What is D&D?: An Experiment in Data Gathering

[AngryMojo]

After years of debate, and edition wars stretching back to the first revision, I've come to the conclusion that the "soul" of D&D is horribly defined, and an exceptionally personal thing. As a response, I'd like to gather a series of definitions from as many different people as possible, and see what comes up.

Quite simply, what is D&D to you?

Please answer in a post, please don't respond to answers, and please be completely honest. If somebody else posts a definition that is close enough to yours that only minutiae differ, please quote them in your answer, or just comment on their post.

I will likely be posting this on other forums to get a better idea and a larger sample.

 

[Nebten]

http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/230371-so-then-what-d-d.html

http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/81135-what-d-d-you.html

http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/273059-what-defines-d-d.html

 

[Argyle King]

a brand name

 

[saskganesh]

heh. a powerful brand name that's almost generic.

I play other FRPG systems, but in non game time, we call them all "D&D".

 

[TerraDave]

http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/230371-so-then-what-d-d.html

http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/81135-what-d-d-you.html

http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/273059-what-defines-d-d.html

And: http://www.enworld.org/forum/4e-discussion/205162-what-must-d-d-have-giant-poll.html

Here are the results, in order of preference, from 2007:

Spells 323 90.73%
d20s 322 90.45%
Dungeon adventuring 315 88.48%
dragons 313 87.92%
Magic Items 309 86.80%
Levels (for class/character) 308 86.52%
human 303 85.11%
MONSTERS 302 84.83%
RACES 301 84.55%
CLASSES 299 83.99%
elf 289 81.18%
dwarf 288 80.90%
Wilderness adventuring 285 80.06%
fighter 282 79.21%
wizard/magic-user 278 78.09%
goblins (and kin) 278 78.09%
eXPerience points 276 77.53%
orcs 276 77.53%
d4s, d6s, d8s, d10s, d12s, d00s 274 76.97%
giants 273 76.69%
Six abilities 271 76.12%
City adventuring 271 76.12%
rogue/thief 271 76.12%
HP 269 75.56%
cleric 269 75.56%
Gems and Gold 266 74.72%
trolls 265 74.44%
demons and devils 256 71.91%
evil humans 252 70.79%
kobolds 247 69.38%
elementals (and kin) 242 67.98%
beholders 238 66.85%
AC (damage avoidance) 236 66.29%
griffons and minators (and so on) 234 65.73%
mind-flayers 232 65.17%
halfling 229 64.33%
Multi-Classing 224 62.92%
Saving Throws 219 61.52%
20 or more kinds of weapons 207 58.15%
fey 206 57.87%
giant/dire insects and animals 198 55.62%
6 or more kinds of Armor 195 54.78%
3-18 ability scores 193 54.21%
Critical Hits 188 52.81%
chainmail 185 51.97%
drow 179 50.28%
polearms 172 48.31%
Alignment (3 or 9 point) 147 41.29%
tarasque 143 40.17%
paladin 139 39.04%
druid 128 35.96%
halfelf 124 34.83%
gnome 103 28.93%
dinosaurs 102 28.65%
spells per day 101 28.37%
bard (pc or prc) 90 25.28%
halforc 87 24.44%
items that boost strength, etc. 83 23.31%
barbarian 81 22.75%
(sep) sorcerer 72 20.22%
assassin (pc or prc) 72 20.22%
monk 68 19.10%
anti-paladin/blackguard 60 16.85%
tiefling 51 14.33%
half-ogre 34 9.55%

 

[Croesus]

Killing things and taking their stuff.

(What can I say? I started playing in the 70's and that was pretty much it...)

 

[Aberzanzorax]

Looking at the question from the other side:

http://www.enworld.org/forum/genera...perts-other-systems-why-arent-they-d-d-2.html

 

[Diamond Cross]

Fear.

Fear of the inevitable.

Fear of the unknowable.

Fear of the unsocial.

Fear of the basement.

Fear of unusual gyrations in the night.

Fear of the power.

Fear of those dark and mysterious eyes.




And beer.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Note sig.

 

[Gilladian]

Sitting around a table with friends, creating a shared story in a world we can all visualize, bringing our characters to life, each of us satisfying our inner need for whatever aspect of the game most satisfies us. For me, it is story, then character, then delight in "gaming the system".

It includes fantasy setting, elements of leveling and power-building, randomness and causality all working together.