D&D General A D&D Edition Grand Tour

[Reynard]

This idea bubbles up to the surface of my brain every once in a while: run a (short) campaign that works its way through each edition of D&D. In specific, I mean a Basic (probably B/X), AD&D1E, AD&D2E, 3E (maybe 3.5?), 4E and finally 5E (2014). One adventure per edition, so probably something like 20 sessions total.

But I need a good frame. I have considered the idea of making it generational (each new adventure is a new generation centered in the same place). ALternatives are time travel shenanegans, or a isekai/portal fantasy thing. Another question would be where to set it -- an official setting, a new setting, or a different setting per edition?

If you were going to embark on something like this (or, indeed, have done so) how would (or did) you go about it?

 

[Eric V]

Are there Tomb of Horrors related adventures for 3e and 5e (I guess Tomb of Annihilation counts, maybe)?

If so, you could have subsequent generations dealing with Acererak's plots:

Tomb of Horrors by Gygax
Return to the Tomb of Horrors by Cordell
3e..?
Tomb of Horrors by Marmell
Tomb of Annihilation by Ward and Winter

 

[AlViking]

I would do it as a mystery box - the players and characters don't know why things keep changing. Run the initial session as a straight level 1 adventure, probably in a dungeon setting. As they advance they keep waking up in different dungeons or other locations as they progress.

One possibility do it as regular people who don't know they're not adventurers - a callback to the first D&D book ever published, Quag Keep by Andre Norton. It's been eons since I read it, but the people are just gamers magically transported into Greyhawk as adventurers. IIRC they even had bracelets with little dice on them that they didn't understand and truly believed they were their characters for a while.

I would run it like a more or less normal campaign with the exception that all the NPCs have absolutely no idea the rules are changing around them.

 

[GMMichael]

different setting per edition

How would I go about this? I'd invite Alexa Amazon (that's the last name, right?) to the party:

"Hey Alexa, I need you to listen in more than you usually do this time, and let me know when I'm using a rule from the wrong edition. K? Thanks."

 

[Jacob Lewis]

Sounds like the ultimate game of ADHD&D.

(Also, you could start by sending an email to all of your players with the title, "I hope everyone saved all of their PHBs...")

 

[sevenbastard]

I had the exact same thought about a One Adventure One Edition campaign. Back when I was thinking of something to celebrate 50 years of D&D.

I feel like if WOTC truly carried they could have pulled in some heavy hitters from each generation to craft something. Kind of like how they released a new 1e Adventure in the silver anniversary set.

My thoughts that went nowhere were either generational or just updating the characters between adventures to the new edition (limiting the starting character options as they have to make it through the more restrictive early editions).

 

[Hriston]

Here's something I wrote up in 2023, the last time I considered doing something like this:

Campaign Idea:

OD&D - levels 1-4. I think The Keep on the Borderlands would be good for this, maybe throwing in "Tower of Zenopus" from Holmes Basic and/or In Search of the Unknown. The wider setting, if it enters into actual gameplay, would be as described in KotB which looks like the setting of Three Hearts and Three Lions with the “Realm” of Law to the west and lands of Chaos to the east. Caverns of Thracia also sounds good to use here but recommended character levels might be too high to fit in along with B2. Once 4th level is reached, the "Cave of the Unknown" could contain a portal to Greyhawk...

AD&D 1E - levels 4-7. Greyhawk (folio/boxed set). I think Temple of Elemental Evil (T1-4) might slot in well here, but (edit: after consideration, T1-4 appears to have too much content to get through in the desired range of levels, but see 3E below) it might be better to string together 1) Dwellers of the Forbidden City, 2) The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan, and 3) White Plume Mountain, in that order. The Aerie of the Slave Lords (A1-4) could also work here.

AD&D 2E - levels 7-10. Greyhawk (From the Ashes)/Planescape/"The Shirelands". I might use Fate of Istus to transition the characters to 2E. Then, I'd run 1) The Gates of Firestorm Peak, 2) Dead Gods, and 3) The City of Skulls.

3E - levels 11-14. Greyhawk (The Adventure Begins). Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil could, I think, be done within this level range.

4E - levels 21-25. Nentir Vale. 1) Death's Reach and 2) Kingdom of the Ghouls.

5E - levels 17-20. The Multiverse (Forgotten Realms). The only published 5E adventure for tier four is Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage, so it's an easy choice. I suppose a conversion of 4E's Prince of Undeath would work well here too, to complete the epic tier trilogy.

Eta: The "frame" I'm imagining would be the same characters being converted into each edition as they travel between planes by various narrative devices (the exception to this being the 1E/2E transition which takes place in Greyhawk (see Fate of Istus above)), following the plot hooks the DM lays out in front of them. Of course, to work, I think it would have to be a total railroad.

 

[Scribe]

Run it under BX, OSE, Shadowdark.

There are enough modules and adventures to weave into a massive campaign touching every edition, even if only a few from 4e or 5e.

 

[Reynard]

Run it under BX, OSE, Shadowdark.

This kind of defeats the purpose.

There are enough modules and adventures to weave into a massive campaign touching every edition, even if only a few from 4e or 5e.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I like the generational idea, myself. Depending on how you break up the generations, you could have six to 12 generations by the end, and even minimal worldbuilding along the way would give you a fun multi-century saga. Even if you just did a limited timeline noting what each generation did, that'd be a fun artifact for everyone at the end.