What is your favorite edition of D&D and why?

[Mercurius]

I hate to have to to do this but I have to start with the standard disclaimer: This is not meant as an Edition War, a chance to inspire or fan flames, or anything at all that is pejorative to any group or individual. It is merely, and only, an honesty inquiry that serves to satiate my own curiosity. I personally don't care if you partake in Edition Warfare (it really doesn't offend me one iota what edition you hate) but just try not to do anything that will get you banned or this thread locked. Thanks!

The Question: What is your favorite edition of Dungeons & Dragons and why? Please give (at least) two answers--or at least keep this in mind--one each for what is associated by the terms the "left brain" and "right brain." The left brain is analytical, rational, differentiating, and system-oriented. This would likely be a mechanical or design reason, something to do with the rules of the game itself. The right brain is more aesthetic, receptive, holistic, and imaginative. This would be concerned with the general feel or vibe, or perhaps something related to the aesthetic presentation or what it inspires in you.

If that doesn't work for you feel free to answer however you want: What is your favorite edition of D&D and why does it float your boat?

 

[weem]

This current (4th) edition.

I love to DM.

This edition not only makes DM-ing so much easier, it also is much easier to balance encounters and challenges with.

Combat is much cleaner and easier to manage (for me) - it's very easy to referee and keep things moving because of how clear and consistently worded the rules are, etc.

These things give me much more time to work on the part that I like best - the story


DISCLAIMER: ANSWERS ABOVE RELATE TO MY OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AND MAY OR MAY NOT MATCH WITH YOUR OWN

 

[Hjorimir]

4th Edition far and away is my favorite edition. It really comes down to less work and more fun, especially as a DM. I'm running three 4e campaigns that (together) require less work than one 3e campaign. I love having to spend less time on mechanics because it allows me to focus more of my DM creation time on story elements (i.e. fluff).

 

[Shroomy]

For me personally, I'm going to have to go with 4e. IMO, it manages to capture some of the free-wheeling nature of the earlier editions but within a more modern framework that provides a lot of options as both a player and DM without too much complexity.

 

[Shemeska]

Mechanics are largely irrelevant for me since I handwave so many rules it would make rules-lawyers heads explode. But, that said:

3rd edition. It's what I started with, what I'm most familiar with for ease of running it, and the products produced under it stayed largely true to and compatable with the flavor and tropes of the 2e material I came to adore (best writing for settings overall for any edition of the game, which is the stuff that inspires me).

 

[Olli]

systemwise, i like our houseruled d20 fine enough (haven´t tried 4e yet, but if WotC doesn´t botch the Dark Sun Setting, it´s only a matter of time...).

As for support and sheer creativity i vote for 2e, with its host of settings and other oddballs, and of course Giant Space Hamsters...

Olli

 

[Tony Vargas]

Always the latest one. Why? Because there's been less published for it. Seriously. D&D is one of those games that gets worse the more suplements you buy. Each new rule interacts with all the old ones to form holes and exploits and inconsistencies that eventutally overwhelm it... OK, after a point, the 4e PH was pretty bare-bones. The 3.5 PH you could play for years just trying different multi-class/feat combos.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The Question: What is your favorite edition of Dungeons & Dragons and why? Please give (at least) two answers--or at least keep this in mind--one each for what is associated by the terms the "left brain" and "right brain." The left brain is analytical, rational, differentiating, and system-oriented. This would likely be a mechanical or design reason, something to do with the rules of the game itself. The right brain is more aesthetic, receptive, holistic, and imaginative. This would be concerned with the general feel or vibe, or perhaps something related to the aesthetic presentation or what it inspires in you.

If that doesn't work for you feel free to answer however you want: What is your favorite edition of D&D and why does it float your boat?

My answer: 3.XEd

Mechanical Reason:

The changeover from 2Ed to 3Ed and beyond eliminated a lot of counterintuitive and quirky math. The only one that remained was the dissonance between Power/Spell level and Character Level, which disappeared in 4Ed.

The advent of the "Feat" mechanic meant that D&D now mimicked more closely my favorite system all time, HERO. To whit- HERO divides PC abilities into Skills, Talents and Powers (which can be further modified, but that's not important at this moment), each of which represented PC abilities with differing parameters and overall impact on the game.

With 3Ed, you had Skills, Feats, and Powers/Spells, effectively doing the same thing.

Furthermore, the game added all kinds of supernatural mechanics ranging from old favorites like Psionics to the newfangled Shadow magic, Binding, Truenaming, and Incarnum. Results & power were mixed, but they were better mechanically integrated than the attempts to expand beyond arcane and divine magic in previous editions.

The 3.5Ed update and certain supplements added corrected or improved some things, and 3PP games like AU/AE, Midnight, True20, Pathfinder and M&M (of course) have refined the game immensely.

In addition, the new multiclassing and race rules vastly expanded the variety of character designs available to the players.

As a whole, it became one of the most flexible and enjoyable FRPGs ever made.

Aesthetic Reason:

Quite simply, the mechanical changes in multiclassing and race rules made it possible to design more different PCs than in any other version of D&D.

The only systems that beat 3.X's flexibility are the toolbox games like HERO, GURPS and Mutants & Masterminds.

This means that imaginations were never more unfettered in D&D. Character designs beyond the PHBs of earlier editions required extensive HRs and that means DM headaches. 3.5 had formalized rules that essentially reduced the DM's workload in that regard down to "Yes" or "No" on whether the PC would be allowed.

And I say this from the perspective of someone who has played the game since 1977. I can honestly say I've played every race and every class in almost every combination in 1Ed & 2Ed, and that got a little stale. The only thing that prevented my shutdown as a D&D player was the inventiveness of the settings, esp. Dark Sun and Spelljammer (elements of which even found their ways into our Greyhawk and FR campaigns).

But I can't say that of 3.X. There are too many classes. There are rules for playing virtually any sentient race in the game. There are templates. The multiclass rules are lenient.

AND the settings are still creative. (In all fairness, some of the work done on campaign setting designs was better in 2Ed, but the overall creative work in 3.X at the least showed good, strong effort...even if the designers didn't use the rules to their fullest.)

 

[Maldin]

Second Edition, for several reasons...

1. I like it. I've not had any major problems with 2E, and the problems that I did have (no system is going to be perfect), I house-ruled. I've never had a problem with thac0 (and I don't really understand why people seem to desparately grasp at it as a "problem". Its quite simple. But, even then... I literally don't even think in terms of thac0! I use my 2E-converted Combat Computer (available on my website). A mechanical device that takes all of the calculation out of 2E combat. You literally just dial in the AC and HD, and read off "to hit" for everyone in the encounter. Couldn't be simpler. Also, I like the weapon/nonweapon proficiency mechanic.

2. Flexibility. Combat is important, yes, but the main reason why we play is the story. The roleplaying. Not the mechanics of combat. 2E's combat can be as quick or detailed as DM's want it to be. We can have numerous combat encounters in an evening, and get on with the story. 3E and 4E is all about the mechanics. Every action and reaction is so mechanical, in fact, that you can't fart without placing all PC, NPC and monster figurines on a battlemat, carefully measuring the radius of your gas cloud and its rate of expansion, and calculating the distance, facing, speed and initiative of all those creatures as they try to move away from you. That's not Roleplaying!! With 2E, if I want to streamline an encounter or the players want to try something thats not in the books, we can. Combat is quick (we can have more then two combat encounters in an evening!!!).

3. Cost (and value). Because of the above description of 3E and 4E combat, you have to buy zillions of miniatures. We have never used miniatures, only pencil and paper maps. I have no interest in spending money on buying miniatures for every monster I ever have or ever plan to use... once. People can spend $$thousands on it! I'd rather spend (far less money) on having information on rules, setting, and adventures in the form of books and pdfs.

4. The Pain of Conversion. (the big one!) All of my gaming has been, and continues to be, done in the same World of Greyhawk campaign world on an unbroken, continuous timeline since we started 29 years ago. New PCs (and players) learn of a history built by previous PCs (and players). I'm not about to reboot a campaign like that, which means that my entire campaign world would have to be converted to a new edition. Its difficult enough with mid-level characters, but the newer version of the game are so different that conversion of the high level PCs and NPCs becomes impossible. Yes, you could substitute abilities, skills, etc., but the characters become VERY different... and all of their abilities that have come to be because of their history, are changed or gone, and new ones in their place. If I were a completely new person coming into the hobby and building a new campaign from scratch, I might be able to make 3E work to my liking. But I'm not. So I can't.

5. Time. Ok, when I was in university I had lots of time to read rule books and learn new game systems. Now that I must live in the real world, I just don't have the time to learn a new system! We can barely find the time to get together and play the system we already know.

I'm sure I can think of a few more reason, but those are the important ones.

Denis, aka "Maldin"
Maldin's Greyhawk http://melkot.com
Loads of edition-independent Greyhawk goodness... maps, magic, mysteries, mechanics, and more!

 

[D&D]

Well...as I mentioned in another thread I just started, 3.5.

This is, however, after giving it up out of frustration a year ago, doing the retro-clone marathon, and finally, coming back to it tonight...and having a really good time.