Which edition to play

[GuJiaXian]

Thanks again for the many varied thoughts. After thinking some and talking to my wife (who agrees with the "why can't you play both?" camp), I just might stick to 3.x (or Pathfinder) for heavier roleplaying games, and play 4e for dungeon crawls.

 

[rounser]

I'd suggest Rules Cyclopedia. Unlike 1E it has coherent rules for things like initiative, and unlike 2E it doesn't get bogged down in splat. And you can say you're playing D&D, which you technically can't do with the retroclones. And it plays fast, and preps fast. And you can expand the game into domains and strongholds, warfare etc. It's remarkable in some ways that the recent editions of the game have taken significant steps backwards from such scope. I do think something needs to be done about the underpowered thieves, though (either keep them hirelings, or consider using the "autosuccess at DM's discretion" rules on page 124(?) liberally, not needing rolls except in extremis, kind of like the characters that open doors in the Lego Star Wars and Lego Indiana Jones games).

One limitation of it is the splat, and the colour and magic of D&D lives and dies by it's splat. AD&D got the lion's share of the splat by far. Consider supplementing it with the following:

Encyclopedia Magica 1-4 (2E)
Wizard's Spell Compendium 1-4 (2E)
Priest's Spell Compendium 1-3 (2E)
Monster Manual (1E)
Monster Manual II (1E)
Fiend Folio (1E)
Monstrous Manual (2E)
Monstrous Annuals 1-4 (2E)

That right there represents about 20 years of D&D spells, magic items and monsters, but be ruthless in deciding what gets into your game and what doesn't. Amazon and ebay are your friend, here.

 

[Mort]

Thanks again for the many varied thoughts. After thinking some and talking to my wife (who agrees with the "why can't you play both?" camp), I just might stick to 3.x (or Pathfinder) for heavier roleplaying games, and play 4e for dungeon crawls.

Unfortunately, I can easily see why both cannot be played -with a demanding job, a 2 year old and many other pressures I'm lucky to game twice a month - switching systems for those times would dilute things too much for me.

That said, I don't dismiss 4e as a "dungeon crawl" game (over 3.x) so easily. One of the nice things about 4e is that the "magic solution" to nearly every problem is lessened (you know: the question the corpse, knock the unpick-able door, scry or otherwise divine everything in site etc.) I like the fact that characters don't have to (or cannot) be nearly so reliant on magic (at least from an out of combat standpoint). This can lead to some great heavier roleplaying opportunities as players have to ditch the magic crutch.

 

[GuJiaXian]

What I think I really need is the character system (specifically the strong zero-to-hero feel) from 3.x coupled with the combat and streamlined play of 4e. Hellooo house rules.