TSR decided that they'd had enough of having two D&D product lines. With the decision to phase out D&D and replace it with AD&D, they gave their rulebooks a facelift, featuring a new logo with a reduced font "Advanced" in the title in order to get their customer base used to simply looking for the "Dungeons & Dragons" portion of the logo. This version of the game featured the OPTION series of rulebooks which added new levels of customizations in character creation.

Races: Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Half-Elf, Halfling, Human
Classes: Bard, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Illusionist, Mage, Paladin, Ranger, Specialist Wizard, Thief
Alignments: Lawful Good, Lawful Neutral, Lawful Evil, Neutral Good, True Neutral, Neutral Evil, Chaotic Good, Chaotic Neutral, Chaotic Evil
Level Range: 1-20. Maximum level depending on race and class selection.

Players Handbook: Covers all the rules for character creation, equipment, experience, spells, movement and combat. This is the first core AD&D rulebook to include an integrated skill system, termed non-weapon proficiencies.

Dungeon Masters Guide: The DMG covers optional and expanded rules for character creation, aging, disease, lycanthropy, money, NPCs, combat, time, spells, experience, treasure, and the adventuring environment.

Monster Manual: This is simply a reprint of the 2.0 Monstrous Manual with a new cover.

Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Game: This boxed set served as the official kiss-off to the classic D&D game rules. It contains simplified rules for getting new players started in the AD&D game, serving simply as a jumping off point to the main rulebooks.

DUNGEON MASTER Option: High-Level Campaigns: This rulebook details rules for expanding the available levels of play all the way up to 30th level and includes several cinematic abilities for the four class groups: priests, rogues, warriors and wizards. It also details high-level spells and magic items as well as presenting rules for magic item creation and magical duels.

PLAYERS OPTION: Combat & Tactics: This book covers changes to the combat system, including alterations to initiative, movement, encumbrance, combat actions, and morale. It also introduces concepts such as attacks of opportunity, knock back and fatigue.

PLAYERS OPTION: Skills & Powers: This book makes massive changes to the character creation rules. New races such as the Aarakocra, Alaghi, Centaur and several other races. The classes have been overhauled so that a player can select the features that he is interesting in for his class. Character kits are updated and the non-weapon proficiency system is altered to become less static. Weapon proficiencies have been overhauled as well. four new spell-casting classes have been introduced: the Alchemist, Geometer, Shadow Mage and Song Wizard. A new psionics system is also provided in this book.

PLAYERS OPTION: Spells & Magic: This option book various optional rules regarding the spellcasting classes, including a new spell point system, spell research, spell characteristics. It also gives several new spells and magic items.

Settings: This edition was marked by great expansion of its available settings such as: Birthright, Dark Sun, Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, Lankhmar, Mystara, Ravenloft and Spelljammer.