Will D&D Ever be Anything More?

Whoa, what? Yeah, big question time. George and I were sitting there over coffee, and the thought came up, 'what is D&D?' Well, if you look at the what makes the game the game, D&D looks like this:

• Iconic Monsters (drow, mind flayers, beholders, orcs, goblins, etc)
• Classic Spells (sleep, fireball, magic missile)
• Traditional Classes (thief, wizard, fighter, cleric, etc)
• Mathematical Magic Items (+1 sword, +2 chain, +3 shield, etc)
• Wondrous Magic Items (elven boots, gauntlets of ogre power, bag of holding, etc)
• The rules (polyhedral dice, classes, levels, hp, AC, etc)

Now, some of these are taken from public-domain fantasy, others cribbed from copyrighted sources with the names changed, and still others are WoTC copyrighted material. If you can't find it in the old 3.x SRD, chances are it's "product identity" and copyrighted by someone, likely WoTC. All these items, spells, monsters, and the way things work are "D&D", and D&D does D&D well. For the most part. Depends on the edition, and what you think D&D is, of course.

Some people may say Pathfinder or Labyrinth Lord looks more like D&D to them, yet others think World of Warcraft fits their idea of D&D, and more power to them. In these cases D&D becomes synonymous with 'fantasy gaming' and you get a butter/margarine replacement system going on. People that are immersed in World of Warcraft don't care that there are no drow or beholders in the game, there is plenty of other cool stuff to replace those iconic monsters and races.

So the central question comes up, will D&D be anything more? Well, a big part of this depends on why you are asking the question. If you are happy with whatever your idea of D&D is, great, the question does not need to be asked. It's like having a slightly older smartphone that still works great, and you feel no need to upgrade to the newest thing. To you, that old smartphone fits your definition of what a phone should be, and you are happy. Of course, the phone companies and manufacturers probably dislike you for not spending money and upgrading, but that is another question entirely.

If you aren't happy with any idea of what D&D is currently, then the question becomes important. If your shelf is sagging under Pathfinder books, your 4th Edition D&D books are under-supported and errata-ed up, and there isn't interesting in playing a retro-clone; the question probably doesn't even matter to you anymore. You can literally walk away, play a fantasy MMO, and find people to play with a lot easier and without the constant stream of books and rules systems you have to learn, support, and store. In the smartphone market, it's like saying 'I don't need a smartphone' and just going back to a cheaper flip phone, saving your money, and opting out of the ecosystem. again, not a place the phone industry wants you to be, but at least it is still a valid choice.

D&D ultimately depends on what the creators put into it, and how they can make the game seem compelling again. I say 'seem' because what D&D is probably won't change much from it's roots, and by all signs, the 4E experiment is over. D&D needs to overcome 'I've played with that stuff already' and make itself fresh and relevant again. From the current set of releases, rehashing the old modules and patching them to play with D&D Next, I feel it's a lot like emulating classic C64 and Atari 2600 games, and expecting them to set the world on fire. It's great that the old stuff is available again, but it doesn't answer the question of 'why this is relevant?' In a world looking for the next World of Warcraft, why is Atari 2600 Asteroids cool again, other than for nostalgia?

Yeah, a big question today, but one worth asking if you love the game. The game, in its heart, is all the cool stuff that lives and breathes in the D&D universe. Less so the rules, as 4E proved, although somewhat messily. Bringing the cool stuff together is way more important than rules, and creating that shared experience is what I am a fan of. To make D&D something more, it has to breathe again and live. World of Warcraft should not be good enough to replace the core experience of D&D. How will that play out with D&D Next? I have no idea, honestly.

Is the question important to me? Honestly, yes, but there is a big but in there. I can get my D&D-like hit from other games and rules systems; and the stuff you can't replace, the D&D iconic things, aren't as important to my gaming life as much as they used to be. Pathfinder proved you can be D&D without most of the D&D iconic things. The challenge for WoTC is make these things unique to the core D&D experience mean something again.

All this comes up as I sit her looking at my old smartphone, wondering if it's worth upgrading it, or falling back to an old one. Good enough, do I need a new one, or fall back? Which choice enriches my life the most? The question is half my choice, and half of what the smartphone companies can offer me. If nothing new can be offered, staying put is a valid and wise choice. Flashy ads don't cut it, either, a new phone has to bring something new and exciting to the table - just like a new roleplaying game.