D&D Has Never Been Suitable for Generic Fantasy

[Lwaxy]

Sorry if it came across as overly anal or corrective.

Nah, just like a teacher

I'm very positive about 5e, if all else fails, my houserules will grow with the best of it lol

 

[Ahnehnois]

D&D has never been suitable for generic fantasy. Okay.

D&D has also never been suitable for sustained financial success. Or for consumption by the (enormous) market of genre fiction fans.

Perhaps it's time for a change.

 

[Neonchameleon]

As others, I have found it can cover both; yes, D&D at its core, is beholders, The City of Brass, mindflayers, Asmodeus etc, but it can encompass a non-magical campaign setting (the 2nd Ed historical Reference Documents).

I feel 4th Ed too ham-handedly removed basic premises of the implied D&D cosmology (not that variants are good, just not as core). I love the complex, rich cosmology that came out of 1st/2nd Ed, and elaborated on in 3rd Ed; though there were great additions in 4th Ed (my favourite part of the 4th Ed cosmology is the Fey action).

My problem here is that in my opinion, the classic D&D cosmology sucked. I don't mind large parts of it - parts like the Modrons were fun. I mean the core axis and alignment underneath it.

What does 'Chaotic Good' mean? Or even 'Chaotic Neutral'? If balance preserves everything then why are the pro-balance people True Neutral not Lawful Good? And to borrow a 3.X example from the Tome of Awesome, if we agree that music-as-magic people should be bards then why can't a magical concert pianist be lawful? Gygax suggested that killing people straight after they'd converted would be a lawful good act - I think he was joking, but that's in line with the descriptions.

For all there was a lot of good stuff in the old D&D cosmology, the Great Wheel was based on sand as it was based on the alignment system which was ... flawed to say the least. And happy as I am to keep Mechanus and The Happy Hunting Grounds/The Beastlands/Narnia in my system I don't want it on the Great Wheel because I believe the Wheel to fundamentally be incoherent. And while I respect the difference between the outsiders of the Abyss, the exiles of Pandemonium, and the terror of the Nine Hells, you can keep Gehenna and Tartaerus, and I don't see why the Yugoloth deserve a plane of their own.