I have been enjoying AD&D and other pnp games for over 20 years. (yes Top secret too)...been playing semi-steadily with a gaming group for about 12 years now, on and off....some are local friends others are leftovers from the Rpga tourneys I would run several years back.

We have a great group and use first,second and some third edition rule-sets, mixed into our 'world(s)" - together...persay.

They all work fine together wonderfully, if played and controlled correctly. Several of our gamers(online or offline) are or have been GM's/DM's so they all understand balancing for the effort of longevity in gameplay.

Mostly we stick with 2nd edition rule sets. It  works so great, it made it very easy to blend in the "Alternate Realities" gamesystem and also the famous GammaWorld systems...we give limited use of such tech's/abilities to the Spelljamming Vodoni empire. Which opens up many many dimensions of play to be crossed with psionics.

we also use Battlesystem from (first edition years) Rules Cyclopedia and have ALWAYS included the Mystic and Monk classes in the fray since day 1.

We are Forgotten Realms/Realmspace junkies and huge buffs on the lands of Toril. So we play by-the-book when it comes to demographics. Volo's guides are almost used as travelling bibles, so the common lore and lay of the land is exact to the written word in most novels/modules/short stories/players books/etc......

All the systems work great together with using 2nd edition as a main base of rules.

12+ years, 380+ characters,20+ Crystal Spheres and Many many systems boxed sets later (spanning many players over those years) we have yet to run into a problem or any to 'stump' the game. WITH the EXCEPTION of ATHAS of DARK SUN....well you know the rules, one way in - no way out. No stream/flow(phlogiston) :)

We have even played through Elminsters Closet( the left one, not the one that goes to a hovel on a Tear of Selune)...so we have even brought the 2nd edition ruleset into an 1800's steam powered world. worked great!

thats the beauty of AD&D..it works!...and it 'can' never end and provide years and years of play. Well, if you keep 'all' the encounters logged and every NPC up to date, Merchant lists consistant, NPC's in the local population consistant....it can go on for-e-v-e-r. 

/scratches head...."but it is cheaper than 15 bucks a month!?...it can be, if everyone chips in!"......another beauty of AD&D...it doesnt have to cost alot.(unless you want it to, like us, with room sized set-ups and scale models of spelljammer ships,1,000's of painted mini's,maps, created supplements and player handouts and have every single AD&D game book at your disposal,etc....mheh.....

AD&D=  can be a very small investment for loads of fun.

All the editions have something fun to add or 'use' as stand alone. we just choose to use it ALL.

after all these years.....it still rocks.

I picked AD&D, but I also liked 2nd Edition. I've played 3rd Edition and didn't like it. I've never played 3.5, so I can't comment. But AD&D 1st edition to me still is the best of all. I still have all of my books. My most prized is the Fiend Folio. You know. The one with the githyanki on the cover.

Most people prefer the version they started with...

I really adore 3.0/3.5 because of the multi classing freedom.  We play with simplifeid combat options, just to concentrate on the roleplaying more.

I selected AD&D2, but I am also a fan of 1st run.  I have an abundance of source books and modules dating back to the original and as another poster stated, most tend to like what they started with.  I think that sums it up nicely.  I am an old school gamer, and as such prefer more of the old school material.  Hell, I was recently cleaning out my basement and came across some rather odd and obsolete titles from small RPG games that tried and failed. Oh the nostalgia.  MMmm, big fan of the old Chaosium and Palladium titles too.

2nd edition ftw

As a few have said before me, 3 and later are just power gamers, min maxers who HAVE to win. Ask any of the older players, and they will tell you, the sex changed evil wizard...dress, the dumb half orc, the undextrious  halfling, it was the odd charecters that forced your RP up to a new level, these were fun.

I played lots of paper, but once everyone started all these monty hall toons, it was just boring...

example- Dorf, why did chop you chop down the door that was holding the monster back?

                 Because it was the only way out?

3 edition- Excuse me Dorf, we seem to be trapped.

                 Thats ok, I have several passwall spells just for these occasions.

Vanilla and boring, but hey, thats why I liked Cyberpunk better after 3rd came out.

Originally posted by BackwardsDag

2nd edition ftw

As a few have said before me, 3 and later are just power gamers, min maxers who HAVE to win. Ask any of the older players, and they will tell you, the sex changed evil wizard...dress, the dumb half orc, the undextrious  halfling, it was the odd charecters that forced your RP up to a new level, these were fun.

 

I played lots of paper, but once everyone started all these monty hall toons, it was just boring...

example- Dorf, why did chop you chop down the door that was holding the monster back?

                 Because it was the only way out?

 

3 edition- Excuse me Dorf, we seem to be trapped.

                 Thats ok, I have several passwall spells just for these occasions.

 

Vanilla and boring, but hey, thats why I liked Cyberpunk better after 3rd came out.

 

In my world AD&D 3rd edition, that dwarf has to do really really starnge things to learn Magic.

There is allways something like houserules.

And if that dwarf learned some sorcery, noboddy in my gameworld would ever name him dwarf again.

Next to that, most XP in the game i DM is rewarded for good roleplaying.

Grant me my 2nd ed AD&D and I'm a happy gal.  Granted there is some cool stuff in the 3.5 book and it's nice with an open game thing in the back, but what's the fun of talking about THAC0 now when even the new players give you a wtf? look?  I mean honestly I learned in 2nd ed, and love it, still get together to play it, and we just figure out ways to translate the new stuff in.

I'm not real good at math, and I'll tell ya what, AD&D is one of the two reasons i made it through high school math.  Changed all stupid story problems to calculate dmg, and I was good to go with em :)  kinda lame I know, but hey whatever worked so i'd never have to take another math class again!!

Started with plain ol' D&D back in the late 80's and early 90's. Stopped playing for a long time then started up again with ver 3 then 3.5. I liked the later additions myself. They gave you much more scope to develop your character. I'm now playing Star Wars Saga RPG because I was told that it's very much like ver 4.0 that will be out in '08. Get ready to pony up with more more money boyz and girlz!!

I only played AD&D second edition. When I went to play DDO, I was confused. I don't like what they did with the game., but I'm just an old fart.

Vote for the ADnD 2nd edition too.

Yes, the Thaco system is a legend! Helps with maths too=)

3 and 3.5 edition is an upgrade of the Power and Skills book from the ADnD 2nd edition. Actually there are many optional rules in the 2nd edition, so if u buy alot of 2nd edition, there is no need to buy the 3rd edition anymore. Moreover, the melee in the 3rd edition is boring, everyone keeps forgetting to reduce their hits.

I am looking forward to 4th edition, at least, that is something new.

I prefer 2nd Edition AD&D also.  I also enjoyed Immortals Rules too!  Nothing like moving a whole plain of existance.

A year ago, I would have answer plain old D&D.

I resist the 1st edition AD&D pretty well.  I give in for the 2nd against my will, but eh, you have to play with friends and all.

3.5 went back to the original D&D on many aspects, and so...eventually I learn to love it.

However, above all...

I prefer Mystara over any other world, no matter how illogical and unbalanced the world is.  FR & DL are acceptable alternative, but I always feel DL too be small...and FR is okay I guess...yet, Greyhawk would also have been okay...

AD&D was great at that time. But, some might argue, AD&D was actually much easier to munchkin your character, D20 is actually a bit more fair and balanced.

T S R      F T W!!!

Wizards of the "pffft" shoulda stuck with their stupid tcgs.

we miss u Gary.

 Ad & d 2nd is the best.  Went from D&D to Ad&D 2 nd edition  and never tried others.  We have 3rd edition books but just cant get into changing.  Can't teach an old dawg new tricks.  Nearly 10 years and counting, every Sunday after church to Midnight playing in player created world with FR gods, creative GM changes alot of info about god lore.

Of course once we bought all the class manuals for all the new kits info we were not ever going to change. 

Every1 should go play pen and paper its the best game ever created!!!!! followed by "Castle Risk" then onto MMO's hehe

I dig 3.5.  You can basically make any kind of character you want, can take whatever feats you want (for the most part), it fully embraced the tactical side of D&D with battlemaps and miniatures, and that also linked with making the overall rules more "yes, you can do that," or "no, you can't do that," instead of "see if the DM allows it," which helps keep everyone around the world all playing the same game with the same rules.  (Very important for conventions.)

I pulled out my 2nd Edition books awhile ago.  They looked like an alien language that didn't make any sense.  Just so cumbersome, with rules that seemed to be tossed in on a whim.

Played a 4th edition starter module yesterday.  It was ok.  Not sure what to make of it yet.  Everyone being able to heal themselves is nice, but so far that's basically like carrying a wand of cure light wounds around that you pass to the cleric/ranger/paladin/UMD rogue between fights.  So far looks like there will be less character customization and more cookie-cutter classes. 

4th edition right now.

I thought I was done with pen and paper. I played more 3.0 and 3.5 than anything else. With all the books that came out we had people power gaming crazy characters along side of people playing simple less powerful builds. There always seemed to be arguments and I just got sick of not having fun.

Then I played a 4th edition “npc” fighter for a party that was short a player. I had a blast. I liked how the encounter monsters were set up. I liked how fighters had abilities that made the class as interesting as a wizard or a cleric.

It seems to be a pretty simple game compared to other versions, and what TheFranchise wrote about character customization seems to be true. There is two almost pre-made versions of each class you can make. Not a lot of feats and things to choose from.

I adopted the character and have played 3 sessions so far. Maybe I’m enjoying it just because its new, but I am enjoying the system.

2nd edition is my favorite. Though all are fun except for 3.0 and up.

I only played AD&D 2nd edition. I couldn't get into the newer versions.

2nd edition all the way.