D&D General Why TSR-era D&D Will Always Be D&D

[Oofta]

I've noticed something a little different in the past 10 years. I have had two 5E games wrap up one way or another. Probably about half the players are first time RPG players, the other half are long time D&D returners. Both groups eagerly jumped at the chance to try a new genre/system. In past, a lot of the players I knew and gamed with didnt want to learn a new system. I blame some of that on D&D popularity, but I think the bigger culprit was how heavy a lot of systems were a few decades ago. Thats a lot of homework when you have barely mastered the beast that is D&D.

I can't speak for anyone else but most of the time I simply don't have the time or desire to learn new systems. I don't get to play any game as often as I'd like and I only have so much head space for rules. If I want a change of pace there are hundreds of cool board games out there.

In addition, the ruleset for an RPG matters ... but not as much as the stories we tell. No matter what RPG I play, I'm still going to be playing make believe with some rules constraints.

 

[Yora]

Planescape, and there were a number of Planescape fans who were pretty vocal about the planar changes during the Edition Wars as a result.

Planescape is best treated as a separate setting, instead of an expansion of Forgotten Realms. While you can play a Faerûnian character in Planescape, I don't think the two settings are well suited for crossover campaigns.

 

[Aldarc]

Planescape is best treated as a separate setting, instead of an expansion of Forgotten Realms. While you can play a Faerûnian character in Planescape, I don't think the two settings are well suited for crossover campaigns.

Even then, I don't think that the Great Wheel is necessary for Planescape. What makes Planescape sing as a setting, IMHO, are the factions, Sigil, and traversing the planes. I don't really see how the Great Wheel really adds much to those elements that couldn't also be served by a different cosmological setup.

 

[Yora]

Well, it's the geography of that setting. You wouldn't completely redraw the map of Faerûn without a compelling reason.

 

[payn]

I can't speak for anyone else but most of the time I simply don't have the time or desire to learn new systems. I don't get to play any game as often as I'd like and I only have so much head space for rules. If I want a change of pace there are hundreds of cool board games out there.

In addition, the ruleset for an RPG matters ... but not as much as the stories we tell. No matter what RPG I play, I'm still going to be playing make believe with some rules constraints.

Honestly, I think it was the crunch factor of the past. Alternates like WoD, Grups, Rolemaster, etc.. All were just as heavy as DD so the entry level was steep. I get not wanting to dive into another heavy system. Though, recently you got lots of rules lite systems that are even easier than board games to get into. They even promote better role play, IMO. Not quite as daunting these days to try out other RPGs.

 

[Oofta]

Honestly, I think it was the crunch factor of the past. Alternates like WoD, Grups, Rolemaster, etc.. All were just as heavy as DD so the entry level was steep. I get not wanting to dive into another heavy system. Though, recently you got lots of rules lite systems that are even easier than board games to get into. They even promote better role play, IMO. Not quite as daunting these days to try out other RPGs.

It's really simple. I play D&D as escapism, to meet people and have social get together where we all play pretend. D&D continues to do that for me well enough and the rules simply aren't that important to me.

 

[payn]

It's really simple. I play D&D as escapism, to meet people and have social get together where we all play pretend. D&D continues to do that for me well enough and the rules simply aren't that important to me.

Sure, but you just said you dont want to learn new systems because of limited headspace. So, it would seem that rules are important to you in that way.

 

[James Gasik]

Planescape, and there were a number of Planescape fans who were pretty vocal about the planar changes during the Edition Wars as a result.


Not just heavy, but also the purchasing required to learn a new game/system. D&D often gets us in the habit of buying three hardback books plus player supplement after supplement or adventure path after adventure path. If you think that this is the norm for TTRPGs, then it's understandable that the idea of buying into a new game/system would seem daunting. But yeah, many TTRPG don't require nearly as much financial investment as D&D.

Oh no, I understand why a few people might be upset, I love Planescape personally, but the amount of times I've visited more than one or two planes during even long campaigns is pretty small. Even in Scales of War during 4e, we went to basically not-Ravenloft and the Astral Sea (both of which felt sufficiently like the real thing that I couldn't tell you the difference). Most of the players seemed confused, but I was having the time of my life, navigating our "ship" (the severed head of a dead god which took the form of a medusa head) to reach a Githyanki maximum security prison to rescue the rightful heir to the throne (Vlaakith having been deposed by a new leader who made a deal with Tiamat).

And let's be honest, there were a ton of Outer Planes that basically had no purpose to exist (like all the varieties of Heaven). So we didn't lose a whole lot, and 3e had messed up a lot of lore anyways (like temporarily having the Inevitables take over Mechanus).

 

[James Gasik]

Well, it's the geography of that setting. You wouldn't completely redraw the map of Faerûn without a compelling reason.

Tell that to Jeff Grubb, lol.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Well, it's the geography of that setting. You wouldn't completely redraw the map of Faerûn without a compelling reason.

I think they did that in 3e in 4e and in 5e... I don't know if they did from 1e to 2e