Dungeons & Dragons uses an abstract combat system, and many role-playing games afterward used said abstraction as a model. While the game has at times become a more tactical system over the years, certain elements of the combat engine have remained constant. Most notably, hit points and armor class have remained largely the same since the game’s inception.

True, the number of hit points a character has have gone up and AC has gone from a high-to-low to low-to-high number, but the core concept remains: roll a d20, beat a target number, and subtract damage from a target’s hit points. It’s simple, it’s fast, and it has worked for decades.

It’s also one element of the game that drives those wishing for a more realistic system nuts.

Wizards of the Coast still claims that the new Dungeons & Dragons rulebooks released in time with the game’s 50th anniversary is still part of the game’s 5th edition, but that number is really just a marketing decision. The game has really undergone at least ten different edition changes across two brand names. That doesn’t include optional rulebooks that, if incorporated, radically changed the way the game played.

So what edition are we really on? Here’s my subjective scorecard on the many faces of D&D.

This room appears to be some sort of museum display. Engravings on the wall describe all manner of ancient battle. Nearest the door are a desk and a chair with a vase and a flower sitting on top. Hanging from a hook on the wall next to that is an expensive-looking cloak on it. The veneer of civilization disappears near the far end of the room, however, where a mossy growth creates a sort of wilderness display. Near the far wall is a small stuffed rabbit looking at you through glassy eyes while perched atop an old tree stump.

If this was a standard room in a typical dungeon adventure, the first question the adventurers would be asking themselves is, “Where’s the trap? What’s going to kill me when I step into this room?”

This is the Room of Death. The answer is: everything.