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D&D tries to be a little of everything, and that's its secret strength (and weakness)
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<blockquote data-quote="Shardstone" data-source="post: 9194553" data-attributes="member: 6807784"><p>While I can understand the sentiment, I really think this line of thought ignores what it actually means to be D&D. Painting D&D to be only some ouroboros that only needs itself and thus is perfect with itself is flawed thinking IMO. I, personally, don't have a strong schema for "what is D&D." I've played for a decent time, almost the entire lifespan of 5E, and I've played a lot of other RPGs too, and I've done a lot of design work but personally and professionally as well. And with all that said, I truly just don't think this idea of "D&D's baggage makes it D&D" is true.</p><p></p><p>Why? Because so many people I've played with transpose their baggage onto D&D and overwrite it. Likewise, when you begin designing for D&D and start really playing with the mechanical and narrative frameworks, this concept of "D&D baggage" completely disappears. I know many die-hard fans who don't care about things like FR, Mind Flayers, Beholders, Druids, etc. They instead either mold concepts into what their own fantasy touchstones are or bring in new ideas and reflavor or stretch the game to fit them. </p><p></p><p>In other words, D&D isn't D&D because of its baggage. It's D&D because it provides a flavorful but generic enough game that you can sorta kinda put whatever ideas you want into it. When people say things like D&D is D&D because it's D&D, they're basically projecting their own preferences onto the game and acting like this is what D&D truly is and always has been. But everything, even Chromatic Dragons, even the Classes, even the Spells and Spell System -- all of these things can and have been modified, changed, edited, removed, and replaced at various times and yet people still feel like it's D&D.</p><p></p><p>This, IMO, is a lot better and a lot healthier of a mindset then acting like D&D is D&D and thus it can be nothing else. Even at the game's inception, Gygax and Arneson disagreed on how to design the game and the world. Then Gygax and TSR had a disagreement. Then TSR had a bunch of disagreements and the game moved to WotC, who have changed it three times now, adding and removing and embracing and negating any number of ideas, mechanical or narrative. The radical evolution in the game, even if it feels coherent to people who've lived through it, is proof enough that D&D is a quantum thing that totally changes when exposed to other ideas. </p><p></p><p>And tbh, having played a lot of RPGs, most of them feel like something similar. Yeah, there's a lot of exceptions; Fate of the Norns is pretty unique in terms of mechanics...but all these fantastical games are really just about tapping into your imagination and giving you rules to do different things. But those rules only matter so much as the flavor they are tied too, and that flavor, in D&D, has been liquid since the game's creation.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Shardstone, post: 9194553, member: 6807784"] While I can understand the sentiment, I really think this line of thought ignores what it actually means to be D&D. Painting D&D to be only some ouroboros that only needs itself and thus is perfect with itself is flawed thinking IMO. I, personally, don't have a strong schema for "what is D&D." I've played for a decent time, almost the entire lifespan of 5E, and I've played a lot of other RPGs too, and I've done a lot of design work but personally and professionally as well. And with all that said, I truly just don't think this idea of "D&D's baggage makes it D&D" is true. Why? Because so many people I've played with transpose their baggage onto D&D and overwrite it. Likewise, when you begin designing for D&D and start really playing with the mechanical and narrative frameworks, this concept of "D&D baggage" completely disappears. I know many die-hard fans who don't care about things like FR, Mind Flayers, Beholders, Druids, etc. They instead either mold concepts into what their own fantasy touchstones are or bring in new ideas and reflavor or stretch the game to fit them. In other words, D&D isn't D&D because of its baggage. It's D&D because it provides a flavorful but generic enough game that you can sorta kinda put whatever ideas you want into it. When people say things like D&D is D&D because it's D&D, they're basically projecting their own preferences onto the game and acting like this is what D&D truly is and always has been. But everything, even Chromatic Dragons, even the Classes, even the Spells and Spell System -- all of these things can and have been modified, changed, edited, removed, and replaced at various times and yet people still feel like it's D&D. This, IMO, is a lot better and a lot healthier of a mindset then acting like D&D is D&D and thus it can be nothing else. Even at the game's inception, Gygax and Arneson disagreed on how to design the game and the world. Then Gygax and TSR had a disagreement. Then TSR had a bunch of disagreements and the game moved to WotC, who have changed it three times now, adding and removing and embracing and negating any number of ideas, mechanical or narrative. The radical evolution in the game, even if it feels coherent to people who've lived through it, is proof enough that D&D is a quantum thing that totally changes when exposed to other ideas. And tbh, having played a lot of RPGs, most of them feel like something similar. Yeah, there's a lot of exceptions; Fate of the Norns is pretty unique in terms of mechanics...but all these fantastical games are really just about tapping into your imagination and giving you rules to do different things. But those rules only matter so much as the flavor they are tied too, and that flavor, in D&D, has been liquid since the game's creation. [/QUOTE]
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