Micah Sweet
Level Up & OSR Enthusiast
Soul Caliber is my favorite Fighting Game. I particularly enjoyed Siegfried/Nightmare and Cervantes.
D&D General D&D is now Steampunk (poll)
- Thread starter GMMichael
- Start date
kermit4karate
Explorer
Not really too familiar with ACKS. Have never really dug into one of the rulebooks before, but the Conan-esque vibe reminds me of the original first few Arduin Grimoire books from the 1980s, which were the first 3rd-party RPG supplemental books I fell in love with. For me they introduced R-rated elements into what had been for me at least a very PG-rated D&D to that point.
Ralif Redhammer
Legend
I don't know that I'd describe either as that nebulous. There are certain themes that carry across all the iterations of Conan-esque and Tolkien-esque. For example, in Conan in just about all takes, you're going to have themes on the decadence of civilization, ancient fallen elder peoples, mighty-thewed protagonists, and a villainous cast to wizardry.
Reynard
aka Ian Eller
Sure, but as it relates specifically to D&D, levels of magic and (for lack of a better term) the superheroic abilities of protagonists does vary pretty widly. So one person's "conan-esque" is someone else's overpowered fantasy.
While I understand the points you make....
what if the dominance of D&D is just because people like it and have fun?
Checkers players don't consider chess players arrogant (okay bad example, lol).
Micah Sweet
Level Up & OSR Enthusiast
It is IMO impossible to determine that, as the weight of a long history of marketing for dominance has led to the current state. As a result, so many people playing D&D (especially today) functionally know no other game. Most don't even have motivation to look.
Some people certainly enjoy the current version of D&D more than other options, but you can't know that unless you're aware of those other options, and to my mind far too small a percentage of 5e's fan base are so aware.
Clint_L
Legend
I didn’t realize those were the entirety of steampunk aesthetic. My bad.
Edit: also, from the current DMG. No steampunk aesthetic there, at all (though sadly, we can't see how the airship passengers are dressed to confirm whether there are any top hats or bustles):
Though there is this one from the current PHB:
Not to mention these guys:
And these:
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James Gasik
We don't talk about Pun-Pun
D&D is basically the buffet table of gaming. It's primarily a "fantasy" game, but it can be stretched to include just about any kind of fantasy, even science fantasy.
Like take the Derro- directly lifted from the Deros of "The Shaver Mystery"! D&D has had sixguns, ray guns, six armed white apes from Barsoom (the Girallon, and don't tell me that Thri-Kreen aren't inspired by Tharks), at least one of the many aquatic foes are inspired by Deep Ones, and of course Mind Flayers are a deliberate imitation of Dread Cthulhu! Entire classes are devoted to imitating Sword & Sorcery, High Fantasy, Low Fantasy, and Arthurian Fantasy heroes! Monks for Hong Kong Kung Fu Fantasy (or maybe just Kung Fusploitation- and eventually an entire 1e supplement for Ninjas and more)- the list is endless.
Legendary artifacts include a friggin' battlemech (The Mighty Servant of Leuk-o) and the product of weird science (The Machine of Lum the Mad), along with Baba Yaga's Hut! Vorpal Swords hail from the absurdist fantasy of Lewis Carrol (and I wouldn't be surprised if the Sword of Sharpness came about due to that one fight between Arthur, King of the Britains and a certain Invincible Black Knight)!
Several monsters were inspired by some cheap plastic toys from Japan (and tell me the Hook Horror doesn't bear a striking resemblance to Gigan, I dare you). You can encounter creatures from every real world myth and legend, from Leprechauns to Kobolds, to Rakshasa. The game has airships, space ships (magical or technological, Clarke's Third Law notwithstanding), and in the Planeswalker's Guide of 2e, there was a Wizard Kit for a guy who floats around on a balloon! Planescape has people communicating in Victorian gutterspeak, and you can even play a clockwork Rogue Modron, a part-fiend, part-celestial, or part-genie!
Druids rub elbows with Psionicists. Flying carpets and magical Pipes that let you command rats. Thor's Hammer, gauntlets, and belt of strength! Fire and Frost Giants! Simply put, nobody's fiction or belief system is safe from D&D. The Spelljammer Monstrous Compendium presents Gamera and the Guyver as enemies your PC's can face! We got Kaiju and Frankenstein's Monster (Flesh Golem or Adam, take your pick), the original (Clay) Golem of Jewish legend, and a magic ring that turns you invisible!
You can't fit D&D in any one genre or sub-genre, because D&D is everything. That's it's strength, and it's charm. People who play D&D are nerds, and nerds love pop culture. We'll quote Monty Python, The Princess Bride, Spaceballs, and Star Wars at the gaming table. If the DM sends a giant boulder rolling at your character, someone is at least going to hum a John Williams score!
And despite the fact that some will hurt me for mentioning it, there's a certain parody adventure where you can encounter poorly disguised versions of Doctor Who, Marvel Super Heroes, and the crew of the Starship Enterprise. Heck, in issue 4 of Dungeon, there's a wacky adventure that has this bizarre encounter (art courtesy of Jim Holloway):
Simply put, like Darkseid, D&D is.
Like take the Derro- directly lifted from the Deros of "The Shaver Mystery"! D&D has had sixguns, ray guns, six armed white apes from Barsoom (the Girallon, and don't tell me that Thri-Kreen aren't inspired by Tharks), at least one of the many aquatic foes are inspired by Deep Ones, and of course Mind Flayers are a deliberate imitation of Dread Cthulhu! Entire classes are devoted to imitating Sword & Sorcery, High Fantasy, Low Fantasy, and Arthurian Fantasy heroes! Monks for Hong Kong Kung Fu Fantasy (or maybe just Kung Fusploitation- and eventually an entire 1e supplement for Ninjas and more)- the list is endless.
Legendary artifacts include a friggin' battlemech (The Mighty Servant of Leuk-o) and the product of weird science (The Machine of Lum the Mad), along with Baba Yaga's Hut! Vorpal Swords hail from the absurdist fantasy of Lewis Carrol (and I wouldn't be surprised if the Sword of Sharpness came about due to that one fight between Arthur, King of the Britains and a certain Invincible Black Knight)!
Several monsters were inspired by some cheap plastic toys from Japan (and tell me the Hook Horror doesn't bear a striking resemblance to Gigan, I dare you). You can encounter creatures from every real world myth and legend, from Leprechauns to Kobolds, to Rakshasa. The game has airships, space ships (magical or technological, Clarke's Third Law notwithstanding), and in the Planeswalker's Guide of 2e, there was a Wizard Kit for a guy who floats around on a balloon! Planescape has people communicating in Victorian gutterspeak, and you can even play a clockwork Rogue Modron, a part-fiend, part-celestial, or part-genie!
Druids rub elbows with Psionicists. Flying carpets and magical Pipes that let you command rats. Thor's Hammer, gauntlets, and belt of strength! Fire and Frost Giants! Simply put, nobody's fiction or belief system is safe from D&D. The Spelljammer Monstrous Compendium presents Gamera and the Guyver as enemies your PC's can face! We got Kaiju and Frankenstein's Monster (Flesh Golem or Adam, take your pick), the original (Clay) Golem of Jewish legend, and a magic ring that turns you invisible!
You can't fit D&D in any one genre or sub-genre, because D&D is everything. That's it's strength, and it's charm. People who play D&D are nerds, and nerds love pop culture. We'll quote Monty Python, The Princess Bride, Spaceballs, and Star Wars at the gaming table. If the DM sends a giant boulder rolling at your character, someone is at least going to hum a John Williams score!
And despite the fact that some will hurt me for mentioning it, there's a certain parody adventure where you can encounter poorly disguised versions of Doctor Who, Marvel Super Heroes, and the crew of the Starship Enterprise. Heck, in issue 4 of Dungeon, there's a wacky adventure that has this bizarre encounter (art courtesy of Jim Holloway):
Simply put, like Darkseid, D&D is.
Paul Farquhar
Legend
As already pointed out, steampunk is Victorina. If the fashion in the art is not Victorian, its vibe is not steampunk. For example, the recent Eberron art is inspired by the early 20th century - Georgian, not Victorian. Ergo it is not Steampunk.
Steampunk is a Science Fiction subgenre, involving steam power. If it is fantasy, and powered by magic, it is not steampunk (that’s called magitech).
Punk is either dystopian, anti-establishment, or both. D&D is certainly sometimes those, and sometimes not, and that hasn’t changed since the 70s.
Reynard
aka Ian Eller
But inherently neither. I have probably run as many campaigns where the PCs were the "hand of the king" as I have where they were scoundrels and rebels.
Star Wars is more punk than D&D, by a wide margin.
Interesting: what kind of *-punk is Star Wars?
