What *is* D&D

[tuxgeo]

D&D is a 'fantasy role-playing game.' (It says so right there on the tin.)

Required elements: One (or more) PCs per player; Races; Classes; Ability Scores; Hit Points; fantasy based at least partly on myth or legend from some time ago (medieval? dark ages? stone age?), although newer literary sources are also referenced. (Alignment, for example, is based at least partly (Law vs. Chaos) on newer literary sources.) Monsters are also required in the game: it wouldn't be D&D without at least a few monsters; however, humans can be fairly repulsive and threatening monsters in our own right. Levels are a must, even if they are present merely to provide the players with opportunities to get confused about which meaning of the word "level" is intended. Adventures are needed, but they can be locally generated. The game assumes the presence of one designated player -- the Dungeon Master ('DM') -- who is charged with the duties of operating the game and describing the results of the actions of the other players' characters. Platonic-solid dice (d4, d6, d8, d12, and d20) are canon. Other funny-shaped dice are also common, but not required.

Each PC is described as belonging to some race. The game has always included the human race, although individual campaigns can easily exclude that one. The presence of elves, dwarves, and halflings is also canon.

Each PC is also described as belonging to one or more classes -- rarely fewer than one class per PC. There are both magical and non-magical classes.

 

[B.T.]

• d20.
• Classes.
• Levels.
• Hit points and HD.
• Vancian magic.
• Clerics that cast cure light wounds and wear armor.
• Wizards that cast magic missile and don't wear armor.
• Six ability scores.
• Armor Class.
• Saving throws.
• +1 weapons and armor.
• Dungeons.
• Monster and traps in said dungeons that probably don't make sense in retrospect.
• Dungeons and dragons.

 

[Lanefan]

• d20.
• Classes.
• Levels.
• Hit points and HD.
• Vancian magic.
• Clerics that cast cure light wounds and wear armor.
• Wizards that cast magic missile and don't wear armor.
• Six ability scores.
• Armor Class.
• Saving throws.
• +1 weapons and armor.
• Dungeons.
• Monster and traps in said dungeons that probably don't make sense in retrospect.
• Dungeons and dragons.

I would add only the following:

* - d12, d10, d8, d6, d4
* - Exploration in one's imagination
* - Exploration of one's imagination
* - Wondrous magic that can do anything - when it feels like it
* - Characters played as real people with real feelings, likes, dislikes, loves, jealousies, etc.; in a living, breathing game-world environment
* - Longshots coming off, e.g. Merry and Eowyn bringing down the Ringwraith
* - Laughter around the table no matter what happens
* - Kingdoms and criminals

Lan-"sometimes dungeons that don't make sense make more sense than dungeons that do"-efan

 

[RangerWickett]

From What Is D&D?

D&D is an imaginative, social experience that engages players in a rich fantasy world filled with larger-than-life heroes, deadly monsters, and diverse settings. As a hobby game, D&D is an ongoing activity to which players might devote hours of their time—much like a weekly poker game—getting together with friends on a regular basis for weeks, months, or even years.

Players create heroic fantasy characters -- mighty warriors, stealthy rogues, or powerful wizards -- which they guide through an ongoing series of adventures, working together to defeat monsters and other challenges and growing in power, glory, and achievement. The game offers endless possibilities and a multitude of choices . . . more choices than even the most sophisticated computer game, because you can do whatever you can imagine!

From me:

D&D is a game where you and a handful of friends make fantasy characters, typically with some combination of weapon-wielders and spell-casters, and you get into dangerous situations, often involving remote hostile locations (dungeons) and monsters or violent organizations (dragons). Victory over these challenges typically yields treasure and increased power.

Oh, game mechanics? Who cares? As long as they work and let the GM easily handle the narrative while giving players plenty of meaningful options, we're good.

Aesthetic? Well, sure, there's a central hub of D&D-isms -- typical adventuring parties, chromatic dragons, orcs, goblins, and kobolds, magic missiles and fireballs, elves, dwarves, and halfings, and so on. But you can drift pretty danged far away from that and still play D&D. An all-human party of pirates can be D&D, as long as there's some monsters and magic here and there.

Warhammer? Basically D&D, with a grittier aesthetic.

Conan? D&D.

Call of Cthulhu? Not D&D. D&D heroes grow stronger from their experiences; they don't go insane.

Star Wars? Really on the cusp. Too much metal and technology. If light sabers had leather-wrapped hilts and scoundrels flew spaceships made of wood, it'd be D&D.

 

[Ramen]

Fighter, Magic-User, Cleric, and Thief
Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Halflings (preferable pudgy), Half Orcs ( or a nice equivalent), and Gnomes
Polyhedral dice
Dungeons
Dragons
Gelatinous Cubes
Regenerating Trolls
Rust Monsters
Mimics
killing things and taking their stuff
10 foot poles to either touch or not touch stuff with
Saving the world, kingdom, princess, or treasure
A DMG that's thicker then the PHB

 

[Szatany]

using magic missile to attack the darkness

 

[Shemeska]

Like obscenity laws, I can't tell you what it is, but I know it when I see it.

And I want to utterly scoff at the notion that holding the legal rights to the D&D name and brand should allow a company to publish anything under the sun and have it -be- D&D, no matter how horrible and divergent from D&D it might be.

Legal status aside, as far as community perception goes, D&D is like the mandate of heaven, and if the emperor with his trademark goes too far, he can lose it.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Of the top of my head (and in terms of mechanics): class-based, racial selection of elves, dwarves, humans, etc; vancian magic with large number of spell entries, HP, 6 ability scores, d20 attack rolls, d4-d12 damage rolls, core classes of fighter, thief, cleric, wizard; mix of related classes.

 

[FireLance]

D&D is like language. It grows, it adapts. Meanings change. New words get added. Old words may fall out of common use and may become obsolete, but they never lose their meaning.

D&D is like the Borg. It can assimilate anything.

D&D is both wave and particle. It is all colours and none. It is deadly serious and amusing whimsy.

It is six ability scores. It is seven ability scores. It is six ability scores, each with two sub-abilities.

It is humans, dwarves, elves and halflings. It is gnomes, half-orcs, tieflings, dragonborn and shardminds.

It is fighting men, magic-users and clerics. It is thieves, paladins, avengers and druids. It is assassins, rangers, bards, barbarians, cavaliers, thief-acrobats, wizards, psionicists, rogues, warlocks, spellthieves, warmages, beguilers, warlords and battleminds.

It is race as class, race and class, racial class, sub-races, sub-classes, multiclass, dual class, hybrid class, secondary skills, backgrounds, themes, non-weapon proficiencies, skills, skill powers, kits, prestige classes, paragon paths and epic destinies.

It is 1st-level wizards throwing darts until it is time for them to use their sleep spell. It is 1st-level wizards shooting crossbows until it is time for them to use their sleep spells. It is 1st-level wizards casting ray of frost, thunderwave and the occasional ray of enfeeblement until it is time for them to use their flaming sphere spell.

It is tactics. It is strategy. It is imagination. It is creativity. It is mathematics. It is vocabulary. It is planning. It is improvisation. It is grounded in physics. It is grounded in myth. It is grounded in literature. It is grounded in geek culture. It is grounded in pop culture. It is completely made up.

It is anything you want it to be. And that's the beauty of it.

 

[Hussar]

Firelance, I cannot Xp you again, but, I'd just like to say:

Damn Skippy!