Editions of D&D

[ronpyatt]

How many editions and revisions of D&D have there been, as of now?
Can you name them?
In what order did they publish?
Which ones did you get a chance to play?

[Webhead]

Quick overview from what I can recall:

Dungeons & Dragons ("Original" D&D)
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition
Dungeons & Dragons ("Basic/Expert/Companion/Master/Immortal" D&D)
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition
Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition
Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 Edition
Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition
...and a plethora of mini-games, boxed introductory sets, revised printings, alternate covers, etc.

Published in that order as I recall.

I have owned: "Basic" D&D, AD&D 1e, AD&D 2e and D&D 3e

I have played: "Basic" D&D, AD&D 2e, D&D 3e and D&D 3.5

If I had to say which is my preferred edition today: "Basic" D&D

[tesral]

I have owned: "Basic" D&D, AD&D 1e, AD&D 2e and D&D 3e

I have played: "Basic" D&D, AD&D 2e, D&D 3e and D&D 3.5

If I had to say which is my preferred edition today: "Basic" D&D

You forgot the D&D Rules Cyclopedia, kind of the Basic D&D second editiion.

I have played 0e up through the AD&D line and 3.x.

[gdmcbride]

D&D Editions Print History

Chainmail(1971) added Fantasy rules to medieval miniatures combat, widely acknowledged as D&D 0.5
Brown Box D&D(1974) -- first true edition of D&D, famously infringed on Tolkien Estate's copyrights including Balrogs, Hobbits and Ents
White Box D&D (1975) -- Save for a few (now very valuable) early white boxes, Balrogs, Hobbits and Ents are replaced with Balors, Halflings and Treants
Basic D&D (1977)
Monster Manual (1977) -- the first AD&D Hardcover -- various covers followed till 1989
Player's Handbook (1978) -- various covers followed till 1989
Dungeon Master's Guide (1979) -- various covers (and one fairly major revision) till 1989
Revised Basic D&D (1981) -- Tom Moldvay's revisions to Basic D&D making it a truly seperate product. Basic 1.5?
Expert D&D (1981) -- The Blue Box
Companion/Masters/Immortals box set followed throughout the 80s
Unearthed Arcana (1985) -- AD&D 1.5?
D&D 2nd Edition (1989) -- all three main rule books released closely for the first time
Rules Cyclopedia (1990) -- Aaron Allston combines Basic/Expert/Companion/Master into one book with revisions and updates -- 'Basic' D&D 2.0?
Immortals revised to be compatible with Rules Cyclopedia and sold as 'Wrath of the Immortals' (1991)
Revised Core rulebooks and Player's Options (1995) -- AD&D 2.5?
D&D 3.0 (2000)
Basic version of 3.0 mainly intended for toy stores (2000)
D&D 3.5 (2003)
Basic version of 3.5 mainly intended for toy stores (2003)
D&D 4.0 (2008)
Later this year, D&D 4.0 will get a likely similar basic treatment.

I own all save Chainmail (1st edition), Brown Box, Basic (1977), Wrath of the Immortals, Basic 3.0 and Basic 3.5

I have played all editions except Brown Box, Wrath of the Immortals, and Basic 3.5

Gary

[Webhead]

You forgot the D&D Rules Cyclopedia, kind of the Basic D&D second editiion.

I have played 0e up through the AD&D line and 3.x.

Yeah, I suppose I should have clarified. I associated the Rules Cyclopedia with the "Basic/Expert/Etc." grouping but it does sort of deserve its own spot as it was a combining, editing and reorganizing of all those materials.

I like the Rules Cyclopedia...I still own it, even after I sold off all my 3e stuff. :D Almost snatched up a second copy at Half Price Books a few weeks ago, but I was really trying to tighten the belt, so I let it be...it was gone next time I went back there.

[Thoth-Amon]

Been around since *damn near* the beginning. Brings back the memories. The '70's editions were my favorites... and still are.

Thoth-Amon

[gdmcbride]

Been around since *damn near* the beginning. Brings back the memories. The '70's editions were my favorites... and still are.

Thoth-Amon

In 1979, I was seven so I didn't really do much in the way of gaming back then.

I'll agree that the 1970s books and box sets have a certain charm to them. They were released with little thought of how marketable they were. No one had any idea what they were doing. Truly professional art was beyond the reach of most products so they made do with some interesting artists who would never see print these days (Erol Otus anyone?).

The first generation of RPG game designers was largely a group of wargaming fans working part time. They had little to lose -- so they let their imaginations run wild with sometimes very exciting and sometimes very dubious results.

But mostly these books are a matter of nostalgia. I frequently encounter people who were either in high school or in college back in the seventies who associate this era strongly with their youth. They were young. They had their whole lives ahead of them. They were playing D&D.

Gary

[aboyd]

You could add to the list the variants/forks. For example, I believe Osric is a free approximation of 1st edition D&D. It was completely rewritten so that it doesn't violate any copyrights. I think.

Then there is d20 or SRD or OGL. Those are all 3.5 variants that are pretty much an exact, licensed copy, but without all the flavor text.

Then there is True20, which built upon d20 to make a whole new standalone game that is compatible.

Then there is Pathfinder, which did something similar to True20.

[tesral]

The first generation of RPG game designers was largely a group of wargaming fans working part time. They had little to lose -- so they let their imaginations run wild with sometimes very exciting and sometimes very dubious results.


It was an open field, no one to tell you what would and wold not work. You didn't have a dozen game worlds to choose from, their were none. You had to make them yourself. To start there was little outside the Dungeon settings. That developed with it became plainer that this game was different.

How different? There was no way to win. Every other game has a start, a mid game and an end with a winner. RPGs do not. The end isn't an end, the characters are still there and can play again. There isn't one winner, there can be many, like the whole party. This game is episodic and that makes it different.