{Hypothetical Thought Exercise} A cosmic being annihilates your favorite version of D&D...

[Mercurius]

Let's say some cosmic being takes away your favorite, or "go-to" version of D&D and utterly destroys it, banishing it to the Nether Regions, utterly unplayable, forgotten, sayonara, buh-bye. You're left having to pick a different version to play. I'm not talking about other games, but other versions of D&D - so this includes all official editions, Pathfinder, retro-clones, etc. The idea is that this must be a long-term commitment - the edition or version that you'd be playing for "some time to come" (years). What would it be? What would you do with it?

I'll start. My edition of choice is D&D 5e. I know, it isn't really out, and I have yet to actually use the playtest rules, but I like what I've seen so far, and love the design concepts, so I plan on starting up with the playtest rules and adapting to the official rules once they come out.

My second choice? Pathfinder. I can't say I like it more than 4e, but I've played 4e for a few years and want to try something different. I haven't played 3e in 10 years, like what Paizo is about, love their product, and would be willing to give the game a shot, but I'd start with the Beginner's Box and expand from there.

Your turn.

 

[ShinHakkaider]

But...I AM playing my favorite version of D&D that's NOT officially D&D.

I'm playing Pathfinder.

If Pathfinder goes away? I just don't play D&D.

I dont want to go back to descending AC, or crazy saving throws or no skills or anything like that. I played those games for YEARS and the only DM that I'd trust to run a good Pre-3E game of D&D doesnt even live in my state anymore so. Yeah NO D&D for me.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Since you're including Pathfinder, I'd play my Fantasy HERO D&D clone, which covers all of the editions and iterations...

If you don't like that answer, it would be Arcana Unearthed.

 

[Umbran]

I laugh at the cosmic being, because I don't *have* a favorite version! Perhaps I have now locked said destructive being in a loop of pure logic, that will either destroy it or allow me to extract a Wish from them to free it.

If the latter, I sit down with Dannyalcatraz to work out the legal wording of a wish that will end edition wars without losing the good stuff about having different editions!

Really - each edition has something going for it, something it does well. When I want that thing, I pick up that edition. When I don't want what it has to offer, I play something else. It isn't something to agonize over.

 

[n00bdragon]

I don't like any of the editions of D&D more than my homebrew creations. If you obliterated one of those I could just make another.

 

[Zardnaar]

Kind of making my own but 3.x and 2nd ed would be my favorites If one or the other got nuked (or both) I would go to ACKs or Castles and Crusades or 1st ed.

 

[KirayaTiDrekan]

I am currently quite happy with D&D Next, but I could play and enjoy any version of D&D (though I suppose BECMI would be my 1st choice).

 

[Ahnehnois]

Well if 3e were destroyed (which is impossible to do because of the OGL, according to the demigod of rpg economics, Ryan Dancey), I'd maybe seek out some 2e books, but really I'd probably move on to another rpg.

 

[Shemeska]

Assuming that you count PF alongside 3.x, then if those were collectively destroyed I'd probably play 2e because I'm familiar enough with it from being a giant fan of various 2e settings.

The thing is, I run my games pretty rules-lite and combat doesn't necessarily have to happen in a given game session (it didn't happen last session), and so I could happily play the same sorts of games regardless of what rule system I had access to.

 

[Jester David]

If Pathfinder went away I'd go with D&D Next. Or an OSR game like Castles & Crusades.