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<blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 7445470" data-attributes="member: 82106">At the risk of sounding like I'm reversing what I said before, there IS a fundamental sense in which, 4e aside, D&amp;D has stuck to its original premise rather closely. The GM generates a world as a sort of 'challenge' or 'puzzle' to the players, who have NO input into its particulars (at least formally). The players assume persona and direct them based entirely on in-game knowledge and without any recourse to the exterior logic of the game system itself (again formally and ideally). NOTHING has changed one iota in this formula since 1974. Nor has the essential 'formula' of the game varied (here even 4e is pretty much in line with the rest of D&amp;D editions). Characters explore exotic locales, which act as challenging situations for them to overcome, receiving loot and XP as a reward for survival and overcoming said challenges. XP accumulates, driving the characters to advance on a steep power curve, where they then face proportionately more powerful creatures and situations, wash, rinse, repeat. There are significant variations in some of the thematics, and obvious differences in mechanics, but the 'core' really is fairly stable. You can quite easily and straightforwardly translate any 1970's vintage TSR module into 5e and run practically unchanged, simply substituting the modern stat blocks and maybe exchanging a monster or two where for some reason their power levels have been altered somewhat. Again, 4e is the exception, and that is the game we talk about when we talk about narrative focus of play in D&amp;D, for a reason!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="AbdulAlhazred, post: 7445470, member: 82106"] At the risk of sounding like I'm reversing what I said before, there IS a fundamental sense in which, 4e aside, D&D has stuck to its original premise rather closely. The GM generates a world as a sort of 'challenge' or 'puzzle' to the players, who have NO input into its particulars (at least formally). The players assume persona and direct them based entirely on in-game knowledge and without any recourse to the exterior logic of the game system itself (again formally and ideally). NOTHING has changed one iota in this formula since 1974. Nor has the essential 'formula' of the game varied (here even 4e is pretty much in line with the rest of D&D editions). Characters explore exotic locales, which act as challenging situations for them to overcome, receiving loot and XP as a reward for survival and overcoming said challenges. XP accumulates, driving the characters to advance on a steep power curve, where they then face proportionately more powerful creatures and situations, wash, rinse, repeat. There are significant variations in some of the thematics, and obvious differences in mechanics, but the 'core' really is fairly stable. You can quite easily and straightforwardly translate any 1970's vintage TSR module into 5e and run practically unchanged, simply substituting the modern stat blocks and maybe exchanging a monster or two where for some reason their power levels have been altered somewhat. Again, 4e is the exception, and that is the game we talk about when we talk about narrative focus of play in D&D, for a reason! [/QUOTE]

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