D&D General What Have You Liked Most About Each Edition (+)

[Blue]

Basic & Expert - the sense of wonder was alive. Maybe more because it was my first, but we were doing things for the very first time. We would come up with crazy stuff and the DM would figure it out - the concept for "a rule for everything" had yet to be applied.

AD&D - my first longer campaign, characters that lasted a while. Over Basic it gave us so much more flexibility. Though I remember sticker shock at how much the cost of plate mail jumped. Reading every issue of Dragon magazine cover to cover.

AD&D 2ed - Cleaned up and ready to go. My longest and largest campaigns I've ever played in to this day, as well as most time put in. Years with a character - because that's what the slow down of the XP system did, have forever set my preferences towards advancement doesn't stop, just slows and slows. Epic level play - I did say it was most time put in. Kits, the origin of splatbooks when there was still a controllable number. Min/maxing with Skills and Powers.

3ed - Following Eric Noah's page every day trying to get a feel. Something new. Unified mechanics were a big thing. No more multiclassing or dualclassing, now something completely new. I can play a dwarven wizard, it's allowed! Wow, rules for everything I could ever want. And the SRD, releasing the d20 rules so that 3rd party suddenly blossomed.

3.5 ed - Revised and fixed. And so many character crunch options, it made character creation into it's own minigame. Crunchy when I have time in my life for crunchy.

4e - Skill Challenges - a concept (if not exact implementation) I use heavily today in many RPGs. Very codified, satisfied the coder in me. Highly dynamic combat. Healing surges. The corporate ability to admit rules and whole subsystems could be improved and changing them via errata. Digital tools; a reasonable subscription, a great compendium, a good offline and then a decent online character builder.

5e - Streamlined; when I don't have time in my life for overly crunchy. So much faster to do everything. And putting power back in the hands of DMs - I didn't understand when a veteran DM bemoaned the loss of this with 3ed, which was quite the simulation with rules for everything. Upcasting spells, a concept I loved back in the old Wheel of Time d20 but hadn't seen anywhere else. Bringing all the classes closer in terms of balance, and the same for single classed and multiclassed characters. Bounded accuracy to let me use a wider selection of foes no matter the party level. Taking magic item pluses out of character advancement math expectations with those foes. Advantage and disadvantage - so much better then a flood of small bonuses to track. Inspiration finally trying to make RP mechanically supported in D&D, a first step.

 

[Lycurgon]

Basic D&D - My introduction to the world of D&D. Didn't play it a lot, as I found it a bit confusing (I was 7) but loved the Halfling as it was presented as an athletic, dexterous race, not a tubby hobbit. First taste of fantasy RPGs that sparkling a life long love.

1e - This was the edition that I really got into in a big way. It was new and awesome and it the best thing in the world. Had my first character death (betrayed by a party member for XP), but rolled a better replacement character, with stats good enough to be a Paladin. I really enjoyed the whole experience. I like that you could choose a race and a class.

2e - More D&D. More options, introduced Kits that gave more variety for characters. Introduced many concepts I loved. Wild Magic was cool and interesting (I have since changed my mind on this one), Bladesingers were amazingly flavourful. I loved the real world supplements especially the viking book with the Rune Caster class.

3e - It streamlined and unified a lot of the mechanics of the game. It got me back into playing D&D as I had mostly moved on to other games for several years before it came out. The skill system added a lot to the game and feats gave a variety to character creation options and builds.
3.5e - Initially didn't like change for changes sake, but there were a number of good improvements. The supplements were a better quality than the 3.0 versions. More of the 3e goodness.

4e - It was a completely different play style. It was a pretty good tactical boardgame. Loved a number of the classes and the way they were re-imaged. The Barbarian was great with the way it was a primal powered warrior that drew on different spirits to do different kinds of rages. Loved the big tough Wardens; and Dragon Magazine exclusive shadow based Assassin (not the essentials assassin) although it was not completely polished. The character creation tool was fantastic. The Shadowfell and the Feywild were great concepts and I liked their addition to the game. I think having power sources worked well and particularly like the addition of primal as a power source.

5e - It brought back the emphasis on storytelling and DM fiat from the early editions while including character customisation options that has only been surpassed by 3.x. The simplicity made for quicker combats and more room for RP and storytelling. Again it brought me back to D&D because I had moved away from the game again to other games. It popularity has made games easier to find and made a bigger audience for all RPGs.

Overall I prefer 5e but all edition had their strong points and did some things better than other editions.

 

[MGibster]

This is fun!

1st Edition: This is where I got started with D&D and there was so many good things about it. I know more about pole weapons today than any reasonable man should simply because of AD&D. The game also expanded my vocabulary, and I don't just mean the infamous harlot table, but the books were not exactly written for adolescent teens at the time.

2nd Edition: Released in 1989, this was when I was really able to start building my own RPG collection and it's the golden age of settings! Ravenloft, Birthright, Al-Qadim, Forgotten Realms, Spell Jammer, Planescape, and Dark Sun are just a few I can think of off the top of my head. This was also the golden age of periphery products like the brown faux leatherette series, the green historical series, and accessories like maps with adventure seed ideas in them. Perhaps an era that is never to be repeated again.

3rd edition: This was a breath of fresh air. I hadn't played AD&D for years (had sold all my stuff in 1997 or 1998) it it was great to see a new edition. Getting rid of THAC0 was worth the price of admission.

4th edition: I liked that every character class had viable actions to perform in almost every encounter.

5th edition: This is my favorite incarnation of the game. I like the rules, I thought Advantage/Disadvantage was a stroke of brilliance, and I really appreciate group rolls for things like stealth.

 

[Voadam]

Moldvay Basic - Fantastic Intro to D&D. Clear, clean, concise rules and explanations. Random stats worked well even if you rolled poorly. Good variety of weapon damages allowing easy switching of weapons without lots of suboptimal choices. A strong focus on core D&D archetypes. A strong pulp fantasy feel.

AD&D 1e - Contained lots of esoteric details like sympathetic magic spell components and spell schools. Lots of thematic options and a strong sword and sorcery feel. Fantastic Martial Arts system.

AD&D 2e - THAC0 and saves in the PH, cool individual initiative system, lots of fun settings, fleshed out gods and monsters.

3e/3.5/PF - OGL, SRD, unified mechanics, unified xp, combat balance as a design goal, lots of mechanical variety for different play style preferences, lots of cool optional rule variants and ability to incorporate different systems, mechanical descriptors.

4e - Actual class combat balance, class combat roles, decent at will powers, strong nonmagical healing, monster roles and mechanics, interesting tactical combat, neat core cosmology and lore.

5e - Bounded accuracy, concentration.

 

[ccs]

The game also expanded my vocabulary, and I don't just mean the infamous harlot table, but the books were not exactly written for adolescent teens at the time.

Yes, I liked how the books were written as simply largely assuming the reader was familiar with whatever Gygax was talking about & understood the words/terms being used.
Very much a "There it is kid, figure it out, catch up to us...." vibe.
As 12 year Olds we looked up plenty of things in dictionaries, encyclopedias, at the library, etc. Or we'd just ask Dad at dinner.

 

[JEB]

2E: Monsters! In fact, it was the monster books that got me interested in playing D&D in the first place. The settings were also great, especially Ravenloft and Planescape. I think in terms of fluff, this was the best edition by far. The rules in Player's Option: Skills and Powers were also fun (though for whatever reason, never actually used them).

3E: Loved the switch to d20 + bonus as the base mechanic, and how much sense the rules made compared to 2E. I've also come to appreciate how many options this edition gives players for character design. EDIT: Also, the OGL was pretty awesome.

4E: Never played this edition.

5E: Basically combined much of what I liked best about 2E and 3E - books that are fun to read with straightforward mechanics. It's also the most accessible of the three editions I've played. The return of the old lore, after the changes in the 4E era, was most welcome. I've even come to appreciate the slow release schedule, gives plenty of time to digest each new book.

 

[overgeeked]

Basic: I was 6 or 7 years old and most ideas were simple enough that they could be taught to me.
AD&D 1st edition: The mystery of what the game and the game books unfolded. I love Gygax's writing and the way a mere two pages on planes in the back of the PHB suggested a multiverse of adventure and seemed to contain the myths of the Greek gods, the Norse gods, Marvel comics, Robert E. Howard stories, Tolkien, and just about anything else. The separation of class and race was exciting, even if I couldn't play a halfling paladin, and the DMG's list of magic items and artifacts and relics suggested endless possibility.
AD&D 2nd edition: Non-weapon proficiencies were an excellent addition and started to expand the items on the character sheet to beyond combat. The systematization of spells was helpful. Kits introduced a new way of customizing character builds that embraced even more archetypes from literature and mythology, even if they were usually a little underwhelming. Spelljammer was an awesome way to introduce a cosmic swashbuckling element and it was a new way to connect the worlds. I loved it. The Domains of Dread and Dark Sun were evocative additions that expanded what could be done with the game. I especially liked the hardback Dark Sun book that gave rules for going from 21st to 30th level and included 10th level spells. Loved all that stuff.
D&D 3rd and 3.5: I didn't play it or purchase any of the books...but I think the basic d20 concepts it introduced are landmark improvements to the game.
D&D 4th edition: It gave the fighter as many options as a wizard in combat. I loved the notion of grouping classes by their power source: martial, arcane, psionic, elemental, shadow, primal, and so forth. Also, the inclusion and description of the Shadowfell and Feywild were wonderful additions to the cosmology. They both resonate so much with legend and mythology...it's like the ideas were there simply waiting to be implemented in the D&D cosmology.
D&D 5th edition: It hits the sweet spot for me in every way except I am still waiting for large-scale army rules, over 20th level expansion rules, and a psionicist. Other than that, it is (to me) staggering how elegant and beautiful it is. I love how the classes embrace exception-based design and each stands out as its own approach to the world of adventure. The notion of advantage or disadvantage is a watershed change that makes the game quicker and less intimidating with modifiers for everything. I love how the designers embrace the legacy of the game and bring in elements from the entire fifty-year history of the game. And, not least, the books are absolutely beautifully designed with (I think) the best artwork. When I think "D&D" now, I think of this edition and it is my hope that this is where the game stays...just keep building on this foundation, I say.

There was a mass combat UA. There’s also a MCDM book Kingdoms & Strongholds with mass combat.

 

[Shiroiken]

OD&D - didn't play, but appreciate it started everything!
BECMI - some of the best adventures printed
1E - had a lot of detailed rules for situations
2E - settings, settings, settings
3E - cleaned up the reverse math nonsense
4E - paragon/epic classes that didn't deter from main class
5E - just about everything

 

[Hatmatter]

There was a mass combat UA. There’s also a MCDM book Kingdoms & Strongholds with mass combat.

Thanks! Can't wait till it appears in the books. Well, let me correct that, I can wait. I love what they are publishing. I can wait. I say keep doing the Unearthed Arcana and take your time to implement each expansion of the game in the right way.

 

[HJFudge]

I didn't play enough 1e/2e to have any big opinions, but I will say that I enjoyed them as an introduction to the hobby!

3/3,5e: My FAVORITE thing was the introduction of feats and the focus on character building. I enjoyed making characters of various kinds and playing with the mechanics, multiclassing, etc.

4e: My favorite edition, my FAVORITE thing (and there was a lot I enjoyed) was how it gave equal options to martial classes as it did spellcasting classes. No longer did I have to choose a spellcasting class to have interesting options during combat.

5e: My favorite thing about 5e is how 'pick up and go' it is. This is a great edition if I don't wanna bother with character building or rules and I wanna just jump into a pickup game or a one off. It takes the least amount of prep for me, a player, which on nights where Im tired and don't really wanna focus is a godsend.