D&D General What makes D&D feel like D&D?

[ART!]

Ability Score
Races/Lineages
Classes
Hit Points
Armor Class

From the list of options, those are the core D&Disms for me. None of the lore means anything to me, so the cosmology options are right out, and D&D magic has always seemed too cumbersome.

 

[jmartkdr2]

Other: the d20.

I didn't vote for multiple dice types, because you could reduce it to just the d20 and have it still feel like DnD (really, just stop rolling for damage and use the averages) - but if you got rid of the d20, it just wouldn't be DnD to me anymore.

 

[hopeless]

The Story.
It takes more than character generation and a planned adventure to make a game session feel like d&d.
The story we weave with our characters and the adventure the DM runs when combined is what creates that feeling this is d&d.
It could be the events that transpire, but ultimately its the story that results from the game that makes this feel like d&d to me.

 

[Oofta]

Druids that shapeshift into ducks!

I've heard that's not all it's quacked up to be.

 

[Blue]

The Story.
It takes more than character generation and a planned adventure to make a game session feel like d&d.
The story we weave with our characters and the adventure the DM runs when combined is what creates that feeling this is d&d.
It could be the events that transpire, but ultimately its the story that results from the game that makes this feel like d&d to me.

Just to expand, how do stories in D&D feel like D&D while stories from other RPGs do not? Is it because the IP? The encounter-forward adventure design?

In other words, if I told you a story from an RPG without telling you the ruleset, what would make it a D&D-specific story?

 

[Laurefindel]

Looks like I voted for all the most common items.

Except "Initiative", because pretty much every game uses initiative in one way or another. Then again, I voted for "Hit Points" and a lot of games use those as well, but for a while it set D&D apart from Star Wars (d6), the World of Darkness series, Ars Magica, Dead Lands, WFRP and a few more games of the 90s/early 2K I'm forgetting about).

I voted "other" for Vancian casting, even though it's getting less and less Vancian with every edition. No other game embraced that concept of magic as strongly and openly as D&D. If I had to describe D&D, Vancian magic would be close behind the race/class/level trifecta of D&D, maybe even before the AC/hp/saves defence system.

 

[Raith5]

Classes + level + hp

I think classes are especially important not really as "niche protection" but the idea that D&D is a team game where different classes/players synergize in creative ways.

Vancian casting and race are diminishing it seems and I have not used XP or alignment for a long time. And my current DM doesnt really believe in magic items (just kidding)!

 

[hopeless]

So you'd rather I just apply this to JUST D&D or are you upset about my view on this poll?

 

[Laurefindel]

So you'd rather I just apply this to JUST D&D or are you upset about my view on this poll?

Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't believe @Blue was upset about anything or anyone, but simply wondering what, in your view, makes a story a D&D story rather than a story than can be applied to any other RPG.

I don't believe your claim is being disputed. I believe it was meant as a genuine curiosity question. It certainly is an interesting angle.

 

[TwoSix]

I debated about whether to include specific lineages and classes in my vote. In the end, I decided not to. You could totally have a campaign where the only choices are barbarian, druid, or ranger and it would still be D&D. You could run a campaign with just tieflings, or no elves, and it would still feel like D&D. Heck, you could shave it down to just playing human fighters and still be playing D&D.

Hmm. I took the approach of what I would expect to see in a PHB, not an individual campaign. A campaign of human fighters can feel like D&D, but a PHB of only human fighters doesn't.