Dave Arneson joins Gary Gygax in the Happy Hunting Grounds. Arneson helped develop the original Dungeons and Dragons and was the man who introduced Gygax to the concept of roleplaying. Surely, it's a sad day in Blackmoor.
posted by robocop is bleeding on Apr 9, 2009 - 138 comments

I do not want to spend too much time beating a dead war-horse, but your average D&D game consists of a group of white players acting out how their white characters encounter and destroy orcs and goblins, who are, as a race evil, uncivilized, and dark-skinned. To quote Steve Sumner’s essay again, “Unless played very carefully, Dungeons & Dragons could easily become a proxy race war, with your group filling the shoes of the noble white power crusaders seeking to extinguish any orc war bands or goblin villages they happened across.” I would argue with Sumner’s use of the phrase “could become,” and say that unless played very carefully, D&D usually becomes a proxy race war. Any adventurer knows that if you see an orc, you kill it. You don’t talk to it, you don’t ask what it’s doing there - you kill it, since it’s life is worth less than the treasure it carries and the experience points you’ll get from the kill. If filmed, your average D&D campaign would look something like Birth of a Nation set in Greyhawk.

- Race in Dungeons & Dragons by Chris van Dyke, a powerpoint talk given at Nerd Nite. Via Ta-Nehisi Coates' blog where there's a smart discussion going on about the essay.
posted by Kattullus on Nov 19, 2008 - 195 comments

Remember old D&D? What, 3rd edition? Pah! Not 2nd edition AD&D either, nor 1st edition. Not even "original" Basic/Expert/Companion/Master/Immortal. I'm talking really original D&D, based off of Chainmail wargaming rules. OD&D! Read about it at Delta's D&D Hotspot, which discusses the development of a game system that is almost 35 years old. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Mar 11, 2008 - 23 comments

IM IN UR MANGER KILLING UR SAVIOR. And for those who finish watching that video thinking "A lawful evil Paladin? WTF?", here's a video response. And, just because it's too good not to share... honor! [more inside]
posted by Effigy2000 on Dec 20, 2007 - 26 comments

4th Edition is Coming... Eight years after the release of Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Edition (and only four years after the release of 3.5), Wizards of the Coast announced today that 4th Edition will be on the shelves in May of 2008. Back in 2000, the release of 3rd Edition launched a boom (and bust) of secondary adventures published under the Open Gaming License. Back then, a gamer couldn't swing their boffer sword without hitting a start-up game company with d20 content. Contrast that to this month when the very last issues of venerable Dragon and Dungeon magazines hit the shelves.
posted by robocop is bleeding on Aug 16, 2007 - 106 comments

Fans of Knights of the Dinner Table, a badly drawn cult comic book that a great many of table top gamers have taken dearly to their hearts, will probably be very happy to know that some of the series best ever strips have been turned into a series of pretty cool flash videos.
posted by Effigy2000 on Jul 2, 2006 - 11 comments

Colbertfilter: Stephen waxes nostalgic with the release of Stormreach: DnD Online. Need a glossary? Len Lakofka. Lawful Good. Displacer Beasts. Beholders. GenCon. Mindflayer. Need some new dice? What DnD character are you? Grognards rejoice! You are not alone!
posted by bardic on Mar 5, 2006 - 165 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