Has D&D become less about the adventure?

[MerricB]

What's your opinion about D&D gaming today? Is it less about the adventure and more about the magical items and levelling? Isn't that what we're seeing in "Living" RPGA games, D&DOnline, and is this permeating into home games?

No. D&D Online is hardly representive or regular D&D; and my experiences with Living Greyhawk have it levelling slower than base D&D 3e and the storyline (esp. in regional adventures) being very important.

 

[Hussar]

Pssst, Merric, stop trying to bring that truthiness in here. People just want to talk about how videogamy/anime/whatever 3e is.

 

[Jdvn1]

I... don't think D&D is ever about the toys.

I mean, sure, people play D&D for different reasons, but it's not about having the toys. I could make a 40th level Cool Dude and not play him in a game, and what's the point? D&D is a game, and the game is inherently a social interactive story-telling. I mean, to an extent, of course.

Regardless of the character I make--1st level pauper, 40th level prince--I want to be able to play the character in some sort of situation. I may have a character that is Super Cool Toy User, and I may have a character that is a Total Dud Without Toys, but I want to be able to play the character nonetheless. The presence or absence of toys is immaterial.

So, it's about the... well, I don't know if you can generalize it by say "adventure," it's certainly not about the toys.

 

[Melan]

What's your opinion about D&D gaming today? Is it less about the adventure and more about the magical items and levelling? Isn't that what we're seeing in "Living" RPGA games, D&DOnline, and is this permeating into home games?
jh

No. It is about lovably crafted characters, for good or ill. This may include levelling and kewl powers, or elaborate backstories, or both. Instead of mostly generic PCs serving as tools to the player's will, "modern" PCs are individual and highly sophisticated constructs. The plethora of tools to make each of them unique reinforces this direction.

I do agree that adventures have taken a backseat, though.

 

[wedgeski]

I mean, sure, people play D&D for different reasons, but it's not about having the toys. I could make a 40th level Cool Dude and not play him in a game, and what's the point? D&D is a game, and the game is inherently a social interactive story-telling. I mean, to an extent, of course.

Jdvn1 hits the nail here, I think. D&D is about the relationship you have with your character, to which the adventuring is absolutely implicit. The loot is of course fantastic fun, but if you haven't earned it, and if you don't struggle to keep it, and if you don't have a chance to use it in heroic circumstances, then your PC might as well just be a paper cut-out onto which you're dragging and dropping random magic.

That is in no way a dig at CRPG's or MMORPG's, both of which I love, but I don't have anywhere near the kind of passion for my World of Warcraft Night-Elf as I do the 14th level Cleric which I've been levelling since 1986, even though I've probably put more hours of play-time into the former than the latter. It's still all about the adventuring for me.

 

[librarius_arcana]

It's all what you make it, man. My home games are always magic item light, and I've been toying with the idea of changing the progression rate. I prefer the game to be more about the adventure than the goodies the party has, but that's just me I suppose.

Yeah I'm going to cut back on alot of the magic items,
because I don't like to see characters that are made up of items instead of abilities,
you take away the toys and they start to look skinny and puny,

I want character to be define by themselves, and not by their stuff

 

[Henry]

For us, it's a bit of both; really, each gamer has their emotional payoff that makes 'em play; for some, it is the goodies gained, and the chance to use them; for others, it's the story, adventure, cool scenarios, what have you; and for other's, it's about kicking butt and emotional venting with a group.

For me, it's not MORE about the adventure, but it's not less, either. I do have the vague feeling our parties used to get our butts kicked more back then than now.

 

[Psion]

What's your opinion about D&D gaming today? Is it less about the adventure and more about the magical items and levelling?

Egads, no! Not for me at least. Levelling and building more capable characters is part of the draw of the game, of course. But you can build characters on your own with your books and a pad of paper. Without the adventure, it's fundamentally unfulfilling, IMO.

Isn't that what we're seeing in "Living" RPGA games, D&DOnline, and is this permeating into home games?

I think the people who play in and enjoy RPGA games do so because they enjoy the rules-precise nature of them. I see the "casual game" hobby as an almost totally different arena.

I'm wondering if I should be spending less time on prepping adventures...

That's really up to you. What do you enjoy doing? What about prepping adventures is time consuming for you? Would your group get along on a diet of kick-in-the-door semi-random dungeons? (I wouldn't).

 

[Yellow Sign]

I think that as the demographic of D&D players gets older than there is more apprication for good adventures. The want of 'cool' magic items and leveling has always been around and always will be. Why do you think that the term of a 'Monty Hall' dungeon comes from. When I was a kid back in the 70's and 80's it was all about cool magic items and powerful characters. But there is nothing wrong with that. Now a days 'powergaming' is a dirty word in the RPG circles and thats a shame. I don't think that we should be so snobbish to look down on someone elses playing style. If they enjoy it then that should be fine with everyone. It's not like they are killing anyone [except the poor monsters ].

D&D was/is a great game in the 70's, 80's, 90's, 00's!

Thats why we are all here chatting away about one of our favorite pass times right?

 

[Umbran]

Personally, my games have become less about levelling and toys with 3e, rather than more. But that's more about the player attitudes than about the game rules.

As for Temple and Tomb, I'm sorry, but I don't feel those adventures were particularly good at giving you the feeling of being in another world. Neither called for much in the way of immersion. They were "meat grinders". Temple was a long series of tactical exercises, and Tomb was focused on puzzling through traps. While you might talk a bit about an interesting isolated event in each one, neither generated a good story that covered the entire adventure. The slavers-giants-drow series was far better in that regard.

That was way-back-when, and I was playing. These many years later, if I chose to run them, I could inject the missing elements.