D&D General 50 years, 50 publications - the poll

[JEB]

Across the 50 years and many editions of D&D, there have been numerous published products for the game. This poll asks the members of ENWorld a question - which 50 RPG publications are the best ever made for D&D?

The candidate thread came up with a list of 227 publications from across D&D's history, all listed below. You can vote for as many publications as you want, and how you determine "best" is completely up to you. After one week, the poll will close, and we'll see which 50 got the most votes.

Feel free to discuss below, to include endorsing your personal favorites!

WARNING: Strongly advise making a note somewhere of everything you voted for before you hit "Cast vote". If you try and change your vote later, it apparently wipes all your current votes, so you have to start over from scratch.

 

[JEB]

Throwing out some general pitches for the OD&D candidates...

Dungeons & Dragons (original boxed set, 1974): Where the game began!
Supplement I: Greyhawk (OD&D): Where the game really starts to resemble its modern form. Also introduced thieves, paladins, and many iconic spells and monsters (including beholders).
Supplement II: Blackmoor (OD&D): Monks, assassins, and the first published adventure module (Temple of the Frog).
Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry (OD&D): Demons, psionics, and many iconic artifacts.
Supplement IV: Gods, Demi-Gods & Heroes (OD&D): D&D's first attempt to adopt real-world mythology!

 

[JEB]

Day 1 progress report...

Top 10 publications:
#1 (9 votes): PHB (1e), I6 Ravenloft (1e)
#2 (8 votes): B2 (Basic), DMG (1e), PHB (2e)
#3 (7 votes): X1 (Basic), MM (1e), PHB (5e 2014), Starter Set (5e), Curse of Strahd (5e)

#1 result for 3e is the 3.0 PHB, with 6 votes.
#1 result for OD&D is the original boxed set, with 3 votes.
#1 result for 4e is Monster Vault, with 2 votes.

Core and introductory stuff being on top isn't a surprise, but interesting that Ravenloft is doing particularly well...

 

[JEB]

Time to market the Basic D&D options! (If I don't do your favorite justice, feel free to chime in.)

D&D Basic Set (Holmes, 1977): The original basic set, and the first attempt to consolidate and update the game. The missing link between OD&D and AD&D.

D&D Basic Set (Moldvay, 1981, B/X): The point where Basic and Advanced D&D really began to take their own paths, and the source for some of the most popular retroclones.
D&D Expert Set (Cook, 1981, B/X): (Re)introduces wilderness exploration to Basic D&D!

D&D Basic Rules (Mentzer, 1983, BECMI): The famous "red box", the main introduction to D&D for a generation.
D&D Expert Rules (Mentzer, 1983, BECMI): Mentzer's revision of the Expert Set.
D&D Companion Rules (BECMI): Introducing the "War Machine" rules!
D&D Master Rules (BECMI): High-level play for the Basic D&D rules.
D&D Immortals Rules (BECMI): Beyond high levels! Play at being gods, basically.

D&D Rules Cyclopedia (Basic D&D): The ultimate, definitive collection of the BECMI rules (minus the I).

B1: In Search of the Unknown (Basic D&D): The first ever introductory module for the game...
B2: The Keep on the Borderlands (Basic D&D): ... but this is the better-known of the two.
B4: The Lost City (Basic D&D): Notable enough to get remastered twice for 5e!
B7: Rahasia (Basic D&D): Before Ravenloft and Dragonlance, the Hickmans gave us this classic!
B10: Night's Dark Terror (Basic D&D): A bridge between the Basic and Expert rules.

CM1: Test of the Warlords (Basic D&D): Introducing players to the Companion Rules, to include empire-building!

X1: The Isle of Dread (Basic D&D): The introductory adventure for the Expert Set, an iconic sandbox that's been revisited in multiple editions.
X2: Castle Amber (Basic D&D): Another classic dungeon, infused with pulpy weirdness.
X4: Master of the Desert Nomads (Basic D&D): An underrated exploration adventure...
X5: Temple of Death (Basic D&D): ...and its sequel, forming an early adventure path!
X10: Red Arrow, Black Shield (Basic D&D): Following from the previous two, this triple threat uses the Expert, Companion, and Battlesystem rules.

Creature Catalogue (Basic D&D): Basic D&D's answer to the Monster Manual. (Or the Fiend Folio.)
Creature Crucible: Night Howlers (Basic D&D): Want to play werebeasts in Basic D&D? Here's how!
Creature Crucible: Tall Tales of the Wee Folk (Basic D&D): One of D&D's first dedicated treatments of the fey.

D&D Gazetteer: The Emirates of Ylaruam (Basic D&D): A fine supplement to the Desert Nomads adventures.
D&D Gazetteer: The Grand Duchy of Karameikos (Basic D&D): The first D&D gazetteer, and the first dedicated sourcebook for the Known World as a setting.
D&D Gazetteer: The Principalities of Glantri (Basic D&D): The Known World's magocracy.

Hollow World Campaign Set (Basic D&D): The pulpy inner world within Mystara! It even got a video game.
Thunder Rift (Basic D&D): The final introductory setting for the Basic D&D game.
Wrath of the Immortals (Basic D&D): The Immortals rules, updated for the Rules Cyclopedia era.

 

[JEB]

Day 2 progress report...

Top 10 publications:
#1 (13 votes): PHB 1e, DMG 1e
#2 (11 votes): B2 (Basic), PHB 2e
#3 (10 votes): MM 1e, I6 Ravenloft (1e)
#4 (9 votes): Basic Rules (Mentzer), X1 (Basic), Planescape CS (2e)
#5 (8 votes): PHB (5e 2014)

#1 result for 3e is PHB 3.0, with 7 votes.
#1 results for 4e are Monster Vault and Monster Vault: Threats to the Nentir Vale, both with 3 votes.
#1 result for OD&D is the original boxed set, with 3 votes.

20th century D&D is now completely dominating the top 10, with the "red box" and Planescape as notable newcomers. Only the 2014 PHB remains for the modern era. 3e, however, is very close to the top 10...

 

[Zardnaar]

Voted for a lot. B2 wasn't one of them (B3,4,5,10 are better imho).
1E DMG and 2014 PHB seem to be the only ones I voted for people care about.
Oh well.

Oops I'm wrong I did do I6, X1, and the basic and expert sets.

 

[guachi]

In 2014 I got back into D&D, by coincidence, right at the time the 5e free Basic Rules were released. I had actually money, unlike in the '80s and '90s, and scoured Ebay for all sorts of old modules and supplements.

One of the modules I bought was B10 Night's Dark Terror. This is a module I could have bought when it was new and did not. I finally ran B10 in a 5e campaign in 2018 and it's the greatest adventure I've ever run.

In that same campaign I ran, of adventures on this list, B7 Rahasia, X2 Castle Amber, X4 Master of the Desert Nomads, X5 Temple of Death, X10 Red Arrow Black Shield. I owned all of these back in the '80s and never ran them. All great fun in my 2018 5e campaign.

X2 is loopy fun, especially if you prepare your players for it beforehand. X4 and X5 were brutal steps up in difficulty and the players felt overwhelmed and then elated when they realized the clues I'd been planting about The Master finally paid off. X10 made the players really feel like Epic Heroes and I lucked out having one player who loved wargames and we played all the Battlesystem battles in the module against each other on a separate game day.

I've also run N1 Against the Cult of the Reptile God and U1 The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, which were both 2014 Ebay purchases. N1 is good. U1 is outstanding.

Two modules not on this list that I think are amazing are UK2 The Sentinel and UK3 The Gauntlet, by the same team that did B10. Both of these were 2014 Ebay purchases as well.

But of them all B10 stands head and shoulders as the best ever. The module is 64 pages but as played it took a very long time because there's far more there than initially meets the eye. Combining the module with various lore bits about Karameikos in later supplements added a lot to the adventure.

 

[Zardnaar]

In 2014 I got back into D&D, by coincidence, right at the time the 5e free Basic Rules were released. I had actually money, unlike in the '80s and '90s, and scoured Ebay for all sorts of old modules and supplements.

One of the modules I bought was B10 Night's Dark Terror. This is a module I could have bought when it was new and did not. I finally ran B10 in a 5e campaign in 2018 and it's the greatest adventure I've ever run.

In that same campaign I ran, of adventures on this list, B7 Rahasia, X2 Castle Amber, X4 Master of the Desert Nomads, X5 Temple of Death, X10 Red Arrow Black Shield. I owned all of these back in the '80s and never ran them. All great fun in my 2018 5e campaign.

X2 is loopy fun, especially if you prepare your players for it beforehand. X4 and X5 were brutal steps up in difficulty and the players felt overwhelmed and then elated when they realized the clues I'd been planting about The Master finally paid off. X10 made the players really feel like Epic Heroes and I lucked out having one player who loved wargames and we played all the Battlesystem battles in the module against each other on a separate game day.

I've also run N1 Against the Cult of the Reptile God and U1 The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, which were both 2014 Ebay purchases. N1 is good. U1 is outstanding.

Two modules not on this list that I think are amazing are UK2 The Sentinel and UK3 The Gauntlet, by the same team that did B10. Both of these were 2014 Ebay purchases as well.

But of them all B10 stands head and shoulders as the best ever. The module is 64 pages but as played it took a very long time because there's far more there than initially meets the eye. Combining the module with various lore bits about Karameikos in later supplements added a lot to the adventure.

B10 is very well regarded now in OSR circles.

Entire B series is hitting above average for the most part. Most consistent D&D imho.

Alot of that stuff is obscure though so won't beat B2,3,4 in popular votes.

 

[Lanefan]

Two modules not on this list that I think are amazing are UK2 The Sentinel and UK3 The Gauntlet, by the same team that did B10. Both of these were 2014 Ebay purchases as well.

My opinion of those two is considerably less charitable. The Gauntlet in particular is, other than one or two interesting elements, a module I've no interest in running again.

Interesting to note they're by the same lot who did B10, though, because...

But of them all B10 stands head and shoulders as the best ever. The module is 64 pages but as played it took a very long time because there's far more there than initially meets the eye. Combining the module with various lore bits about Karameikos in later supplements added a lot to the adventure.

...having run B10 twice over the years, it's another I'll not run again.

B10, despite being a bridge from B to X, would probably work best if used as the start and base setting of a campaign. Trying to shoehorn it into something already existing (as I did, both times) does it no favours.

I'm quite surprised how little love L1 Secret of Bone Hill is getting. By TSR standards it's a masterclass in non-linear dungeon design, though still can't hold a candle to Jacquays' best.

 

[Stormonu]

BX under Moldvay is the best of the D&D starter sets IMHO. Of ALL the starter sets, the 5E w/ Lost Mines can't be beat - it is truly D&D in a box.

Of all the PHBs, I'd say the 2014 5E is probably the best. Hard to choose a DMG looking back, the game has changed a lot since it started and a lot of old systems and advice haven't held up well. Overall, I'd probably go with the 3.0 DMG.

For value, 2E's Monstrous Manual (the book, not the looseleaf) is absolutely the best. For interesting monsters, I'd give the award to the original Fiend Folio (and some of the best 1E monster art too). Overall for monster design and use, I'd give the 5E Mordenkainen's Monsters of the Multiverse book top rating.

The Rules Cyclopedia deserves special mention - it's the only complete D&D game in a single book, from 1st-36th level. That's worth mentioning alone.

When it comes to adventures, I6 - Ravenloft is absolutely the top of the heap. Other well-done adventures include S2 - White Plume Mountain, B4 - The Lost City and X1 - Isle of Dread. Lost Mines of Phandelver is probably the best all-around adventure that encompasses all that is D&D in one package.

As far as campaign worlds, the 1E gray box Forgotten Realms is best, with Greyhawk hot on its heels. the original Dark Sun is a stand-out and bold undertaking that show how the D&D game can be stretched. Al-Qadim is the most beautiful book in all of D&D, and is captivating (to me).

As far as supplements, Aurora's Whole Realms Guide is the ultimate shopper's guide, with Arms & Equipment Guide a great treatise on "what are all these weird armors and weapons anyways?". The Compendiums (Wizard, Priest, Magic Item) are a fabulous collection of the first 25 years of the game's magic system.