“There are other TTRPGs besides D&D.”
Yeah, this whole take (and everything that usually comes with it) sucks and here’s why.
1. You’re not actually suggesting anything else.
I have never seen “Stop playing D&D” accompanied by so much as the NAME of another RPG.
When someone is actually, GENUINELY recommending another game, they don’t feel the need to accompany it with “Stop playing D&D.”
In this case, you’re not telling people to play another TTRPG. You’re just telling them to STOP playing the TTRPG they already know, love, and have fun with.
In other words, you’re just telling them to stop playing TTRPGs entirely.
2. Okay … which ones don’t suck?
This is related to 1. above, but: okay. You want me to try other games than D&D. Which ones don’t suck?
Which ones provide a BETTER experience in what I’M looking for than D&D?
Am I supposed to spend money buying all the rulebooks for every RPG until I find one that does what I like better? Do YOU have that kind of money? Because I sure as fuck don’t.
Surely you don’t want me to PIRATE the rulebooks?
Even if I did, I’d then have to spend hours and hours and hours learning each one. Then I’d try it, find out I don’t like it, and then start the whole process over again.
Do YOU have that kind of time? Because I sure as fuck don’t.
3. You assume I haven’t tried other games.
The whole basis of the “other games exist” statement is an assumption that the listener has not tried other games. And you know what they say about assumptions.
I’ve tried other RPGs. I do not like them as much as D&D.
But once again, YOU DON’T ACTUALLY CARE about my experience.
You haven’t taken the time to understand WHY I even like D&D. You don’t know what about it appeals to me. You’re just whining at me from the sidelines because you wish more people liked YOUR favorite TTRPG.
Which you’re not even bothering to promote or name. Probably because deep down you realize that if someone else played it, they wouldn’t like it, and then you’d feel bad.
So it’s easier to make other people feel bad instead.
4. You don’t actually understand what’s great about D&D.
This is the core of the argument, which is why I’ve already mentioned it several times in the above points.
Here’s what many people (including myself) love about D&D (specifically 5e, which is the current version):
a. D&D is a relatively simple system to understand, with a lot of complexity to unlock slowly.
Anyone can pick it up over the course of one session. Yet you can still learn more about it after twenty years.
I’ve introduced a dozen or more people to D&D 5e. I was never able to do this with earlier editions of D&D, and god forbid I try systems like Pathfinder.
I don’t want to run all my players’ characters for them because they don’t understand the rules. And unless I’m playing with a table of math nerds, that’s what’s going to happen in other systems.
b. D&D has name recognition and that is FUCKING IMPORTANT.
If YOU know the rules, you’re able to interest new people in D&D because they know, more or less, what they’re in for.
This is important because (surprise! People seem to fucking forget this) TTRPGs ARE SOCIAL ACTIVITIES AND YOU NEED TO HAVE OTHER, OFTEN “UNINDOCTRINATED” INVOLVED.
Even with D&D’s name recognition, this can be a tough sell to the “uninitiated,” even if they go on to find out D&D is one of their favorite activities.
So imagine how much fucking harder it is to approach your coworker and ask them, “Hi, would you be interested in playing a game called Vampire: The Masquerade with me?”
c. D&D has a MASSIVE pre-existing community.
You can find a group online. You can find a group in person.
As per point b. above, you CAN “recruit” people to D&D easily, but if you’re not good at that or you just don’t want to, odds are great that you can find a group anyway.
Try finding a GOOD group to play Call of Cthullu with in bumfuck rural America. I’ll wait.
d. D&D adapts to almost every subgenre of fantasy adventure.
D&D is one of the most adaptable systems out there. You can do high fantasy, low fantasy, dark fantasy, political intrigue. You can do mostly roleplaying, or you can do mostly combat.
There are probably “better” systems for high fantasy, low fantasy, all the subgenres. But D&D lets you do it all with ONE SYSTEM.
Most of the other games and/or systems I’ve tried are really good at doing ONE VERY SPECIFIC NICHE THING.
So … what if you learn that system, but your group doesn’t want to do that niche thing?
What if you do one campaign in that system, but then you want to do your next campaign a different way?
And we’re back to the problem of having to go invest money and time most people DO NOT FUCKING HAVE to learn a whole new system.
So stop it.
Listen, this rant is not to shit on YOUR favorite TTRPG.
I’m sure it’s great. I’m sure you have fun with it. I would love to play it with you some time.
But when you’re on there on this internet saying “There are other systems besides D&D,” 99% of the time, you’re being an asshole.
You know what the best way to introduce people to your pet system is?
Same as it is with D&D. Invite them to your table, sit them down, and play.
When you come on the internet and make people feel bad for a hobby they enjoy, you’re acting like a fucking Gamergater or Comicsgater and it’s gross.
It makes you feel superior because you’re a “higher level” of nerd than all these plebs who are encroaching into “your” hobby.
But most of the time you just look like a whiny asshole.
Stop it.
Rant over. I’m gonna go write now.
I’ve played TTRPGs using D&D/d20 system, White Wolf’s d10 system and Savage Worlds’ d4-d12 system.
Each has their pluses and minuses.
I have had this “you know there’s systems other than D&D” talk with players that are typically new to TTRPGs, especially when they keep rolling natural 1s consistently and get frustrated or bring up some issue that I think is better balanced using another system.
FWIW, when I bring it up, it’s like when I hear someone complaining about English as a language. Then remind them there are other languages that if they learned, might have better built in idiomatic phrases to fit what they want to say or put the adverb in the “right” location in their sentence structure.
Each system/language has its inherent faults. It’s only when people seemingly insist that English/D&D is the ONLY language/system out there worth a damn that I get offended.
