What's the difference between D20 Fantasy and D&D?

[Crothian]

Does it really even matter?

Only to the people that use it.

To me D&D is a way of playing, and d20 is a ruleset.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The appearance of things to myself and some other folk is that d20 was created, a game named D&D was laid over the top of that

Reading through the PHB would eliminate that impression. While there were some dramatic changes -- unifying multiple systems under a single one that's a cleaned-up version of the THACO combat resolution mechanic -- it is very clearly linked to AD&D in the core books.

The supplements wander quite far afield, and if someone wanted to say that the psionics or other subsystems are entirely new, there'd be some validity to it.

But the core of the game is most certainly D&D. The aesthetic differences in the core books are a much more dramatic break with the previous incarnations than any of the core rulesets. (And even there, there's a whole industry happy to provide supplements that hearken back to the good old days -- I'm a big fan of what Goodman Games does, and others like Necromancer for the same reason.)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I don't mean that by way of denigration, however.

Sarcastically saying that people here had orgasms over 3E wasn't meant as denigration?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I wonder why all the games I have run or played in whether AD&D, 2e or 3e still feel and play out like "D&D" to me?

I prefer to think that is because they all are.

Hell, I would probably say "D&D" even if I was playing Iron Heroes- as the basic premises are the same.


I would not use the term D&D to describe boot hill, star frontiers, call of cthluhu, gamma world, feng shui or deadlands - the premises are different.

How about Runequest?

I think the purpose isn't sufficient to make it D&D.

 

[lukelightning]

It's all D&D to me. Even the Star Wars RPG. "We're playing D&D tonight." "Yeah? What game?" "Mutants and Masterminds."

It's like Southerners' use of the word "Coke." "I'll have a Coke, please." "What kind?" "Sprite."

 

[diaglo]

Sarcastically saying that people here had orgasms over 3E wasn't meant as denigration?

you never gamed with some of the guys i have.

 

[thedungeondelver]

Sarcastically saying that people here had orgasms over 3E wasn't meant as denigration?

Many specific things I've mentioned about AD&D that I like generally produce responses from posters about how happy they are that those rules have been wholly removed and replaced with something else. The glee with which people seem to want to tell me that leaves me a little nonplussed.

Moreover I'm saying that I didn't want to denigrate anyone by saying that "3e" wasn't a bridge back to 1st edition AD&D, that it was a bridge back to late 2nd edition AD&D.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Many specific things I've mentioned about AD&D that I like generally produce responses from posters about how happy they are that those rules have been wholly removed and replaced with something else. The glee with which people seem to want to tell me that leaves me a little nonplussed.

Moreover I'm saying that I didn't want to denigrate anyone by saying that "3e" wasn't a bridge back to 1st edition AD&D, that it was a bridge back to late 2nd edition AD&D.

So, you stand by "orgasmic" and it was meant as denigration?

 

[thedungeondelver]

So, you stand by "orgasmic" and it was meant as denigration?

Well, your honor, to be perfectly honest I didn't type it up as an insult, and before you ask, no I didn't picture fans of the current version of D&D pleasuring themselves in front of their rulebooks, either. Rapturously happy to find. Giddy with delight that. Pleased as punch over. Tickled pink when it was seen that.

It was an off the cuff statement, dude, not some calculated attack on you. Or anyone.

 

[teitan]

D20 Fantasy sounds like Grognard snobbery to me. There is no D20 Fantasy. Arcana Unearther/Evolved is just that, Arcana Unearthed/Evolved. Same with Iron Heroes or Conan, each have their own feel, their own philosophy. Its snobbish to label them under the same label, it implies they aren't their own games. Do you call Vampire simply Modern Horror? Do you call Star Wars D20 Space? Is Call of Cthulhu Victorian Horror? No, they are their own games, independent of each other. D20 supplements are basically D&D supplements because of the restriction in the D20STL requiring use of the PHB and 90% of D20 supplements are for D&D. Are they official? No but they are still for D&D.