What is Vanilla?

[PapaJoe]

Vanilla, to me, can also mean “how much post-AD&D 1E LORE is it saddling itself with?” too.

Like, how much of the world-assumptions for D&D that started accumulating after the Fiend Folio in 1980 does it carry forward? The more it carries/assumes, the more vanilla it is, to me.

[PapaJoe]

However, when you READ Dungeon Crawl Classics, the first thing it tells you to do is ditch all the traditional monsters. Also, its magic system is about as non-vanilla as you can get.

Appearances can be deceiving.

[PapaJoe]

@SunkenPlanets

Dungeon Crawl Classics a near-perfect example of this. It presents this nostalgic fantasy world, untouched by modern ideas, like a time capsule preserving an 11-year-old’s naive, vibrant vision of the world.

However, when you READ Dungeon Crawl Classics, the first thing it tells you to do is ditch all the traditional monsters, and start with an adventure where nobody is a super-powered power fantasy character. . Also, its magic system is about as non-vanilla as you can get.

Appearances can be deceiving.

[SunkenPlanets]

@PapaJoe

However, when you READ Dungeon Crawl Classics, the first thing it tells you to do is ditch all the traditional monsters, and start with an adventure where nobody is a super-powered power fantasy character. . Also, its magic system is about as non-vanilla as you can get.

Appearances can be deceiving.

Agreed, it’s not the best example of vanilla. I was talking more about DCC’s aestethic, the trope-heavy illustrations that try to capture a specific era/energy. I feel like quite a few OSR products go for the same vibe. Let’s just close the topic on DCC, i think that’s a different discussion altogether.

[Civman]

@KnightOwl

I think I agree, but that makes the whole distinction rather unhelpful. I am thinking that very basic vanilla must come from either European folklore or a Gygaxed version of the Tolkien races. Most people don’t go purely vanilla. But those elements must be agreed on, at least by most western players.

I agree with you, my response might be based on my own series of inspirations that delineate from Appendix N as seen in AD&D and the like. I think a good place to look at to help start to establish the Vanilla of the hobby is to go back to AD&D DMG, I have recently decided to read through it and found what is written within the pages to be interesting. It establishes the base assumptions on how the game should function and the lore assumptions that surround a given world.