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Message: <blockquote data-quote="GuardianLurker" data-source="post: 9759350" data-attributes="member: 786">Yeah, the system I use doesn't work well for cross-edition comparisons, I'll admit. Very few systems radically change their mechanical approach as they age, at least at the gross level. And of course, they also have to have enough different editions to really see the drift as well.I've never tried cross-edition. Let's try on the AD&D family tree.AD&D (1e): Single Die vs. Target (d20); No critical rules (but Nat 20's and 1's very popular house rule); Class-based, Dice Rolls, Quick (at least to Name Level); No meta-currency; Medieval(-ish) Fantasy, Implied Setting (Greyhawk, but most homebrew/generic), 8/10 on weight (inconsistent approaches for subsystems)AD&D (2e): Single Die vs. Target (d20); No critical rules (but Nat 20's and 1's very popular house rule); Class-based, Dice Rolls, Quick; No meta-currency; Medieval(-ish) Fantasy, Implied Setting (Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms, but most homebrew/generic), 7/10 on weight (consistency greatly increased). Also TONS of alternative settings.D&D (3e): Single Die vs. Target (d20); Special Results; Class-based, Point Buy, Quick; No meta-currency; Medieval(-ish) Fantasy, No implied setting, 6/10 on weight (Now consistent)D&D (4e): Single Die vs. Target (d20); Special Results; Class-based, Point Buy, Quick; No meta-currency, but many classes have "fuel"; Medieval(-ish) Fantasy, Forgotten Realms, 6/10 on weight (Unified class structures, but many more classes)D&D (5e): Single Die vs. Target (d20); Special Results; Class-based, Point Buy, Quick; Small scale metacurrency (Inspiration); Medieval(-ish) Fantasy, Implied Greyhawk, 5/10 on weight. Advantage/Disadvantage for benefits/penalties.Well, some of the edition changes do manage to pop-up, but unsurprisingly, in this point of view D&D looks like D&D. And yet, each edition feels (and plays differently). I'm not sure what I could pull out that would be applicable to any other TTRPG though. For instance, the single biggest difference between editions is how they approach spells, and then class abilities. That's not something that GURPS or Hero/Champions deals with in the same way.</blockquote>

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