In this Dungeon Craft video, Professor Dungeon Master puts forth a heretical idea. If you play D&D in the right spirit, emphasizing play over the rules or various editions, nearly all D&D editions and materials are available to be used. It's rules lawyers and book publishers who seem fixated on having to upgrade to every edition and only using that edition.
Many RPG rulebooks state upfront that it's play, fun, adventure, and collaboration that lie at the heart of the game, and to let that override any rules obsession or disputes. But, for some reason, that often gets lost.
Given all of the hoopla over One D&D and the end of editions, it's nice to be reminded that you can take what works for you–what the DM and players agree upon–and leave the rest. As the good professor puts it: "Whether you play first, D5e, DCC, or OSE, it's all One D&D to me."
The professor also talks about the fact that many of the D&D designers that he's talked to over the years use house rules (a tradition that goes all the way back to Lord Gygax himself). If the designers of the game don't slavishly follow the rules…
