What *is* D&D

[Scribble]

Well... According to the 80s it's:

1. The DM placing you in a precarious position.

2. The most phenomenal game ever created.

3. Your Skin growing cold from the first glimpse of the enormous beast.

4. A product of your imagination.

5. Your Survival depending on a quick decision.

6. Your actions limited to standing and fighting or running away.

7. Using your lightning bolt.

 

[Doug McCrae]

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.

Absolutely there are limits as to what the owners of the trademark can publish, and still have it regarded as D&D by the wider community of players. Otoh I don't think the influence of the owners on what it is to be D&D is negligible either. There are boundaries, but those boundaries are not wholly rigid. They can be flexed and altered. Our perceptions change over time, at least mine do, old players leave (or, these days, die), new players come into the fold. What it is to be D&D is not entirely static.

That said, my perception of the player base is that, as a whole, it is aging, and grognardly, and resistant to change. From a commercial perspective it seems 4e did go too far, hence D&DNext.

 

[Tony Vargas]

To quote the original D&D, D&D is:

"Rules for Fantastic Medieval Wargames Campaigns Playable with Paper, Pencil, and Miniature Figures."

 

[Steely_Dan]

-Ability Scores

-Armour Class

-Hit Points

-Rolling a d20 to hit something

 

[Steely_Dan]

To quote the original D&D, D&D is:

"Rules for Fantastic Medieval Wargames Campaigns Playable with Paper, Pencil, and Miniature Figures."

True, but IME, a lot of groups did not use miniatures (grids etc) back in the day.

 

[Hussar]

True, but IME, a lot of groups did not use miniatures (grids etc) back in the day.

Honestly, I think one of the biggest differences "back in the day" was that the designers really had very little contact with how the groups were actually playing the game. It took WOTC and their market research to actually be able to put something of a face on how "a lot of groups" played.

 

[Lwaxy]

D&D is a framework of rules you can easily adapt to the needs of your campaign and your group. As long as everyone is on the same page and it is fun, it is still D&D to me!

 

[Kzach]

D&D is whores and ale.

 

[DEFCON 1]

D&D is whores and ale.

I thought that was B&D?

 

[Zireael]

D&D is:
- six ability scores
- saving throws
- rolling a d20 and some other dice
- armor class
- hit points
- Vancian or AEDU form of spellcasting
- a lot of races and classes and spells to choose
- high magic