i have only once played 1 short campaign of 4e with two of my friends, first and only time i have played D&D , and absolutely loved it.
i want to start another campaign with different people but all have never played the game. what's needed to start and what's the best Ed to play both short and long term?
You can't go wrong with any of the six editions of Dungeons & Dragons, though some are more expansive than others and some more coherent than others:
1st: Original D&D, by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, consisting of the three "little brown booklets" sold together starting in 1974. There were three optional rules supplements --- Greyhawk, Blackmoor, and Eldritch Wizardry --- plus Supplement IV: Deities, Demigods, and Heroes, which was a precursor to Deities & Demigods / Legends & Lore but didn't really contain new rules.
2nd: Eric Holmes' "blue book" D&D in 1977 consisting of a single, relatively short booklet with rules only up to 3rd level. Two adventure modules were published for this version of D&D.
3rd: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons by Gary Gygax with three core rulebooks: the Monster Manual released in 1977, the Players Handbook in 1978, and the Dungeon Masters Guide in 1979. TSR published adventure modules beginning in 1978 (about 100 total for AD&D 1st edition), two World of Greyhawk setting books (the brief Folio in 1980 and the lengthier box set in 1983), and moved heavily into campaign setting material in 1987 starting with the Forgotten Realms box set and Dragonlance hardcover book. A few optional rulebooks were published, starting with Unearthed Arcana in 1985 (not counting the earlier Fiend Folio and Monster Manual II with additional monsters).
4th: Moldvay/Cook B/X D&D in 1981 consisting of the Basic Rules and Expert Rules, with covers by Erol Otus. The Basic Rules were a somewhat more expansive revision of Holmes D&D, while the Expert Rules took players up to level 14. Supposedly intended to conclude with a third rules set that was never published. Adventure modules continued in the B line and began in a new X line.
5th: Mentzer BECMI D&D, published starting in 1983, consisting of five box sets with covers by Larry Elmore. The 'Red Box' Basic Set was similar to Holmes and Moldvay Basic but much lengthier with a drastically revised presentation, and the 'Blue Box' Expert Set was similar to the Cook Expert Rules. The third 'Green Box' Companion Set took characters to level 25 and included rules for dominion rulership and mass warfare, among other things, while the fourth 'Black Box' Master Set took characters to the maximum 36th level with rules for questing for immortality. The final 'Gold Box' Immortals Set provided a new set of rules for playing as immortals that was almost divorced from normal D&D rules. Beginning in 1987, a series of Gazetteers were published detailing the various countries of the Known World, followed by a few campaign setting box sets and other material. A 1991 Rules Cyclopedia compiled the rules from the first four box sets, while a 1992 Wrath of the Immortals box set replaced the Gold Box rules for immortals with new ones. The B and X adventure module series continued, while others were initiated with higher level material in the CM, M, and IM lines (about 60 adventure modules total for the non-advanced versions of D&D).
6th: 2nd edition AD&D by David Zeb Cook, a revision of Gygax's AD&D, released in 1989 again as a set of three core rulebooks but with the Monster Manual hardcover book replaced by a Monstrous Compendium contained in a binder. Most of the AD&D campaign setting material was published for 2nd edition AD&D, including the new Spelljammer, Ravenloft, Dark Sun, Al Qadim, Planescape, and Birthright settings. There were also a voluminous amount of optional rules --- 15 Complete ____ Handbook's, 8 Dungeon Master's Guides, 7 Historical Reference Books, and many more --- plus a vast number of adventure modules (about 150 total) and other material until TSR went bankrupt in 1997.
Most groups freely adapted material from other versions of D&D/AD&D into whichever one they were ostensibly playing, including rules modifications.
