Dungeons & Dragons, Editions & You

[Bad Wizard 39]

Babu, that crazy Ocelot, I'll follow him anywhere. Does it stink of piss in here?

 

 

Hahahaha. He needs a scratching post somethig crazy.... It's like Meowswitz

[BonkersBananas 62]

 

 

Hahahaha. He needs a scratching post somethig crazy.... It's like Meowswitz

THIS IS WHY WE HAVE ANTS!

[McRib 11]

I played first edition exclusively from middle school through college, then lost having a group. I never moved to 2nd because TSR cowered to parents groups and removed all things demonic or devilish.

 

I started playing 4th last year.. while I am not as big a fan of the game mechanics, the character builder and apps I can use on my iPad have proven invaluable. It also made it easier for our less-experienced players to create their characters.

 

I'm evaluating Next right now.

[Bad Wizard 39]

3.5rd or 2nd for LIFE!!!

 

 

But yeah Next might be cool

[Chaosound 50]

I started DMing using Next/5e in the current Encounters game session. It's cool I like it. Slimmed down kinda back to old school basics. There's some stuff that's definitely broke in it though. I figured it would be easier to start DMing with a system that is still very small, not have to worry about 30 different rule expansions.

[Bastian9001 5]

I played AD&D back in high school. That's where I got started. Moved on to 3rd edition in the Army & have progressed through 3.5, 4th, and now my friends and I all swear by Pathfinder.

[tiles 13]

Started with the red box and played all editions plus a dozen other games. I am currently DMing Next ; Baldurs Gate and playing in Legacy of the Crystal shard plus my sons game ( he's 9 ).

 

Looking forward to 5e release this summer!

[BonkersBananas 62]

Why do they feel the need to release a new version every 5 years now... I remember AD&D lasting almost 15 years before they released 3rd edition.

[tiles 13]

Thats what they are trying to do with 5e, 4e did not go as expected for Wotc....

[GregoryHammell 7]

I bought the PHB and DMG for AD&D 2nd Edition and it makes me want to run a campaign with is sooooo badly.

[JoshuaSorenson 7]

I haven't found any one edition of D&D that really turns my crank - my "D&D" of choice is Dungeon World, along with 13th Age and Castles & Crusades.

 

That said - Basic BECMI D&D is seminal, and the Rulescyclopedia version has everything you need in one book.

 

Love the implied setting of AD&D 1st edition - it's pretty much Adventure Time with Finn & Jake.

 

AD&D 2nd Edition had spell spheres and specialty priests which were awesome.

 

I hate 3rd edition with the intensity of 1000 burning suns, but it unified the back end system and had the best armor rules.

 

4th edition is efficiently designed and super simple to DM. It had a lot of great ideas that probably would have worked out better if they taken an extra year or so to playtest and develop the rules.

[SublimeBW 59]

Gygax Magazine has Cory Doctorow's ruleset for a four year old.

 

I was geeked when I got my daughter into D&D a few years ago (she is now almost 16). Now seeing this, I cannot wait to get my next kid (if we have one) into playing. I was going to either way but seeing this makes me think I could show him the way of the nerd at an earlier age than I first planned.

 

Until then, I am having loads of fun with the Next rules. I really like the fact that it is more rules "lite" and combat flows with a quickness (even if using minifigs).Cannot wait for the full release. Hmmm, I should change the wording on that but I will let it ride.

[Bad Wizard 39]

Eh 2nd and 3.5 for me and my unborn childern.

[McRib 11]

Why do they feel the need to release a new version every 5 years now... I remember AD&D lasting almost 15 years before they released 3rd edition.

A couple of reasons - money, for one. They can't sell you new books if they don't make them, and you can only expland an existing ruleset so far.

 

That said, they used to crank out good modules constantly for 1st and 2nd Editions, but have gotten away from that (and most of the ones produced for 4th are boring).

 

The main reason though is they know they screwed up with 4th Edition by trying to make it more like WoW. Instead of taking the good from 1st, 2nd and 3rd they made it a whole different game. Hopefully Next fixes that.

[Bad Wizard 39]

I certainly hope your right McRib

[Chaosound 50]

I'm still enjoying Next/5e but from I went and bought the DM & MM books for 3e. Going to try and get a home game going using that set, maybe with some Next stuff thrown in.

[SensiiMiller 29]

My first experience was with a stack of Gygax' first edition, photocopied as encouraged by Gygax. My brother was at UNI in 1977, and got me into playing with him.

 

Then when the first Players handbook came out, my friend and I traveled 300 miles to Lake Geneva and bought our copies from Gary himself, at thevTSR store. He claimed to be Ernie, and signed our new PHs as such, adding a comment that his brother Gary was an asshole.

 

I then saved a week's pay to buy the other two books, Monsters Manual, and the DM Guide. I studied the books like they were holy scripture.

 

A couple years later, I became a Christian, and due to the bad press of suicides and influenced by that horrible Tom Hanks D&D made for TV movie, I burnt all three in a burn barrel.

 

Around 1989, I met some RPG guys and played all kinds of games, and I realized IT'S JUST A FRICKEN GAME! NOT A DEMONIC RECRUITING PAMPHLET!

 

We played Runequest, GURPS, Top Secret, Boothill, but my favorite was Toon. In 1992, I got married, but my wife didn't play. My books sat dormant for a couple years until I found another group. I stopped buying anything by the time WotC bought everything.

 

After finding Nerd Poker, I am ready to find a new group.

[Chaosound 50]

The 5th edition stuff starts to come out next month (July 2014) with a Starter Set. WotC will also be putting "Basic D&D" online as a free download. Basic D&D will have all the rules needed to play D&D from level 1-20, with some limitations on options. Basic will only include options of the four core classes; Fighter, Cleric, Mage, Rogue and four basic races; Human, Elf, Dwarf, Halfling.

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4ll/20140527 article about Basic D&D

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4ll/20140609 article on the Starter Set

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/news/advleague2 D&D Adventurers League - the new open play system

[SensiiMiller 29]

Writing a campaign, based on the book, "The Horse Soldiers", about the first special forces that went into Afghanistan after 9/11. Of course, the jihadis are orcs.

 

I will try to mimic the events of the book, but in dnd style.

 

Once written, and played, I'll report back.

[AndrewGould 53]

I played my first session of the 5e rules just last night. It's really good. The mechanics are very straightforward and consistent and easy even for new players to pick up. The advantage/disadvantage mechanic was very popular, especially with the one guy who had played every edition since 1st. I absolutely recommend it.