Why do so many terrible GMs fall back on D&D as a crutch? This isn't specifically targeted against 5e...

Why do so many terrible GMs fall back on D&D as a crutch? This isn't specifically targeted against 5e, it's for every edition. Don't pretend any of them are innocent, except maybe AD&D. I've seen people saying "I wanna run a modern game, but in Pathfinder" or people using 5e for gritty survivalism games. Why? Just why? Pic related, a GM who took a few steps outside his safe space, had an anxiety attack, then fled back into his comfort zone.

Even as a hardcore 3aboo back in the day, I had no issue with trying new systems. I sure as hell didn't try to convert everything to D&D thinking that the game worked well for all types of roleplaying.

Can someone explain this phenomenon to me?

It's because D&D is popular, and everyone knows of it. Novice GMs are a lot more comfortable running something more mainstream, like D&D, rather than getting into something like Degenesis, Dark Heresy, World of Darkness, etc.

D&D is the first system most people learn given it's popularity. It dosen't matter that it's actually a pretty beefy system that is really rules heavy, it's what you learned first and as a result you tend to lean on it is a crutch. It's also not a bad system if you run it by it's parameters. For a D&D campaign, no system is better than D&D.

It should be worth noting that it is also an easy system to teach through play. Very easy actually. My personal favorite system, GURPS, required me to read the rules thoroughly, and I wouldn't be able to teach it to my group if not for the fact that three other members of my group also read it. We're learning it together. D&D starter set had me reading the book, and teaching it a week later.

>Can someone explain this phenomenon to me?
It's called "laziness".

Actually, Mutants and Masterminds and GURPS run fantasy games way better than DnD does.

>way better

wow opinions on the internet

You must be correct

after all, DnD is the most popular because it's the worst amirite

Because people nowadays have their imaginations destroyed.

Nowadays they don't have to dream up shit, read about things, or consider alternate possibilities. The TV and the movies do all of that for them.

I see nothing wrong with that image. Guy admits he couldn’t get it right so he goes to a starter set to get a little more experience and returns to the original system he wanted to run. Are we really calling anyone that acknowledges their problems and works to improve a “shit GM” now?

This is a troll thread. Don't expect OP to be anything but a piece of shit.

>Are we really calling anyone that acknowledges their problems and works to improve a “shit GM” now?
It's because he DID give up. he didn't even try to learn a game that asked for a different kind of roleplaying than "kill monsters steal shit level up become demigods"

Your point is entirely moot because he DMed a Little 5e and then went back to the original system when he felt more ready.

>popularity = quality
Nice meme

Wow, you're really going gung-ho with the whole "I'm an idiot troll" act.

Have you ever actually GM'd anything? Possibly with a group of more casual gamers?

GMing is already a lot of work. Doing it with players who you still have to remind of the rules after months or even years is even more work.

Some people lack the time or patience to learn a new system and also teach it to the people who won't learn on their own.
They're happy to have a semi-regular pnp campaign that works going on at all, so if "do it in D&D" is what works best for their group they take it.

Not to mention that gamebooks can get pretty expensive, and a lot of people prefer the physical books at the gaming table.
So they use what they've already spent money on.

That, and new systems are always a gamble, because most are really not that great in a direct comparison to D&D, even if they are built towards a more specific theme than kitchen-sink fantasy. Typically, what you want from a system is a good solid core that you can adapt, and that's exactly what D&D provides that many other systems somehow manage to fail despite ultimately being derived from D&D.

It's always a weird shock to find people willing to argue here that D&D is some tragic, unplayable mess that people should run away from, when it's a game that people play and return to playing, because despite flaws (all of which are ultimately fixable and most of which are a matter of taste) it's still one of the best products on the market.

This isn't bad GMing.

You're bored and looking for things to whine about on the internet. Running a game that you understand well and can present clearly to your players is what good GMs do. Running a game you are uncomfortable with and can't administer well is what bad GMs do.

Stop being internet-angry at things and try thinking.

Nice argument

Plus the rules are pretty close to balanced for most editions. Especially if everyone is a new player who doesn't know how to break casters right out of the gate. Games like WoD and all the 40k rpgs require modifications to the rules to work properly. Then things like GURPS or Rolemaster will give a new GM a stroke.

In my experience it's because they started with D&D and hasn't gotten deep enough into the hobby to realize there are other RPGs out there that does modern/horror/whatever better than D&D.

Hell, one of my friends still, after 4 years of playing, use D&D as a catch-all term for RPGs in general

His opinion is correct though.
>"fantasy" is a wide-encompassing genre
>d&d only allows for swords and sorcery with magic fucking everywhere
>GURPS allows high magic, low magic, no magic, science fantasy, bizarre kitchen sink shit, etc.
D&D is the most popular because it's a meme. Seriously.

>I'm an overweight simpleton that eats mcdonalds because it's the most popular food around!

Modern D&D is designed to be perfectly runnable with zero roleplaying and minimal DM input. It's heavily (almost exclusively, mechanics-wise) combat-focused and even roleplaying situations can be handled with a single skill roll when desired. You can just grab a module and let the players crawl dungeon to their heart's content. That's not to say that D&D can't be anything more than that in the hands of a less shitty DM, but the strength of the system is that you can basically run it like a straight-forward miniature combat game and it still works. It kind of shoots itself in the foot in that regard when it comes to class balance and retarded design decisions like deliberate trap options, but then nobody with half a brain would claim that D&D is perfect.

And while this focus on low-effort gameplay is undoubtedly a strength, it also tends to teach new players and DMs bad habits, which is why it's so cancerous that it's always regarded as baby's first roleplaying game, and even worse that most players never "graduate" from D&D.

>Plus the rules are pretty close to balanced for most editions.
The only edition where this was even somewhat true was 4e, and even that had lots of bad balance stuff even after years of errata and math fixes.

>will run without DM input
>combat oriented
>can do everything with D20 + ____

Yup, which is why our worst roleplayer sings to the heavens about 3.5.

You can paint GURPS with any color you want, but it's still built to handle realistic modern games. Like D&D is built for hack and slash squad battles, Fate is built for pulp fiction, and Storyteller is built for ST fellatio.

>It's heavily (almost exclusively, mechanics-wise) combat-focused and even roleplaying situations can be handled with a single skill roll when desired. You can just grab a module and let the players crawl dungeon to their heart's content.

But exploration and having to use your (Player's) brain should be the focus of a dungeon crawl. Combat should be fast, and traps/puzzles should require more than just rolling a d20.

Wizards has mostly made the dungeon crawl an obsolete playstyle.

>I don't know anything about modern D&D except memes, but must still bump my shit thread as inanely as possible

Whew lad.

>Modern D&D is designed to be perfectly runnable with zero roleplaying and minimal DM input.
You clearly don't actually play games and are bullshitting based on what you assume 5e is like. D&D requires more prep work than the vast majority of systems out there. Go look at how easy it is to create combat encounters on the fly in Fate or Savage Worlds and then we can talk about "low effort gameplay"