DnD: What is it to you?

[Aus_Snow]

Mostly, these days, entertaining some friends with whatever fiendish arrangements I have made, and being in turn entertained by their astonishing/outrageous/hilarious manoeuvring.

Also, becoming invested in their characters almost as much as they are, watching them grow - despite my best efforts - to become noteworthy figures on the world stage.

The details, otherwise, vary too much to say much that's generally applicable. I suppose there will be fantastical creatures along the way, most likely. Villainous scum are almost a dead cert. Mysteries and subterfuge, battles and losses, traps and tricks. . .

Why am I finding it so hard to pin down "D&D"? Have my groups' experiences ranged so far afield now that it just ain't so simple anymore? Or was D&D never really as narrow as some insist it must be. Hm.

 

[WheresMyD20]

To me, D&D is rolling up a character and exploring whatever cool setting (dungeon, wilderness, city, other plane of existance, etc.) the DM dreamed up whlie trying to survive and fulfill whatever objectives the group has set for itself.

The point of the game, though, is just to have a good time with my friends.

I like exploration and puzzle-solving. I dislike role-playing. I like combat, but I don't like overly tactical combat.

I prefer the game to be somewhat free-form. I prefer the DM to set the limits on what can and cannot be done rather than having the rulebook set the limits.

 

[ourchair]

For me it's a high fantasy action adventure make believe game, where dice stops people from going "I hit you!" "No you didn't!" "Yes I did!" "Nuh-uh!" That's a broad definition, I know, but it also allows for the fact that my mood for what kind of game I want it to be changes.

Given a particular DM, I might be intrigued to explore mysteries beneath the earth, while under another DM I might be engaged in some improv acting and under another I'm just trying to outsmart his monsters in a giant action packed set-piece and I'm sure many other players have the same multi-faceted relationship with the game.

 

[Haltherrion]

Much like the title states I am curious what people feel it is that makes DnD well DnD. This is meant to be an inclusive discussion on what might be the strong aspects of the game are.
For me I think its things like spells per day and getting to use nearly every dice I own. Having to nurse a wizard to fruition like some delicate yet spectacular flower is another good one.

Interesting choice of D&D attributes since some of them are not in 4E

Good question, though, especially with the major change of 4E which for the record, after some test sessions and a campaign that started a few months ago, so far I am really enjoying.

I guess for me, it isn't so much specific mechanics. At an abstract level, it has always been a game that encourages high fantasy sword & sorcery: lots of different races, prevelant magic, lots of monsters. It is a system where understanding of your character and his spells/powers can improve effectiveness (so digging into the rules is of use) but not an overly complex system for the neophyte nor one that attempts too much "realism".

So for me, it is a certain mix of action and fantasy. In contrast, GURPS seemed too generic, Traveller too sterile, Rolemaster too much unnecessary detail, T&T too silly, and so on.

 

[Herremann the Wise]

Much like the title states I am curious what people feel it is that makes DnD well DnD. This is meant to be an inclusive discussion on what might be the strong aspects of the game are.
For me I think its things like spells per day and getting to use nearly every dice I own. Having to nurse a wizard to fruition like some delicate yet spectacular flower is another good one.

What Dungeons & Dragons was and what Dungeons and Dragons is represents two different things for me. The split and change of direction of the latest edition has affected our group quite dramatically effectively splitting it in two (several players have given up on the new edition). How we play the game is still how we play regardless of edition although the new one weighs more in the direction of fun and less in the direction of satisfaction. The focus on combat is like having a car with it's alignment out of whack and always wanting to pull to the left. Previous editions of D&D and Pathfinder (D&D in soul if not name) represent more to me of the magical and mystical, the fantastic and the ferocious. Worlds and ideas unfettered.

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

 

[Meatboy]

Interesting that many people are treating D&D as synonymous with 'gaming'.

OP, did you intend this? Are you wanting to know impressions about D&D specifically, or gaming in general. Because I love gaming and spend a lot of time doing it. D&D to me is just one game I don't particularly care for. I love lots of other ones!

It was supposed to be about dnd specifically. I kinda realized after the fact though that it might end being a more open ended topic.
For me there is a lot of stuff that I don't particularly enjoy about dnd but it seems that I still end up playing it anyway. It just got me thinking about what really makes dnd unique and something that keeps bringing people back to it.

 

[Meatboy]

"Interesting choice of D&D attributes since some of them are not in 4E:"

@Marcq

I know. I am kind of split the 4e it made a lot of the changes I had been hoping for while I was playing 3e. Yet it doesn't always retain the "feeling" I associate with dnd.
I know that is a very vague way of putting things but I can't better describe my ideas on 4e.
This was not meant as an edition war thread though. Just more what makes dnd its own special beast.

 

[CleverNickName]

Hmm...what is D&D to me?

It's high school, passing the endless boring hours of class by sketching up little dungeons and mazes on graph paper, or sneaking photocopies of hand-drawn character sheets from the teacher's lounge. It's the Isle of Dread, the Master of the Desert Nomads, the Saga of the Shadow Lord. It's clerics who can't use sharp weapons, druids that can't wear metal, and dwarves that can't do anything but fight. It's waiting nervously by the mailbox for what seemed like weeks, for my copy of the greatest D&D book ever published: The Rules Cyclopedia.

It's college, rushing through my assignments so that I can make it across campus to my friend's dorm for a game, eating pizza and drinking contraband beverages. It's the hiss and crackle of a 14.4 modem connecting to a local gaming BBS, to download electronic character sheets, random number generators, kits, and house rules. It's character sheets and encounter keys with the detachable bands of hole-punched paper on the sides, fresh off the dot matrix printer in the student lounge. Its the Temple of Elemental Evil, Dark Sun, the thief acrobat, the elf ranger. It's staying up too late, eating too much junk food, and caring too much about dark elves.

It's the new millennium, working 50-hour weeks at a consulting engineering firm. It's Third Edition, it's Three-Point-Five Edition, it's Fourth Edition, it's Pathfinder. It's another Temple of Elemental Evil, it's another Dark Sun. It's internet downloads and chat forums and ENWorld, flame wars and house rules. It's trying to schedule a 6-hour game on a weekend with five other working, married, home-owning people, some of them parents, some of them going to night school. It's healing surges, daily powers, minis, cards, markers, and wet-erase battlemats. It's reading my old Rules Cyclopedia and BECM modules the way I imagine other people read their high school yearbooks.

That is what D&D was, is, and has become to me.

 

[TikkchikFenTikktikk]

The Core Essence of D&D, To Me:

Characters
You play the role of a character (rarely more than one at a time) in an imaginary world. The world is a fantastic and quasi-medieval place, usually strongly influenced by Tolkien's writings of Middle Earth, where magic exists.

Characters are primarily defined by six attributes: Charisma, Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence, Strength, Wisdom.

Each character is further defined by a race and class. The most typical races are dwarf, elf, halfling (aka hobbit), and human. The most typical classes are cleric, fighter, rogue, wizard.

Characters can improve over time. Their improvement is marked by experience points. After enough improvement they gain better ability scores and other mechanical effects.

The health of a character is defined by that character's hit points.

Mechanics
Characters have free-will in the game world and are generally not restricted to a following a certain path, restrained in their interactions with other characters, or made to or prevented from facing challenges at certain times as they would in a board game.

To resolve conflicts--essentially whenever a character attempts to do something that may fail or that is opposed by another character or hazard--players roll dice. Depending on the situation the dice rolled may have four, six, eight, ten, twelve, or twenty sides. The result of the roll may be modified by adding to or subtracting from its value, and success is determined by comparing that final result to a target number. The reason for rolling and the result of the role are usually fantastical, such as trying to magically hit a goblin with a ball of fire.

One of the players does not play a character but instead acts as the Dungeon Master, adjudicating the rules, arbitrating conflict, creating the game world and its hazards, and generally guiding the play of the game.

Hazards
The world is filled with mythical monsters, traps set by intelligent actors, and fantastic terrain.

Characters may explore vast underground caverns and dungeons, the unexplored wilderness of the game world, cities and towns of the land, the halls of government, or even the various planes of existence.

Rewards
Characters receive treasure as a reward for exploring their world and overcoming its hazards.

The most common reward is money, usually represented as coins of gold, silver, or copper. Monetary rewards may also include coins of different metals, jewelry, and art objects.

Rare but desired rewards are magic items, from mundane items and combat gear enhanced with mystical power to artifacts that have their own consciousness.

 

[deadsmurf]

Any fantasy RPG-like game that includes fantastic races (Dwarf, Elf, halfling included), swords and magic, with a focus on adventure, which includes, but is not limited to Killing monsters and taking their stuff.