2 ms·

Slayers isn't D&D. It's maybe inspired by it in some ways, but the world setting is its own. The mechanics are also not D&D. Which I think actually goes to sho

Slayers isn't D&D. It's maybe inspired by it in some ways, but the world setting is its own. The mechanics are also not D&D. Which I think actually goes to show why WOTC trying to be grabby with the property was a horrible idea. The general concept of it is easy to imitate in a way that would owe nothing to WOTC. You can even replicate the feel substantially while keeping none of the setting.

dragontamer 4y ago
D&D is a set of rules and high fantasy / pulp fiction that meshes together. The "settings" are called Greyhawk, or Balckmoor, or Forgotten Realms (In the case of this movie: its in the Forgotten Realms). Or Pathfinder, if we're going 3rd party. But the idea was that anyone could craft their own world using the D&D rules as a baseline. (Or alternatively, use a pre-made world if you're not feeling too creative). > The mechanics are also not D&D. I don't think the D&D Movie from year 2000 followed the mechanics either. ---------- My understanding is that in the 80s, a bunch of anime-writers managed to play a translated version of D&D, and that served as the basis of anime high fantasy anime for a good bit. Record of Lodoss War is the most obvious, but Slayers looks to be part of that trend. Both Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest are allegedly part of the D&D trend as well... at least when they started. Its a bit more obvious in Dragon Quest (today, Final Fantasy has changed dramatically from its roots).
- dale_glass 4y ago
  I'd call that more "RPG inspired", than D&D in any way. What part of D&D is reflected in the show? It's not the setting. It's not the monsters (except for stuff present everywhere like dragons). It's not the spells (except for stuff present everywhere like fireballs). It's not the classes. It's not the power scaling.
  - dragontamer 4y ago
    > It's not the monsters (except for stuff present everywhere like dragons). And Trolls that regenerate except when hit by fire or acid. And giant Golems made out of various magic metals. And evil priests/clerics who follow under Gods of chaos (Rezo the Red Priest) > It's not the spells (except for stuff present everywhere like fireballs). It's not the classes. The Priestess/Cleric Sylphiel does healing spells. Lina, the sorcerer cannot heal as per the rules of DnD. Gourry is strictly a fighter with a magic weapon. Lina not only has access to the DnD spell fireball, but also regularly casts Levetate (which is locked to the sorcerer class) Clerics like Sylphiel have healing, scrying, flame "arrow" (likely a custom spell based off of Flame Strike + Japanese Miko-archer archetype?). > It's not the power scaling. Magical artifacts like the Philosophers stone that have literal connections with the gods is exactly the kind of adventure that DnD was designed to be about. -------- The year is 1990. There are very few tabletops that have been translated to Japanese. And we here have a novel about trolls, dragons, magic weapons, sorcerors vs clerics and different spell lists for them that line up with DnD spell lists. The party of Lina, Goury, and Amelia/Sylphiel line up with the original DnD 1st edition (1974) Wizard, Fighter, Cleric (Rogue wasn't invented yet). This also happens to be the edition that was translated into Japanese in 1985. Most of these concepts (trolls, western dragons, fireball spells, philosopher stone) are Western lore and have no history in Japanese folklore. The similarities are uncanny. It's clearly not just inspired by 'some tabletop system's , but by DnD itself. Yeah, there's custom spells like Dragon Slave or whatever. But custom spells and custom magic items were part of DnD from the start.
    - morelisp 4y ago
      D&D didn't even have a (main product line) sorcerer class until 3rd edition. What Lina's doing throughout the series has no connection to Vancian magic which was overwhelmingly the D&D magical mode at the time. (Her powers actually best align with Druid or some of the other shamanic classes which were... a long ways off, in D&D at least. She can in fact heal.) Your underestimation of Japanese knowledge of English/European fantasy is verging on offensive. Sure, D&D inspired Slayers, but so did other stuff. It's no obvious system-specific replay like Lodoss War.
- protocolture 4y ago
  Record of Lodoss war was a computer magazines write up of how to play DND that proved to be very popular. https://archive.org/details/record-of-lodoss-war-comptiq-magazine-english-translation https://archive.org/details/record-of-lodoss-war-comptiq-mag... I dont think slayers engaged with DND at the same level.
  - dragontamer 4y ago
    > I dont think slayers engaged with DND at the same level. While I agree on this point, The Slayers seems to be comparable to say... the 2000 Dungeons and Dragons movie (or this 2023 version). No one is seriously going to suggest that "Honor Among Thieves" is how you actually play DnD in practice. The "gamey" bits, like choosing spells at the beginning of the day, will give way to more freeform storytelling.
    - protocolture 4y ago
      Thats all fine and easily agreeable. I just like spreading the link to the original replays.

dragontamer 4y ago

D&D is a set of rules and high fantasy / pulp fiction that meshes together. The "settings" are called Greyhawk, or Balckmoor, or Forgotten Realms (In the case of this movie: its in the Forgotten Realms). Or Pathfinder, if we're going 3rd party. But the idea was that anyone could craft their own world using the D&D rules as a baseline. (Or alternatively, use a pre-made world if you're not feeling too creative). > The mechanics are also not D&D. I don't think the D&D Movie from year 2000 followed the mechanics either. ---------- My understanding is that in the 80s, a bunch of anime-writers managed to play a translated version of D&D, and that served as the basis of anime high fantasy anime for a good bit. Record of Lodoss War is the most obvious, but Slayers looks to be part of that trend. Both Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest are allegedly part of the D&D trend as well... at least when they started. Its a bit more obvious in Dragon Quest (today, Final Fantasy has changed dramatically from its roots).

dale_glass 4y ago
I'd call that more "RPG inspired", than D&D in any way. What part of D&D is reflected in the show? It's not the setting. It's not the monsters (except for stuff present everywhere like dragons). It's not the spells (except for stuff present everywhere like fireballs). It's not the classes. It's not the power scaling.
- dragontamer 4y ago
  > It's not the monsters (except for stuff present everywhere like dragons). And Trolls that regenerate except when hit by fire or acid. And giant Golems made out of various magic metals. And evil priests/clerics who follow under Gods of chaos (Rezo the Red Priest) > It's not the spells (except for stuff present everywhere like fireballs). It's not the classes. The Priestess/Cleric Sylphiel does healing spells. Lina, the sorcerer cannot heal as per the rules of DnD. Gourry is strictly a fighter with a magic weapon. Lina not only has access to the DnD spell fireball, but also regularly casts Levetate (which is locked to the sorcerer class) Clerics like Sylphiel have healing, scrying, flame "arrow" (likely a custom spell based off of Flame Strike + Japanese Miko-archer archetype?). > It's not the power scaling. Magical artifacts like the Philosophers stone that have literal connections with the gods is exactly the kind of adventure that DnD was designed to be about. -------- The year is 1990. There are very few tabletops that have been translated to Japanese. And we here have a novel about trolls, dragons, magic weapons, sorcerors vs clerics and different spell lists for them that line up with DnD spell lists. The party of Lina, Goury, and Amelia/Sylphiel line up with the original DnD 1st edition (1974) Wizard, Fighter, Cleric (Rogue wasn't invented yet). This also happens to be the edition that was translated into Japanese in 1985. Most of these concepts (trolls, western dragons, fireball spells, philosopher stone) are Western lore and have no history in Japanese folklore. The similarities are uncanny. It's clearly not just inspired by 'some tabletop system's , but by DnD itself. Yeah, there's custom spells like Dragon Slave or whatever. But custom spells and custom magic items were part of DnD from the start.
  - morelisp 4y ago
    D&D didn't even have a (main product line) sorcerer class until 3rd edition. What Lina's doing throughout the series has no connection to Vancian magic which was overwhelmingly the D&D magical mode at the time. (Her powers actually best align with Druid or some of the other shamanic classes which were... a long ways off, in D&D at least. She can in fact heal.) Your underestimation of Japanese knowledge of English/European fantasy is verging on offensive. Sure, D&D inspired Slayers, but so did other stuff. It's no obvious system-specific replay like Lodoss War.
protocolture 4y ago
Record of Lodoss war was a computer magazines write up of how to play DND that proved to be very popular. https://archive.org/details/record-of-lodoss-war-comptiq-magazine-english-translation https://archive.org/details/record-of-lodoss-war-comptiq-mag... I dont think slayers engaged with DND at the same level.
- dragontamer 4y ago
  > I dont think slayers engaged with DND at the same level. While I agree on this point, The Slayers seems to be comparable to say... the 2000 Dungeons and Dragons movie (or this 2023 version). No one is seriously going to suggest that "Honor Among Thieves" is how you actually play DnD in practice. The "gamey" bits, like choosing spells at the beginning of the day, will give way to more freeform storytelling.
  - protocolture 4y ago
    Thats all fine and easily agreeable. I just like spreading the link to the original replays.