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Mythology manages it. AD&D and Greyhawk hew pretty close to mythology (as opposed to contrived stuff). It doesn't take much to grok mythology, because by definition it's already the kind of thing that resonates with new generations, and is as unlikely to lose it's appeal or "relevancy" as the...

Only because the rules get overhauled, and the game setting reality gets "reinterpreted" in light of those changes. Often that's a necessary evil, and an awkward compromise, not "fair sport". People would prefer to believe in a consistent game world too. And they can if they get off the rules...

Valuing a setting with perceived commercial redundancy != badwrongfun. Some fans seem to confuse what will drive the most sales for WOTC with what is objectively better for everyone in other ways as well. It's obviously not true, but this obvious point seemingly needs to be spelled out...

Apart from that bit about the X Files, you seem to be saying that only the political correctness needs an update. Surely that's easy to fix. We could make the Circle of Eight more diverse and representative than just old white guys, for instance, and call it a day. (Yes, being facetious...

You could run the War of the Lance in the Forgotten Realms or Greyhawk, but the flavour would be quite different. I get the feeling that this might be one of those axiomatic generalisations that runs roughshod over the details a bit. Would an FR WotL have sold as many books? I mean, I...

Bit of a weird answer, but the one I'd venture is...hex maps. They're hex map crazy over at The Vaults of Pandius. No, it's not a hook you can hang a 4E product launch on, but it's a hook for the fans. No other "vanilla D&D" setting is so hexagonal as this. I'm not being facetious either...

The thinking seems to be thus: 1) The setting's all about the heroes and events in the novels, therefore my PCs and what they do will be irrelevant, and eventually overwhelmed by canon events taking place in those novels. 2) The original Dragonlance modules are a railroad, and are basically...

And he who controls the pudding, controls the universe. ;) Dune and Dark Sun themes could be wed very easily.

It appears that WOTC disagrees. From what they've said, they seem to be weighing D&D and it's settings in the balance with regard to current "relevance" (to pop culture?) and in updating it to be part of "contemporary fantasy". Or maybe I'm reading too much into those comments. Beyond broad...

Making it a command word would be mean, too. A monty pythonesque scenario suggests itself: Byakhee 1: "Well did he or didn't he say it?" Byakhee 2: "Technically it's a conjugate verb. Look at the context." Byakhee 1: "But phonetically it's all there. Use it in a sentence, for Hastur's sake."...

Must lead to some infernal misunderstandings. "Rary has tur..." (Byakhee turn up.) "...ned against us." (Byakhee disappear.) "This tavern has tur..." (Byakhee turn up.) "...tle soup if you want some." (Byakhee disappear.)

It could be Darklance. Or maybe, Dragon Sun. Two birds, one stone. "Grim-n-gritty, post-apocalyptic enslaved desert world collides with high fantasy heroics world brimming with wacky comic relief sidekick races. Hilarity ensues."

The penny dropped for me on what keeps AD&D 1E and Greyhawk in particular a bit different from generic fantasy setting #19902 (e.g. Mystara, Thunder Rift, Dragonlance, Birthright etc). It's playing up the sense of the eldritch. Let me explain. Even when it was new, the AD&D internal artwork...

DL has been through the retcon reboot wringer more times than perhaps any other setting. It's like Lazurus with a triple bypass, so applying the paddles one more time will hardly matter.

I agree to an extent. The thief in particular seems a problem area that encapsulates the problems you're referring to. Why give it 1d4 HP, still, when it's clearly so very underpowered? (BFRPG's answer: Tradition, maybe compatibility...IMO a poor answer at best. Even the designer house rules...

I do all my homebrews based on what's "so hot right now". Got the idea from Cosmo. HOT: Vampire boyfriends Giant transforming robots Sentient computers fighting wars with robots Batman NOT: Vampire slayers Zombies Student wizards The Macarena Now, how can we integrate this information into...

I'm not convinced that ticking off entries on a laundry list will deliver the x factor that a good setting requires. The whole can be much less than the sum of it's parts. But I will say this: the best role of a D&D setting is to serve the campaign arc and adventures, and is secondary and...

Therein lies the rub. A halfling requires the most XP of any class to reach level 36 in the RC. Why? I assume because they're viewed as - like the hobbits they're facsimiles of - not natural adventurers, so a 36th level halfling is one hell of a thing. It's not a politically correct reason...

I don't know these games, so can't comment.

OD&D (core) yes OD&D (+ Supplements) yes Basic (Holmes) yes Basic (B/X, Cook/Molvay) yes Basic (BECMI/Rule Cyclopedia) yes AD&D 1e (core) yes* AD&D 1e (+ Supplements/Unearthed Arcana) yes* AD&D 2e (core) yes* AD&D 2e (+ Supplements) yes/no** AD&D 2e (Players Option line) no** D&D 3e/v3.5 (core+...