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<blockquote data-quote="Keldryn" data-source="post: 5771825" data-attributes="member: 11999">My concept of what should be &quot;core&quot; to D&amp;D more or less comes down to what a new player with a passing familiarity with mythology and fantasy fiction (books and movies) would expect to find in a game that draws inspiration from those sources.For me, the &quot;core&quot; races are: Human, Dwarf, Elf, Halfling.&nbsp; Half-Elves should be addressed as well, but not necessarily as a distinct race.&nbsp; These races are limited to Tolkien, but his work was profoundly influential in the development of the fantasy genre.&nbsp; They are over-used but still seem to resonate with people.The &quot;core&quot; classes reflect broad, classic fantasy archetypes: Fighter, Magic-User, Thief, Cleric.&nbsp; Now there has been some debate as to whether or not the D&amp;D Cleric actually represents a common literary or mythical archetype or if it was more of an invention for the purposes of the game; I think it's safe to say that it is a common archetype now.The majority of the other classes are specializations (or &quot;sub-classes,&quot; if you will...) of these four core classes and could be represented by talent trees or alternate class features.I've argued before that D&amp;D works best when it plays to the strengths of these common, iconic archetypes, as it doesn't take a lot of description and explanation on the part of the DM to paint a vivid picture of the world and its inhabitants.&nbsp; Even someone who had never played D&amp;D before but had seen The Lord of the Rings films would have an easy time visualizing a &quot;Dwarf Fighter&quot; and an &quot;Elf Fighter&quot; and understanding the differences between them.&nbsp; A &quot;Tiefling Invoker&quot; or &quot;Goliath Warden&quot; are not part of this shared context.For me, the core &quot;story&quot; elements of D&amp;D should tap into this shared cultural awareness of archetypes and themes in mythology and fantasy fiction.&nbsp; And yes, I realize that the content of OD&amp;D and AD&amp;D have had a significant influence over what has become part of this awareness over the past four decades.&nbsp; I am aware of the very Western bias, but D&amp;D is a product of the Western world.There is tremendous value in an RPG where the basic story elements can be immediately &quot;grokked&quot; by the majority of the players so that the group's time can be spent on the adventure at hand, rather than explaining (and re-explaining) the elements which are &quot;common knowledge&quot; within the fiction of the game world.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Keldryn, post: 5771825, member: 11999"] My concept of what should be "core" to D&D more or less comes down to what a new player with a passing familiarity with mythology and fantasy fiction (books and movies) would expect to find in a game that draws inspiration from those sources. For me, the "core" races are: Human, Dwarf, Elf, Halfling. Half-Elves should be addressed as well, but not necessarily as a distinct race. These races are limited to Tolkien, but his work was profoundly influential in the development of the fantasy genre. They are over-used but still seem to resonate with people. The "core" classes reflect broad, classic fantasy archetypes: Fighter, Magic-User, Thief, Cleric. Now there has been some debate as to whether or not the D&D Cleric actually represents a common literary or mythical archetype or if it was more of an invention for the purposes of the game; I think it's safe to say that it is a common archetype now. The majority of the other classes are specializations (or "sub-classes," if you will...) of these four core classes and could be represented by talent trees or alternate class features. I've argued before that D&D works best when it plays to the strengths of these common, iconic archetypes, as it doesn't take a lot of description and explanation on the part of the DM to paint a vivid picture of the world and its inhabitants. Even someone who had never played D&D before but had seen [I]The Lord of the Rings[/I] films would have an easy time visualizing a "Dwarf Fighter" and an "Elf Fighter" and understanding the differences between them. A "Tiefling Invoker" or "Goliath Warden" are not part of this shared context. For me, the core "story" elements of D&D should tap into this shared cultural awareness of archetypes and themes in mythology and fantasy fiction. And yes, I realize that the content of OD&D and AD&D have had a significant influence over what has become part of this awareness over the past four decades. I am aware of the very Western bias, but D&D is a product of the Western world. There is tremendous value in an RPG where the basic story elements can be immediately "grokked" by the majority of the players so that the group's time can be spent on the adventure at hand, rather than explaining (and re-explaining) the elements which are "common knowledge" within the fiction of the game world. [/QUOTE]

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