (the pool room and the mushroom forest are echoed throughout fantasy RPGs) but is otherwise a very mediocre adventure, even if you don't mind them sticking DMs with the fun (?) of having to stock the module themselves.

B2 is definitely viewed through rose-colored glasses a lot, but it's a significant upgrade over B1.
What makes S4 Tsojcanth better than the other three S-series adventures?
Nothing. It's a pretty weird result. At the time, it was great for being a mini-Monster Manual, but I don't know how many people today care about that.
 

TerraDave

5ever, or until 2024
I have played all the Ss and am a huge fan. Tsojcanth is the most like a normal dungeon. It’s not that normal, but the other three are pretty out there. Also introduced some interesting monsters and lore to the game.
 



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