Is D&D a heroic game?

[Crothian]

Simple question: Is D&D a heroic game? If you are not sure what heroic means then start here

 

[jdrakeh]

It is heroic but, as a game, it is focused very specifically on the second quarter of the literary hero's journey (as proposed by Campbell), largely to the exclusion of the other three quarters. This makes it a great game for undertaking and resolving epic quests, but a rather poor system for roleplaying the years of character development that typically lead up to such quests and the subsequent years of world change that arise as a result of it.

I guess I'd say that D&D is heroic, but it is very specifically a game about recreating what many people consider to be the most entertaining leg of the hero's journey, rather than recreating the entire journey. While D&D takes some flak for this in ceratin circles, it's worth pointing out that it is, ultimately, a game -- and games are ultimately about providing entertainment.

The choice to focus on the quest rather than the hero's formative years and the quest's aftermath is a good choice. In the end, it's the "killing monsters and taking treasure" that keep bringing people back to the table. If D&D suddenly became a deadly serious exploration of the literary hero, it would lose much of its appeal, I suspect.

 

[The Thayan Menace]

Truth

I voted no, only because D&D is not inherently heroic ... it typically requires a playstyle commitment to make it so.

Let's face it, we're all out to slaughter sentients and take their stuff.

-Samir is the TPKillah

​

 

[jdrakeh]

Let's face it, we're all out to slaughter sentients and take their stuff.

Which is the last stop on the second leg of the literary hero's journey

 

[Nifft]

It is when I DM.
Also, it is when I play (usually).

Cheers, -- N

 

[The Thayan Menace]

Hell Realms

The choice to focus on the quest rather than the hero's formative years and the quest's aftermath is a good choice.

A destructive journey without any real beginning or end. How is that heroic?

-Samir

 

[Ranger REG]

Let's face it, we're all out to slaughter sentients and take their stuff.

Yeah, you can find that motto practically imprinted in our DNA.

Humaniti is a dead-end species.



It's heroic only in the sense that the "heroes" are larger-than-life. But it's up to the players to make the PC "heroes" perform heroic deeds.

Though it is hard to see when PCs would like to be paid for their service ... half in advance (mainly at the rogue's suggestion).

 

[The Thayan Menace]

True Dat!

It's heroic only in the sense that the "heroes" are larger-than-life. But it's up to the players to make the PC "heroes" perform heroic deeds.

Agreed ... actions speak louder than mechanics.

-Samir

 

[Aus_Snow]

Simple question: Is D&D a heroic game?

It's not *that* simple (i.e., yes/no) a question. Simple. Not that simple. It's simple, really.

So, "other".

 

[jdrakeh]

A destructive journey without any real beginning or end. How is that heroic?

-Samir

Just because D&D doesn't model the entirety of the hero's journey doesn't mean that the portion it does model in unheroic. Note that the hero's journey (i.e., the monomyth) is a sum of its parts, and thus, each of those parts is intrinsically heroic. Note also that the second quarter of the hero's journey does have a defined beginning and a defined end.

The second quarter of the hero's journey constitutes the quest or adventure, the portion of the hero's life that begins with their crossing the threshold (i.e., accepting the quest or embarking on the adventure), is characterized by tests (i.e., obstacles that the hero must overcome to complete the quest) and ends with a climax (usually a battle of some sort) that resolves the quest.

While it's true that D&D assumes already capable heroes by default and leaves determining the lasting impact of adventures upon a setting entirely up to the DM's discretion, it also very faithfully recreates the entire second leg of the hero's journey. In doing so, it's heroic. It doesn't model the whole journey, but it the part that it does model, it models very well and in a fashion that would do Homer proud.

D&D isn't Beowulf, it's Beowulf's journey from Geatland to battle Grendel and his mother. It's not Le Morte de Arthur, but Arthur's search for the grail and his battle with Modred. It's not the Simarillion, but the Fellowship's journey to Mount Doom and the battle with Sauron's host.

D&D isn't the whole myth -- it's the adventure.

If one finds that D&D isn't heroic because it doesn't model the entire myth, then they must also find that Beowulf's battle with Grendel isn't heroic, that King Arthur's questing knights and his final battle with Modred wasn't heroic, and that the efforts of Frodo, Gandalf, and company weren't heroic.

That's a pill that I don't think many folks are ready to swallow.