Dungeons & Dragons Edition Wars have returned.

There’s a very old, old argument that has been around as long as I can remember over what edition of D&D is the best. Let’s roll down the list of possibilities minus a few Basic sets.

  • Brown Box/White Box. The old, old original 1974 version.
  • B/X Moldvay. 40+ years in and still popular.
  • BECMI. The edition I started with. I rather enjoy it.
  • Rules Cyclopedia. I’m a huge fan and still have it on my shelf.
  • 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Also still a huge crowd favorite. Entire cult-like movements have formed around it. I still refer back to it occasionally for a couple of settings. Four of my favorite official sourcebooks of all time came from this edition.
  • 2nd Edition AD&D. Some people swear by it. Others swear at the later printings. I hit my stride as a Dungeon Master during this edition and I still love it. Some of the best campaign boxed sets of all time were released under the 2E banner. Also the edition with some of the best splat books of all time that I still refer back to on occasion. Also the edition that basically burned T$R to the ground financially with bad decisions and poor management skills.
  • 3rd Edition D&D. Enter Wizards of the Coast. Say goodbye to THACO. Say hello to skills, feats, and the Difficulty Check. Lots of great stuff here. Still on my shelves but not as much as the next entry.
  • 3.5 Edition. The Open Gaming License was born somewhere between 3.0 and 3.5 giving independent Third Party Publishers the ability to make D&D content. I have all of the official stuff from this edition and more 3PP settings than I’d care to admit. There is literally an entire bookshelf and then some devoted to it in my man cave.
  • D20 Modern. Technically not D&D, but I feel it deserves a mention for its long-time cult following as well. I keep it around because sometimes I still want to make content for it.
  • 4th Edition D&D. The “Advanced” is gone forever, but maybe this should have been labeled as such. Influenced heavily by World of Warcraft and focused intensely on miniatures tactical combat. One simplistic 3 minute battle could last up to four hours. This edition had some fantastic official sourcebooks. There was one set of basic rules attached to this game that seemingly made no sense whatsoever. (No Ranger, Bard, or Barbarian.) Still, some popular DungeonTubers speak highly of it. I still have lots of respect for it despite its exclusive closed game licensing. Possibly the worst edition of the game according to the Internet.
  • 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons. Spanning 10 years with the last three or so being fraught with controversy and Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast stupidity. This edition streamlined and combined many previous iteration rules in what was arguably the most rules-effective version of the game. The OGL and a massive amount of 3PP content.

    5E is probably the most talked about edition of the game. It’s been hacked, modified, and molded into every genre imaginable. Official content proliferated and became popular during the COVID lockdown of 2020. The game reached the peak of its popularity during this edition with Critical Role, Stranger Things, and Rick & Morty promoting it at a time when many of us were cooped up indoors.
  • 2024 5th Edition (Whatever It’s Called This Week.) I can’t give an unbiased description of this because of the 2023 Great OGL Debacle and other stupid WotC shenanigans. Many have spoken out against this edition so far because of the social, cultural, and political views expressed by the designers through the game. I want to revisit this edition in another article because it’s controversial on many levels. I’m trying desperately to stay open minded about this edition, but it’s difficult when the company who makes it also hates on “old white dudes” from the Midwest. (where I live.)

Disclaimer: Statements expressed in this article are strictly my opinion. If you disagree or have a different opinion, that’s okay. I’m not an expert on everything. I’m not always right. I’m just writing from my experience as I know it. Your mileage may vary.

People have been freaking out in person, in game shops, at conventions, on bulletin boards, on forums, on social media, and YouTube about who’s edition is best since the dawn of the hobby. A well-known, beloved DungeonTuber- Professor Dungeon Master recently ranked the above list and caught all kinds of grief over it. I can’t believe a longtime veteran of the hobby actually went there knowing the kind of grief it causes.

I said (in my best Yoda voice,) “Begun again, the edition wars have. A sad day this is.”

Here’s the truth. Ya ready? None of it matters. Everyone is right. No one is wrong.

“If you think you’re right, then you are.”—Master Sri Akarshana.

Everyone is going to gravitate toward what they prefer and away from the edition or rules that don’t resonate with them. It’s so simple. If you love 4E, then run/play/love 4E. Great.

I love TTRPGs, even D&D.

I have issues with Wizards of the Coast (covered elsewhere.) D&D, regardless of edition, is the grandmother of the hobby. Most of us learned about fantasy TTRPGs through D&D. The tropes, borrowed from elsewhere in fantasy fiction, come through D&D and spill over into other games.

There are four outstanding spinoffs of D&D. Shadowdark, Castles & Crusades, Pathfinder 2E Remastered, and now Tales of the Valiant all do justice to one edition or another. These games are still D&D with a different coat of paint. There are many more such as Old School Essentials and Dungeon Crawl Classics that I could mention as well but it’s all still emulating D&D’s various editions. 

I feel this is the single silliest argument on the Internet I’ve ever heard. It’s dumber than the NCC 1701-A Enterprise vs Darth Vader’s Executor argument. If someone has to belittle, argue, and fistfight over their edition of D&D, they need to step back and reflect inwardly. It’s not worth the effort.

I have bits and bobs I pull from every edition I own when I need them. I have 3PP products from three editions that I borrow from at times. Heck, one of my all time favorite settings actually comes from 5E 3PP. I think one of the best official D&D worlds came from D&D 3.5. (Rokugan Oriental Adventures.) My favorite historical RPG, Operation White Box came out of D&D.

I don’t understand why people are so hung up on trying to force their opinions about D&D editions, music, or TV shows down everyone’s throats. It is so much simpler just to say, I love ‘blah’ edition of the game. If it resonates, great. Have a conversation. If not, then move onto something you do enjoy.

I think social media, the Internet in general, and YouTube specifically sounds so much better when we talk about things we love and enjoy. Pointlessly raging out over one edition or the other just wastes energy better spent on improving the game and creating content.

Thank you for being here with me today. I appreciate you. Keep it real, but please strive for positivity, too. Please embrace the things that bring you the most joy in your life.