Thanks, I’ll give it a shot.

the general public largely has no idea that the space exists

Idk, man. Like, 20 years ago? Maybe.

But not knowing about D&D in the modern day feels a bit like saying you don’t know about the NBA or you’ve that you’ve never heard of Disney World.

you have to introduce the medium in general before worrying about genres within the medium

I think the thing that makes “Like D&D” annoying is that it’s really the only easily accessible TTRPG franchise. It feels like you’re watching the Olympics while people keep shouting “Oh, so how is this different from Football?” at every event.

sigh

I take off my robe and wizard hat.

I gotta say, I’ve never actually found a D20 Modern game in the wild.

No shortage of WoD, GURPS, Call of Cthulhu, Alternity, Shadowrun, Battletech, Kids on Bikes, Big Eyes Small Mouth… But I’ve never seen a D20 Modern at an actual tabletop before. Might have just been on the wrong side of the GenCon convension floor. But I’ve been around playing these games for a while. I’ve never actually seen anyone do it.