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What are the best editions of Dungeons and Dragons?

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6 Games Considered

Best editions of Dungeons and Dragons	Price	Last Updated
83 Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition	-	Dec 10, 2020
-- Basic Set ("BECMI") / Rules Cyclopedia	-	Feb 7, 2021
-- Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition	-	Nov 17, 2020
-- Advanced Dungeons & Dragons	-	Feb 27, 2021
-- Dungeons & Dragons v3.5 / Pathfinder RPG	$75.95	Mar 3, 2021

Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition

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Top Pro

Minimal but versatile rules

5th Edition strikes an impressive balance in keeping the rules simple without limiting the creativity of players. See More

Top Con

Lack of granularity

Due to the simplicity of the rules, responsibility lies with the GM to govern the game rather than hard and fast rules. See More

ProfessionalClytius's Experience

So its no longer "cool" to just have a dwarf fighter. Now it has to be a light touched berserking super dwarf..with cape. The advantage/disadvantage is a cool idea (not as cool as Alternity's bonus dice) but the fact that it is applied to everything, at all times, is just boring. Resting/healing is a issue in this edition (way to easy to recover), monsters have silly amounts of hitpoints to go with the silly damage output of the party and the system lacks any depth. It does harken back more to 2nd edition than 3rd, that's a good thing but id rather play a decent house ruled 2nd edition. Im not even sure this still feels like DnD. Oh and the art style looks like stills from a Disney animation. See More

Top Pro

Encourages character immersion

Numerous core aspects of 5th Edition exist solely to encourage thinking in-character, including mechanical rewards for good roleplay and detailed character backgrounds with lasting effects in the game. See More

Top Con

It's too combat-oriented

It's meant for fight-y campaigns. Way too simple too. See More

EagerDogoda's Experience

DnD 5e is easy to pick up and play for anyone of any age or experience. Character creation is quick and easy with immersion being highly encouraged and easy to do. While customisation may be limited by the standard core rules, there is plenty of homebrew to use and lots of character stuff can be formed thoigh See More

Top Pro

Bounded accuracy

Bounded Accuracy is a core design ideal of 5th Edition. In short, it means the numbers don't get too big; this lets weak challenges remain relevant for longer, and strong ones become survivable sooner. In practice, it also places more focus on a character's inherent abilities and less on magical equipment than has been the case in recent editions. See More

Top Con

Lacks the soul of older versions

Top Pro

Free basic rules PDFs

Wizards of the Coast provides free PDFs containing the complete core mechanical rules of 5th Edition D&D (combat, exploration, spellcasting, etc.) and a selection of iconic character options, monsters, magic items, etc. drawn from the full game. Though short on variety, the basic rules are playable and accurate to the full game. See More

Top Con

Casters are more powerful than noncasters

Top Pro

Advantage rule

Rolls 2d20, chooses best. This dramatically moves away from silly linear probabilitics. See More

Top Con

Very unbalanced

Thieves and Rangers are pretty much useless. See More

Top Pro

A good mix of the best rules of the previous D&D editions without the worst things

Top Pro

OGL content

As with other editions of the game, much of the content is released under the Open Game License (OGL) allowing custom modification, extension and alteration of the game. See More

Top Pro

New, popular & growing

This is the most recent edition of the game and is the only one for which official content is being produced. Do not expect to see new official adventures or splatbooks published for any of the older editions of D&D. See More

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Basic Set ("BECMI") / Rules Cyclopedia

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Top Pro

Focus on the game, not the character sheet

Basic D&D is 6 ability scores, a few skills, a character's saving throws, some equipment and, if a spellcaster, some spells; and that's it. This makes the game more about what's happening in the game rather than an exercise in firing off various powers on your character sheet. See More

CoolBaalshamin's Experience

I prefer this edition because the character sheet had very minimal details. Most of what made your character unique was the player and roleplay at the table. See More

Top Pro

Vibrant online community

As with AD&D 1st Edition, Basic/Expert D&D is one of the favored editions of the Old School Renaissance community, who regularly offer wildly creative material for it and have published several retro-clone editions, all of which are currently available online either for free or for low prices. OSR blogs on Blogspot and Google+ communities serve as sources of considerable materials that can be used without modification for this edition, and some of these materials break far away from the "standard vanilla fantasy" flavor of Wizards of the Coast's publications. See More

Top Pro

It goes with grimtooth's trap handbook

Top Pro

Lamentations of the Flame Princess

Lamentations of the Flame Princess is a horror/fantasy game (not for kids). Fully compatible with Basic D&D material, it features a few non-breaking adjustments such as a vastly simplified encumbrance system. See More

Top Pro

Character balance

Warriors with weapon mastery and wizards with spells at higher levels feel more on par with each other than in other editions, where the wizards easily overshadow the warriors of the party. Magic is the best in other editions whereas in BECMI they had a place in the party and it was usually in the face of some monster. See More

Top Pro

Feels mysterious and gritty

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition

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Top Pro

Huge volume of works created for 1e & 2e

Provide an almost endless series of options for the game. See More

Top Con

Lots of complicated rules that end up getting ignored--as a result balance is often difficult

ProfessionalClytius's Experience

The best version of DnD. See More

Top Pro

Optional rules

2nd Edition AD&D presents a number of optional rules DMs can implement in their campaigns if they wish. Later books in the line, the Players' Option books and the revised core rulebooks, offered alternate rules to customize games according to preference. Some of these rules were incorporated into 3rd Edition, yet in 2nd, none are necessary to play the game. See More

Top Con

Core setting is somewhat bland

Due to concerns over public perception, for 2nd Edition TSR chose to eliminate mature themes and explicitly "evil" player options; remove references to angels, demons and devils; and otherwise smooth over potentially offensive content in the core game. This deliberate sanitization is easily reversed in personal play, but results in a presentation that feels somewhat naive and juvenile. See More

Top Pro

Compatible with 1st edition material

AD&D 2nd Edition cleans up and clarifies a lot of the rules, but the core mechanics are the same. Adventure modules, monsters, etc. written for 1st Edition can be used with little or no revision. See More

Top Pro

Very challenging

2E causes players to re-think their decisions before engaging in risky behavior. Death can happen at any stage, and there won't be a chain of saving throws to stave off the reaper: You reach 0 HP, you're dead! Much of the focus, then, reverts to problem solving and role playing. See More

Top Pro

Numerous and varied campaign settings

TSR published many fully-developed and well-received game worlds for AD&D 2nd Edition, spanning a variety of fantasy themes. Examples include Dark Sun, Hollow World, Planescape and Spelljammer. See More

Top Pro

The rules give vivid explanation of the game

Since AD&D 2E gives vivid explanation of the game it comes with twists and turns you wouldn't normally see in a regular game of D&D. See More

Top Pro

Power is with the DM

Player power is way under 3rd-5th edition. Monster stat blocks small, Great treasures and a huge host of great adventures. See More

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons

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Top Pro

Gary Gygax's personal touch

Later editions were, to varying degrees, designed for market appeal; but the original AD&D is little more than one man sharing notes on his personal vision. It's tailored to his thematic tastes, and very often as much care is put into explaining the reasoning behind a rule as into defining the rule itself. See More

Top Con

I actually think this edition is pretty good

ImaginativeEreshkigal's Experience

The greatest reading experience of all the editions. You can more or less sit by the fire with Gary Gygax and listen to his vision for a fantasy role playing game. Now, I think his vision had its problems. In fact, I rate BECMI a much better ruleset than AD&D 1 ed. Did back in the 80s when I was playing them, still do. So many silly little fiddly rules in here: Thieves get a bonus to XP if they have high dexterity! (shouldn't high dex just make them better at their jobs? and shouldn't that be its own reward?) Weapon speed factors! Let's never use those! The Assassin who just rolls percentile dice to do an entire mission in two seconds. And so on. But crack open that Dungeon Master's Guide and just read. Nothing like it in the whole hobby. See More

Top Pro

Cover art and visual representation in the mind is great

Top Con

Rules are awesome and make much sense

Top Pro

Has a vibrant online creative community

The Old School Renaissance community has a significant online presence on Blogspot and Google+, and features some of the most creative minds in fantasy gaming, all offering their ideas to the gaming audience for free or for generally low prices on PDF storefronts. As they aren't bound by Wizards of the Coast's need to cater to a mass market, they aren't obligated to present only a single "flavor" of fantasy. People playing 1st Edition (or one of its many available retroclones) will have no lack of material and inspiration to draw from. See More

Dungeons & Dragons v3.5 / Pathfinder RPG

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Top Pro

Enormous pool of source material

The D&D v3.x family was published under an Open Game License which encouraged third-party material. Two editions later, there is still a thriving market creating new 3.5-compatible resources. See More

Top Con

Encourages character optimization outside of play

With so many options available to the player, and the almost unlimited ability to combine them, certain "character builds" are patently superior to others. Players who spend a lot of personal time poring over the rules can often create characters so powerful that players who don't optimize feel useless in games with those who do. See More

ProfessionalClytius's Experience

initially i did think this was a improvement. It is very well written and my fave graphic design of DnD but then you start to notice how slow it is compared to 2nd edition. How over powered the characters become and how little control the DM has with players making magic items at will it all just spirals out of control at higher levels. See More

Top Pro

Actively supported via Pathfinder RPG

When Wizards of the Coast discontinued D&D v3.5 development in favor of 4th Edition, Paizo took advantage of the Open Gaming License to publish an updated revision of the 3.x rules under the title Pathfinder RPG, which is still their flagship product. Notably, Pathfinder RPG has consistently outsold 4th Edition. See More

Top Con

Detailed simulation slows down gameplay

Due to countless situational modifiers, players and DM alike have to put a great deal of thought into decisions about position, order of actions, etc., to the point that six seconds (one combat round) of "in-game time" frequently takes half an hour or more of play time. See More

DiligentLuna's Experience

I've found this to be very customizable and has many more options than other editions. See More

Top Pro

Modular system encourages creativity

The D&D v3.x family is designed around building characters, monsters, magic items, etc., from small simple pieces. For each piece, any of countless others can be substituted, allowing near-infinite customization and variety. See More

Top Con

Very easy to build broken (overpowered / underpowered) characters

Top Pro

Many easy to comprehend books and other resources

Top Con

Casters are significantly more powerful than non-casters

Top Pro

Perfect balance of DM storytelling and deeply granular rules.

All of the deep-dive rulebooks provide the option for endless complexity - go as far as you want, and you'll never run out of opportunities. However, the basic mechanic of "roll a d20 and add your bonus" is simple enough that the DM can tell stories, create worlds, and build adventures with their party. 3.5e is the perfect edition. See More

Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition

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Top Con

Combat drags

Due to the scaling of player damage vs. monster hit points, even simple fights can take a long time to resolve, particularly at higher levels. See More

Top Pro

Excellent tactical combat system

As a grid-based combat game, 4th Edition offers well-balanced and tactically rich gameplay. In particular, it features numerous effects which force or prevent movement, often preventing simple "charge and attack" tactics. See More

ChattyPotrympus's Experience

Designed for a video game. The rules work badly as a pen-and-paper game. See More

Top Con

Grid combat is mandatory

Though most other editions of D&D assume miniatures are used for combat, they have all provided rules for playing without them. 4th Edition absolutely requires a grid, to the point that distances and ability effects are defined in terms of "squares." See More

Top Pro

Focus on heroism and fun

4th Edition downplayed simulation, and instead embraced cinematic action. The players are assumed to be the main characters of a story which revolves around them, rather than merely one faction in a far larger world. See More

Top Con

Suspension of disbelief is often difficult

Making it fun was such a priority in 4th Edition that it frequently trumped making sense. This manifests in ways ranging from "minions" who die in hordes at the lightest touch, to broken weapons simply repairing themselves. See More

Top Pro

Concise and consistent rules

Compared to prior editions, 4th Edition D&D has dramatically simplified rules. There are very few special cases to remember, and all character classes (Fighter, Wizard, etc.) share a common pattern in how they gain and use combat abilities. See More

Top Con

Entirely Combat Focused

Virtually all of the game's customization options are based around combat. There are very few utility options for non combat situations, which leaves other styles of play in the dust. See More

Top Pro

Character death is uncommon

To encourage boldness, characters are far harder to kill than in any other edition. This also allows players to invest heavily in the story and personality of their characters without facing the potential buzzkill of loss. See More

Top Con

Class mechanics are too similar

Top Pro

Best balanced version of D&D

Other versions of D&D tend to use a "balance over time" system, where some character types are weaker to start with and stronger later on, and vice-versa for others. However, this works poorly if your game doesn't continue for a long time, or starts with PCs already at a higher level. 4th Edition is the first - and so far only - version of D&D to do a good job of making characters similarly powerful at all levels. See More

Top Con

Equipment is mandatory to be efficient

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