Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
D&D Has Never Been Suitable for Generic Fantasy
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="slobster" data-source="post: 5925062" data-attributes="member: 6693711"><p>I think it's absolutely true that D&D books are written with an implied setting. When the system was first made, it was the only game in town. Fantasy culture from other pen-and-paper games to video games, novels, movies, and more have their roots firmly in D&D. When we talk about paladins, we aren't concerned with how paladins were historically, or even how they were portrayed fictionally before D&D. We talk about the D&D paladin, which is its own animal. D&D has grown beyond being a game to simulate fantasy archetypes into inventing and perpetuating archetypes itself.</p><p></p><p>That doesn't mean it can't continue to grow and change. I mean, your argument is that D&D started as a roleplaying homage to Appendix N literature, but grew to eclipse them and typify its own genre. It seems to me that you have to acknowledge that D&D might grow to transcend <em>that </em>tradition as well. </p><p></p><p>D&D is about Bigby's magic undershirt and scheming DMs intent on killing their PCs in labyrinthine dungeons. It's about meeting a group of strangers in a tavern and going on life-threatening adventures with them because an old man stumbles in with a tale of woe and a fistful of coins. That is part of its history, and some people still want that from the game. When making DDN, be sure that it can do that stuff.</p><p></p><p>But D&D also means other things to other people. It means looking over the spells in the player's handbook and figuring out how to harness their unintended consequences to power high magic societies. It means magitech and warforged. D&D can mean the dread mists of Ravenloft, or the scorching sands of postapocalyptic Dark Sun.</p><p></p><p>Saying that <strong>D&D the ruleset</strong> can't be used for anything other than <strong>D&D the vague and mostly implied setting</strong> . . . well that really doesn't match my experience. I've played all sorts of campaigns that aren't recognizably D&D in setting or tone, but use the ruleset. I don't want that setting to go away, though, because it offers a good starting point for new players, and a comfy place that I can always return to when I'm not in the mood for something more experimental.</p><p></p><p>It's nice to know that, at the end of the day, I can always prop my boots up at the Drowsy Dragon , throw back a pint of ale, and wait for adventure to cross my path. It always does. But sometimes I want to hack alien invaders apart with my psychic blade while the rest of my band of sky pirates battles the ninjas sent to assassinate the admiral of the dirigible fleet I am sworn to protect. D&D does that for me, too.</p><p></p><p>That's why I love it!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="slobster, post: 5925062, member: 6693711"] I think it's absolutely true that D&D books are written with an implied setting. When the system was first made, it was the only game in town. Fantasy culture from other pen-and-paper games to video games, novels, movies, and more have their roots firmly in D&D. When we talk about paladins, we aren't concerned with how paladins were historically, or even how they were portrayed fictionally before D&D. We talk about the D&D paladin, which is its own animal. D&D has grown beyond being a game to simulate fantasy archetypes into inventing and perpetuating archetypes itself. That doesn't mean it can't continue to grow and change. I mean, your argument is that D&D started as a roleplaying homage to Appendix N literature, but grew to eclipse them and typify its own genre. It seems to me that you have to acknowledge that D&D might grow to transcend [I]that [/I]tradition as well. D&D is about Bigby's magic undershirt and scheming DMs intent on killing their PCs in labyrinthine dungeons. It's about meeting a group of strangers in a tavern and going on life-threatening adventures with them because an old man stumbles in with a tale of woe and a fistful of coins. That is part of its history, and some people still want that from the game. When making DDN, be sure that it can do that stuff. But D&D also means other things to other people. It means looking over the spells in the player's handbook and figuring out how to harness their unintended consequences to power high magic societies. It means magitech and warforged. D&D can mean the dread mists of Ravenloft, or the scorching sands of postapocalyptic Dark Sun. Saying that [B]D&D the ruleset[/B] can't be used for anything other than [B]D&D the vague and mostly implied setting[/B] . . . well that really doesn't match my experience. I've played all sorts of campaigns that aren't recognizably D&D in setting or tone, but use the ruleset. I don't want that setting to go away, though, because it offers a good starting point for new players, and a comfy place that I can always return to when I'm not in the mood for something more experimental. It's nice to know that, at the end of the day, I can always prop my boots up at the Drowsy Dragon , throw back a pint of ale, and wait for adventure to cross my path. It always does. But sometimes I want to hack alien invaders apart with my psychic blade while the rest of my band of sky pirates battles the ninjas sent to assassinate the admiral of the dirigible fleet I am sworn to protect. D&D does that for me, too. That's why I love it! [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
D&D Has Never Been Suitable for Generic Fantasy
Top