Editions of Dungeons and Dragons
| YEAR | GAME | |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | "Little Brown Books" or "White Box" Dungeons & Dragons (original white/brown box edition with three booklets)
Men & Magic • Monsters & Treasure • The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures | |
| 1977 | Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1st Edition)
Monster Manual (December) |
"Blue Box" Dungeons & Dragons (2nd version)
"Holmes" Basic Set (blue box) (levels 1–3) |
| 1978 | Players Handbook (June) | |
| 1979 | Dungeon Master Guide (August) | |
| 1981 | "B/X" Dungeons & Dragons (3rd version)
"Moldvay" Basic Set (magenta box) (levels 1-3) | |
| 1983 | Core rulebooks reprinted with new orange-spined covers |
"BECMI" or "Red Box" Dungeons & Dragons (4th version)
"Mentzer" Basic Set (red box) (levels 1-3) |
| 1984 | Master Set (black box) (levels 26–36) | |
| 1985 | Unearthed Arcana (a fourth "core" rulebook) |
Immortals Set (gold box) (levels 36+) |
| 1989 | Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition
Player's Handbook | |
| 1991 | "RC" Dungeons & Dragons (5th version)
Rules Cyclopedia (levels 1–36) | |
| 1992 | Wrath of the Immortals (levels 36+) | |
| 1993 | Monstrous Manual | |
| 1996 | Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition revised
Player's Handbook | |
| 2000 | Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition (three Core rulebooks)
Player's Handbook • Dungeon Master's Guide • Monster Manual | |
| 2003 | Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition revised (v3.5)
Revised editions of the core rulebooks (compatible with 3.0 via errata) | |
| 2008 | Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (three Core rulebooks)
Player's Handbook • Monster Manual • Dungeon Master's Guide | |
| 2009 | Player's Handbook 2 • Monster Manual 2 • Dungeon Master's Guide 2 | |
| 2010 | Player's Handbook 3 • Monster Manual 3 | |
| 2010 | Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (Essentials)
Starter Set • Heroes of the Fallen Lands • Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms | |
| 2014 | Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition (three 2014 Core rulebooks)
Player's Handbook • Monster Manual • Dungeon Master's Guide | |
| 2024 | Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition (three 2024 Core rulebooks)
Player's Handbook • Monster Manual • Dungeon Master's Guide | |
| Notes: | Titles in quotes are unofficial titles commonly used by players to distinguish between the six different versions all simply called "Dungeons & Dragons" by TSR. | |
| The grey group of editions is commonly known as "Original D&D" or "OD&D". However, some people use this term exclusively for the white/brown box version. | ||
| The purple group of editions is commonly known as "AD&D". | ||
| The orange group of editions is commonly known as "Classic D&D" or "Basic D&D". However, some people use the term "Classic D&D" to apply to the orange and grey groups combined. | ||
| The green group of editions is commonly known as "D&D 3.x" or "d20 D&D". Additionally, some people refer to the green, red and blue groups together as "WotC D&D" and all earlier groups as "TSR D&D". | ||
| The red group of editions is commonly known as "D&D 4e". | ||
| The blue group of editions is commonly known as "D&D 5e"; also known as "D&D Next" during its initial development, and “One D&D” during the 2024 revision. | ||