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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Asmor" data-source="post: 5418832" data-attributes="member: 1154">I may be way off base here, but I tend to think of D&D as the ultimate 'generic fantasy system', archetypal even.But the more I examine it, the more I'm starting to come to the conclusion that D&D is actually fairly unique.Important: For the purposes of this discussion, when I say D&D, I am referring to everything that can be traced mechanically back to any edition of Dungeons & Dragons. That includes retro clones, heavily-modified d20 games (Spycraft, M&M, etc), Gamma World, etc.It started the other day, when I put out a call on twitter for systems that hit the same notes as D&D (flashy, dramatic magic; variety of races; crunchy; combat-focused). As far as I can tell, there are no other systems which really hit all those notes (as usual, the best two suggestions are Savage Worlds and Burning Wheel).Beyond that, though, I can't think of any other level-based games off the top of my head, and the only class-based games I can think of are White Wolf's.So here's my list of what things I feel make D&D... D&D, and how that compares to the rest of the field.Euro-centric fantasy setting: Not especially unique.Flashy, dramatic magic: I don't know of any other tabletop RPG systems or settings where this is the default assumption. Fairly common in video games, though.Variety of races: Common enough in a lot of systems.Class-based system: Uncommon if not rare.Level-based system: While I'm sure there has to be some, I can't think of any.Crunchy, rules-heavy system: Common enough.Combat-focused system: I'll call this one uncommon. There are a lot of systems which put more focus on combat than on other aspects, but not a lot go to the extent that D&D does.So flavorwise, D&D's magic is what sets it apart from others. Systemically, its focuses are somewhat common but its implementation is distinct.Agree? Disagree? Care to fill me in on some of the alternatives I missed?</blockquote>

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