Unique British aspects of D&D in the UK?

[MGibster]

Take a look at my DM, he's the only one I got/
Not much of a DM, never gets his rulings right/
Take a portal across the water, I'd like to play America/
See the bards in California, oh, but what about Snarf?/
I bet this will make him barf/

Could we have dragons for characters? Mummy dear, mummy dear/
They got to have them in Seattle. 'Cause everyone is always high/
I'm a gamer, but not a LARPer, wanna to hear about my character?/
I'm level 13, I play a Thri-Kreen, and I never go to sleep/
'Cause my character's OP/

Don't you look at my DM, he's the only one I got/
Not much of a DM, never gets his rulings right/
Take a portal across the water, I'd like to play America/
See the bards in California, oh, but what about Snarf?/
I bet this will make him barf/

 

[reelo]

Oh yeah, D&D is ren-faire America, not medieval Europe.

Most definetly. If you want medieval Europe, play HârnMaster.

 

[fnordland]

If you want to read and experience UK specific gaming culture then search for UK Fanzines from the 80s & 90s. White Dwarf Magazine used to do a lot of pieces on all types of games. Issue 100+ moved their editiorial focus towards GW product.

A lot of UK fanzines, gaming magazines are out of print or had very limited print runs.
Last Province, Mythago, Arcane, Tales of the Reaching Moon, etc
Pavic Tales, Read Pheasant Throughout, Aslan, Black Freighter, The Journal of the Senseless Carnage Society, Cut & Thrust, Trout in the Milk, Dragonlords, Cerebretron, etc

There is a huge library of print only fanzines/magazines, I wonder if anyone has thought to scan them? Enough to fill a library and write a thesis on them.

 

[fnordland]

If you are interested in a history of roleplaying, please consider Designers & Dragons by Shannon Appelcline. It is US focused but has sections on UK companies.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

To a British player, D&D has an element of Americana which is part of it's appeal.

What stands out as American? If I were creating a roleplaying fantasy game with an intentionally American flavor, I would include stuff from tall tales, cryptids, Native American-inspired elements, and even Wizard of Oz flavor (Oz was the Harry Potter of the early 20th century).

I am an American, though, so I'm sure there are American elements of D&D that are invisible to me, given that the game was first created by Midwesterners.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

If you want to read and experience UK specific gaming culture then search for UK Fanzines from the 80s & 90s. White Dwarf Magazine used to do a lot of pieces on all types of games. Issue 100+ moved their editiorial focus towards GW product.

A lot of UK fanzines, gaming magazines are out of print or had very limited print runs.
Last Province, Mythago, Arcane, Tales of the Reaching Moon, etc
Pavic Tales, Read Pheasant Throughout, Aslan, Black Freighter, The Journal of the Senseless Carnage Society, Cut & Thrust, Trout in the Milk, Dragonlords, Cerebretron, etc

There is a huge library of print only fanzines/magazines, I wonder if anyone has thought to scan them? Enough to fill a library and write a thesis on them.

Shout out to Imagine Magazine as well, which always struck me as aggressively British whenever I'd lay hands on one. Its urban setting of Pelinore felt much more informed by British urban and village life than TSR US's cities, which felt like they were written by someone who'd never spent more than 30 minutes in an actual city.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

What stands out as American?

Nothing massively "stands out", it's subtle. The wide open country, the decentralised government, the romanisation of fairly grim periods of history, no one raising an eyebrow when people walk around carrying weapons, the square jawed heroes who are actually heroic, rather than disguised villains, etc. It's basically Howard vs Tolkien.

Of course, if you get into the art, the trees and wildlife stand out. Don't get many moose or wolverines in the UK, and the forests are green and grey rather than red and gold.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Nothing massively "stands out", it's subtle. The wide open country, the decentralised government, the romanisation of fairly grim periods of history, no one raising an eyebrow when people walk around carrying weapons, the square jawed heroes who are actually heroic, rather than disguised villains, etc. It's basically Howard vs Tolkien.

Of course, if you get into the art, the trees and wildlife stand out. Don't get many moose or wolverines in the UK, and the forests are green and grey rather than red and gold.

I have always wished TSR UK lasted long enough to produce their own setting, beyond just the thinly sketched Saltmarsh, just to put all of this in perspective. I guess the Midderlands is an aggressively English setting nowadays, though.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I have always wished TSR UK lasted long enough to produce their own setting, beyond just the thinly sketched Saltmarsh, just to put all of this in perspective. I guess the Midderlands is an aggressively English setting nowadays, though.

The UK has a lot more coast than interior, compared to the US, a coastal location is far from surprising!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The UK has a lot more coast than interior, compared to the US, a coastal location is far from surprising!

And your coast is a lot less fun! Whenever I try to do a fantasy Britain, I always make sure to mention how cold and windy it is, for my mostly American players, who think of the coast as wide expanses of sunny sand.