D&D 5E (2014) 5E has brought this old gmaer back to D&D after 8 years!

[dwayne]

I also started around 1981 ish parents got me the blue box set and it just went on from there been through 1st 2nd option and 3rd 3.5 and 4th (which never liked) and now back to 5th. Its been a long strange trip but glad they brought it back home.

 

[fjw70]

Welcome back. I played in the 80s and then started up again shortly after you left. After a little BX I got the not 4th and loved it.

That said I am really enjoying 5e as well.

 

[Queer Venger]

Hello ENWorld!
I'm an older gamer brought back to the D&D family by the awesomeness that is 5E!
I started RPGing back with 1E and Lone Wolf books (yes, they count!) I then played the heck out of 2E for a decade, and then 3E for a chunk of a decade, until the math started to bring me down. In my quest to simplify and bring back that old school feel, I tried to make rules lite and math lite homebrew systems for 8 years. My attempts were bad.. and broken.... But now 5E is here and has brought with it that streamlined math with an old school feel that I was after!
Is anyone else here an old D&D gamer, brought back into the family because of the awesomeness of 5E?
Or does anyine else just want to be happy with me that D&D brings people like me back?

Welcome back. Your story is very similar to mine, and your reasons are also close to mine. Awesome that you are back to D&D, like you, many of us have 'returned' after several editions to the game we loved.

This is an awesome, friendly, supportive community, and there are tons of materials here in the 'Resources/downloads' menu for 5th edition. This is a great time to be a D&D player!!

 

[Dragonhelm]

I started out in 2e, then did 3e and 4e. I loved the feel of 2e, but not necessarily the mechanics. 3e and 4e had too much math, and the game was really beginning to feel like a board game to me with 4e. I dabbled a bit into Castles & Crusades, but found I was adding rules that I felt were "missing" (such as skills!). I thought I was going to settle on Pathfinder for a bit, which felt overwhelming to me with all the mechanics.

I eventually went to play some 13th Age, and I really like it. Very story-driven. It's familiar, but fresh and different. I maintain that the 13th Age bard is the best version I've seen.

Then D&D 5e came out, and I was hooked. It felt like an old friend that I hadn't seen in a while, or like a comfortable blanket I could curl up in. I really got the 2e vibe from it, and greatly enjoyed seeing some old details that had been missing for a while (like the description of how to point the hands on a burning hands spell). Yet it included the good things about d20 without going overboard. I really like the backgrounds, proficiency bonuses, races, classes (with subclasses)....well, I pretty much like it all. It feels simple, yet elegant.

Quite simply put, this is the edition I have waited a lifetime for. I'm having a blast with it and hope to play it more soon.

 

[catenwolde]

About a dozen years for me! I started in the 70's with the Holmes "Blue Book" and then played a mish-mash of Mentzer B/X and AD&D1e, and eventually played a lot of 2e as well. 3e seemed ok, but didn't hold my interest after low levels, and although I ventured off into C&C and various clones, and even games like Barbarians of Lemuria, nothing really hooked me back in after that. The 5e starter box and the free Basic D&D reeled me back in, and the new trinity of core books has me really looking forward to campaigning again. I'm currently trying to merge and update the Keep on the Borderlands with the Caverns of Thracia ...

 

[Mephistopheles]

Yes to both of the questions in the original post.

Started with BECMI in the 80s, then 1E and 2E in the 90s, 3E 2000-2005 (finished when our 4 year campaign hit the low teens and it started to feel like mechanics were getting in the way of the game too often), after a few years off gave 4E a short run in the late 00s (only lasted about a year before we gave up on it, in large part due to similar mechanics issues as 3E but from the outset), and now here we are with 5E.

Reading the 5E books has me excited about playing in a way I don't recall feeling since my first read through of the 3E books: group is assembled, campaign preparation is underway, kick off is planned for next month.

We may be on the way to being old timers, but it feels like old times.

 

[Zak S]

I wasn't brought back to D&D by 5e (I was playing older versions all along) but I was brought back to using the version of D&D owned by WOTC by 5e.

 

[Umbrathys]

Old School

Welcome!
I started in 79 (yep, I'm officially an ANCIENT and started Dm'ing in 81. I have played / DM'd every version of d&d (loving each one for their own strengths), but especially loved 2e. Played this version till the pages were falling out of the books I also played lots and lots of 3.5 / Pathfinder until the complexity of carrying a thousand pounds of books to make one character made my eyes bleed (and my old back break .
5E is MY edition. It has brought back the passion for d&d and pure imagination that I thought had been lost forever. Too bad my adventuring group has moved on to some weird thing called "real life". Sounds like an end-game boss that needs slaying to me... Of course, my 10 year old daughter seems to pull me in that direction also (good thing she's developing a wonderful imagination. Maybe I can DM for her some day

 

[soulcatcher78]

Started with B/X and 1EAD&D to create a working hybrid that was fast and easy to play. I started moving and lost my game group during the transition to 2E and only dabbled in 3, 3.5, and 4E. 5th seems to have hit the sweet spot and now all I need to do is find a group to spend some time with and roll some dice.

 

[KarinsDad]

About a dozen years for me! I started in the 70's with the Holmes "Blue Book" and then played a mish-mash of Mentzer B/X and AD&D1e, and eventually played a lot of 2e as well. 3e seemed ok, but didn't hold my interest after low levels, and although I ventured off into C&C and various clones, and even games like Barbarians of Lemuria, nothing really hooked me back in after that. The 5e starter box and the free Basic D&D reeled me back in, and the new trinity of core books has me really looking forward to campaigning again. I'm currently trying to merge and update the Keep on the Borderlands with the Caverns of Thracia ...

Brings back memories.