Happy 50th birthday, more or less, to Dungeons & Dragons!
January 11, 2024 2:36 PM Subscribe
Tom Van Winkle (01/10/2024), "Fifty Years of Dungeons & Dragons": "Fifty years ago this month, the first 1000 copies of the original Dungeons & Dragons were printed and then boxed up at Gary Gygax's house. It's supposed to have been late in January of 1974, but we don't have a specific date. January 1974 is good enough for me. And what counts as the specific origin date, anyway? The final draft? The actual printing? The availability for sale? We're close enough. I'm saying it's been fifty years right now."
Tom Van Winkle asks, "You have three weeks left in the month. What will you do for '50'?" As one answer, here's an eclectic assortment of mostly nostalgic links related to each year of the game's early history:
Tom Van Winkle asks, "You have three weeks left in the month. What will you do for '50'?" As one answer, here's an eclectic assortment of mostly nostalgic links related to each year of the game's early history:
- 1974: Jon Peterson, "A History of D&D in 12 Treasures": For D&D's 40th birthday (previously), "Role-playing game historian Jon Peterson review[ed] twelve rare artifacts that grant us unique insight to the initial development of Dungeons & Dragons," concluding with the first published edition of the game. FYI, the first volume in a revised edition of Peterson's long out-of-print history of D&D, Playing at the World, is scheduled for an August release.
- 1975: The board game Dungeon! was published in 1975, after D&D, but it had developed concurrently amid a confusing mix of mildly reciprocal influences. An interview with Dave Megarry filmed for the documentary Secrets of Blackmoor explains more. See also "How to Play Dungeon!" and a TV ad for the game from 1981.
- 1976: Dragon magazine debuted in June 1976, but its precursor The Strategic Review was still publishing through April--highlights from that issue included suggestions for 70s music that "can add immeasurably to the expedition/adventure, and sometimes helps keep rowdy parties quieter and more manageable": several albums by Rick Wakeman (Journey to the Centre of the Earth; The Myths and Legends of King Arthur; and The Six Wives of Henry VIII) and two by Bo Hansson (Music Inspired by The Lord of the Rings and Magician's Hat).
- 1977: In honor of the year in which the Monster Manual was published but also recognizing the current year in which Delicious in Dungeon released on Netflix, here's "Monster Menu-All Part 1: Eating the AD&D Monster Manual": "all the monsters from the 1977 AD&D Monster Manual tabulated, sorted, and presented for your gustatory enjoyment" by the author of The Monster Overhaul.
- 1978: Jason Bradley Thompson / Mock Man Press's walkthrough map of 1978's Tomb of Horrors module has appeared on the blue at least two times before, so by now it's a tradition. It is still available as a print and JPEG. See also Stephen Buckley's "Meet The Tomb of Horrors (A.K.A. The Most Hilariously Brutal D&D Dungeon)" at Cracked.
- 1979: Joe Nuttall's "Timeline of Early D&D Scenarios" offers a look at the 70s through the lens of 200 scenarios presented in a 10-part series: 1971-1975, 1976, 1977, 1978 Jan-June, 1978 July-Dec, 1979 Jan-April, 1979 May-June, 1979 July-Aug, 1979 Sept-Oct, 1979 Nov-Dec. Reportedly with permission from the authors, he has also republished seven obscure 70s scenarios online.
- 1980: News / media footage from 1979 shows D&D being played on the University of Georgia campus, but by 1980, D&D clubs were popping up at high schools, e.g. "The Order of Excalibur Club" was formed "to congress around Dungeon and Dragons and other board games revolving around wizards and magic"--probably unaware its entertainment-focused parody of chivalric / Arthurian orders had forerunners in the early 18th C. and early 20th C. Ethan Gilsdorf's home movie from 1981 evokes a typical Friday night in New Hampshire for younger players.
- 1981: Though Dragon magazine remained the most popular periodical related to D&D, TSR's Role-Playing Game Association also began publishing fun ephemera in the form of its newsletter Polyhedron, often including interesting news, short articles, and brief scenarios. At RPG.net, a massive project to re-read them all remains ongoing, as a follow-up to an even more massive project to read all of Dragon, but it's getting close to the end!
- 1982: At least for the time being, Rose Estes's "Endless Quest" books released in 1982 remain available for checkout at the Internet Archive: Dungeon of Dread, Mountain of Mirrors, Pillars of Pentegarn, and Return to Brookmere. Media imagery based on D&D proliferated in 1982, e.g. in E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Mazes and Monsters (complete ad-supported version on Tubi), and an ad for the AD&D Intellivision game.
- 1983: 28 episodes of the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon and a 1983 ad for D&D itself call the era to mind pretty vividly. An ad for the toy action figures came out a year later.
- 1984: In 1984, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman launched a continuing series significant in the history of D&D: the "Weis & Hickman Roadshow" at Gencon, represented at the link with a complete example from 1990. They published some modules in 1984 plus a novel too. Meanwhile, TSR released a commercial advertising several games at once.
- 1985: First Quest - The Music is "One of the most obscure pieces of D&D merchandise from the Gygax era," but someone has located a copy and made it available on Youtube so you can Dungeon Synth, 1985-style.
- 1986: Comptiq Magazine in 1986 began serializing "Record of Lodoss War," a "replay" introducing readers in Japan to the D&D Basic and Expert rules but incidentally launching a separate franchise lasting decades in its own right. However, computer gamers in Japan were already playing many games influenced by D&D: see Felipe Pepe's "1982-1987: The Birth of Japanese RPGs, Re-told in 15 Games."
- 1987: A good while back at Something Awful, Zack Parsons and Steve "Malak" Sumner wrote an 11-part article on 1987's Book of Wondrous Inventions, "a supplement for D&D and AD&D that introduced a variety of reader-suggested magical items and devices. This is without a doubt the stupidest compendium of magic items ever produced for any Dungeons & Dragons line. Nearly every item on every page deserves to be showcased here, from the magical oven to the magical baby cradle"--but also, "Steve: This book rules!" One of the items in the book was a pinball machine, and coincidentally, a D&D pinball machine was released the same year.
- 1988: At Comics Alliance, Chris Sims wrote about "Bizarro Back Issues: The Quest to Cure A Noble Paladin of Tiny Hands Disease (1988)." J. Caleb Mozzocco replied, "Remember, 'Bizarro' is a synonym for 'awesome': A little on Advanced Dungeons & Dragons," a comic from DC that debuted in 1988 and had Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, and Spelljammer counterparts.
- 1989: PC games with the AD&D logo arrived a bit late relative to games inspired by D&D and the aforementioned AD&D Intellivision and Aquarius games, but in 1989, they multiplied: the previous year's Pool of Radiance was novelized ("It's a hot mess, to be honest," says a long review at Let's Read TSR), the sequel Curse of the Azure Bonds was out, and an "experiment ... featuring none of the gameplay elements that made the Gold Box series popular" was also released: Hillsfar. Meanwhile, the 1988 side-scroller Heroes of the Lance yielded the sequel Dragons of Flame.
Awesome post - thx.
posted by whatevernot at 2:53 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]
posted by whatevernot at 2:53 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]
My groups are celebrating the 50th by abandoning Hasbro's hollowing-out of the brand and switching over to Shadowdark, a game that feels true to D&D's roots. It was designed by Kelsey Dionne (a young queer female game designer) to combine streamlined modern mechanics with an old-school philosophy where imagination is more important than specific powers granted by the game. A lot of us who play got really fed up last year when Hasbro tried to deactivate the license that allows players to create content for the game. (There's a whole long and sorry tale about how Gary Gygax et al mismanaged TSR because they were game designers, not businesspeople. Creative people have never managed to keep control of the property for long.) Anyway, I started playing D&D back in 1979, and Shadowdark feels more like that version of the game than anything TSR, Wizards of the Coast, or Hasbro has put out since AD&D.
The best thing about roleplaying games is that once you settle on a collection of rules, you get to make the rest up.
posted by rikschell at 2:54 PM on January 11 [17 favorites]
The best thing about roleplaying games is that once you settle on a collection of rules, you get to make the rest up.
posted by rikschell at 2:54 PM on January 11 [17 favorites]
I’ve been all in on Shadowdark and share that assessment. One of my players has agreed to try DMing and I’m going to help her start in that system.
posted by meinvt at 3:01 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]
posted by meinvt at 3:01 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]
I know my introduction to D&D was the small books in the box and the larger hardback books came later. I feel like it's been in the atmosphere of most of my life, although I don't engage with it because I am the WORST person to have at your table. I can take nothing seriously and will be disruptive the entire time.
I love the idea of D&D, and appreciate what it is from a distance. But I am not a good role player, myself.
posted by hippybear at 3:03 PM on January 11 [4 favorites]
I love the idea of D&D, and appreciate what it is from a distance. But I am not a good role player, myself.
posted by hippybear at 3:03 PM on January 11 [4 favorites]
I sometimes wonder about the Sliding Doors version of my life where I never discovered Dungeons & Dragons. It is quite likely that I would be dead, or if not dead then at the very least a far lonelier, less confident and social version of myself. Most of my friends are people who I met through games (both tabletop and LARP) over the years and the genesis of that was in 1992 when I picked up my first icosahedron and gave it a roll.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 3:07 PM on January 11 [7 favorites]
posted by Parasite Unseen at 3:07 PM on January 11 [7 favorites]
My first exposure to AD&D was through a college roommate around '81-'82. After college I bought my own manuals and continued playing and DM'ing (whenever I could find or create a group) up until my early 30's, before my interest petered out. Good Times. Along the way I got into painting miniatures, which I continued to do for a while after I stopped actually playing. Eventually I gave everything away - manuals, DM notes/maps/plans/etc., dice, miniatures - to a friend's teen kid; a few weeks later he told me he'd "lost them somewhere". Stupid kids. Well, I hope somebody got use out of them...I'd love to see if any of it still survives all these years later.
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:16 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:16 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]
First game: 1978. We played Tomb of Horrors. With 1st level characters. A rockfall trap killed all but one of the characters, who then immediately died in a pit.
I was so annoyed by this that I... designed and GMed my own dungeon the following day. I was six.
posted by kyrademon at 3:30 PM on January 11 [16 favorites]
I was so annoyed by this that I... designed and GMed my own dungeon the following day. I was six.
posted by kyrademon at 3:30 PM on January 11 [16 favorites]
Flagged as +3 Vorpal Post of Timeslaying
Thank you for this! I have more good memories of D&D and everything that can be traced directly to it than I can possibly count.
posted by cupcakeninja at 3:45 PM on January 11 [3 favorites]
Thank you for this! I have more good memories of D&D and everything that can be traced directly to it than I can possibly count.
posted by cupcakeninja at 3:45 PM on January 11 [3 favorites]
First game: 1978. We played Tomb of Horrors. With 1st level characters. A rockfall trap killed all but one of the characters, who then immediately died in a pit.
1981.same here, same module, same outcome. So we did village of Hommlet instead then keep on the boarderland.
still have my original monster manual.
I still have my original character and the original character sheet characters now a 22st level Thief / burglar who is now semi-retired and outfitted with the kick butt spell jamming ship
posted by clavdivs at 3:59 PM on January 11 [3 favorites]
1981.same here, same module, same outcome. So we did village of Hommlet instead then keep on the boarderland.
still have my original monster manual.
I still have my original character and the original character sheet characters now a 22st level Thief / burglar who is now semi-retired and outfitted with the kick butt spell jamming ship
posted by clavdivs at 3:59 PM on January 11 [3 favorites]
I'm pretty sure the first game of DnD I played was around 7 years old, and I was trying to DM a year later. My nerd cred claim of secondhand fame is that my dad got a signed copy of the first softback print after he spent some time playtesting the post-Chainmail rules with Gary back in Lake Geneva. My nerd cred claim of shame is that that book failed a save against a leucrotta (my roommate's dog Scrambles) and was destroyed.
posted by FatherDagon at 4:12 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]
posted by FatherDagon at 4:12 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]
My nerd cred claim of both fame and shame was that I was once ejected from a game store by the man who introduced the Thief class to Gary Gygax.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 4:34 PM on January 11 [11 favorites]
posted by Parasite Unseen at 4:34 PM on January 11 [11 favorites]
Wow, this is a hell of a post. Thank you!
Thought I’d drop this classic here:
The Dead Alewives Watchtower Presents: Dungeons & Dragons
posted by star gentle uterus at 4:44 PM on January 11 [8 favorites]
Thought I’d drop this classic here:
The Dead Alewives Watchtower Presents: Dungeons & Dragons
posted by star gentle uterus at 4:44 PM on January 11 [8 favorites]
from a game store by the man who
what a rouge.
posted by clavdivs at 4:47 PM on January 11 [3 favorites]
what a rouge.
posted by clavdivs at 4:47 PM on January 11 [3 favorites]
I got on the train at AD&D 2nd edition. I think I was 8? At summer camp. So I've been playing it (or something like it) pretty consistently for a good 33 of those 50 years.
Nothing I remember about that early game has anything to do with the actual classes, abilities, spells, or rules of Dungeons and Dragons. I'm pretty sure it was just structured bullshitting with friends. Which as far as I'm concerned makes it the purest expression of the form I'll ever achieve.
posted by Phobos the Space Potato at 5:10 PM on January 11 [3 favorites]
Nothing I remember about that early game has anything to do with the actual classes, abilities, spells, or rules of Dungeons and Dragons. I'm pretty sure it was just structured bullshitting with friends. Which as far as I'm concerned makes it the purest expression of the form I'll ever achieve.
posted by Phobos the Space Potato at 5:10 PM on January 11 [3 favorites]
(Also important: 8-year-old Phobos' D&D character was a ninja named Zack, because names that start with Z are always cool. Zack kicked ass.)
posted by Phobos the Space Potato at 5:27 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]
posted by Phobos the Space Potato at 5:27 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]
I played AD&D back in the 80s. Then I took a 35 year hiatus and started playing 5e several years ago. I had to drop out of the regular session a few months ago because of work conflicts.
Besides: by the pandemic, we were all playing remotely. Which is like a long Zoom meeting with simulated dice. It's fun, but after 9 hours staring at a laptop, I really don't want to come home and stare at my home laptop for another 2.5 hours. It's more fun in person!
posted by SoberHighland at 5:39 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]
Besides: by the pandemic, we were all playing remotely. Which is like a long Zoom meeting with simulated dice. It's fun, but after 9 hours staring at a laptop, I really don't want to come home and stare at my home laptop for another 2.5 hours. It's more fun in person!
posted by SoberHighland at 5:39 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]
I started D&D in… 1975? A bit before Dragon started publishing. Played a lot until I about 1979 when a desire for more narrative stories and the arrival of Runequest made us switch gears. Good times, honestly.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:42 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:42 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]
I have mixed feelings about the anniversary, because if I had started playing then, or close to then, who knows what my life would have been like. Maybe not better, but probably not worse. I first dabbled in RPGs in the mid-eighties, and didn't play D&D itself until 3.5, and most of the people that I played with soon switched over to Pathfinder as simply better. I've got a couple of games going on next week and will make some note of the anniversary then. Maybe even watch some of the latest Stranger Things season (which I never did get around to finishing) with the Hellfire Club.
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:20 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:20 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]
Around 1997, I did a house buy for a bookstore I was working at that included what I'm 99% sure was an original woodgrain D&D box set. I got it for next to nothing* - the owner just wanted the place cleared out - and set it on the counter when I got back and started pricing out the haul.**
While I was working, a clearly deeply shy, very nerdy teenage girl came up and asked if she could see it, and lit up as she started looking through it. I have no idea what it was worth then, but definitely much more than the $25 she had and I sold it to her for. She was clearly just a novice player, not a serious collector, and she was stoked to get it. Remains one of my finest moments as a bookseller (if not as a nominal businessperson ***).
* Probably a dollar or less when all the accounting was done.
** Also in there were a number of other 60s and early 70s SPI-style wargames.
*** And a good indication of why I ended up a librarian rather than hustling books for a living. I hope she still has it and cashes in.
posted by ryanshepard at 6:24 PM on January 11 [13 favorites]
While I was working, a clearly deeply shy, very nerdy teenage girl came up and asked if she could see it, and lit up as she started looking through it. I have no idea what it was worth then, but definitely much more than the $25 she had and I sold it to her for. She was clearly just a novice player, not a serious collector, and she was stoked to get it. Remains one of my finest moments as a bookseller (if not as a nominal businessperson ***).
* Probably a dollar or less when all the accounting was done.
** Also in there were a number of other 60s and early 70s SPI-style wargames.
*** And a good indication of why I ended up a librarian rather than hustling books for a living. I hope she still has it and cashes in.
posted by ryanshepard at 6:24 PM on January 11 [13 favorites]
an original woodgrain D&D box set.
Oh, yup. That's what I started with. It wasn't vintage or worth anything when I had it.
posted by hippybear at 6:26 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]
Oh, yup. That's what I started with. It wasn't vintage or worth anything when I had it.
posted by hippybear at 6:26 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]
i gained 100 xp just reading the body of the post
posted by MonsieurPEB at 6:34 PM on January 11 [13 favorites]
posted by MonsieurPEB at 6:34 PM on January 11 [13 favorites]
ooh that woodgrain set is fancy. I had the white box set, Chainmail, Blackmoor?, and then got the first set of the big books. Still have the white box ones somewhere. Probably still have my terrible dungeons with insane maze-areas in them. Good luck murder hobos!
posted by Windopaene at 6:39 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]
posted by Windopaene at 6:39 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]
I'm really happy that Jon Peterson got connected with MIT Press. The first edition of Playing at the World is really good but should really, really benefit from the assistance of a good editor. I look forward to reading reviews of the new MIT Press edition to see if it's worth picking up since I already have the first edition as well as his other MIT Press books (that appeared to be an attempt to slice up Playing at the World into more manageable, cohesive (book-length) chunks so I'm surprised that they're republishing that entire book). I really loved learning, in great detail, about how many of the design decisions in D&D and AD&D were made - it's a lot of fun to track down the original source material and read it knowing in advance how it influenced one of the most influential game systems of the late 20th century.
posted by ElKevbo at 6:40 PM on January 11 [3 favorites]
posted by ElKevbo at 6:40 PM on January 11 [3 favorites]
Well, that sorts how I'll be spending this evening and day off tomorrow. Amazing post!
Been playing since '80 or so. Am still playing a 2e game with some friends from college that's in the same campaign world we started around '86. Thanks for the wonderful nostalgia bomb.
posted by calamari kid at 6:49 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]
Been playing since '80 or so. Am still playing a 2e game with some friends from college that's in the same campaign world we started around '86. Thanks for the wonderful nostalgia bomb.
posted by calamari kid at 6:49 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]
I vote that this post to be sidebarred/ best of.
and I got to know I got to know has anyone ever used a 10-ft pole in a dungeon.
posted by clavdivs at 7:05 PM on January 11 [3 favorites]
and I got to know I got to know has anyone ever used a 10-ft pole in a dungeon.
posted by clavdivs at 7:05 PM on January 11 [3 favorites]
Like Phobos the Space Potato, my 2nd edition play as a 10-12 year-old was also mostly "structured bullshitting with friends," with a nourishing layer of gender freedom - I could be anyone!! Didn't play again until just recently, when a new friend invited me to their campaign. I get to play an indebted lizard-person artificer fleeing my creditors and finding new security in my adventuring party of fellow misfits as we try to stop a dastardly plot to turn everyone in the world undead via cursed roombas. It feels so good to do something creative that is only for fun.
Now all I want to do is play! And watch Dimension 20 actual plays. But mostly play! But it's hard to find another table to join because of shyness.
posted by TimidFooting at 7:06 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]
Now all I want to do is play! And watch Dimension 20 actual plays. But mostly play! But it's hard to find another table to join because of shyness.
posted by TimidFooting at 7:06 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]
Oooh Curse of the Azure Bonds! I had completely forgotten that existed.
That one, Might and Magic, The Bard's Tale, Phantasie, Dungeon Master, Tunnels and Trolls....
I enjoyed the hell out of those games. Then again, I was ~13. I wonder what I'd think now.
posted by gurple at 7:30 PM on January 11 [3 favorites]
That one, Might and Magic, The Bard's Tale, Phantasie, Dungeon Master, Tunnels and Trolls....
I enjoyed the hell out of those games. Then again, I was ~13. I wonder what I'd think now.
posted by gurple at 7:30 PM on January 11 [3 favorites]
This seems like the best place to mention that the first episode of the newest season of The Adventure Zone dropped today:they're back to D&D and they're taking on Dracula.
posted by Navelgazer at 7:33 PM on January 11 [3 favorites]
posted by Navelgazer at 7:33 PM on January 11 [3 favorites]
I played 1(one) game badly in 1985 - the first year I was away from home, at college. Hooked for life. When I die, roll a d20 and if I make my save, I’m coming back.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 8:23 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 8:23 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]
I found out about D&D in high school, when my classmate's older brother brought it home from MIT. This was the original three books from TSR, before Greyhawk. Until now, I didn't know it was the very first year the game was even available.
posted by panglos at 8:43 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]
posted by panglos at 8:43 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]
I haven't played in decades, but back in my adolescence and throughout high school it and a few other RPGs (Warhammer RPG = the best) were a big part of my life. I'm pretty sure the first time I played was in grade five, which for me was 1983-84, when a couple of older kids at my public school organized a "D&D for Ethiopia" "fundraiser" at my public school.
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:56 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:56 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]
I grew up in the 80s, a child of the Satanic Panic, and was forbidden from many things that would turn me into a Satan-worshiping suicide monster, D&D among them. I would joke that the one good thing about having a born-again parent was that I was raised slightly less nerdy than I would've been otherwise.
I finally got a chance to play (Pathfinder 1e, same difference) about 10 years ago, and was instantly hooked, so much so that it's made me doubt other creative vocations in my life (why make theater when there's this other thing that actually has an audience?). I'm delighted I found it but also kinda sad that I didn't find it earlier, that I missed out on years of good clean fun because I was scared it would ruin and/or kill me.
posted by HeroZero at 9:02 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]
I finally got a chance to play (Pathfinder 1e, same difference) about 10 years ago, and was instantly hooked, so much so that it's made me doubt other creative vocations in my life (why make theater when there's this other thing that actually has an audience?). I'm delighted I found it but also kinda sad that I didn't find it earlier, that I missed out on years of good clean fun because I was scared it would ruin and/or kill me.
posted by HeroZero at 9:02 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]
the first volume in a revised edition of Peterson's long out-of-print history of D&D, Playing at the World, is scheduled for an August release.
Mother FUCKER. Listen, that book was extraordinarily well-researched and informative, and I'm glad I read it, but it took me three YEARS of starting and stopping to FINALLY finish slogging through it, JUST LAST WEEK, and now there's a second edition? In MULTIPLE VOLUMES?
(Three-word Review: Too many notes.)
posted by The Tensor at 10:45 PM on January 11 [3 favorites]
Mother FUCKER. Listen, that book was extraordinarily well-researched and informative, and I'm glad I read it, but it took me three YEARS of starting and stopping to FINALLY finish slogging through it, JUST LAST WEEK, and now there's a second edition? In MULTIPLE VOLUMES?
(Three-word Review: Too many notes.)
posted by The Tensor at 10:45 PM on January 11 [3 favorites]
Very good that this comes right after the choice of a word of the year, because D&D and Dragon Magazine are where I first encountered enshittification, I'm pretty sure? I can't even point to a specific instance but at several points when they were at risk of going under or succumbed to some in-house coup or properly changed hands - there it was.
I'm sure that helped me being less surprised when it came to Livejournal much much later.
I still have the miniature of the Golden Dragon Ra'halla (or something like that) that was the prize for a subscription of German Dragon magazine, named "Drache" (unsurprisingly), which folded after a few issues. Again, unsurprisingly. A surprise was that my dragon miniature was delivered polymorphed to it's human shape, as as a maid. In hindsight I approve of that creative choice because that was deep in the lead era of miniaturing.
Ra'halla' also came with a unicorn companion btw which was really unicorn-shaped on arrival. It was lounging, and wisely so because putting legs on a horse can be a headache, and maiden Ra'halla needed something to lean on.
What a great game though. Wouldn't want to live in a world without it.
posted by Ashenmote at 11:10 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]
I'm sure that helped me being less surprised when it came to Livejournal much much later.
I still have the miniature of the Golden Dragon Ra'halla (or something like that) that was the prize for a subscription of German Dragon magazine, named "Drache" (unsurprisingly), which folded after a few issues. Again, unsurprisingly. A surprise was that my dragon miniature was delivered polymorphed to it's human shape, as as a maid. In hindsight I approve of that creative choice because that was deep in the lead era of miniaturing.
Ra'halla' also came with a unicorn companion btw which was really unicorn-shaped on arrival. It was lounging, and wisely so because putting legs on a horse can be a headache, and maiden Ra'halla needed something to lean on.
What a great game though. Wouldn't want to live in a world without it.
posted by Ashenmote at 11:10 PM on January 11 [2 favorites]
I've played a whole bunch of TTRPGs, but not D&D*, but I recognise that the hobby would not have been the same without it. I'll celebrate the occasion in a fitting manner with a handful of dice.
*) Ok, one time in college. Does it count?
posted by Harald74 at 3:48 AM on January 12 [1 favorite]
*) Ok, one time in college. Does it count?
posted by Harald74 at 3:48 AM on January 12 [1 favorite]
We all experimented a bit in college, Harald74. You can still self-identify as having whatever TTRPG orientation feels right to you.
posted by kyrademon at 4:28 AM on January 12 [10 favorites]
posted by kyrademon at 4:28 AM on January 12 [10 favorites]
I played D&D and then AD&D pretty much constantly from early 1977 through late 1983 (when scattering to universities in different cities broke up my group—( never resumed).
Every so often somebody rediscovers me because my first professional publications were some of the monsters in White Dwarf's "Fiend Factory" column that got incorporated into The Fiend Folio, and they want to know if I have anything new to share wrt. Death Knights, Slaads, the Gith ... (spoiler: nope).
Anyway, I've not really played TTRPGs since the early-mid 1980s. But my next Laundry Files novel, due out this summer, is basically a love song to discovering D&D in one's teens. (A Conventional Boy, coming from Tor.com in the US and Orbit in the UK.)
posted by cstross at 4:41 AM on January 12 [18 favorites]
Every so often somebody rediscovers me because my first professional publications were some of the monsters in White Dwarf's "Fiend Factory" column that got incorporated into The Fiend Folio, and they want to know if I have anything new to share wrt. Death Knights, Slaads, the Gith ... (spoiler: nope).
Anyway, I've not really played TTRPGs since the early-mid 1980s. But my next Laundry Files novel, due out this summer, is basically a love song to discovering D&D in one's teens. (A Conventional Boy, coming from Tor.com in the US and Orbit in the UK.)
posted by cstross at 4:41 AM on January 12 [18 favorites]
cstross: You were the creator of the Githyanki? (maybe I'm misreading you?) That race and its backstory is a huge, pivotal part of the relatively new and enormously successful, critically acclaimed Baldur's Gate 3 video game. You have any thoughts on that?
posted by SoberHighland at 4:52 AM on January 12 [3 favorites]
posted by SoberHighland at 4:52 AM on January 12 [3 favorites]
It seems like no matter with aspect of classic D&D you miss the most, now there's a retroclone of some kind that really leans into that aspect. Often with more streamlined and workable rules.
posted by Harald74 at 5:25 AM on January 12 [2 favorites]
posted by Harald74 at 5:25 AM on January 12 [2 favorites]
Post flagged as fantastic.
posted by Gelatin at 5:41 AM on January 12 [4 favorites]
posted by Gelatin at 5:41 AM on January 12 [4 favorites]
I had neither the friend group nor the confidence to be the DM or to play with random people at my local comic/nerd shop, but I read TTRPG books religiously as a kid and teenager. I created characters, understood the mechanics, bought dice, painted minis, and generally did everything except actually play the game.
I became interested again when 4E came out and I started on the same path of learning but not playing until finally 5E + associated podcasts/shows encouraged a friend to DM and to bring a few equally interested people together. And so I played my first game of D&D in my 30s and have now been playing regularly for 6-7 years, with two campaigns on the go with a mix of people all of whom I consider friends because of D&D.
Since we've been playing online & remotely since the very beginning, during the pandemic, D&D was one of the few things that remained absolutely consistent and normal. It legitimately helped all of us stay grounded and sane.
It's been brought up by Brennan Lee Mulligan (of Dropout/Dimension 20 fame) but the emotions that you feel while playing D&D are just as real the ones you feel in "real life". There are things that have happened during our games that I will remember for the rest of my life. It's a super important part of my life and I recommend it to anyone who will listen. Happy birthday D&D!
posted by slimepuppy at 6:00 AM on January 12 [4 favorites]
I became interested again when 4E came out and I started on the same path of learning but not playing until finally 5E + associated podcasts/shows encouraged a friend to DM and to bring a few equally interested people together. And so I played my first game of D&D in my 30s and have now been playing regularly for 6-7 years, with two campaigns on the go with a mix of people all of whom I consider friends because of D&D.
Since we've been playing online & remotely since the very beginning, during the pandemic, D&D was one of the few things that remained absolutely consistent and normal. It legitimately helped all of us stay grounded and sane.
It's been brought up by Brennan Lee Mulligan (of Dropout/Dimension 20 fame) but the emotions that you feel while playing D&D are just as real the ones you feel in "real life". There are things that have happened during our games that I will remember for the rest of my life. It's a super important part of my life and I recommend it to anyone who will listen. Happy birthday D&D!
posted by slimepuppy at 6:00 AM on January 12 [4 favorites]
I started playing some time around 78-79 which in hindsight was pretty weird considering how, uh, backwater my childhood was otherwise. Still playing Pathfinder today with some of the guys I started with in '89.
although I don't engage with it because I am the WORST person to have at your table. I can take nothing seriously and will be disruptive the entire time.
So like 90% of dedicated bard players ever?
posted by Mitheral at 6:15 AM on January 12 [2 favorites]
although I don't engage with it because I am the WORST person to have at your table. I can take nothing seriously and will be disruptive the entire time.
So like 90% of dedicated bard players ever?
posted by Mitheral at 6:15 AM on January 12 [2 favorites]
Bard evolved from one of the weakest, most difficult classes to succeed with, to pure powerhouses. They're great in 5e. In Baldur's Gate 3 (based on 5e rules, but, ahem... not exactly) Bards are enormously powerful.
I recommend anyone starting that game to play a Bard. Probably a Swords Bard. It has everything you want for a main character in that game.
posted by SoberHighland at 10:10 AM on January 12 [1 favorite]
I recommend anyone starting that game to play a Bard. Probably a Swords Bard. It has everything you want for a main character in that game.
posted by SoberHighland at 10:10 AM on January 12 [1 favorite]
I wrote a dungeon adventure for Dragon Magazine, oh so many years ago, in response to a dungeon design contest. I won! The prize was an autographed copy of the Player's Handbook, which I still have. (Wow! The Internet never forgets. There's even a Reddit entry about my dungeon!)
posted by SPrintF at 10:26 AM on January 12 [6 favorites]
posted by SPrintF at 10:26 AM on January 12 [6 favorites]
50 years of D&D, and about 45 years of me playing TTRPGs (albeit on a virtual tabletop lately). My mother had a coworker in the late seventies whose brother was at university in Chicago. He was apparently quite taken by this new craze sweeping college campuses and for Xmas 1978 (?) he gave his older sister a copy of the game. She looked at it baffled and thought, “That Biscuit kid is weird. Maybe he can make sense of this.” I wound up DMing for a bunch of my classmates; to this day the ratio of time I have spent running games to playing them is maybe fifteen to one.
D&D hasn’t been my drug of choice for about forty years, though. I played in a couple of fifth edition games* when it first arrived, though, and found the game… fine, but still kind of playing catch-up with a lot of other systems.
*Skipped second through fourth entirely. Je ne regrette rien.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:50 AM on January 12 [1 favorite]
D&D hasn’t been my drug of choice for about forty years, though. I played in a couple of fifth edition games* when it first arrived, though, and found the game… fine, but still kind of playing catch-up with a lot of other systems.
*Skipped second through fourth entirely. Je ne regrette rien.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:50 AM on January 12 [1 favorite]
The blog post about Dungeon! presents a pretty good case that David Megarry invented the dungeon crawl.
and I got to know I got to know has anyone ever used a 10-ft pole in a dungeon
Yes. I found a pit with one, even.
I recently played a 1E by-the-book game so I have also used the weapon vs. AC table, and the grappling/pummeling/overbearing rules, and initiative rules more by-the-book even than ADDICT. I did not roll up a psionic character but someone else did.
posted by fleacircus at 10:34 PM on January 12 [1 favorite]
and I got to know I got to know has anyone ever used a 10-ft pole in a dungeon
Yes. I found a pit with one, even.
I recently played a 1E by-the-book game so I have also used the weapon vs. AC table, and the grappling/pummeling/overbearing rules, and initiative rules more by-the-book even than ADDICT. I did not roll up a psionic character but someone else did.
posted by fleacircus at 10:34 PM on January 12 [1 favorite]
I grew up in the 80s, a child of the Satanic Panic, and was forbidden from many things that would turn me into a Satan-worshiping suicide monster, D&D among them.
I was similarly forbidden but I played it anyway! And have been ever since. And am playing it right now. With (some of) the same people. I might be a nerd but at least I'm consistent.
posted by StarkRoads at 10:43 PM on January 12 [3 favorites]
I was similarly forbidden but I played it anyway! And have been ever since. And am playing it right now. With (some of) the same people. I might be a nerd but at least I'm consistent.
posted by StarkRoads at 10:43 PM on January 12 [3 favorites]
Wow, reading the dates and milestones above...D&D was such a tremendous part of my life. Still is; I run a weekly 5E game via Zoom (none of that map stuff - I use Theater of the Mind combat, same as the good old pre-3E days).
My favorite gaming convention memory is the time I took the 2nd edition preview that was released in Dragon Magazine, wrote up a little adventure, and took it to OKon to run it as a DM. It was the first time I or my players had used 2nd edition, and it was wonderful.
In the end, though, the biggest effect D&D had on my life was a safe forum where I could play a woman character. I'm one of those people that almost always DMd, which meant I could play a variety of women NPCs - and sometimes even a recurring one. My favorite was "Melisana of Ventris", from the 0th-level adventure, Treasure Hunt. Melisana continued to accompany the players for the rest of my high school career - the only way I could safely express my true gender rather than the one I was incorrectly assigned at birth.
Took me another twenty-five years of D&D before I fully understood *why* I needed that aspect of the game. Now, I can be *me* anywhere, not just at the gaming table.
posted by Flight Hardware, do not touch at 4:16 PM on January 13 [9 favorites]
My favorite gaming convention memory is the time I took the 2nd edition preview that was released in Dragon Magazine, wrote up a little adventure, and took it to OKon to run it as a DM. It was the first time I or my players had used 2nd edition, and it was wonderful.
In the end, though, the biggest effect D&D had on my life was a safe forum where I could play a woman character. I'm one of those people that almost always DMd, which meant I could play a variety of women NPCs - and sometimes even a recurring one. My favorite was "Melisana of Ventris", from the 0th-level adventure, Treasure Hunt. Melisana continued to accompany the players for the rest of my high school career - the only way I could safely express my true gender rather than the one I was incorrectly assigned at birth.
Took me another twenty-five years of D&D before I fully understood *why* I needed that aspect of the game. Now, I can be *me* anywhere, not just at the gaming table.
posted by Flight Hardware, do not touch at 4:16 PM on January 13 [9 favorites]
We had weekly D&D night at the Catholic Church after we got run out of the town rec center for being too rowdy. Some of the busybodies tried to tell the pastor that it was "satanic." He came down and watched us play one night and it was just kids playing D&D. Father Kenny told them it was fine, and never let them give us any trouble. We even had a "tournament" one night and my little brother won Best Thief for which they gave him a copy of The Finieous Treasury which was a collection of Finieous Fingers comics from Dragon magazine.
posted by ob1quixote at 4:37 PM on January 13 [5 favorites]
posted by ob1quixote at 4:37 PM on January 13 [5 favorites]
The blog post about Dungeon! presents a pretty good case that David Megarry invented the dungeon crawl.
There have been three or four books in the last few years about the early years of D&D. One of them (I think not the Peterson book but maybe David M. Ewalt’s
Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and The People Who Play It) found the author interviewing David Megarry in his home. Megarry mentions that the table at which they are sitting chatting is the same one on which Gygax ran the earliest D&D dungeon crawls. How… astonishing would that be?
posted by ricochet biscuit at 4:42 PM on January 13 [2 favorites]
There have been three or four books in the last few years about the early years of D&D. One of them (I think not the Peterson book but maybe David M. Ewalt’s
Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and The People Who Play It) found the author interviewing David Megarry in his home. Megarry mentions that the table at which they are sitting chatting is the same one on which Gygax ran the earliest D&D dungeon crawls. How… astonishing would that be?
posted by ricochet biscuit at 4:42 PM on January 13 [2 favorites]
Finieous! That reminds me, I'm not sure if I saw it in Dragon magazine or somewhere else, but I vaguely recall a comic where various monsters were sitting around a table playing some RPG. The only clear memory I have left of it is when one angrily exclaims something like "Oh, you sneaky stinker!" and another one replies "Depends, is he wearing stinky sneakers?" That wordplay made me laugh then and still makes me laugh now.
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:22 PM on January 13 [2 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:22 PM on January 13 [2 favorites]
Thanks for the link ob1quixote, that was a wonderful blast of nostalgia! I was surprised at how much of the words and images were intimately familiar after so many decades.
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:13 PM on January 13 [2 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:13 PM on January 13 [2 favorites]
Mod note: [btw, this post has been added to the sidebar and Best Of blog]
posted by taz (staff) at 2:32 AM on January 14 [3 favorites]
posted by taz (staff) at 2:32 AM on January 14 [3 favorites]
Wormy was sometimes kinda inscrutable to me, but sometimes it was the best fantasy art that ever appeared on the inside or outside of Dragon magazine.
posted by fleacircus at 10:50 AM on January 14 [5 favorites]
posted by fleacircus at 10:50 AM on January 14 [5 favorites]
First Quest - The Music really is something else. Not music I could see myself delving dungeons to but I love it for how 1985 it is.
posted by daysocks at 11:18 AM on January 14 [1 favorite]
posted by daysocks at 11:18 AM on January 14 [1 favorite]
Bard evolved from one of the weakest, most difficult classes to succeed with, to pure powerhouses.
I cast Vicious Mockery nat 20 let's go
posted by flabdablet at 10:39 PM on January 14 [6 favorites]
I cast Vicious Mockery nat 20 let's go
posted by flabdablet at 10:39 PM on January 14 [6 favorites]
I cast Vicious Mockery nat 20 let's go
My favorite LARP character is a Bard who has the ability to maintain an impenetrable shell while playing an instrument. It is a great deal of fun to stroll along behind the enemy lines, mocking to distract them while playing my dulcimer. I've always loved Bards - even (perhaps especially) those wonky triple-class 1st edition ones.
posted by Flight Hardware, do not touch at 4:51 PM on January 15 [2 favorites]
My favorite LARP character is a Bard who has the ability to maintain an impenetrable shell while playing an instrument. It is a great deal of fun to stroll along behind the enemy lines, mocking to distract them while playing my dulcimer. I've always loved Bards - even (perhaps especially) those wonky triple-class 1st edition ones.
posted by Flight Hardware, do not touch at 4:51 PM on January 15 [2 favorites]
It is a great deal of fun to stroll along behind the enemy lines, mocking to distract them while playing my dulcimer.
Nice! I’ve recently started running a new campaign (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy) and after everyone had created their characters I was looking them over to get a handle on what they might do. One guy had created a fast-talking goblin con man/rogue/snake oil salesman/playwright.
I noted that as goblins have infravision (and can thus see just fine in the dark) and no one else in the party does, I decided we have to have a combat against equally night blind foes in a pitch-black cavern, with the goblin taking the role of The Guy in the Chair, who in a modern technothriller would be surveying a bank of security camera monitors. Here though, he’ll be in the room: “Chawyn, there’s a guy on your right flank with no helmet; swing high. Arnik, aim your bow at about 11:00. No, little bit to your left… perfect! Fire away!”
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:30 PM on January 19 [2 favorites]
Nice! I’ve recently started running a new campaign (GURPS Dungeon Fantasy) and after everyone had created their characters I was looking them over to get a handle on what they might do. One guy had created a fast-talking goblin con man/rogue/snake oil salesman/playwright.
I noted that as goblins have infravision (and can thus see just fine in the dark) and no one else in the party does, I decided we have to have a combat against equally night blind foes in a pitch-black cavern, with the goblin taking the role of The Guy in the Chair, who in a modern technothriller would be surveying a bank of security camera monitors. Here though, he’ll be in the room: “Chawyn, there’s a guy on your right flank with no helmet; swing high. Arnik, aim your bow at about 11:00. No, little bit to your left… perfect! Fire away!”
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:30 PM on January 19 [2 favorites]
There's a weekly free thread just started, and this week's topic is the games MeFites play. There's already several comments from D&D players - more very welcome.
posted by Wordshore at 6:09 AM on January 22 [1 favorite]
posted by Wordshore at 6:09 AM on January 22 [1 favorite]
Stan! is organizing a livestream series that celebrates D&D's 50th anniversary. Up first this evening at 6pm Pacific, Stan!, Steve Winter and Jeff Grubb discuss 50 years of D&D in a cartoon celebration:
Hey, folks ... quick announcement! ... Wed. 1/24 ... is going to be the premiere of a NEW livestream show I'm launching to celebrate this year being the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons! The show is going to be called "50 Years in the Dungeon: A Cartoon Celebration of Half a Century of D&D" ... and it's going to feature a mix of interviews and live drawing as I create homages to classic D&D art.posted by Wobbuffet at 8:54 AM on January 24
My guests for the first episode will be Jeff Grubb and Steven Winter—two guys who've been in the gaming biz even longer than I have. The show will stream on Wednesday nights at 6pm Pacific ... and I hope you can join us.
Plenty of D&D 50th Anniversary observations going on today. To me, one of the most interesting was a post at Chaosium sharing that The First Dungeons & Dragons Game Ever Sold... may have gone to none other than Greg Stafford.
posted by Wobbuffet at 4:49 PM on January 28
posted by Wobbuffet at 4:49 PM on January 28
Coming into this thread a little late, but I just watched "Why Does D&D Use a D20?" from Bob World Builder and was surprised to see a screenshot of the blue at about the 4 minute mark, referencing this post from 2008!
posted by bcwinters at 1:21 PM on February 7 [1 favorite]
posted by bcwinters at 1:21 PM on February 7 [1 favorite]
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posted by meinvt at 2:46 PM on January 11 [3 favorites]