Pick One

OD&D
D&D (BECMI)
AD&D 1E
AD&D 2E
D&D 3.5
D&D 4E
D&D Essentials
Hackmaster
Pathfinder
Homebrewed Rules Blend

To clarify, BECMI stands for Basic Expert Companion Master Immortals. To many I could say Basic D&D and they’ll know what I mean, but I’ll stick with BECMI.

Every version of D&D has its own advantages and disadvantages, and to some people a version’s advantages is a disadvantage.

Vancian magic, or the memorization of spells that go away once cast, is a big negative to many.

Dynamic combat versus simple combat; can you go back to a simple sword swing after getting used to the power of Reckless Strike in 4E?

Does the strive for balance of the later editions ruin the fun you had in AD&D or do you approve of the power of magic-users being kept in check better?

Do you view the incompleteness of the early rules systems as a positive thing or a glaring hole that needs to be filled?

Would you prefer a long combat with plenty of options and tactical decisions on a battle-map, or would you prefer multiple, faster fights that eschew the need for a physical layout entirely?

Let’s go through the list to pick from with pros and cons (from my point of view):

OD&D: Never played it. I assume BECMI is a refined version of it.

BECMI: It was my first D&D experience. It is fast and rules light
Pros – Simple to learn, fast to play, plenty of modules to use
Cons – Missing a lot rules, not many options (especially in the class/race area)

AD&D 1E:
Pros – Lends itself to house-ruling, having a magic item actually means something (and rarely is required), plenty of modules to use
Cons – Has a few too many rules, has a lot of rules holes, not very balanced class-wise, rules vary in interpretation.

AD&D 2E:
Pros – Cleans up a lot of AD&D 1E rules, began adding many PC options
Cons – Its core rules really don’t differentiate itself much from 1E + house-rules, a lot of poor products were released making it hard to tell what was worth using, modules began leaving the dungeons behind, much love for the game on the internet was crushed by TSR lawyers

D&D 3.5 (absorbing 3E into it):
Pros – Streamlined D&D (goodbye THAC0), introduced new ideas and options, began the attempts to keep classes balanced, open-sourced (SRD), the game-designers actively sought to improve the game (pre-Hasbro)
Cons – Too many options leading to munchkin/cheese players, combats slowed dramatically at higher levels, magic items are required

D&D 4E
Pros – Classes are balanced is better, rules were simplified and streamlined, spread some work around to the players
Cons – Combats are too long no matter the level, the rules are no longer open-sourced, players have to recreate their character sheets each time a new magic item or power is gained

D&D Essentials
Pros – Fixed some of the glaring issues found with 4E
Cons – That stuff wasn’t found out in play-testing? Couldn’t it have been fixed with errata?

Hackmaster (I’ve never played it, heard this from others)
Pros – Has its core with 1E rules, aims to bring back the original feel of 1E
Cons – Tries to make the game fun by marrying it to the ideals shown in the Knights of the Dinner Table comics thus placing the DM vs. the PC’s

Pathfinder (I’ve never played it, heard this from others)
Pros – Has its core with 3E rules and simplifies them
Cons – Combat speed not addressed (made it worse maybe)

Homebrewed Rules Blend:
Pros – Mix and match rules of your liking to a system of your liking.
Cons – Have you joined a group and thought “Son of a …” when you found out they used a lot of home-brew rules?

One game-style I read about on ENWorld, I believe it’s called E6, used the 3.5E rules, but maxxed out PC’s levels at 6. After level 6, every 5000xp granted you another feat. There is more to it, but the idea is that it drastically reduces munchkinism, combats never get that long due to the lack of giant buffs, and high level monsters remain scary as hell.

The adult red dragon that has ruled the country-side for a century is nothing for a group of 6 level 15 PC’s to take out.
But that same dragon versus 6 level 6 PC’s, even in the same gear, would be a bit different.

That system kind of reminds me of the Vampire game I played in (for about a month) where you gain power gradually rather than doubling in power every 2 levels.

After the discussion we had at the last game session we concluded that we cannot really agree on what version we want to play.

Roughly each of us would prefer:

Me: house-ruled 1E with things added from other editions, would prefer not to spend money or spend hours reading rules (again).

Dale: Essentials, but would be ok with 1E.

Aaron: would rather stick with 4E or possibly revert to 3.5, he’s also intrigued by E6.

Scott: Doesn’t want to spend money (that’s really about it).

But overall we’re not going to stop the campaigns we have at the moment, so we have plenty of time to think of alternatives.