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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kerrick" data-source="post: 4686399" data-attributes="member: 4722">This is a really interesting topic, and a very apt analogy. I'd have to agree with Reynard in saying there are four main D&D genii (genuses?): Basic (OD&D, B/X, BECMI) Advanced (1E and 2E), d20 (3E), and d20 Advanced (4E). To draw another analogy: Basic is one of the earliest primate species; Advanced is a more advanced primate (chimps and orangutans); d20 is the first hominid, and 4E is an as-yet-undetermined mutation (perhaps Neanderthal). I originally started this with strictly hominid species, but then I realized that 3E represented a huge leap forward in evolution: a more robust and flexible system that allowed for greater survivability in any environment. In evolutionary terms, this was: upright posture, the ability to speak (in rudimentary terms, sure, but still), a larger brain, and superior reasoning ability. IOW, hominids, a species different enough from primates to deserve its own genus. 4E represents another, different offshoot of the hominid family. It builds from (and uses) the d20 framework, but clothes it in a different set of rules. Basically, it's got most of the same DNA, but there are enough differences to make it a new species of its own. Whether or not that species will survive, however, remains to be seen.</blockquote>