I'll just do my top 3: - 2e AD&D near end it had so much modularity that even 5e hasn't quite reached imho. Added back in assassins and devils and whatever else that was removed. And it has a clarity that 1e lacks, but is in many ways still very much the same great game. So to me? That's number 1. - B/X, it was my first as well, and it's the system we are playing again of late with OSE and finding a newfound love for it all over again, especially with some trappings introduced by Gavin Norman with 1e and 2e influences. Great stuff. - 5e, 2014, it's what brought a lot of my table back into gaming when some of them fell wayside as not a lot of us really got into 3/4e, we kept going back to 2e and most of us moved on to different ttrpgs, but this one brought everyone back and then some. So I'll always thank it for that, and at its core, it can be quite fun, I don't know if I exactly agree where it went, but it is hard to deny it's potential and popularity.

3.5 was the go-to edition for me. I loved 2nd Edition for the lore, and skipped 4th edition for the most part, I might have one or two books lying around. I like 5E and am unsure about 5.5 E as of yet. So in order 1. 3.5, 2. 5E,3. 2E

Play the editions made by the creators of D&D, not the later editions made by the people who are destroying D&D and sliming the creators.

3.5 should have gotten its own spot

Been running since 2nd Edition. The current 2024 is not as bad as some people in the hobby have been saying. I have a mix of new players and more experienced, and character creation was hands down the smoothest I've seen. Combat has been fun. The new tags on weapons have been a hit with the players around my table. It gives them something more than just being a "I rolled, do 7 damage, that's my turn."

2E was my favorite. I did not play most of what you said, but I loved 2E and all its modules.

I disagree. Edition 3.5, is best edition. Whichever edition "that" one was, is worst edition. Thanks for the video.

I iked AD&D, but I have settled on just using 5E (since 2018) from now on.I particularly like the conversions such as the ones for LOTR/The One Ring.

B/X!

My favorite edition is 3.5. It fixed most of the problems with 3.0 and it, alongside the Open Gaming License that allowed for some really superb third party publications, allowed me to have pathways to nearly infinite character and adventure design. One of those 3PP companies, Paizo Inc., put out my all time favorite iteration of the game, Pathfinder 1e. It's the edition my group decided we'd one day "retire on", seeing no need to invest more money and time in learning another edition of official Dungeons and Dragons. Between Paizo's offerings and its 3PP spinoffs and additions, and the ability to re-engineer D&D 3.5 to fit its changes, my group would never run out of options for character creation and adventure design.

The red box is ware it started for me

No BECMI / Rules Cyclopedia? That's my top version. Or do you consider it one of the boxes?

To be honest, I never got into 5th edition (and the 5.5 new edition is worse, and quantifies rules for the DM that 5th had to fiat before) after the diaster that was 4venture. 3.5 is my favorite, but not without some niggles that should have been slapped at the beginning, such as Vancian Casting still being a thing, having two Arcane casters who either stuck to the Vance mode or was hampered with higher level platos with a better mechanic. (They should have stuck with Spontanious casting for all casters instead). The change from Non Weapon Proficentcies to Skills I had to get used to. The reintroduction of the Half-Orc to the game when it was gone before. And the change from 3.0 of Small weapons vs Medium weapons. But all that was preferrable to what happened with 4th edition.. WOLF!!! *crash*

I haven't played all of them, but I can make a list of the 5 I have: 1. D&D 3/3.5 2. AD&D 2 3. BECMI 4. D&D 5 5. AD&D 1 I feel like D&D 3 and 3.5 deserve more credit for streamlining the system. AD&D 2 adds a ton of splat books and campaign settings, while BECMI is a different beast that spends more time addressing how to rule areas after 9th level. They're kind of tied, but I gave AD&D 2 the nod because I feel like it's more playable. D&D 5 is more playable than any of the others, but it feels a bit bland. AD&D 1 isn't streamlined and isn't particularly better. I don't like that later editions were censored, but the amount that was removed could fit in 1 splat book.

3.5 didn't even make the list?

4th Edition is and remains my favorite D&D. In other versions, being a spell caster of pretty much any kind tended to be more of a bookkeeping exercise. In 4, it was FUN.

There is a big company where I live with advertising everywhere called THACO. Can’t help of thinking of THAC0 and 2nd edition d&d every time I see it. 😂

Yo yo wheres my 3.5 at?!?!

Wayne's artwork started with Eberron in 3.5... So I wouldn't even credit 4E with that! Besides...most of it was work he did FOR Eberron for 3.5... But yes, Wayne's artwork is top notch!

AD&D for the style (including limitations, Thaco and negative AC), but 5e for practicality. The glorious thing about AD&D was that it actually helped itself in session planning : it was so complex that no girl would indulge you long enough to go through the rules. One less distraction from glorious glory !

Haha, methinks the professor may have let a wee dram o' the old nostalgia color his rankings.

where is 4th? I would have expected 4th to be in the top three. Absolutely the best version for tabletop, especially for the DM during encounter design.

My favorite will always be 2e simply because it was my first. I memorized almost every sentence in that book. To this day, I can name the exact spell components for nearly every spell. My friends and I simply rewrote anything that didn't make sense to us (you can't sell magic items??), or we borrowed from 1e to cover the gaps. Today, we either play 5e or our standard mish-mash of 1e & 2e that we've been using for almost 4 decades.

I would agree, love becmi, and the gazetteer world of mystara. Kept it simple, no overload of classes and subclasses, it left the roleplay to the player.

Watching this makes me want to play different editions. I’ve only played two of them, and maybe this next year is a chance to expand.

It’s clear that 3.5 is the bestest edition of them all.

AD&D 4 ME -- ONE OF YOUR BEST VIDEOS!!! -- GREAT JOB!!!

I have played all editions. I played very little of 4 and 5 they just didn't do it for me. My favorite is 3.5 it gave me everything I wanted we still play it along with Pathfinder. My second favorite is 2 edition. It was the time of fantastic campaign worlds.

My favorite is 3.0 and 3.5 because you can easily adapt the game to your own style and world type. It is a great framework to build off of.

Good stuff. 3rd edition rules. You have good points though.😊

"Like that chart of hoes." 🤣

I would put Moldvay at #1; and you're right that if they had separated race/class it probably would have been the greatest version of the game.

I only know 5e and 2024. Haven't started 2024 yet

AD&D is my favorite, but it’s hard to argue against 5E being #1 on this list. Love it or hate it, If it had failed like 4E did, this hobby would be a pale shadow of what it is now. Doubtful your channel and the other voices in the community existing without it, which would be a shame.

Christmas of '83. The Sears' Christmas Catalogue had the DMG, PHB, MM 1 & 2, & FF. Best Christmas ever.

I like the random whore table. I've never known anyone to use it, but it created a hilarious running joke, and showed that D&D was a game to not be taken so seriously - to just have some laughs with your buddies. These days everything feels so carefully curated to not offend the sensitive, and I don't feel like that creates an authentic game.

The paragraph you read about the disruptive player and talking about the kind of game you want to play is almost word for word out of the 4E DMG on page 32. The section on 1, 2, 4hr prep time is as well. It's great content. Glad to see it back again and saved Wizards having to write new material. Page 13 of the 3E DMG has some content on unruly players and is more general and is an expansion of a similar paragraphin the 1E DMG that says to deal harshly with disruptive players who are controller, bossy, pout, or try to use the rules to negate the DMs rulings.

I feel the woke is strong here

Are you a part of the wotc nazis?

I'm going to call it 5.5. But I disagree with the statement of sameness of characters. All they did was pull ability scores away from race/species and add it to your background. Even then its not just what ever abilities you want, you only get three scores that best align with that background to chose from which takes the importance of race/species and puts it on background. I honestly prefer this as it makes the background more meaningful, plus in my games race/species is kind of an after thought and most players care about GM's referencing their backstory. Gone are the days of every palading being a dragonborn for the STR/CHA combo. But if thats your main reason for the lower position then its pretty obvious you barely read it and just brushed it aside, which is dishonest.

Wotc has hurt the community

Breath in.... Ghhoooooooodddddd!

3.5 forever!!!!!! 5e is ass

Red Box was my intro - and I'm still traumatized by Aleena's death.

Happy trails

Mayyyn I didn't take you for one of the 4th edition haters 💀 Eh, I kid though, this was an interesting video thanks for making it! I wasn't even familiar with red box

My favorites are dungeon crawl classics, 3.5 and pathfinder. Granted, there are tons of game systems I haven’t played yet