When is D&D not D&D?

MoogleEmpMog said:

And above all, the kitchen sink has to be thrown in, the serial-numbers-filed-off amalgam of the best, and often the worst, that fantasy has produced to date; jotuns and trolls living down the lane from titans and centaurs, with kirin and hopping vampires their neighbors in the next celestial county; not Conan OR Gandalf OR Hercules OR Cloud Strife, but the four of them teaming up to kick ass and chew bubblegum, possibly with Batman's help. Crashed spaceships give our heroes rayguns with which to shoot balrogs (er, balORS), dinosaurs live on lost plateaus overlooking quaint medievalesque villages, worg-riding goblins fight Stygians, and the Argonauts compete with the Knights of the Round Table for the Holy Grail - until the PCs show up and steal it away from both because they need it to kill Cthulhu.

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Bears repetition.

Cheers, -- N

Apologies to Billy Joel

What's the matter with the rules I'm reading?
Can't you tell that your BAB's too high?
Maybe I should buy the old Skills and Powers?
Welcome back to save or die.
Where have you been hidin’ gnomes lately Mearls?
I want to play a tiefling cause its cool to the girls!
Everybody's say’n that the new game hurls
But it's still D&D to me.

What's the matter with the dice I'm rolling?
Can't you tell that d10 is out of style?
Should I get a set of Whiterock Castle?
Are you gonna cast that miracle now?
Nowadays you can't be too sentimental
Your best bet's a true water elemental.
Giant skunk, Lord Tzunk, even if it's old junk
It's still D&D to me.

Oh, it doesn't matter what they say in the forums
'Cause it's always been the same old scene.
There's a new brand manager in town
But you can't get the rules from the pages of a magazine ...
That’s going digital on Halloween.

How about throwing a pair of +1 daggers
Or a mounted charge with my lance?
You could really be a Gutboy Barrelhouse
If you just give it half a chance.
You better spend your money on a new set of armor
A ordinary housecat can kill any farmer.
Phase door, Blood War, gas spore, big score,
It's still D&D to me.

What's the matter with the spell I'm using?
Don't you know that its range is touch?
Should I try to be a straight classed wizard?
If you are then you think too much.
Don't you know about the new edition honey?
All you need are books and a whole lotta money.
It's the new way, no save, game craze, anyways
It's still D&D to me.

Everybody's talkin' 'bout the rules
Funny, but it's still D&D to me.

Rechan said:

Sure.

I can take d20 Modern and use it to play D&D.

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yes, but all mammals aren't ninjas -- In other words, reverse corollaries don't have to be true.

For me, Classes and Levels and hit points are the probably most defining characteristics. Once those go, it's definitely lost all semblance of D&D to me. It's probably lost semblance to D&D before that in my opinion, actually, but that's the point where I'll probably find agreement with a majority of its fans.

Ranger REG said:

I hope you're not referring to Unearthed Arcana.

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I am not talking about unearthered arcana per se - UA tends to replace rules systems rather than layering on. IMO, it was one of the better books they put out, at least as much for the wholesal erules changes as for most of the content being open.