One of the best combos in gaming these days is the OSRIC and D&D 3.5E pair. If you want a B/X-style rules-light dungeon game, the classic first-edition style does not disappoint. People may raise an eyebrow when I say OSRIC is rules-light since I am inclined to first put Old School Essentials, Swords & Wizardry, or any other B/X hybrid or clone in that space.
But OSRIC plays precisely like those games once you get through the rules on character creation. And I like the limits on character creation; this makes the game special. The class, race, and level limits for all the different builds give OSRIC a depth that the other "pick any race and any class" B/X clones do not have.
In the first edition, you make a huge choice when you create a character that needs to be informed and conscious. In the old days, this was like picking a college based on the school's specialty and reputation. You will live with this choice for the rest of your life.
OSRIC is my game manual of choice, but having your AD&D books lying around for inspiration and Gary's advice at the table never hurts. Nothing replaces having the words of the game's inventor and true master by your side, and those will also serve you well in life as your driving force of adventure.
And there is descending AC here. I like this since the new-style "AC as target number" can sometimes feel too easy, and it streamlines far too much. Having this extra "decoder step" before you strike a blow makes each blow seem more serious, as if you are unlocking a choice from which there is no way back and putting the finger on the trigger. Looking that to-hit number up feels the same way.
With OSRIC and the BRW Games expansions, you can also have a complete, expanded, and content-packed version of the first edition that puts any 5E or clone-5E game to shame in less page count with the modern class choices you come to expect. There are also the best Cthulhu and Oriental Adventures in this lineup for the first edition you will ever see, done respectfully and with a strong sense of design. These books also give you a model and framework to expand the game in any direction.
OSRIC is suitable for B/X-style "theater of the mind" play. It works well on a map, but the rules are simple enough to handle most fights without one. D&D 3.5E is much better with a map since it "proves" your build and tactics, but OSRIC and the first edition still let you do that conversational style of play.
If I just want to "play a dungeon game" without maps or in a solo play style, the first edition through OSRIC is very hard to beat and remains one of the best editions of the game ever.
Do you want modern "character building" by the Wizards style? Do you want tactical play? Go D&D 3.5E. Frankly, character customization has worsened with every new edition Wizards has released. Here? Point buy skills and building into prestige classes; you can still multiclass at every level.
With D&D 4? We lost multiclassing, and the classes became power-list choices.
D&D 5? We have multiclassing back, but the internal structure of classes means treed choices at the low levels and no real, meaningful choice past your subclass selection. You are on that track until you multiclass and invest enough levels to make a second treed choice.
With D&D 3.5E? Point-buy all the way up, meeting prestige class requirements, and free multiclassing. It has problems; it needs patching, you need to establish a world skill cap, and there are plenty of cheese builds - but you will have fun finding and banning them. Nothing beats D&D 3.5E as a character-building game, not even Pathfinder 1e, which began to retreat into the "treed choice" cave with its design and the weak support for prestige classes.
D&D 3.5E was also written before censorship and Hasbro's interference in the rules. This was the last team that could "do what they wanted" with the game, and it shows. The game was mature, not written down to an audience, did not pander, still had edgy content, and even had books that contained artistic nudity. Evil could be evil, and good could be good. This is the last version of the game where the rules support evil campaigns.
Why do I need third-party "evil campaign 5E books" on Kickstarter again? This is built into D&D 3.5E, and the tone and style of the core rulebook don't oppose it.
D&D 3.5E also had the tight, map-based play that D&D 4E had, which we lost in D&D 5E for story gaming. Once you go story gaming, your game is destroyed, and it begins to take a soft, interpretation-based, just-make-everyone-win, easy-play route. Pathfinder 2E and Shadowdark continue the tradition of "characters that can die on a map," but D&D 3.5E is the purest form of that combination of wargames and horror movies.
Once you are forced to "pick a figure" and "place it on the map," and you need to understand a rules framework to survive, along with having a viable character build - you will discover a thrill and a terror only possible with a game where "tactical rules matter."
Those modifiers can kill you or doom your enemies.
And no, not everyone can play, which is good. You need to learn rules with built-in mastery and become efficient and proficient enough to earn your way into the "best groups." With 5E, anyone with a character sheet or a build ripped off a forum can be a good player, and that invites in people who don't care about the game or care more about themselves.
With D&D 3.5E, just like Magic: the Gathering, you have much to learn and practice before considering yourself a "high-level" player. Frankly, this is the same in Pathfinder 2E. This isn't gatekeeping. The game makes no apologies for asking you to learn a system and become good at playing and running it. You aren't taking 30 minutes to decide what you do on your turn; that is hugely disrespectful to other players and their time, and you won't get invited to play in the best player circles.
If you slam D&D 3.5E for gatekeeping, you must do the same for Magic: the Gathering and Pathfinder 2E. But forcing you to learn a system to sort your players into player skill levels isn't gatekeeping; it creates a natural selection, just like high-level Diablo IV or World of Warcraft play. Not everyone can do mythic raids, and not everyone should be allowed to do so. This is a privilege you need to earn to become a great player.
Gatekeeping implies "barring someone from playing." Systems where you "earn the right at high-level play" still allow everyone into that gate if they put in the effort. No one is keeping you from going through but yourself. D&D 3.5E filters out the worst players and bad habits, whereas D&D 5E opens the door to them. This is the Hasbro "everyone can play" design we are stuck with today.
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