Headscratchers / Community S2 E14: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons

Why were they playing AD&D in the first place

Besides the obvious "it sounds like a college class" title pun, why would they be playing an edition from the 80s? Abed is too young to be a proper grognard.

• Two possibilities:
  • In-Universe: A lot of Abed's pop-culture references hail from the 80's (likely due to Author Appeal). So it might make sense that he plays the edition linked most prominently with that decade.
    • They were originally Neil's books, as stated in the opening. That likely means that they were from an older family when he was experiencing the same issues in high school.
  • Out of universe: They weren't strictly playing by exact rules for any edition, so it really didn't matter which, and AD&D just had the most appropriate name.
  • I assumed it was because none of the Study Group (including Abed) had ever played before, and Caverns of Draconis is a module that would be easy for a newbie DM to run.
• AD&D retains the classic art and 'look' that most people would recognize.
• Neil gives up his books to Winger early in the story. Assuming it took place in 2011, this would have been after Wizards of the Coast had abandoned 3rd edition, and 4th edition was struggling — so, in the full stages of the edition wars. It's possible he simply preferred AD&D to to 1st, 3rd, or 4th editions, but couldn't find a group.