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!
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:
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...)
Rank (count) | Publication | Votes |
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...)
Last edited: