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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Clavis" data-source="post: 4673290" data-attributes="member: 31898">Classic D&D (BX, RC, or BECMI). Classic PCs, especially low-level ones, are fragile, which encourages roleplaying and non-combat resolution of problems. Use a flat per-session award of XP (example: 600 xp per session, no matter what the PCs do), and the focus can be completely turned away from fighting and treasure.           4th Edition or Classic D&D. 4th Edition is the most combat-focused edition, and the minion rules would allow Resident-Evil style gameplay.  For a more Night of The Living Dead style game, where the players are actually afraid for their characters because its clear they're probably all going to end up zombies eventually, I'd prefer the more fragile PCs of Classic D&D. Plus, the simple combat rules of Classic allow combat against large amounts of opponents without bogging down gameplay.             Rules Cyclopedia (or BECMI). This is the only edition that includes a mass-combat system (The War Machine and the Siege Machine)) as a regular, integrated part of the rules. Once again, Classic's fast combat resolution means that you can handle relatively large combats even without the War Machine.           3rd Edition D&D. The skills and feats system allows for for the maximum degree of simulationism. Just remove all spellcasting classes. A strong case could also be made for 2nd Edition Ad&D utilizing the various historical sourcebooks that were put out.           1st Edition AD&D. It's the only edition where jokes are actually built into the system (read the spell description closely, especially the material components for the various spells). The original Greyhawk setting is filled with puns and dry humor. Cursed items, including ones that change genders, are common. The various humorous cartoons spread throughout the rulebooks should inform anyone that 1st edition was meant to be played with a certain amount of humor. And, its got a random harlot encounter sub-table!           1st Edition AD&D. The immense influence of H.P Lovecraft  (with Howard and Clark Ashton Smith) on Gygax's vision of D&D is often forgotten. Remember, Gary created Mind Flayers! Also often forgotten is that Lovecraft wrote a lot of fantasy, and his stories DO NOT always end with everybody dead or insane. The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath, as a perfect example,  reads like an AD&D adventure. Randolph Carter (the protagonist) does indeed face squiggly horrors in antique ruins. He also encounters space-faring housecats (I'm not making that up), and allies with an army of ghouls!           1st Edition AD&D. Resource management was a major part of 1st edition gameplay. Players were expected to keep track of every arrow, every ration, and every gold piece. Healing was limited. There was a random chance for characters to contract diseases. Hit points were low compared to later editions, and wandering monsters in the wilderness were NOT supposed to be scaled to the PC's levels.              2nd Edition AD&D. Epic fantasy was the assumed playstyle of 2nd Edition. No Edition had as many detailed campaign wolds as 2nd Edition. The re-write of the rules encourages good-aligned PCs, and discouraged evil/or questionable characters (the assassin and Half-Orc were removed, etc.).</blockquote>

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