Mercurius
Legend
Forked from: Is a popular non-D&D traditional fantasy RPG possible?
This may be the most key point as to why no fantasy RPG has ever come close to rivaling D&D: Nothing else is D&D. Yet let me digress from that thread's topic and veer into slightly different territory.
I have thought about, read about, and forumized about RPGs more than I've actually played. Over the 25+ years that I've played RPGs, and owned and/or read dozens, if not a hundred or more, different games, I've probably tried only a dozen different games in actual play. Of those games my favorites--in terms of both system and setting--are probably Talislanta, Ars Magica, Everway, and Savage Worlds. Talislanta for the setting and playable rules-set, Ars Magica for the unparalleled magic system, Everway for the unique setting, and Savage Worlds for the elegant game mechanics. I could name numerous others that I appreciate in different ways, but those come most readily to mind.
In many ways I prefer some of these other games to D&D (gasp!), yet I've never been able to get into serious campaigns with any of them. Why? Among other reasons, most notably time and circumstance, the relevant one for this discussion is because none of them are D&D.
What do I mean by that? Well, let's take Talislanta. I love the system: in many ways it is the "original d20", with a simple core system that I wish D&D emulated. But while it is simple, it is not too simple, with just enough crunch to satisfy. And the setting is one of my favorite fantasy worlds in print, with dozens of interesting cultures and unique races. But it isn't D&D.
Again, what do I mean by that? Given the time and opportunity I would love to play in, or even GM, a Talislanta campaign. But I would probably end up back with D&D. Why? Because it is what I grew up with, what I first played in the back of a van. I still remember that magical moment when I was eight or nine and my family was at a Tibetan New Year celebration in Boulder, CO (my parents were into Tibetan Buddhism at the time). Some of the slightly older kids drew me aside and led me to a VW bus and handed me a piece a parchment inscribed with what looked like hieroglyphics to me: my first character sheet. I was transfixed. Then, sometime later, a couple of my older brother's friends were just getting into computers (it was the early 80s) and I inherited their 1st printing, 1st edition hardbacks. I was hooked.
I think what happened was a kind of imprinting. If my first encounter with RPGs had been, say, Runequest or Rolemaster or MERP or Pendragon, things might have been different. But for me, like most gamers of my age group (I'm 34), my first encounter was D&D, or AD&D 1ed to be exact. I have enjoyed and aesthetically appreciate many other games, but for me D&D is home. Even with a few major caveats about 4E, I'm feeling very inspired to start up a campaign--after five years away from the game. I might even think that some other games are "better"--better written, with more stream-lined game mechanics and a more artistically impressive setting, but they aren't D&D. In the end, Dungeons &Dragons is the game I want to play.
Scribble said:
This may be the most key point as to why no fantasy RPG has ever come close to rivaling D&D: Nothing else is D&D. Yet let me digress from that thread's topic and veer into slightly different territory.
I have thought about, read about, and forumized about RPGs more than I've actually played. Over the 25+ years that I've played RPGs, and owned and/or read dozens, if not a hundred or more, different games, I've probably tried only a dozen different games in actual play. Of those games my favorites--in terms of both system and setting--are probably Talislanta, Ars Magica, Everway, and Savage Worlds. Talislanta for the setting and playable rules-set, Ars Magica for the unparalleled magic system, Everway for the unique setting, and Savage Worlds for the elegant game mechanics. I could name numerous others that I appreciate in different ways, but those come most readily to mind.
In many ways I prefer some of these other games to D&D (gasp!), yet I've never been able to get into serious campaigns with any of them. Why? Among other reasons, most notably time and circumstance, the relevant one for this discussion is because none of them are D&D.
What do I mean by that? Well, let's take Talislanta. I love the system: in many ways it is the "original d20", with a simple core system that I wish D&D emulated. But while it is simple, it is not too simple, with just enough crunch to satisfy. And the setting is one of my favorite fantasy worlds in print, with dozens of interesting cultures and unique races. But it isn't D&D.
Again, what do I mean by that? Given the time and opportunity I would love to play in, or even GM, a Talislanta campaign. But I would probably end up back with D&D. Why? Because it is what I grew up with, what I first played in the back of a van. I still remember that magical moment when I was eight or nine and my family was at a Tibetan New Year celebration in Boulder, CO (my parents were into Tibetan Buddhism at the time). Some of the slightly older kids drew me aside and led me to a VW bus and handed me a piece a parchment inscribed with what looked like hieroglyphics to me: my first character sheet. I was transfixed. Then, sometime later, a couple of my older brother's friends were just getting into computers (it was the early 80s) and I inherited their 1st printing, 1st edition hardbacks. I was hooked.
I think what happened was a kind of imprinting. If my first encounter with RPGs had been, say, Runequest or Rolemaster or MERP or Pendragon, things might have been different. But for me, like most gamers of my age group (I'm 34), my first encounter was D&D, or AD&D 1ed to be exact. I have enjoyed and aesthetically appreciate many other games, but for me D&D is home. Even with a few major caveats about 4E, I'm feeling very inspired to start up a campaign--after five years away from the game. I might even think that some other games are "better"--better written, with more stream-lined game mechanics and a more artistically impressive setting, but they aren't D&D. In the end, Dungeons &Dragons is the game I want to play.
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