D&D is its own Genre of Fantasy?

[I'm A Banana]

I agree with buzz, except there's no 'at this point'. It was its own genre from the off, a kitchen sink blend of Tolkienesque world, Lieberesque adventures, a Vancian magic system, etc, etc.

Bingo. D&D is a kitchen sink kind of flavor. And I think that "Game Fantasy" is a good term for the genre, because a lot of games follow it but almost nothing written does. Though it is a union of many written genres, so it has the ability to briefly dwell in those tropes, sooner or later it will fall apart by the demands of the game and the fact that it wasn't really meant to.

 

[Varianor Abroad]

armor class...beholders...blink dogs...clerics with maces...dimension door...wildshaping druids...ethereal plane...fireball...great wheel...half-orcs...ilithids...liches...magic missile...otyughs...poles, ten foot...rope trick...saving throws...tanglefoot bags...teleport...wands of wonder

The ancestors are elsewhere in fantasy, but D&D is its own genre.

 

[Crothian]

As a game that kind of separates it from the books. I think people try to hard to make the game sound like and fit into the book definitions of the genres.

 

[Imp]

You know, I think the biggest things that make D&D its own discrete universe are just a few of the common spells. In 3.x, enlarge as a common low-level buff. Historically, fly, haste, and to a lesser extent invisibility as common mid-level enhancements. Things like that are just weird in most any fantasy/sword/sorcery universe. Most of the other stuff can be finessed or omitted if you're trying to cleave to some novel's fantasy vision.

 

[sukael]

I'd agree on the "Game Fantasy" post, but then note that things like Slayers, Record of Lodoss War, or Those Who Hunt Elves (lots of anime, though Slayers was originally a series of light novels) have sprung out of the "Game Fantasy" genre too.

Slayers, for example, has rather Warlock-like casters, with a small repertoire of at-will abilities (though they have the typical anime caveat that you have to shout out their names to cast them). "Raywing!"

 

[CruelSummerLord]

It might be more accurate to call the genre "RPG Fantasy" because a lot of games other than D&D, in many media, use the same sword and sorcery-high fantasy-Tolkien Pastiche mash up. Early in the days of D&D, I would say it wasn't its own genre, just a mixture of a lot of fantasy sub-genre tropes and cliches. over time, though, as both D&D and derivatives of D&D grew in both popularity and sophistication, a distinct sub-genre of fantasy crystalized. And, like different high fantasy novels or whatever, different RPG Fantasy games and such vary more than a little in the details, but overall they are more alike than different -- World of Warcraft and D&D are good for this comparison I think. Each has a distinct milieu and many of the finer details of what makes them up varies, but ultimately they are the same genre, and unlike anything (non-game related) you're likely to pick up on the shelf at your local bookstore. In fact, perhaps the best evidence that D&D has created its own subgenre is many, many fantasy fiction writers guidelines warn against writing "D&D fantasy".

And just why is that?!? Where is it divinely ordained that a sufficiently skilled author couldn't write something with characterization and depth to match "War and Peace", "Paradise Lost", or Shakespeare?!? Is it just because of the poor quality of many role-playing novels so far? Is that what's tarnished the image of "D&D fantasy"???? Does no one even have the guts to try writing something half-decent?

I make no apologies for enjoying "D&D Fantasy", with its dragons, elves and wizards. I'd like to think you could write something with actual artistic merit using D&D stereotypes-I don't see anyone complaining about Japan's "Record of Lodoss War" anime, so what's stopping good fiction from being produced with D&D motifs????

I'm sorry to go off on a rant, but I simply do not see why it has to be this way. When I read my D&D rulebooks, I don't think about what I'm going to do as a game-I'm thinking about what could be done as a writer and storyteller. I don't game, and the stuff I write on Canonfire is as much out of a desire to stick it to those people who say role-playing fantasy can't be made into good fiction as it is to provide gamers with inspiration. If they get something out of it for use in their campaigns, but I don't game, and when I sit down to write something, I do so to provide depth and background to the world. To me, Greyhawk-as an example-is not a place for setting games, it's a world where I can flex my imagination and make my own.

Again, I'm sorry, but I just get very, very annoyed at the suggestion that "D&D fantasy" automatically equals crap.

 

[takyris]

And just why is that?!? Where is it divinely ordained that a sufficiently skilled author couldn't write something with characterization and depth to match "War and Peace", "Paradise Lost", or Shakespeare?!?

Easy answer? Because an author skilled enough to do that is most likely writing in his or her own universe, and has to change enough stuff for trademark-violation-avoidance purposes that, while the resulting work might be very very good, it most likely won't feel like gaming fantasy.

Regardless of how much fun it is initially, few authors enjoy playing in somebody else's sandbox, even if that sandbox pays the bills.

(I say this as somebody who enjoyed early Salvatore immensely and really loves Elaine Cunningham's work.)

I'm not saying that it can't happen -- statistically, it will happen someday, if it hasn't already. But that wonderful work will be lost in the deluge, much like everything else. A few people will remember and love the gems, and everyone else will sigh and put up with the clumsiness of the rest.

 

[CruelSummerLord]

Easy answer? Because an author skilled enough to do that is most likely writing in his or her own universe, and has to change enough stuff for trademark-violation-avoidance purposes that, while the resulting work might be very very good, it most likely won't feel like gaming fantasy.

Regardless of how much fun it is initially, few authors enjoy playing in somebody else's sandbox, even if that sandbox pays the bills.

(I say this as somebody who enjoyed early Salvatore immensely and really loves Elaine Cunningham's work.)

I'm not saying that it can't happen -- statistically, it will happen someday, if it hasn't already. But that wonderful work will be lost in the deluge, much like everything else. A few people will remember and love the gems, and everyone else will sigh and put up with the clumsiness of the rest.

Alas, you may well be right. Part of me just enjoys having the elves, orcs and wizards around-if I write fantasy, I _want_ those dwarves, gnomes, elves, and halflings in there. Writing fantasy in a world with just humans would, quite frankly, be rather boring.

And, again, chances are it wouldn't be published anyway for copyright reasons, or because the game aspects are de-emphasized in favor of character development. In other words, I wouldn't openly state that the hero's sword has the wounding and ghost touch abilities-readers might infer it, but I obviously don't spell it out. And, in any case, with my own D&D preferences, the characters would all only be 6th-12th level, and most of their weapons and armor would be perfectly ordinary-if I were to stat them out, they wouldn't have anywhere near the DMG-suggested levels of wealth and equipment.

A 16th-level fighter still swinging that same nonmagical longsword, and wearing that same ordinary suit of chain mail he put on at 1st level?

Works for me.

In a world where you just can't buy most magic items, and wizards have to sweat blood to even make humble +1 amulets of natural armor, magic items are cherished possessions, and most people don't buy or sell them. The lone exception would probably be oil of impact or sharpness used to temporarily enchant weapons to harm creatures like perytons or gargoyles. They're temporarily enchanted, but at the end of the day, they're still ordinary weapons...and not even masterwork, to boot.

 

[Hussar]

Yes, I also agree that D&D is a genre unto itself. And, that genre probably varies pretty widely depending on what your DM likes. I know that for myself, my early gaming was influenced far more heavily by Tolkein (of course), Stephen R Donaldson, and Lloyd Alexander and Mary Stewart. Later, authors like Guy Gavriel Kay and Tad Williams tended to feature in my games.

Now, Pratchett and Steven Erikson drive my creative juices.

 

[GSHamster]

Well, one big difference between D&D and other fantasy is the *heavy* focus on the team.

Most other fantasy tends to be single protagonist. Some may have friends, or multiple characters, but the idea of the base unit being a team is somewhat unique to D&D.

To expand on this, take the very first Drizz't novels. If I recall correctly, at the beginning, it's the team of Drizz't, Bruenor, Regis, and Wulfgar doing stuff. The heavy Drizz't focus really comes in later in the novels.