Other Modes of RPG Play?

[GMMichael]

So, is this thread just acknowledging that non-dnd games exist, and listing them?

I would like to add acknowledging that the abbreviation NDND should be a thing.

 

[Scribe]

Just scanned the thread, but I'm seeing a lot of what is just a different format, but is still ultimately typical RPG play.

I was thinking more.

Solo Play.
Competitive PvP (Party vs Party)
Arena type Modes. Nothing but min/max battles.

Things like that, as 'other modes'.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I'm not sure you are asking the right question -- at least in relation to the way Mike presented his thoughts. Magic or 40K has a single set of foundational rules, but specific rules that create different modes of play. Therefore the question should not really be "what games do things differently than D&D" but rather "why rules do we use or emphasize or eliminate in order to create different modes of play in D&D?" For example, long term dungeon crawling as a mode of play required different rules emphasis than the standard "heroic adventure" style.

5.5 seems to have downplayed if not eliminated the idea of differentiating modes of play via optional rules.

 

[darjr]

Just scanned the thread, but I'm seeing a lot of what is just a different format, but is still ultimately typical RPG play.

I was thinking more.

Solo Play.
Competitive PvP (Party vs Party)
Arena type Modes. Nothing but min/max battles.

Things like that, as 'other modes'.

Hmmm... OK along those lines.

Domain play.
Also shared world/setting creation.
Reverse dungeons too, maybe?

 

[bedir than]

Once upon a time we played a kind of D&D as sport.
Each player controls a team of four characters in a kind of capture the flag system inside an arena. Rather than this being pure combat, we'd end the sessions with controlling the team captains as they recruited, traded players, bought equipment, etc.

 

[Piperken]

I was thinking more.

Solo Play.
Competitive PvP (Party vs Party)
Arena type Modes. Nothing but min/max battles.

Things like that, as 'other modes'.

All worth including examples of, as they're physically structured differently.

 

[Pedantic]

This all seems to be missing the point on how different modes of play work in those other games. I don't think we're comparing similar elements across different kinds of games here.

All of the Magic variants are primarily driven by restrictions on how you build a deck. Drafting is selecting from a limited, shared pool, sealed is just getting handed a restricted list of options, Commander is a highlander format with unique deckbuilding restrictions built around your chosen primary creature. There's some secondary stuff that enables a slightly different game structure, like the targeting rules in Two-Headed Giant or Commander's annoying multiple-player free for all politics, but the general shape of gameplay is the same.

West Marches is the closest to a similar sort of variant, but otherwise I'd be looking for variant kinds of character creation, or maybe subsystem variants that use existing pieces, like spell slots or skills, in different ways, instead of focusing on game length or player count.