Ovinomancer
No flips for you!
No problem. Have a flexible day!Dude, I'm done. Have a good one.
No problem. Have a flexible day!Dude, I'm done. Have a good one.
I will agree with this. My go-to game is Savage Worlds. It's a flexible, genre-neutral system that encourages pulp action adventure. It can do fantasy, science fiction, gothic horror, and spaghetti westerns. It does them all very well...but it only does them in shades of Savage Worlds. Every Savage Worlds game is going to have big gunfights with a lot of miniatures on the battlefield because that's what the game is about.The only genre 5e does well is D&D. You can do D&D in space, you can do post-apocalypse D&D, and you can do D&D noir (which is very weird). But it's nearly impossible for 5e to not be D&D. The different flavors of D&D you can do aren't full genres, but rather some genre flavor sprinkled on top of D&D.
Agreed that Dungeons & Dragons is not a genre.I will agree with this. My go-to game is Savage Worlds. It's a flexible, genre-neutral system that encourages pulp action adventure. It can do fantasy, science fiction, gothic horror, and spaghetti westerns. It does them all very well...but it only does them in shades of Savage Worlds. Every Savage Worlds game is going to have big gunfights with a lot of miniatures on the battlefield because that's what the game is about.
In that same vein, every D&D game can do different genres, but they're all D&D. D&D meets science fiction (Spelljammer)! D&D meets gothic horror (Ravenloft)! D&D meets post-apocalypse (Dark Sun)! The system's conceits define and constrain it. There are boundaries in place that D&D cannot reach beyond. Hit point attrition, resource management, Vancian spells, classes, saving throws, the ability scores, etc. Your game might cross out the word wizard and replace it with "decker," you might call spells "programs," you might change hit points to "stamina," but the basic gameplay remains unchanged.
It's a bit tautological, but a thing is defined as itself. D&D is D&D.
At this point, D&D is a genre -- it has a definable and referenceable set of tropes that pervade the experience and create stories that are identifiably D&D. The system does this genre well, but can't escape it because many of these tropes are baked into the game system. As such, you're only sprinkling in other genres onto the D&D genre.Agreed that Dungeons & Dragons is not a genre.
Heroic fantasy, sword and sorcery, epic fantasy, mythic fantasy, dark fantasy, intrigue, mystery, swashbuckling, war, and wuxia are genres (of fiction).
You can flavor D&D with genre, but it remains D&D.
Dungeons & Dragons is a roleplaying game. Heroic fantasy is the assumed genre.At this point, D&D is a genre -- it has a definable and referenceable set of tropes that pervade the experience and create stories that are identifiably D&D. The system does this genre well, but can't escape it because many of these tropes are baked into the game system. As such, you're only sprinkling in other genres onto the D&D genre.
Yes, D&D is a roleplaying game. It's also a genre. People don't say, "I wanna play heroic fantasy," they say, "I wanna play D&D." What that means isn't that they're looking for the heroic fantasy tropes, but rather the D&D tropes. Heroic fantasy isn't the only genre flavoring that D&D is capable.Dungeons & Dragons is a roleplaying game. Heroic fantasy is the assumed genre.
I don't follow you here at all. I don't see how backgrounds, BIFTs, and setting your character's height and weight establish the D&D genre, especially since it existed long before that chapter, and exist independently of your character having a background at all, much less BIFTs. The D&D genre is largely defined by and baked into the way combat is central, the focus on group-identity/play, and zero-to-hero. None of that relies on Chapter 4 stuff -- it exists even if you excise Chapter 4.I'm glad we reached this part, though, where there's tacit acknowledgment that the rules found in Chapter 4 of the Player's Handbook do something specific in defining and reinforcing the tropes D&D is famous for.
If you were to check the Player's Handbook out from the library, you would find it under the genre "fantasy," or maybe "science fiction," but certainly not "D&D."Yes, D&D is a roleplaying game. It's also a genre. People don't say, "I wanna play heroic fantasy," they say, "I wanna play D&D." What that means isn't that they're looking for the heroic fantasy tropes, but rather the D&D tropes. Heroic fantasy isn't the only genre flavoring that D&D is capable.
The D&D genre is a separate thing from heroic fantasy.
Dungeons & Dragons is famous for its nine alignments, within which you will find a trope.I don't follow you here at all. I don't see how backgrounds, BIFTs, and setting your character's height and weight establish the D&D genre, especially since it existed long before that chapter, and exist independently of your character having a background at all, much less BIFTs. The D&D genre is largely defined by and baked into the way combat is central, the focus on group-identity/play, and zero-to-hero. None of that relies on Chapter 4 stuff -- it exists even if you excise Chapter 4.
I'm not sure what your point is, here. Are library filing systems definitional for genre? Because they don't have a heroic fiction section, either.If you were to check the Player's Handbook out from the library, you would find it under the genre "fantasy," or maybe "science fiction," but certainly not "D&D."
True, but that's been heavily toned down for the last two editions. I can leave that space blank on my sheet in 5e and it doesn't change how the game plays.Dungeons & Dragons is famous for its nine alignments, within which you will find a trope.
It's a bit tautological, but a thing is defined as itself. D&D is D&D.