D&D General What editions of Dungeons & Dragons do you like?

[Retreater]

I like OD&D and BECMI as well but those weren't options. I couldn't bring myself to vote for 3.x because it would be the version I'd least want to DM if my friends asked me. I'd still do it, however.

 

[Don Durito]

It's not quite the longest-running edition, but it's very close.

BECMI began with Frank Mentzer's Basic Set (the "B" in "BECMI"), which, presuming I have my dates correct, came out on May 1st, 1983. After this, the absolute latest I can find a BECMI-compatible product coming out from TSR is Troy Denning's The Classic Dungeons & Dragons Game: Epic Adventures with Wizards, Dragons, and Magic!, which came out on either May 2nd or May 4th, 1994 (I've seen conflicting listings). So BECMI lasted almost exactly eleven years.

(If you don't count that introductory boxed set as the ending point, then the last BECMI product would be the Poor Wizard's Almanac II, published on December 1st, 1993.)

By contrast, the AD&D 2E Player's Handbook came out in February of 1989, with the Dungeon Master's Guide following in May of the same year and the MC1 Monstrous Compendium Volume One following in June (I can't find exact release dates). Since the last AD&D 2E product was Die Vecna Die! (June, 2000), that means that if you start counting from when the PHB was released, AD&D 2E just barely edges out BECMI by a few months.

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Really it began with earlier editions of Basic D&D which it was a revision of. I'm not sure I would single it out any more then I would seperate 3.0 and 3.5.

B/X from 1981 seems to have settled as the reference of choice for the OSR. (Basic D&D really doesn't need 36 levels).

 

[Campbell]

I really love B/X, BECMI, and Old School Essentials. They were not my D&D first loves, but they have been the longest.
I am also fairly enamored with more unique OSR offshoots like Into The Odd, Mothership, and Stars Without Number.

I love First Edition's attitude, but not really the game as much as B/X.

4e will always have a special place in my heart for its lore and actually having fairly fun combat. Not sure I could go back though.

PF2 is my modern D&D of choice for having broadly competent characters, being able to design the exact character I want to play, fun tough combat, and calling back to the classic game. Not sure I can really compare it to B/X though. Just different sorts of games.

 

[R_J_K75]

2E is my favorite only because we played it so much and I knew the rules so much better than anything Ive played after. I miss the kit system. The game lost something for me from 3E and onward. I played 4E when it came out for awhile but really didnt like it. We switched to Star Wars SE, then to Pathfinder 1E and ultimately 5E.

 

[TwoSix]

Voted for all except 1e. I didn’t start playing until 2e, and I don’t think 1e’s host of idiosyncrasies would be as appealing without the layer of nostalgia.

There are also a number of D&D-likes that I enjoy, 13th Age, SotDL, and a number of OSR derivatives the primary among them.

 

[Stormonu]

I've played every edition except for OD&D (which I played at a Con, but don't really count). My favorite are B/X, 2E, 3.5E and 5E for me, as well as PF1. At this time, I am enjoying 5E the most.

If I was asked to game anything other than 5E, I'd probably choose 2E, maybe B/X for a one-shot.

 

[Arilyn]

13th Age is by far my favourite. I enjoyed 3rd, 3.5 and Pathfinder. Basic was okay. Did not like 1st and 2nd at all.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

I like 1-5e and BECMI. I don't love any of them, though, and think there are much more entertaining systems (not forks of some D&D edition) to explore. That being said not playing D&D in my group would be like trying to be vegan at a Texas BBQ joint, so when in Rome...

The only systems I'd want to play in 2021 would probably be 5 or 3.5.

 

[Arilyn]

Forgot 5e. It's got problems, but is fun and easy to GM.

 

[NaturalZero]

I mostly want to take the pieces I like from the editions I've played and slap them onto 5e.

I know! It's just so frustrating that The High Council of Gaming prevents us from doing that.

So far, no DM I'm playing with has let me walk in an change the rules at their table.