If D&D didn't exist

[Jan van Leyden]

Probably Star Trek and Star Wars based games. And DSA (German game) for fantasy stuff.

Hmmh, but DSA had been developed based on Ulrich Kiesow's house-ruled version of D&D when negotiations between TSR and Schmidt Spiele were fruitless. So without D&D early DSA wood have looked pretty different, I guess.

 

[Jhaelen]

Hmmh, but DSA had been developed based on Ulrich Kiesow's house-ruled version of D&D when negotiations between TSR and Schmidt Spiele were fruitless. So without D&D early DSA wood have looked pretty different, I guess.

I was going to answer DSA, since it was actually the first 'real' RPG I played, but you have a good point there.

I suppose the Midgard RPG was also created in response to D&D... but then again which RPG wasn't?

Back in the eighties when I got fed up with D&D we mostly played Runequest which I still consider a very good system.

The only other systems I played for an appreciable time were Ars Magica and Earthdawn, so perhaps one of those would be my main rpg today.

 

[DragonLancer]

If D&D didn't exist then I doubt I would be a gamer now as it was hearing about D&D many years before I ever found the game that got me into it.

 

[Lwaxy]

Hmmh, but DSA had been developed based on Ulrich Kiesow's house-ruled version of D&D when negotiations between TSR and Schmidt Spiele were fruitless. So without D&D early DSA wood have looked pretty different, I guess.

Oh yeah, forgot about that. DSA was later for me than D&D.

 

[Weregrognard]

If D&D didn't exist, my life would be so different it's unimaginable.

And I'm in no way ashamed to say that

 

[Henry]

There's good evidence to suggest that Traveller would have existed without D&D - which would definitely flavor RPGs quite differently in the modern era, I'd imagine.

 

[Agamon]

Which thought exercise is this? D&D disappears from the face of the earth right now? Or D&D was never created on the first place?

The former, I'd be playing Savage Worlds and Cortex+ games...kinda like I'm doing now.

The latter, assuming someone else didn't come up with the RPG concept eventually, probably more board games, video games and poker than I play now.

 

[mhensley]

I suppose I'd still be playing wargames like Squad Leader.

 

[wingsandsword]

Well, leaving aside the alternate history of if RPG's were even around, I think the OP's idea was more of "if D&D wasn't an option, what would you be playing?"

The first RPG I actually played and ran wasn't D&D, it was d6 Star Wars.

If West End Games still made it, I would probably kept buying it. It's a shame they went bankrupt in '98, they could have made a mint off the prequels.