As curiosity, after going through the debate in the Neverending Thread of Doom, what features MUST an RPG - including both official editions and house rules - have in order to be considered D&D?

I'm trying to work in everything that I've seen people say; I may have missed a few.

If you don't see the poll yet, it will be there in a few minutes...

(Note: public poll)

(Note 2: Since I sadly can't edit my poll options, Choice 1 means the core rulebook(s) must be published as D&D, but this doesn't exclude supplements and house rules.)

-O

I voted 'Dungeons as main adventure locale' and 'other'.

My other is Dragons...

You need others to acknowledge it as a D&D game. The individual reasons any given person accepts will vary, and the most important part is that there is a loose consensus about those reasons amongst the players in the group, whether explicit or not.

Quote from: One Horse TownI voted 'Dungeons as main adventure locale' and 'other'.

My other is Dragons...

Damn!  I knew I forgot something.

-O

What's up with the percentages? Is it 'cos i voted on 2 options instead of 1? :confused:

Quote from: One Horse TownWhat's up with the percentages? Is it 'cos i voted on 2 options instead of 1? :confused:

No - the percentages are based on X amount of voters, out of a total number of Y.

So, for the second-to-last option - when I just looked - it had 4 votes out of a total of 6 voters.

-O

for "hit points" it should read, "inflating . . ."

a 10th level fighter with 20 hp (frex.) wouldn't be d&d

Quote from: beeberfor "hit points" it should read, "inflating . . ."

a 10th level fighter with 20 hp (frex.) wouldn't be d&d

Fair enough.

Sadly, I was limited to 10 options.

-O

What does the first option mean?  I can read it as either "something that has the 'D&D' label," or as "the three corebook model."

Quote from: PeteWhat does the first option mean?  I can read it as either "something that has the 'D&D' label," or as "the three corebook model."

I intended it to mean, "The main source of rules for the game is/were published as D&D by a company with the legal rights to publish D&D" while allowing for other, 3rd-party sources & house rules as well.

So, if you use the 3.5 corebooks, or the Rules Cyclopedia, or 1st/2nd AD&D, as your core rules, that game would qualify.

It may not have come across well.  I kinda thought it would be a "Well, of course!" option, but it looks like I was wrong!

-O

I parse my answers differently for D&D "as published" or "as played." If I ran a psionics-only home game that doesn't use vancian magic, I would still feel pretty comfortable telling my players "we are playing D&D friday." But the game as published, I expect to be more foundational and have vancian magic, for example.

That's how I took it.  Lately I'm thinking RPG + Fantasy + Dungeon = D&D to the general public.  You need to do something more than just shuffle the dice mechanics, magic system, and some of the backstory for it to not resemble D&D to the casual observer.

Then again... maybe most traditional RPGs are basically just D&D with some rule and setting variations.  They're basically all the same game.

IF I was going to run Dungeons & Dragons, then I would consider it required and a courtesy to my players to have : The Players Handbook, Dungeomaster's Guide, and a Monster Manual.

Of the three of those three,  I have TWO of them on my bookshelf right now....and I don't even run D&D.

 I now realize you meant upcoming future versions of the game.
 My answer is still the same then a recognizable, to most people -  Players Handbook, Dungeonmasters Guide and a Monster Manual as the basic 3 core books.


- Ed C.

I voted for the 6 attributes, Gygaxian flavor, saving throws, classes and levels, and predominantly fantasy setting. Yes, I would consider such a game D&D even without Vancian magic and hit point bloat... uh, for the most part.

-=Grim=-

My poll, but I went with...

* Published as D&D.  I think this is a necessary part of a game being D&D, but I can accept that it may not be sufficient.

* Classes & Levels.  Without a doubt, this is a fundamental feature of the D&D system as far as I'm concerned.

* Fantasy setting.  I dunno; I can't see fighters & wizards as features of hard sci-fi.  If the setting's not fantasy, you may be playing something D&Dish, but without swords & spells, it just ain't.

I see everything else as fairly optional - but without at least one or two of these items, things get shadier...

- 6 core stats...  I'm close on this, but I think it'd still be D&D with a True20ish +/- system, or changing a stat or two.  (Comeliness, anyone?  Yah, I didn't think so...)
- Vancian magic.  Not gonna go there in this thread, too.
- Dungeons as primary adventure locale.  I think you can play for years without ever going into a dungeon.  Heavily political D&D games, mercenary campaigns and the like would qualify.
- Gygaxisms.  I was very very close on this - it's a huge part of the core flavors, but I think you can play (for example) a historical D&D and still have it be D&D.  Also, settings like Dark Sun have less Gygaxian influence than games like Earthdawn, so I couldn't pick this one.
- Saving throws...  I rather like Saga's defenses, so I could do without for D&D also.
- Hit points.  Close on this one, too, but I've seen damage variants like Grim & Gritty which I'd still call D&D.  I also think you could play D&D with a damage save of some sort.  I'm iffy on this, however.

I'm gratified not to see all too many "Other" selections, so my list at least is largely sufficient for a lot of folks.

-O