D&D has no intended playstyle and everyone plays it! It can do Doctor Who, Critical Role, Dungeon Crawl Classics, Lord of the Rings, Studio Ghibli, and more!!! Why design your own game when D&D can already do everything???
Strong disagreement, especially for earlier editions.
The intent was clearly focused upon only combat and magic being mechanicalized, and largely, the focus of play, with a clear indication of the mode being (depending upon edition) Players talk to caller and caller talks to GM —or— Players talk to GM directly — and then the GM decides if any mechanics are needed, then resolving and stating the results. Until AD&D 2e (well, actually, late AD&D 1e and Mid BECMI), the idea of mechanical social effect was foreign to AD&D past "do they or do they not attack the PCs?" and "Will the hirelings/followers follow my orders?" The instructions on dungeon building (in OE, In AD&D 1e, in BX, and in BECMI) also provide a clear intent for a dungeon crawl dominated playstyle... Tho' late OE, and both AD&D and the X of BX, adding outdoor adventure support, including ships.
3E and later have much wider expectations of playstyles, but even AD&D 2 and BECMI still have a strong emphasis on the dungeon and the travel to it, and proceduralist play, firmly ensconced into the rules.
What's remarkable is how many ignored the in-the-rules guidance for that dungeon raid and travel to it mode of play and playstyle. TSR D&D was laser focused upon one playstyle, and yet, the most memorable play avoids those. TSR D&D was written as a press-your-luck dungeon-penetration narrative wargame, and often not played that way. AD&D 2e started trying to mechanicalize other aspects of play.
D&D 3e supported primarily that Dungeon Focused playstyle, too. But as with AD&D 2e, moved to supporting far more.
There is advice for dungeon building even in 5E 2014 - I've not bothered with 2024, so I can't attest to it... but even 5E intends the same DM-Centric mode of play, and supports a strongly combat focused press-your-luck dungeon penetration, and a dungeons and travel to them motif.
The adventures for D&D AL seasons 1-3 highlight this...
Dragon Queen:
- a series of short dungeons and travel between them during an invasion
- a travel to a dungeon
- a sneek-n-peek raid
- a report back
- a return and clear out the site previously raided
- Travel to another dungeon
- A side encounter in dungeon style en route
- A Castle invasion.
Season two: 4 elemental dungeons, as chapter capstones, and 2-3 minor en-route dungeon-like encounters en route to each.
Apocalpse: the megadungeon... with subordinate dungeons and long travels through tunnels.
5E retains the Let's go raid a dungeon, and fight our way there playstyle made part of the texture of play in AD&D and in BX... with minimal (and marked optional, especially for AL play) social rules.
And, as with TSR D&D,
many people ignore the intended playstyle and go far afield of it. That's how D&D has rolled, and most don't even think to actually see what the rules are written to encourage. And the first party adventures provided that same... and a few pushed beyond it. I've run a dozen of the DDAL adventures, not just the big books, from those three years release, and of the dozen I've run, only one had major social elements... the rest were
A dungeon raid and travel to it. Half a dozen more of the 3 dozen had socials, but I didn't run those - not because I wasn't interested, but because when I suggested them, no one wanted them.
