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There are a bunch of differences outside the banal one of presentation. Any and/or all of which would contribute to it feeling like not-D&D. Unfortunately, humans tend to be inarticulate especially when dealing with the "why" of feelings. And each human has a different response strength for...

I quibble with "most". Some people see a commonality al the way from 0e to 5e. Some people see a commonality up until there's a break (typically 3e,r 4e, or both). Some of them see a return to commonality with 5e, but certainly not all. I doubt it's even most. I tend to treat each game as...

Sigh. No you don't. You have a fantasy game of action and adventure, sure. But it isn't the same. I've had this discussion up and down a few threads with a few people and don't want to hash it out again, but you really don't have the same game. Can some people play it the same as they...

And that's what the other threads like this that I've participated in seem to recognize as they peter out.

If we're going to look for commonalities that are so broad that completely separate entities such as Earthdawn or Harnmaster fit within, then what we're looking at is a bigger tent. If your product has changed so much over the years that aficionados of yesteryear don't recognize your current...

Who spent a proficiency on them? You took them and threw them with -5 to hit! 3 attacks at -5 beats 1 attack at base. The proficiency goes into staff because let's at least try to keep things past arm's length.

Sure it easy for any particular group to look at a particular other set and say "That's my game!" It hard for all groups to look at all the other sets and say "That's my game!"

It was for us: darts and staff, all the way. The 3/round was a huge bonus in early game. Limited damage didn't matter much because either it had a couple of hp and died or burning hands wouldn't have dropped it anyway.

The reason I call them superficial is because they are widely shared with things that demonstrably aren't D&D. Yeah, D&D used them first inside RPGs, but some of them predate RPGs altogether like the hit point concept. I think prior to 3e, there was a much tighter set of things that could...

I was having that talk pre-Internet!

Which, more or less is how those other threads I pointed out way up in post 708 went off the rails too. You get some superficial commonalities: trade dress, sacred cows (stat names, hit points, etc.) that ended up being shared with items that are demonstrably aren't D&D (I'm referring to...

Nope. I guess it is a common house rule. It's one shot period unless you don't hit your minimum or change your Int. Gaining spells per level doesn't come in until 3e. That's probably another house rule to help out magic-users.

You need to check knowledge of every spell in the spell list before you get another chance to check a spell again unless your Int changes in a permanent manner. And you only get to check again if you haven't hit minimum. As an aside, a house rule I use and see a lot is increases in Int won't...

One chance per character level in 2e. 1e is 1 chance to revolution of the list and you only get a new revolution of the list when either you check all spells and still don't have minimum count or gain a point of Int.

Personally, I would love to see 'Orcus' the abandoned draft that caused 4e to be time-squeezed.

The players were tired of arguing at that point mostly, I think. It's not unfair precisely. It's just spellcasters need the utility of others to help them out but provide both utility and opportunity for different stuff. I think the game would be stronger if there were other sources (not...

It appeared in an enemy spell book and I yoinked it as soon as I saw it! I'm not sure where it came from; maybe a Dragon or homebrew construction? It causes a faint glow to outline concealed entrances/exits for a couple of rounds per level. (This magic-user has made a few personal spells...

I confess to not checking the current rules for holding one's breath. It used to be a minute or two, tops before bad things started happening. I see its up to 6 minutes for Con 20 types now. Which is a long time in D&D.

Diving bells may exist, but I suspect many campaigns don't have them. And a diving bell lets you see the wreck, not explore it. SCUBA gear on the other hand would let you explore it. It would be potentially more dangerous than using magic but that's OK! It moves the necessity to a...

Sure! The slots are gone! The days' work gets shorter and more dangerous! But it gets done if the group proceeds with planning and care. The non-caster party situations may not even be discovered and if discovered impossible to complete regardless of planning and care. In other words...