Need a list of all D&Disms

[Trickstergod]

Frequent Instant Healing
Resurection
Magic shops
The Town Mage - Town Cleric - Town Druid - Town X spellcaster.
The expectation of large amounts of magic in order to combat monsters within the "normal scope of play."
The expectation that players stats will well excede human limits.

Hmm...

I wouldn't really include anything that isn't unique to D&D.

Resurrection plays into a number of real-world mythologies and belief systems. Lazarus, for example.

The town spellcaster is a bit of a D&Dism, but the idea of the town priest certainly isn't. It's just that D&D priests tend to cast spells. Which also, in and of itself, isn't a D&Dism.

 

[Fevil]

It's magic system, I think.
I don't recall any other system ever using a similar one, but then I may be wrong.

As usual.

 

[Gez]

Edit: D'oh, I had to go and find something cool about the French, damn.

Feeling francophobiac, dear?

Well, if that can comfort you, you searched wrong.

The Tarasque wasn't smote by a lay clergy member.

The Tarasque, daughter of Leviathan and Onachum, was a water dragon, that entered the Rhone and arrived near the town of Tarascon (hence the creature's name, although some people claim it's the other way around, of course).

There, she did what dragons do, eating and terrorizing commoners.

But what's cool about the Tarasque isn't that she was slain by a George-like knight in shining armor. Instead, a frail woman, St. Martha, who was utterly fearless, decided to simply go and chat with the monster, to explain to her she was being very impolite.

Well, by not being appalled by the Tarasque's foulness and by being willing to talk wih her, she managed to convert the monster to Christianship (Martha was probably a precursor of the Jeovah Witnesses and other people who go door to door to convert you). The Tarasque, now tame as a lamb, came to the town, leashed like a pet dog, following Martha.

Of course, the villagers weren't much convinced by Martha's claim the creature was now harmless, and killed the monster. Which didn't defended herself, because good Christians turn the other cheek.

Then, they skinned the slain beast and made a procession, with people inside the hide to move. Tarascon is the only city outside of China where there was such a traditional dragon procession.

Here's an old postcard (I would say early 20th century, before WW2) showing a Tarasque chariot in such a procession. You can see the young girl playing St Martha's role.

 

[Ferox4]

Very cool, Gez. Thanks.

 

[Eosin the Red]

Hmm...

I wouldn't really include anything that isn't unique to D&D.

Resurrection plays into a number of real-world mythologies and belief systems. Lazarus, for example.

The town spellcaster is a bit of a D&Dism, but the idea of the town priest certainly isn't. It's just that D&D priests tend to cast spells. Which also, in and of itself, isn't a D&Dism.

Nothing is unique to D&D. It has all been done before. Having said that somethings are imbedded in D&D and not in other things.

Take Resurection. Sure it happens in mythology - only in the case of messianic figures as a general rule. I have yet to see anything in a mythology about Hercules being resurected 10 times while completeing his 12 labors. That is unique to D&D and video games.

There are usually priests in villiages in the real world. But they can not stop a plague from spreading. When build a chart for my home game I do not have to include the effects of druidic magic on crop harvest but MMS: WE does because it is so prevelant that it becomes an issue.

These are things which are strongly identified with D&D - not unique. Somebody somewhere uses Vancian magic for Fantasy Hero and Gurps. Someone somewhere uses Hit Points in Vampire but those things are not commonly identifed with said system. Vancian Magic is assumed throughout D&D - it is assumed when desigining adventures, it is assumed when desiging locations, and when designing monsters.

D&D ism's IMO are those things inherent in the system that are a deviation from Fantasy Lit and Fantasy RPGs in general. GURPs does not presuppose that a Mage will have a 24 INT by 15th level, it assumes that humans will amx out thier primary trait (18) but that after that it becomes so expensive as to be prohibitive. Players in FH or Dark Champions expect that wounds will be debiliting for a week or so unless it was superficial to begin with. That is not true in D&D. A fighter can expect to be on deaths door at the end of the battle and before he can clean the blood off be perfectly whole and hale.

Some other good D&Disms are mentioned:

Hit Points.
Vancian Magic.

Added to the previous list of:
Frequent Instant Healing
Resurection - not a 1 time event.
Magic shops
The Town Mage - Town Cleric - Town Druid - Town X spellcaster.
The expectation of large amounts of magic in order to combat monsters within the "normal scope of play."
The expectation that players stats will well excede human limits.

 

[Gez]

There's a magic shop in a Fafhrd & Grey Mouser adventures. I'm willing to bet it's older than magic shops in D&D.

It was a magic shop in all meanings of the word -- both magical in itself, and selling magical stuff.

The Gray Mouser was totally hypnotized by its content, as nearly everything wasn't what it appeared to be, fascinating grimoires were blank books, art objects were old rubbish, gorgeous sex slaves were ugly giant spiders, etc. But there was also real magical stuff to buy, although usually somewhat harmful or cursed.

 

[Geoff Watson]

The 'that doesn't happen in Gurps/Fantasy Hero line' doesn't really mean anything, as they are meta-systems and don't have any settings; you could easily have all the D&Disms if you wanted.

You could have 'fire-and-forget' magic in FH easily; Delayed Effect is a standard advantage.
No instant healing? Why didn't you take any Aid/Healing or Aid/Body spells? They're cheap enough in a multipower/VPP.
High stats? Gurps mages take Magery instead; same benefits as high IQ, but cheaper. If they couldn't, they'd get the IQ.

Local priest/witch/shaman/spellcaster/etc is common in fantasy; they have to deal with common spirits/monsters/etc.

Geoff.

 

[Olive]

D&D Dragons: good metalics, bad chromatics, 5 of each type with specific abilities and breath weapons according to what type they are.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

Well, thanks everybody. I will have to compile these later.

 

[Nightfall]

Hmm...

I wouldn't really include anything that isn't unique to D&D.

Resurrection plays into a number of real-world mythologies and belief systems. Lazarus, for example.

The town spellcaster is a bit of a D&Dism, but the idea of the town priest certainly isn't. It's just that D&D priests tend to cast spells. Which also, in and of itself, isn't a D&Dism.

I'd have to agree with you there Trick.