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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Steel_Wind" data-source="post: 5096431" data-attributes="member: 20741">While you have a point, I must disagree.All versions of Dungeons and Dragons since OD&D have been games that featured combat with an evil menace as the central aspect of the game. All versions have also been about "killing the monsters and taking their stuff." 3rd edition, in particular, enshrined the "taking their stuff" element of the game by making the character very much ABOUT the "stuff" the character has.  This intrinsic aspect of the game's design arises not so much out of the expectation of the players as it does by design in the very RULES of the game itself.If you want a game about combat and role-playing -- but not about looting? Try playing a Star Wars: Saga Edition campaign (or any one of a few hundred other non FRPG games).You will see -- and very quickly too -- how it is the RULES of D&D that very much drive the "kill em and take their stuff" ethos of the game.So is D&D about murder and pillaging? Yes it is -- and to an extent -- it always has been for over 35 years. It has, however, become MORE about this as the years have worn on and as each successive version of the game has been released.The loot aspect of the game drives combat as the reward for it as a formal part of the rules.  If you want to avoid that aspect of D&D -- switch to another game system that does not reward players with loot for killing the bad guys. You will quickly find that this opens up new possibilities for your game sessions, while at the same time making the game more difficult to maintain interest in.Not impossible to do, just harder to do. When the game is not about loot, it takes more effort on behalf of the GM to make the game and combat interesting for the players. It also takes more effort from the players to become engaged in the story and game world in which the combat takes place.  The rewards for the combat nature of the game (apart from being fun in and of itself) arises from the story "rewards" and not the loot "rewards".ConclusionYes: it's about murder and pillage by design. It's always been about that. That's the game Gary created. That design element has been emphasized by the rules of  over the years. It has its good points and its bad points. If the players of a D&D campaign want to avoid the looting aspect of the game driving the character's motivations, they can do so, but it IS built into the rules by default.</blockquote>

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