Why do you choose D&D?

[Imaro]

With the advent of D&D 4e, I'm seriously considering switching to Runequest as my fantasy game of choice. I have various reasons, which I won't go into here, but it got me to thinking. I've been with D&D since the basic set and I was pondering the reasosn for this and thought it would be interesting to hear other posters reasosn for why D&D is their go to fantasy game rather than the multitude of other games available now or in the past.

So tell me...why D&D?

 

[EricNoah]

System familiarity (I am not a gamer who likes to learn new systems), genre familiarity, a stable network of gamers who play the same game and like the same genre, lots of published materials to support it, 3rd party support in 3rd edition especially.

 

[Rl'Halsinor]

ErichNoah said it all for me. When D&D came into its own (and what I mean by "its own" I am referring to its explosion of popularity in the late 70s) in AD&D First Edition I never experienced anything like it before and then I took it home from college and my brother and friends jumped on it.

It is the familiarity but also the ever present opportunity for creativity.

 

[smootrk]

I think the pool of available players is a primary factor...

...although once a group is formed, popular consensus might allow for a change to another system. I would prefer a rules-lite system myself, but I must admit, due to the limits present in my life, that I will game when and where I can... cannot be too choosy.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

With the advent of D&D 4e, I'm seriously considering switching to Runequest as my fantasy game of choice. I have various reasons, which I won't go into here, but it got me to thinking. I've been with D&D since the basic set and I was pondering the reasosn for this and thought it would be interesting to hear other posters reasosn for why D&D is their go to fantasy game rather than the multitude of other games available now or in the past.

So tell me...why D&D?

The second RPG I learned was 2e. DnD is really easy to get players for, and I find it a good training ground to get them to learn d20 Modern as well.

There's not much point of wanting to play a cool game system if no one wants to play it with you.

In any event, I don't see 4e as a reason to dump DnD. No one is coming to your house to make you throw out your 3e stuff*, and at least from my PoV, I don't really need support books (so I don't care that WotC isn't going to publish any more 3e books). If you like Runequest, great, but I don't see what 4e has to do with it.

*Of course, over time, the pool of 3e players is probably going to shrink as they move to 4e, but that's not going to happen immediately.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

I play D&D because I like the "feel" of D&D. And contrary to a commonly-held sentiment, I'm of the opinion that the system makes a major difference in the feel and style of your game. A few key things I like about D&D as a system include:

• Vancian magic
• Class-based PCs with levels (the more this gets diluted by skill systems, the less like D&D it feels, to me). I like strong archetypes with clearly-defined roles.
• Roll to hit with a d20 vs. AC, roll damage vs. hit points

When you start getting away from those elements, I start losing that D&D feeling.

Other things I like are swords-n-sorcery elements: lost cities covered in steaming jungle, psionic ape-men living in caves and worshipping Great Old Ones, foul sorcerers in league with demons, giant frogs, jeweled cities that are the pinnacle of civilization and also treacherous dens of iniquity, long-buried alien artifacts that wreak havoc when they're brought to light, et cetera. Those aren't so system-dependent, of course, but D&D works well when modelling this kind of swords-and-sorcery feel, IMO.

I find that D&D (and especially OD&D or AD&D) gives me the kind of game I like. To the degree that 3E had started diluting the system-elements I prefer, it felt less like D&D, to me. That's one reason I drifted away from running 3E; it didn't fit my game as well. Everything I've read, so far, indicates that 4E will continue to widen the gulf between the current edition and my preferences. So I run what I like.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

D&D isn't my go-to fantasy game.

I sometimes play it for the sake of a GM I particularly enjoy playing with, because I don't actively DISlike the system; it just doesn't do the kinds of fantasy I have any interest in.

I'm not sure if you want input from those for whom it's not, but for whatever it's worth, I'm very impressed with Mongoose RuneQuest. Nice system, well presented, albeit not necessarily my cup of tea, either.

 

[Imaro]

I play D&D because I like the "feel" of D&D. And contrary to a commonly-held sentiment, I'm of the opinion that the system makes a major difference in the feel and style of your game. A few key things I like about D&D as a system include:

• Vancian magic
• Class-based PCs with levels (the more this gets diluted by skill systems, the less like D&D it feels, to me). I like strong archetypes with clearly-defined roles.
• Roll to hit with a d20 vs. AC, roll damage vs. hit points

When you start getting away from those elements, I start losing that D&D feeling.

Other things I like are swords-n-sorcery elements: lost cities covered in steaming jungle, psionic ape-men living in caves and worshipping Great Old Ones, foul sorcerers in league with demons, giant frogs, jeweled cities that are the pinnacle of civilization and also treacherous dens of iniquity, long-buried alien artifacts that wreak havoc when they're brought to light, et cetera. Those aren't so system-dependent, of course, but D&D works well when modelling this kind of swords-and-sorcery feel, IMO.

I find that D&D (and especially OD&D or AD&D) gives me the kind of game I like. To the degree that 3E had started diluting the system-elements I prefer, it felt less like D&D, to me. That's one reason I drifted away from running 3E; it didn't fit my game as well. Everything I've read, so far, indicates that 4E will continue to widen the gulf between the current edition and my preferences. So I run what I like.

You know, the latter part of your post really hit a chord with me and why I'm drifting towards Runequest...Swords and Sorcery. This is my prefered "style" as well. I'm not sure D&D ever did S&S really well(closest was Dark Sun...man I miss that setting), but I will say that I feel the changes that 3.x made and seem to be the direction for 4e are, IMHO, moving further and further away from S&S aesthetics (even to the point where they are directly at odds with them.).

The funny thing is Mongoose has made a concerted effort to cater to this type of fantasy. First with Conan d20 then with the Lankhmar, Elric, Hawkmoon, etc. games for Runequest. All the games run off the Runequest rules so everything is compatible if you want to do a homebrew. In the end maybe it's just me not keeping up with the times, but heroes like Elric, Corum, Imaro, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser call to me more than...well whatever heroes D&D is trying to model at this point in my life.

I like dangerous magic that you risk your very soul to cast(or in the case of some weapons wield) but, if successful, rewards beyond your wildest dreams.

I want incomprehensible gods that wage eternal wars of subtlety across an infinite number of planes and tempt you with power in exchange for your servitude and corruption.

Give me the blasted ruins of long lost civilizations who used alien technology and soul-binding pacts to rule over your people in times past.

Give me "real" monsters that aren't hordes of humans in funny clothes, creatures that are individual and totally unknown to the PC's and take every ounce of cleverness and bravado to defeat.


Yeah, I don't see how this stuff is for older generations, it's freakin timeless.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

D&D chose me. It was one of the few games around at the time.

Since then, I find that the D&D feel is the kind of game I want to play, so I've given up on other games and rules systems. The large number of D&D players certainly helps, though.

 

[Doug McCrae]

I really got into D&D with 3e, or rather 3.5, which I believe is the best rpg currently available.

For me it's the balance and strong party roles provided by the class system, combined with the character build and tactical complexity of 3e which makes it a winner.