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<blockquote data-quote="GMMichael" data-source="post: 6343275" data-attributes="member: 6685730">You're right!&nbsp; Well, I was glad to see that you went with abstract concepts instead of game mechanics.The &quot;essence&quot; of D&amp;D is going to depend heavily on what edition someone started with.&nbsp; Me, my first taste was around AD&amp;D/AD&amp;D 2nd.&nbsp; And since I was young, there was a lot of mystery to the thick rulebooks and blue hex-grids.&nbsp; So in that sense, the essence of D&amp;D is a layer of boring comprehension that stands between the real world and the fantasy world.But I didn't play a lot of D&amp;D until 3E.&nbsp; This system took the graphic design up by a few notches, but with the greater detail came less mystery.&nbsp; What exactly does the hobgoblin look like?&nbsp; Well, the picture's right there.&nbsp; What exactly can it do?&nbsp; Well, the stats are right there.&nbsp; So the essence of 3E has a sort of flashy, hands-on feel to it.There's not really an overarching D&amp;D essence then, since each edition (save 5E) has been so dramatically different.&nbsp; What's stayed the same: it boils down to a game mechanic.&nbsp; Hit points.&nbsp; Sure, there's dragons and wizards and fighters and dungeons.&nbsp; But continuously (and rapidly) rising hit points means that the PCs face bigger and meaner monsters, and so become more like Greek legends (not really Lord of the Rings heroes) as the game goes on.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="GMMichael, post: 6343275, member: 6685730"] You're right! Well, I was glad to see that you went with abstract concepts instead of game mechanics. The "essence" of D&D is going to depend heavily on what edition someone started with. Me, my first taste was around AD&D/AD&D 2nd. And since I was young, there was a lot of mystery to the thick rulebooks and blue hex-grids. So in that sense, the essence of D&D is a layer of boring comprehension that stands between the real world and the fantasy world. But I didn't play a lot of D&D until 3E. This system took the graphic design up by a few notches, but with the greater detail came less mystery. What [I]exactly[/I] does the hobgoblin look like? Well, the picture's right there. What [I]exactly[/I] can it do? Well, the stats are right there. So the essence of 3E has a sort of flashy, hands-on feel to it. There's not really an overarching D&D essence then, since each edition (save 5E) has been so dramatically different. What's stayed the same: it boils down to a game mechanic. Hit points. Sure, there's dragons and wizards and fighters and dungeons. But continuously (and rapidly) rising hit points means that the PCs face bigger and meaner monsters, and so become more like Greek legends (not really Lord of the Rings heroes) as the game goes on. [/QUOTE]

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