D&D General A Chart of D&D Campaign Worlds (v 3.0)

[Paul Farquhar]

Talking about "earliest mention" I think there was a mention of Waterdeep in a printed advert in the back of one of my 1st edition AD&D books, probably the DMG (78). Possibly a product that was never released?

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Boot Hill as game could be recyled for a miniature game and videogame, but now adding more fantasy elements. If it was unlocked in DMGuild, where would be the risk?

* If Hasbro wants licences titles published as D&D sourcebooks, Gamma World would be better as a spin-off for crossovers and "collabs". For example cancelled videogames as Amazon's Crucible, Parangon or Battleborn.

 

[jmberry1s]

If you're going to include stuff like Wheel of Time, then d20 Modern should probably be included as well.

 

[Mercurius]

In which case the dating on the chart is wrong - should show something in that row for each of 1976 (for CSotIO) and 1980 (for CSotWE), if google is to be believed.

I'll check it out.

One of the problems I ran into while researching this is that not all sources offer the same dates. It is never off by more than a year, but I'd sometimes see two different dates for the same product, at least before 20-25 years ago.

 

[Mercurius]

As for what is and is not "D&D," it has to be more than just who published it and/or the rule system. D&D is more than just rules - it is a fantasy game. Boot Hill is not D&D, while Wheel of Time is at least arguably "D&D enough." Not saying I won't drop Wheel of Time, but I think adding Boot Hill (e.g.) just opens up to too many things.

In other words, I'm also thinking in terms of literary genre. Fantasy always includes some degree of the supernatural, but even that isn't sufficient to be more fantasy than a different genre. For instance, Star Wars is really science fantasy - and some claim it is more fantasy than science. So I think you could make an argument that it is fantasy first, but it is debatable. Boot Hill is western, Gamma World is SF, Call of Cthulhu is horror (even if it is supernatural - but it is horror first). Wheel of Time, on the other hand, is fantasy through and through (and yes, I know there are tinges of SF, but it is primarily fantasy).

Now if I was making a "TSR/WotC Settings" chart, or a "d20 Settings" chart, that would be a different matter.

 

[Parmandur]

Talking about "earliest mention" I think there was a mention of Waterdeep in a printed advert in the back of one of my 1st edition AD&D books, probably the DMG (78). Possibly a product that was never released?

TSR didn't productize the Forgotten Realms until the late 80's, bit it would have been in Drsgon in bits and pieces from the late 70's on.

 

[Parmandur]

As for what is and is not "D&D," it has to be more than just who published it and/or the rule system. D&D is more than just rules - it is a fantasy game. Boot Hill is not D&D, while Wheel of Time is at least arguably "D&D enough." Not saying I won't drop Wheel of Time, but I think adding Boot Hill (e.g.) just opens up to too many things.

In other words, I'm also thinking in terms of literary genre. Fantasy always includes some degree of the supernatural, but even that isn't sufficient to be more fantasy than a different genre. For instance, Star Wars is really science fantasy - and some claim it is more fantasy than science. So I think you could make an argument that it is fantasy first, but it is debatable. Boot Hill is western, Gamma World is SF, Call of Cthulhu is horror (even if it is supernatural - but it is horror first). Wheel of Time, on the other hand, is fantasy through and through (and yes, I know there are tinges of SF, but it is primarily fantasy).

Now if I was making a "TSR/WotC Settings" chart, or a "d20 Settings" chart, that would be a different matter.

Yeah, you have to draw a line somewhere. The Wheel of Time game seems a good boundary point to me.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

TSR didn't productize the Forgotten Realms until the late 80's, bit it would have been in Drsgon in bits and pieces from the late 70's on.

I know, but the ad for something something Waterdeep was definitely in one of my 1st edition core books bought well before then. I don't suppose anyone has the books to check?

 

[Maxperson]

AOL......).

Hey! I still use my AOL account. I take great pride in causing young people to stare blankly at me or even ask, "Um, what is AOL?"

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Hey! I still use my AOL account. I take great pride in causing young people to stare blankly at me or even ask, "Um, what is AOL?"

As someone who works a lot with data security... you should probably change emails, AOL is like one of the easiest to hack nowadays because support for it is essentially donezo.

Yeah, you have to draw a line somewhere. The Wheel of Time game seems a good boundary point to me.

Just jumping on this thread, but it seems to me like d20 and D&D should be considered distinct enough to be considered seperate categories, at least in the "Square vs. Rectangle" kind of way. The thread is called D&D Campaign Worlds, not d20 Campaign Worlds.

Also, World of Warcraft had a d20 book as well.