Why I like DMing D&D more than other games.

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Don't forget the massive number of pre-made adventures from all sources (previous editions, free on line, 3rd party D20 publishers, Dungeon magazine, WOTC adventures, RPGA, etc) that make it quick and easy to cobble up some fun adventures with a minimum of time investment.

How many other game systems offer you the ability to take a complete campaign off the shelf and modify it to fit your group? I know I find modification infinitely easier than producing adventure material from scratch.

 

[Byrons_Ghost]

Are we presuming that the DM is writing his own dungeons, and not using prepackaged ones?
I've had long running games that weren't in D&D, such as Cyberpunk or Call of Cthulhu. Those campaigns have mostly used published material, though. So I think availability of materials definitely enters into the equation.

The core game certainly does make a difference. A lot of games I've seen without a solid core quickly lost their way; once you did the two obvious things in the setting, there wasn't really much else. Or, they assume the same core as D&D but either don't support it or can't do it as well.

One thing that might make a difference is that the core of D&D is so familiar- not from literature or whatever the "story games" are trying to ape, but from game experience itself. Miniatures, battlefields, and the like aside, the dungeon is essentially a wargame or board game play experiences. You move into a square, deal with what is there, and move to the next square. It's something we all know from childhood, and that we can get into automatically, without getting hung up on "realism".

When other games start branching off into story-heavy elements such as negotiations, intrigue, etc, I think they often miss their version of the familiar experience. In many ways, it seems that this is still being worked out within the hobby. We know what a dungeon game is, but defining other types of games is difficult (see any thread on "railroading"). So a game that keeps it's core principles in mind is going to be better off.

 

[Mallus]

It is easy to create adventures for

Yes.

The basic D&D experience of the dungeon - monsters, traps and treasure - is superbly easy to create.

No. I don't find it particularly easy. Therefore, the dungeon crawl is barely part of my games at all, let alone the 'core experience'.

They can also suffer from the "DM telling a story"

Bad DM's tell a story to their players. Good DM's tell a story with their players.

rather than "players going on an adventure"

I know its a preference thing, but I never felt delving into an endless procession of holes in the ground filled with loot and monstrosities constitutes much of an 'adventure', no matter how clever the justification for doing so might be. That sort of activity just doesn't match the literature and film that got me interested in D&D in the first place.

 

[seskis281]

My only question is how then does this preclude using a system like Castles & Crusades which has the same basic elements of simplicity described by the OP?

I DM'd 3.0 for several years before converting to C&C, and find it even better for the ease of preparation. The one point that is salient is that there is a plethora of material circulating whereas C&C is relatively new and just now getting into support release.

So the gist of the question is - does D&D have to say "D&D" on its label to be so?

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I respectfully disagree. Compared to the even more rules-heavy games out there, maybe. But it is far from the easiest game I have stated adventures for.

Yes, it's easy to just plunk down a dungeon as opposed to plan out Machiavellian manipulations and plot twists. But to do a good D&D adventure? You've got villains to stat, magic items to craft, traps and DCs to decide, CRs to calculate. And that's not including the actual story.

 

[LostSoul]

Heh.

D&D isn't too bad, but I don't think you can create an adventure in less than half an hour. Even if you just pick a map off the wizards site and stock it with MM creatures.

Prime Time Adventures takes no time at all. I guess you could call that part where you create the show and the characters "adventure design", but it's totally different since everyone is a part of it.

Dogs in the Vineyard might take a while, depending on whether or not you're happy with the town after you create it. I guess that'd be like tossing away a dungeon once you've finished it though.

I never did much prep for Star Wars d6 games, and when I did any prep at all it usually it took about an hour to think up all the cool stuff that could (and when I was railroading, would ) happen. Didn't have to focus on stats at all, just the cool stuff. Which is different from D&D, where you have to consider the CRs and ELs and all that even if you just grab monsters from the MM.

I haven't run other games, at least not enough to talk about them. So I guess I gotta disagree. For me, D&D always took longer to set up than any other game.

 

[MerricB]

And that's not including the actual story.

One of the fascinating things about D&D - especially considering its roots - is that the basic dungeon doesn't need an actual story. "Mad mage has monsters in dungeon guarding treasure. Go kill them!" sums up the basic experience.

Of course, this doesn't preclude D&D campaigns having strong stories; certainly my current campaigns do!

This feature isn't exclusive to D&D, of course. (I can well imagine a game based on Aliens where the adventure normally is "kill every alien you see". Hmm. I don't think I'm imagining it, actually!) C

It's well worth considering that the D&D Basic game (1981 through present) has been able to give easy guidelines for creating dungeons/adventures. Then consider the adventure design guidelines in other RPGs. It's very interesting to contrast them.

My only question is how then does this preclude using a system like Castles & Crusades which has the same basic elements of simplicity described by the OP?

It doesn't. Really. The idea isn't so much "D&D is unique", but that "the ease of creating adventures in D&D aids its popularity significantly".

Consider also a game such as Traveller, which has existed for almost as long as D&D, albeit in many different incarnations, and consider what it's like to design an adventure for.

Cheers!