What's right with D&D?

[Dykstrav]

Across the messageboards, I've seen alot of people discussing what's wrong with the game. This is understandable, we all need to vent and discussing what we don't like about the game helps us to find ways to improve it.

So why are we still playing? Despite all the bugs and areas for improvement, what keeps us coming back to the table? What are some of the things that D&D 'got right?'

Here's a few of the things I like about it:
1) It's social. I sit across a table with real people and get a chance to unwind.
2) It's fantasy. D&D doesn't resemble reality beyond a casual glance. It's a very flexible system that lets you do just about anything you want.
3) Dungeons are fun. A good story or engaging plot is also fun, but nothing quite matches up with exploring some old ruins or a warren of caves.
4) I love designing adventures and settings. There's always some new source material you can use to surprise and challenge characters. There's always another small corner of the setting you can flesh out.
5) The rules are flexible enough that you can adapt them to many different styles of play without breaking them. The rules are general enough that they fairly and quickly (most of the time) resolve the action, but usually leave you room to describe the effects however you want.

What do you like about D&D?

 

[diaglo]

What do you like about D&D?

Ale and whores

or beer & pretzels if i'm low on funds.

 

[Mark CMG]

What do you like about D&D?

Of all of the available roleplaying games, I find it to be the single easiest one with which I can locate players and put together a game. Ultimately, that game can take any shape based on the playing styles of myself and those I invite into my game.

 

[Joshua Randall]

It's the second most fun thing consenting adults can do together.

 

[edemaitre]

What I like about D&D

-It's the baseline. As one of the oldest and most widely distributed rules systems, most role-players are familiar with it, and it's relatively easy to find D&Dx players.

-It's heroic fantasy. As someone who grew up on the works of L. Frank Baum, Lewis Carroll, the brothers Grimm, J.R.R. Tolkien, and C.S. Lewis (before Peter Jackson, J.K. Rowling, and the Halmi brothers), it's a great way to tell mythic stories in fantastic worlds.

-It rewards teamwork. Although I enjoy the cyberpunk, espionage, and horror genres, they aren't as group-oriented as fantasy (and arguably, space opera or superheroes).

-It's relatively easy to learn and to find support for. I've been running a homebrew campaign setting for the past 20+ years, but I've always been able to upgrade to the latest core books and find resources to suit each player's preferences (action vs. intrigue, wilderness vs. urban or dungeon, low-powered vs. epic).

-It's open to modification. The D20 Open Game License is responsible not only for a boom in game publishing in the early 2000s, but also a huge wave of creativity and adaptations of licensed settings. From Conan to Star Wars, steampunk to the Old West, superheroes to Cthulu, it's all out there! Homebrew settings and house rules are common enough for those willing to customize the game.

-It has tradition. Sure, there are other games that have been around for a long time, but Dragon is an institution. D&D has overcome most of the negative "geek" stigma as computer geeks and successful genre movies have made our subculture more acceptable to the mainstream (most people don't assume we're devil worshippers anymore). Sure, videogames and multiplayer online games have more players, but D&D is a communal experience. I've had gamers that I knew in high school, college, or grad school come back and say, "Remember that adventure when we...?" Bad rolls, good takeout food, endleess rules debates, girlfriends passing through, the first encounters with memorable monsters, it's all good.

 

[Lanefan]

What do you like about D&D?

Easy: all the parts I don't complain about.

Otherwise, edemaitre summed it up pretty well.

Lanefan

 

[diaglo]

-It's open to modification. The D20 Open Game License is responsible not only for a boom in game publishing in the early 2000s, but also a huge wave of creativity and adaptations of licensed settings. From Conan to Star Wars, steampunk to the Old West, superheroes to Cthulu, it's all out there! Homebrew settings and house rules are common enough for those willing to customize the game.

been doing this since i first started. it ain't d02 that does it for D&D.

 

[edemaitre]

D20 and D&D

I'm sorry if my points weren't clear. D&D has indeed always been customizable, which is one of its strengths. Despite the fact that each edition has been associated with a particular setting (OD&D with Greyhawk and Mystara, AD&D with Dragonlance and the Forgotten Realms, etc.), enterprising Dungeon Masters have always been able to adapt it to their settings. Scope creep of options in each edition can be countered by intelligent house rules.

I do think that the D20 OGL has enabled published support of numerous licensed adaptations and D20 games in other genres, from Judge Dredd to Babylon 5 to Mutants & Masterminds. As an offshoot of the D&D rules set, it has come to dominate the market, even taking share from more generic (less-fantasy-oriented) systems such as GURPS, Hero, and D6. While D&D3.5 will eventually be replaced by D&D4e, I hope that other publishers will continue supporting compatible products through an open license.

 

[atomn]

I like that for the most part it's a pretty simple, streamlined system (roll the d20 and add your modifier). I also love that combat is now very tactical which means you have to think more during combat, sort of like a chess game.

 

[an_idol_mind]

It's easy, flexible, and fun. It's a game first, which is important. Also, it's easy to teach new players, but complex enough to always give old players something new.

A few years ago, I hardly ever played D&D. I focused more on story-oriented games that were essentially interactive theatre. That's not to say that D&D can't be played like that, but it had a certain stigma with me. One day I dusted off my core books and ran what was intended to be a diversionary beer and pretzels, hack and slash and don't think series of adventures. Somewhere along the line, the players went from dungeon delving to becoming major players in the campaign's political scene. This turned into a massive improv session where I threw out my notes and winged everything. It was, simply put, the best time I've had in years, and it emphasizes what is right and good with D&D. The game encourages adventure on all levels, be it light-hearted dungeon crawls, deep immersive role-playing, something in between, or both together. Other systems can do that, but somehow they don't. I do play a variety of other RPGs, but the game that has lasted for me because of its versatility and plain simple FUN is D&D.