Wich one?

[cloneof]

I have been playing D&D for some time, however my location as far as Finland has forced me to use later editions of D&D, such as 3,5 and 4 wich right now just gathers dust as my party prefers 3.5 right now. For years I have heard from D&D fans how 2nd and 1st come over 3.5 BY HUGE!!! and for age of my D&D time I have tried to find one of them.

Untill now, I have been given the choice to get on either advance on 1st or 2nd edition, but only one of them.

So the question goes, wich one? Could someone owning one of these books tell me what`s so diffrente?

This is one of the hardest decidions of my life, people... You have to help me!

[Matthew]

I wouldn't worry about it. AD&D 1e/2e are almost identical games in terms of rules. The more significant question is who will you be playing with and are you going to be the game master or is somebody else fulfilling that role?

If you want to the "full on" AD&D experience, then first edition is probably best. If you want a clearer version of the rules, then second edition will be preferable.

An alternative is to take a look at OSRIC, which is a simulacrum of AD&D, and does rather a good job of explaining first edition. If you are willing to wait for a month or so, the full on free downloadable rulebook will be available.

[Keld Denar]

If this is the hardest decision of your life, I greatly envy you!

As far as editions go, 1st and 2nd are pretty close to each other, as far as core mechanics go. 2nd goes into a lot greater detail about more specific actions, but plays very similar to 1st.

3rd (and 3.5) change a lot of things around, including streamlining the d20 roll so that high rolls are ALWAYS better. This simplified a lot of things, like determining whether or not you hit, if you suceeded at an action, or saved vs a spell or effect. 3.5 also included the greatest amount of customization in terms of mechanics, with potentially millions or billions of different class combinations to achieve different results.

4e took out a lot of that customization, and really simplified a lot of the mechanics even more, way to much in some peoples opinion. Mechanics-wise, it functions a lot like many other popular miniature figure combat games.

As far as roleplaying goes, edition doesn't matter much. Pick one who's mechanics you like, and roleplay to your hearts content.