D&D General Disentangling D&D from D&D Fantasy

[Paul Farquhar]

Going with no humans at all makes the setting much less D&D like to me as it removes that human backbone. Remove all the PHB races and it would feel VERY different from D&D.

Are you suggesting Predetor: Badlands isn’t D&D!?

On topic: I feel that “choose your species” is enough to make something D&D-like, irrespective of what the options are.

 

[Maxperson]

Are you suggesting Predetor: Badlands isn’t D&D!?

The movie? I haven't seen that one.

On topic: I feel that “choose your species” is enough to make something D&D-like, irrespective of what the options are.

I don't. Picking race to me is like picking color in Sorry, Ticket to Ride, and Cosmic Encounter. Picking what you are playing doesn't make one game like another. Getting rid of humans, though, is completely different from D&D which revolves around humans as the default official position.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

The movie? I haven't seen that one.

Best film I’ve seen for a long while.

Getting rid of humans, though, is completely different from D&D which revolves around humans as the default official position

Most non-humans are just humans in rubber masks.

 

[Maxperson]

Best film I’ve seen for a long while.

I'll have to see it!

Most non-humans are just humans in rubber masks.

This doesn't really matter in my opinion. They aren't human, even if they seem that way in rubber masks. They have different abilities, and they go from very minority to a larger population and at least one becomes the center of play. Depending on the races, there may not even be cities or towns as humans make them, but something different.

The feel is very much altered with no humans, and altered drastically if you get rid of the other commonly played PHB races.

 

[xoth.publishing]

What I wonder is: is it possible to disentangle D&D Fantasy from the game of D&D, to do D&D in a different or new flavor of fantasy? What would it take? Could D&D's "sacred cow" mechanics survive such a transition? What about its visual identity? Are there very D&D adjacent (OSR, OGL) games that manage it while still "being" D&D?

Yes, it's possible. D&D was originally humanocentric, swords & sorcery-inspired, and only later took on the current "anything goes" flavor (which makes it, ironically, rather bland -- it's like if you mix all the spices you have into a single dish, it doesn't really taste anything special).

I've been using D&D rules to play more traditional swords & sorcery across multiple D&D editions (2E, 3E, PF, 5E) and you can check it out here: Xoth.Net Publishing | Book Catalog

 

[Remathilis]

On topic: I feel that “choose your species” is enough to make something D&D-like, irrespective of what the options are.

Behold: D&D like!

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Behold: D&D like!View attachment 436907

You don’t choose a species in Star Wars D6, you choose an archetype (which may include a species element). But nevertheless, it does play much like D&D.

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

Is "fantasy" "dragons, knights, wizards, elves and castles", or is "fantasy" just "having more agency in a fictional world than you do in reality"?

A role playing game without fantasy is, at best, therapy and at worst masturbation.

 

[Reynard]

Is "fantasy" "dragons, knights, wizards, elves and castles", or is "fantasy" just "having more agency in a fictional world than you do in reality"?

A role playing game without fantasy is, at best, therapy and at worst masturbation.

We aren't talking about "fantasy" broadly, we are talking about the specific sub-genre of D&D Fantasy.

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

We aren't talking about "fantasy" broadly, we are talking about the specific sub-genre of D&D Fantasy.

I mean, hasn't D&D done this already? You can hardly say that Dark Sun or Ghostwalk are "D&D Fantasy" and Eberron is basically a postmodern parody of D&D, published by D&D.