What's your favourite version or variation of D&D?

[Morrus]

Time for another countdown!

I'm collecting a list of poll options in this thread. What's your favourite version or variation of D&D, and why?

By that, I mean not just editions of D&D and AD&D, but also offshoots, clones, retroclones - fantasy roleplaying games which are a variation of D&D even if that's not what the name says on the tin. This would include Pathfinder and 13th Age, OSRIC, Hackmaster, and loads, loads more. Really anything which is fantasy, has hit points, classes, and levels, and is clearly inspired by D&D.

 

[Cadence]

Pathfinder Core with a level limit somewhere from 6th to 12th level. So P6-P12 I guess. As the starting point anyway -- what fun is a game with no house rules.

It gives me the classic feel of the game (in the tradition of B/X, 1e, 2e) with some tighter rules and plenty of flexibility in character creation. That it uses the OGL, has everything on the PRD, and cheap .pdf's is a big plus. Limiting it to Core (or close to core) stops a lot of the (seeming) munchkinism. I dislike the ultra-high level stuff because it still becomes wacky imbalanced, I still can't relate to the ever increasing hit point totals (unlike the older editions), and the world building with it drives me crazy.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

My favorite version is 3.5Ed...with the caveat that I also like Pathfinder, Midnight 2Ed, True20, Arcana Evolved and FantasyCraft about equally as much. In a sense, my favorite version would be a chimera of the 6.

...with some tweaks none of them do.

 

[Ahnehnois]

All things considered, 3.5 has the most attraction for me.

 

[Serendipity]

Diffferent tools for different wants and such. I like many versions for different things. All things considered? Swords & Wizardry Complete. "Official" version of D&D? BECMI. Favorite variant of the above? DCC RPG.

 

[Storminator]

Far and away 4e. The only other game I'm interested in right now is 13th Age, but I haven't played that yet so it doesn't get a vote.

PS

 

[tuxgeo]

I'm most invested in 4E right now. However, that's probably due almost entirely to timing: I'm older than the game itself, and therefore missed the first few decades of its existence.

The result was that I didn't even start looking into D&D until the early 2000's, and what should I find but the complete rules of D&D (3.5) online. I didn't have a group to play with (since I completely skipped that step), but I did save the files to my hard disk.

When 4E came out, I still didn't have a group to play with. However, I imagined a lot of writing on the walls: if I ever did want to play, the new edition would be the way to go; as a result, I bought books instead of merely downloading SRD files. That made me invested in 4E, and I started to like it. (My first exposure to 4E was actually the guessing that occurred online at EN World between 2007 and 2008.)

Edit: cut for the sake of brevity.

 

[Wicht]

Pathfinder. Very flexible system and great support, both from Paizo and 3pp.

 

[ShinHakkaider]

Pathfinder.

Because I was a fan of 3.5 and a fan of 3.0 before it. I like the customization. I like the support and I like the options and the way it plays.

I like a certain amount of complexity. I'd rather have the options and be able to strip them away than have to build my own.

It's why I used to be a huge fan of Champions and M&M.

I like Pathfinder because it's so, SO well supported by adventures and other products. That and it's not owned by an corporation.

 

[Jester David]

Hrmm.... I like Pathfinder mostly for what Paizo has done with the system, but I like many of the other 3.5e variants as well. They're all different sides of the same dice and I wouldn't want to call out one more than another.
So 3e in general.