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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Wombat" data-source="post: 2630515" data-attributes="member: 8447">First of all, I don't think this is a simple question at all.  If we are to take the definition that Mr. Dancey proposes as the basis of the discussion, not only are all fantasy game a take-off on D&D, but something close to 90% of all other rpgs are as well, whether they are fantasy or not.  As such, I don't think this is a good working definition of what makes D&D special or different, nor is it useful for comparing other systems against.Take, for example, one of my favourite games, Ars Magica.  Many people will tell you have different this game is from D&D.  Almost all of the characters are human.  Each player runs multiple characters.  You do not wander, but have a base, which is a cross between a village and a university.  You have to deal with religion on a regular basis, and a real world religion at that.  Major characters are more interested in studying than in adventuring.  These are only some of the many points.However, in a given adventure, AM and D&D are very similar -- many adventures centre around leaving your common surroundings, finding places of extreme danger, fighting monsters (or general opponents), and acquiring abilities and powers by overcoming them (advancement points).  They then return with goods (often in the form of vis) that will make their lives happier, more profitable, and more powerful.Is AM strictly a derivation of D&D?  No,  not at all.Mr. Dancey's quote is nice, but it doesn't go very far.  It is good for pointing out similarities between gamers, much as Joseph Campbell's Hero With A Thousand Faces is great from cross-cultural identification of hero-tropes.  However, just as Campbell would never have said that the Buddha and King Arthur were both derived from precisely the same source, neither is Mr. Dancey's quote there to suggest that all rpgs are the same.  There are a plethora of fantasy games out there.  Some are directly inspired by D&D (GURPS comes to mind), while others are less so (such as the French rpg Agone).  If we accept the quote as the basis for all discussion we have to answer "Yes"; in reality, however, the answer is "No", mainly because the quote is not a useful definition.</blockquote>

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