Unique British aspects of D&D in the UK?

[Bagpuss]

I think it's fair to say that Americans and UK residents want different things from their beaches.

I mean you folks want sand... and we are happy to make do with rocks (well large pebbles).

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I mean you folks want sand... and we are happy to make do with rocks (well large pebbles).

South coast sucks. Come to Blackpool, we haz sand.

 

[amethal]

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.

The way it is all a mish-mash of various time periods (including imaginary ones) also seems "foreign" to me. Not-vikings interacting with not-Romans, whilst Arthurian knights in platemail are part of a feudal system that we are told exists but never really see. Meanwhile everybody is literate and there is renaissance-level technology everywhere.

The whole BECMI / AD&D vibe of civilisation giving way to the borderlands and then the wilderness seemed very exotic to me, growing up. (And increasingly problematic, when seen with adult eyes). Whilst there are parts of the UK that could be termed wilderness, all of it is owned by someone (including the foreshore, which is mostly owned by the monarch). It's very hard to strike off on your own.

D&D 4th edition's "Points of Light" setting seemed much more appropriate as a pseudo-medieval setting - there are towns and villages, and everywhere is pleasant enough during the day, but anything could be lurking out on the moors after dark.

And the terminology seemed weird as a child - I had no idea what precipitation or parentheses were before reading D&D, and I still struggle with the British spellings of various words common in D&D but not so common elsewhere, such as manoeuvre.

 

[The Hierophant]

What stands out as American?

D&D is largely about the frontier. That strikes me as very American.

The wilderness, the edge of civilisation, it’s very much the Wild West with medieval trappings (and lots of anachronisms).

(I grew up in the States 1978-1983, which is where I discovered D&D but I am English and was reading White Dwarf and playing RPGs in England from 1983 onwards.)

 

[Voadam]

Armour vs. Armor.

 

[Blue Orange]

Armour vs. Armor.

Read the OP again.

 

[soviet]

This is a half-formed idea, but in the UK we are generally surrounded by the remnants of medieval times in terms of churches, houses, ruined castles, etc. I suspect this means such a millieu is imaginable to us in a grounded, realistic way whereas to someone in the US it might feel inherently more fantastical?

 

[GuyBoy]

USA has far more wilderness and open space generally so those adventures are very much part of the psyche.
In contrast, human history (certainly of the type that is more common in D&D) is more evident in UK. For example, I have four small castles and three large ones within 20 minutes drive of my house, as well as an Iron Age Hill Fort and three Neolithic barrows. I have actually played D&D in most of them, which is very atmospheric, especially at night.
Going a bit deeper though, as a teen in the late 1970s, US “soft power” was pretty manifest over here (though I wouldn’t have recognised the term at the time, pre-Nye) and that was part of the attraction of D&D, I think. We were playing an American game as well as chewing Bazooka Joe bubble gum and riding skateboards. As a keen rugby player, I often wondered about playing American Football, if I’d grown up in US. For me, the fascination with USA, went beyond D&D and sport and I’ve been lucky enough to visit all 50 states over the years and to work on two Presidential election campaigns ( I won’t say for whom due to site rules, but his first name sounds like somewhere soldiers sleep!).

PS if anyone’s interested, the small castles are Leybourne, Allington, Sutton Valence and Thurnham. The large ones are Tonbridge, Rochester and Leeds. All are worth a visit. Oldbury is the Iron Age Hill fort and Coldrum, Kit’s Coty and Chestnuts are the Neolithic sites.

 

[reelo]

PS if anyone’s interested, the small castles are Leybourne, Allington, Sutton Valence and Thurnham. The large ones are Tonbridge, Rochester and Leeds. All are worth a visit. Oldbury is the Iron Age Hill fort and Coldrum, Kit’s Coty and Chestnuts are the Neolithic sites.

So you're from Kent, I take it?

 

[Professor Murder]

This is a half-formed idea, but in the UK we are generally surrounded by the remnants of medieval times in terms of churches, houses, ruined castles, etc. I suspect this means such a millieu is imaginable to us in a grounded, realistic way whereas to someone in the US it might feel inherently more fantastical?

This. One of the things that will stick out when leaving the United States is how much older things are, many of which are still in use.