Agreed. Like I posted upthread, if I had to nominate a soul of D&D, it would be the gonzo.
Of Roads, and Rome, and the Soul of D&D
- Thread starter Olgar Shiverstone
- Start date
Mercurius
Legend
That is why I said "all or most." And of course, again, that's just a figure of speech. I have no idea if Hickman and Weis designed owlbears into the setting, but they could be there (actually, Krynn is an interesting example because, to me at least, it feels less "D&D-like" than most other settings).
Of course there are variations and of course there are exceptions, but there is a corpus that all D&D worlds draw from. I would say that there is no dividing line between D&D and non-D&D, but that it is a spectrum; furthermore, once you get a certain distance away from D&D tropes and themes then you end up in "non-D&D." It still might be fantasy and have similar themes, but it would be without a significant number of characteristic features that the lion's portion of D&D players would recognize.
In other words, a D&D world without drow isn't necessarily not a D&D world. But a D&D world without 99% of the monsters in the various monster manuals, without most races and classes, without certain basic themes and assumptions...well, it stops being "D&D."
You can get any random number of people together and say "let's play D&D, roll up 1st level characters" and the vast majority of D&D players would have a basic sense of what to do, what is expected, what the options are. Of course each campaign will be different, each setting and DM, but very few people are going to ask, "Can I play a xygomorph plasma technician?"
Raven Crowking
First Post
Kent Brockman: Mr. Simpson, how do you respond to the charges that petty vandalism such as graffiti is down eighty percent, while heavy sack-beatings are up a shocking nine hundred percent?
Homer Simpson: Aw, people can come up with statistics to prove anything, Kent. Forfty percent of all people know that.
If there is a singular soul (and I am still not convinced there is one), figuring out what it is will, at best, be a task akin to genre definition. The edges are going to be vague, and a thing need not have all the tropes, or match all the style points listed to be included.
Basically talking about D&D is like talking about mystery novels. You tend to know it if you see it, but sometimes others will call it a thriller when you think of it as a mystery...
Basically talking about D&D is like talking about mystery novels. You tend to know it if you see it, but sometimes others will call it a thriller when you think of it as a mystery...
pawsplay
Hero
So, is BECMI Mystara not D&D, or is AD&D Greyhawk not D&D? I'd like to know which one, based on the criterion you have stated.
Agreed.
Doesn't BECMI Mystara have most of the monsters from BECMI monsters? Certainly AD&D Greyhawk includes the vast majority of the monsters from 1e.
pawsplay
Hero
Yes. But they cannot both be D&D, as they don't have 99% of the monsters of each other. Before it got an AD&D conversion, Mystara didn't even have half-elves.
If you want to be absolutely literal, sure. I think you won't gain much from the conversation doing that, but it is your right, so long as you aren't argumentative about it.
I think you'll get a whole lot more out of it if you look more at the spirit of the statement than the letter.
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