Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is a tabletop fantasy role-playing game (RPG). It was initially published by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson in 1974 and has since gone through several editions that have tweaked or otherwise updated the rule system. The game is single-handedly responsible for modern RPGs; although it grew from several similar games and systems, its combination of statistical game-play and imaginative role playing means it is a truly original text and one of the most influential games ever developed.

It is estimated that over 20 million people have played Dungeons & Dragons, and that it has 5.5 million active users; however, the influence of D&D is far more widespread than these figures would suggest. D&D rules, characters, and class systems are still used as a basis for many games of all genres. Dungeons & Dragons is the progenitor of literally thousands of spin-offs within the genre as well as having tremendous influence upon, if not actually being the origin of, the realms of computer gaming, live-action role-playing, fantasy literature, and online gaming. An example of this influence might be the 150 million accounts created on Runequest, the 11 million active users in World of Warcraft, or the 4,480,000 hits generated from entering “Dungeons & Dragons” into a Google search.

D&D is a structured game that somewhat paradoxically also depends on free-form action on the behalf [Page 187]of the players to succeed. Players adopt the roles of characters within a narrative setting and are allocated points for various social and physical attributes relating to their character. These are grouped roughly by strength, dexterity, constitution, charisma, wisdom, and intelligence. These statistics govern other abilities, such as how fast a character can react, or what are known as “modifiers”—numbers that determine how well or badly a character can respond to other circumstances. Characters come from various races and have a class that defines what type of action they can perform. Combat and other actions that require skill or luck are decided by dice roles, which are then modified according to each player's relative skills; otherwise, the game is played largely without pieces, although figures, maps, props and exterior elements such as music are all frequently introduced by enterprising players, and there is a flourishing subindustry to provide elements such as map paper and miniature figures to represent the player. Despite this, the bulk of the action takes place primarily within the players' collective imagination.