Dungeons and dragons edition timeline

History Talk 2. How to use this wiki » How to contribute » Browse all 2, pages by category » Did you know? Most are longswords , but some are greatswords, shortswords, knives, and even axes. Mind flayers reproduce in a process called ceremorphosis , where an illithid tadpole enters the ear of a humanoid victim, consumes their brain and takes over their body. Site news February 9, : The wiki has reached 2, pages.

This was followed by a fairly constant addition of more specific setting works and optional rule supplements. Initially, the second edition would consolidate the game, with three essential books to govern Dungeon Masters and players alike. Periodically, TSR published optional rulebooks for character classes and races to enhance game play. The combat system was changed. The minimum number required to hit a target uses a mathematical formula in which the defender's AC armor class is subtracted from the attacker's THAC0 to hit armor class zero instead of 1st edition's attack matrix tables.

Distances are based around in-game units feet rather than miniatures-board ones. Demi-human races are given higher level maximums to increase their long-term playability, though they are still restricted in terms of character class flexibility. Critical hits are offered as optional rules. An effort was made to remove aspects of the game which had attracted negative publicity, most notably the removal of all mention of demons and devils although equivalent monsters were later added, now renamed tanar'ri and baatezu respectively.

The target age of the game was also lowered, with most 2nd edition products being aimed primarily at teenagers. The Second Edition art and marketing were also modified to appeal more to female players. The game was once again published as three core rulebooks which incorporated the expansions and revisions which had been published in various supplements over the previous decade.

However, the Monster Manual was replaced by the Monstrous Compendium , a loose-leaf binder in which every monster is given a full page of information, the justification being that packs of new monsters often setting specific could be purchased and added to the binder without the expense or inconvenience of a separate book. The concept behind the loose-leaf binder was it would allow updating the book. Originally this was considered for all the core rulebooks, based on the concept that had been used by Avalon Hill for Advanced Squad Leader.

While eventually adopted only for the Monstrous Manual, it was abandoned because of the issues of wear and difficulties in keeping alphabetic order when many pages had been printed with more than one monster. The Forgotten Realms setting owes a lot of its popularity to the many novels using the setting, [ citation needed ] like R. Several major deities died during the Time of Troubles see deaths, ascensions, and resurrections and a handful of mortals rose to divinity.

The interpretation of the term "present day" in the Forgotten Realms depends entirely upon the context in which it is used. Alternatively, they may set their games at any point during the Realms' past or future. The novels set in the Realms cover a wide variety of time periods too. This wiki does not focus on one specific time as being the "present day" - instead, it endeavours to provide specific date references where possible.

The other continents include Kara-Tur , Zakhara , Maztica , Anchorome , Laerakond and other as-yet unspecified landmasses. See the sourcebooks portal for an extensive list of products. In early publications about the setting, The Realms shared a unified cosmology with various other campaign settings. With the release of the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting , the setting was given its own distinct and separate cosmological arrangement, with unique planes not explicitly connected to those of the other settings.

The Forgotten Realms world of Abeir-Toril is but one of several other worlds [6] in the Realmspace crystal sphere. Beyond Abeir-Toril further out in the crystal sphere are the Five Wanderers, five worlds which flow through star-rivers in an uneven course through wildspace.

Some of these worlds are inhabited by humans , dwarves , and orcs , but also more sinister races such as illithids and beholders. Earlier 4th edition products were made compatible with Essentials via the Essentials update and Essentials update 2 documents offered as free downloads.

The 4th edition license for third party publishers originally contained a clause which required 4th edition compatible product lines to stop using 3rd edition's open license.

Mike Lescault , community manager for Wizards of the Coast, denied that the clause was a "poison pill", and characterized it as a "conversion clause". Nevertheless, in , Paizo Publishing declined to extend their open source 3. A number of other third party publishers followed suit. In , Paizo released a complete Pathfinder roleplaying game, based on version 3.

A third-party card game entitled Edition Wars satirized this competition. Sales of the June set of core rulebooks exceeded Wizards of the Coast's expectations, requiring them to order additional books to be printed even before the books' release date.