How to Host a Dungeon is a solitaire pen-and-paper game in which you create an underground complex of rooms, populate them with various fantasy races and monsters, and simulate its history. At almost any time you can stop and have the basis for a D&D campaign. Here's a YouTube playthrough of a game: Part 1 - Part 2 [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Mar 4, 2012 - 53 comments

It's On The Ceiling! Roll d12:
1. d100 Swords of Damocles
2. City of the Intellectual Bats
3. Manhole-like trap door to maintenance level
4. Tapestry of webs depicting events in spider history
5. Stalactite pueblo dwellers: evil dungeon fairies
6. Adventurers impaled on barbed spikes
7. The furniture: nailed up by prankster
8. Alarming amount of dripping water and muddy seepage
9. Pulsating illumination from strange glass tubes in metal fixtures
10. Shriekers!
11. Eyes (d1000)
12. Hand-chiseled diagram of dungeon level
This and many other useful tables for DM improvisation at The Dungeon Dozen. New table every day!
posted by JHarris on Feb 3, 2012 - 22 comments

If you enjoy playing Dungeons & Dragons or similar fantasy RPGs, or if you just like reading in-depth analysis of fictional worlds, then the Tome of Awesome [pdf] is for you. [more inside]
posted by jedicus on Jan 12, 2012 - 50 comments

You've finally gotten over your geek self-loathing, and you've decided to jump back into playing tabletop, pen-and-paper RPGs. But where to begin? [more inside]
posted by jiawen on Jan 10, 2012 - 51 comments

Here is the Nethack server at alt.org, Telnet link,  Java client, Flash client.  Here is a list of most of the ways to die in the game (dates back to 3.1.3).  And here are a lot of Nethack spoilers.
posted by JHarris on Dec 20, 2011 - 38 comments

Yes I like playing Dungeons and Dragons with you... "This Fantasy World" by the Doubleclicks, with animation by Brad Jonas. [SLYT]
posted by Gator on Mar 11, 2011 - 49 comments

The Dune RPG that never was.
posted by Artw on Jan 11, 2011 - 70 comments

An Illustrated History of Games Workshop and Fighting Fantasy - Jackson and Livingstone - audio, sans illustrations. The story of how Steve Jackson (not that Steve Jackson) and Ian Livingstone kickstarted tabletop roleplaying in the UK and founded a gaming behemoth that is very different today.
posted by Artw on Nov 25, 2010 - 42 comments

"With 4th Edition, there were good intentions." Escapist Magazine's "Check for Traps" columnist Alexander Macris interviews Dungeons & Dragons Manager Mike Mearls about 4th Edition Essentials, Ryan Dancey's "death spiral" comment, Justin Alexander's "Disassociated Mechanics", and the new Red Box.
posted by Avenger50 on Nov 5, 2010 - 44 comments

Got a question about old-school Dungeons and Dragons? Perhaps you should consult this database of questions and answers from Dragon Magazine's "Sage Advice" column.
posted by Pope Guilty on Oct 12, 2010 - 144 comments

"This map was drawn by my cousin, Tim, who introduced me to gaming back in the earlier '80s."
posted by Artw on May 3, 2010 - 97 comments

Monday Morning Nerd-Porn
posted by jtron on Mar 22, 2010 - 28 comments

Although it's commonplace nowadays to assume that J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings was the primary source of inspiration for Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax when they created the world's first tabletop roleplaying game, Dungeons & Dragons, a careful examination of the game suggests otherwise... James Maliszewski on The Books That Founded D&D. Some disagreement.
posted by Artw on Nov 24, 2009 - 109 comments

The New York Times profiles Jack Vance (but fails to mention Vancian Magic. (Curse you Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition!)
posted by Artw on Jul 16, 2009 - 53 comments

“I can't make anyone Jewish with a called shot.” “I cannot start the game pregnant.” “My medical supply bag will contain more than just a bone-saw and a bottle of whiskey.” “My halfling cannot take the flaw, 'Obsession: Ring of Invisibility.'” “Even if he was a paragon of humanity in his alternate dimension, Good Hitler is not an appropriate superhero concept.” “No more Crazy Ivans while I'm driving the AT-AT.” “I do not have to check before each adventure that my fellow adventurers are not doppelgangers, Cylons or pod people.” “'Everybody Wang Chung tonight' is not an acceptable use of the Mass Suggestion spell.” 1250 things Mr. Welch can no longer do during an RPG. (SLLJ)
posted by Navelgazer on Mar 12, 2009 - 73 comments

Interview with Jon Schindehette, senior art director at Wizards of the Coast for Dungeons and Dragons. See more fantasy art at his blog, ArtOrder.
posted by Artw on Jan 29, 2009 - 24 comments

Using OmniFocus to manage a 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons character sheet. Nerds. Dungeons and Dragons. Obsessive overuse of Mac software.
posted by Artw on Jun 25, 2008 - 87 comments

If geeks talked about cookbooks the way they talk about RPG books, the results would not be pretty.
posted by Artw on Jun 19, 2008 - 51 comments

DM of the Rings (comic). The Lord of the Rings if it were a Dungeons and Dragons game. [more inside]
posted by Bugbread on Oct 27, 2007 - 66 comments

Hear D and D players roll the dice in a fantasy battle with nefarious foes.
posted by sudama on Aug 18, 2004 - 21 comments

Neverwinter Nights is out!!! After waiting 4 long years and wading through a fetid quagmire of let-down rumors and whatnot, I finally have a copy installed on my laptop right now! Run, don't walk to your local Software Etc. and see if they have a copy. Our local WotC didn't have a copy, and neither did our local Electronics Boutique or Best Buy.
posted by crankydoodle on Jun 19, 2002 - 27 comments

I totally don't think that your Paladin would really do that, Sir Balroggan. Give in to your geek side and go find out what your alignment would be if you were a D&D character.
posted by Skot on Jun 18, 2001 - 73 comments