Sorry you had that experience. Honestly though it sounds more like a bad DM, or a mismatch in what kind of game everyone wanted to play, than anything inherent to DnD.
Story in an RPG comes out of the choices the players make in response to the world. DnD enables that just as much as any other system. And nothing about putting yourself in your character’s shoes and making choices requires taking an improv class or talking in funny voices, so don’t worry about that.
But a bad DM who treats every non-combat encounter like a video game cutscene can be a bad DM in any system.
That said, like another poster mentioned, 4th edition did tilt heavily towards being a skirmish wargame dressed as an rpg. 5e is much better in that regard.
But if you want to get away from swords and sorcery fantasy and if Lovecraftian horror does anything for you, check out Call of Cthulhu. The rules are straightforward, creating characters is easy, and it usually focuses on unraveling a mystery rather than completing a Conan the Barbarian style quest. Combat is de-emphasized, because characters that keep getting into fights with unspeakable eldritch horrors tend to have short life expectancies.
Story in an RPG comes out of the choices the players make in response to the world. DnD enables that just as much as any other system. And nothing about putting yourself in your character’s shoes and making choices requires taking an improv class or talking in funny voices, so don’t worry about that.
But a bad DM who treats every non-combat encounter like a video game cutscene can be a bad DM in any system.
That said, like another poster mentioned, 4th edition did tilt heavily towards being a skirmish wargame dressed as an rpg. 5e is much better in that regard.
But if you want to get away from swords and sorcery fantasy and if Lovecraftian horror does anything for you, check out Call of Cthulhu. The rules are straightforward, creating characters is easy, and it usually focuses on unraveling a mystery rather than completing a Conan the Barbarian style quest. Combat is de-emphasized, because characters that keep getting into fights with unspeakable eldritch horrors tend to have short life expectancies.