D&D General D&D is now Steampunk (poll)

[Autumnal]

Since 2005, D&D has been primarily a mix of Late Classic Maya and Southern Yuan dynasty bolter porn. Everyone knows this and I trust I won’t have to say any more about it.

 

[TiQuinn]

Well, as a fellow Eaglelander I can’t answer that from an outside perspective, but in my experience “the Americas” is a pretty common turn of phrase to refer to both continents together, yes.

Americas, plural, usually refers to both North and South America when I read it, which is often in a business context.

 

[Tonguez]

That’s a bit odd, since “central” America is part of the continent North America. Like, there are reasons to refer to Central America independently from the rest of North America, but you don’t need a special term to refer to it collectively along with the US and Canada, because that term already exists and it’s North America.

Well, South America is a different continent then North America, so yeah it ought to get its own term, just as Europe and Asia both get their own terms.

Well, yeah, of the countries in North America, the United States of America is the only one with America in its name. But you don’t say USAans or United Statesman, any more than you would say United Kindomans. You might say US Citizans, but if you want a one-word collective noun, Americans is the most linguistically appropriate option. If you want a collective noun for people from anywhere on the continent you’d say North Americans.

The one thats always confused me is the Caribbean - is it North America? Central, South or something else? Do Americans consider it part of America?

 

[TiQuinn]

The one thats always confused me is the Caribbean - is it North America? Central, South or something else? Do Americans consider it part of America?

Europe.

Technically, it’s part of The Americas.

 

[Doug McCrae]

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...

Simply put, like Darkseid, D&D is.

That's a great post.

Yeah, D&D is the game where Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser team up with Aragorn, Sir Galahad, and Mazirian the Magician to fight Dracula. On the way to his castle they have random encounters with a regenerating troll from Three Hearts and Three Lions, an annoying pixie, and a deadly cube made out of jello. The undead count's minions include Ray Harryhausen skeletons, the Horibs from Tarzan at the Earth's Core, and something from an episode of Space: 1999.

D&D's genre could be described as kitchen sink fantasy or gonzo fantasy. It resembles the universes of superhero comics (though those have more emphasis on sci-fi elements) or Robert Asprin's Myth Adventures series.

 

[Charlaquin]

The one thats always confused me is the Caribbean - is it North America? Central, South or something else?

Geologically, most of the Caribbean islands are on their own small tectonic plate, separate from both the North American and South American plate, which the southern part of Central America is also on. Some of them are on the North American plate though, so if you were going to connect it to one continent or the other, North America is probably the best bet. Geopolitically, there are something like 30 countries and territories within the Caribbean Islands, some of which are independent and others of which are under sovereignty of various other nations, including the US, UK, France, the Netherlands, Columbia, Venezuela, Mexico, and Honduras. That’s islands for you.

Do Americans consider it part of America?

Not generally. Most Americans are woefully ignorant of geopolitics and don’t even think about the Caribbean except in the context of pirate movies, and probably couldn’t even tell you where it is. Heck, I’m getting most of this information from a Wikipedia page I have open in another tab. Of the islands under US sovereignty, there’s the Virgin Islands, which a lot of Americans have probably heard of at some point but never think about, Puerto Rico which some Americans (myself included) think should be granted statehood but most probably think of as part of Mexico because it’s inhabited by brown people who speak Spanish, and Navasa Island which I had never heard of before and according to Wikipedia is uninhabited and also partly owned by Haiti.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Navasa Island which I had never heard of before and according to Wikipedia is uninhabited

So that’s where they moved the UFO to!

 

[Doug McCrae]

D&D is the game where Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser team up with Aragorn, Sir Galahad, and Mazirian the Magician to fight Dracula. On the way to his castle they have random encounters with a regenerating troll from Three Hearts and Three Lions, an annoying pixie, and a deadly cube made out of jello. The undead count's minions include Ray Harryhausen skeletons, the Horibs from Tarzan at the Earth's Core, and something from an episode of Space: 1999.

Perhaps a more modern, and self-referential, version would be:

D&D is the game where Locke Lamora, Drizzt do'Urden, Samurai Jack, the Tin Woodsman, and DC Comics' Raven team up to fight the Gentleman with Thistledown Hair from Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. On the way Raven bullies the Tin Woodsman until he admits he's a steampunk character.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Perhaps a more modern, and self-referential, version would be:

D&D is the game where Locke Lamora, Drizzt do'Urden, Samurai Jack, the Tin Woodsman, and DC Comics' Raven team up to fight the Gentleman with Thistledown Hair from Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. On the way Raven bullies the Tin Woodsman until he admits he's a steampunk character.

I have to admit, that version sounds less appealing to me.

 

[DragonLancer]

It seems that "medieval fantasy" no longer applies to D&D.

It hasn't been medieval fantasy since 2nd edition unfortunately. Steampunk is close to what it appears as now but even that isn't quite right, but it is what I voted for. To me, these days D&D resembles something akin to Runeterra from League of Legends over medieval or steampunk fantasy.