Dungeons & Dragons: Origins

Dungeons and Dragons: What began as an arguably harmless diversion amongst a group of adult war games enthusiasts in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin slowly grew into a multi-million dollar empire that would eventually eclipse its humble progenitors. Rather than simply setting miniature lead warriors on a board and knocking them down randomly, the players desired a cohesive set of rules, rules that would combine both strategy and chance. Dice of various denominations were added to the mixture - four, six, eight, 10, 12 and 20-sided - and would become key elements in this fantasy role-playing game. The culmination of several years of effort was the production of 1,000 boxed sets of a game known as Dungeons and Dragons, which debuted at a convention in 1974 and quickly sold out at $10 a pop.

At the center of this inspired undertaking was E. Gary Gygax, who partnered with friend Dave Arneson to create the original product. A high school dropout, Gygax was nevertheless highly-intelligent and well-read, particularly in the areas of fantasy, science fiction and history. Fruits of his earlier labors included the 1971 Chainmail, subtitled rules for medieval miniatures, which developed from his original fascination with war gaming.
But Dungeons and Dragons was more than just simulated combat between miniature lead armies: it was an enterprise that encompassed entire worlds filled with monsters, magic and mystery, a series of adventures that promised escape from the mundane and monotonous. Refereed by an individual known as the Dungeon Master, players could indulge their alter-egos as arcane spell-casters, mighty warriors, surreptitious night stalkers or adventurers whose traits combined both strength and stealth.

Dungeons and Dragons split into advanced and basic editions, with the former later disappearing entirely. The years 1977 through 1979 saw the publication of the big three in AD&D (Advanced Dungeons and Dragons) - The Player's Handbook, The Monster Manual and The Dungeon Master's Guide. Published by Gygax's company TSR (Tactical Studies Rules), these books were intended to replace earlier supplements, and expand the rules first developed in the original three-volume set.

Gygax and Arneson parted ways in 1981, and four years later, Gygax himself left the company. TSR continued operations without him, eventually being purchased by Seattle-based Wizards of the Coast in 1998. WOTC developed a comprehensive new system of rules which they labeled version 3.0, and returned the game to its original nomenclature of simply Dungeons and Dragons, sans "Advanced." The new system consolidated some of the existing "character classes" - cleric, druid, fighter, paladin, ranger, magic-user, illusionist, thief, assassin and monk - and expanded the abilities to include character "skills" and "feats," which had been lacking in versions 1 and 2.

Although Dungeons and Dragons is not the only WOTC product, it is their most popular. Since taking over, WOTC has come out with versions 3.5 and 4.0 of the rules, continually "upgrading" in order to sell more books. In addition to their own Player's Handbook, Monster Manual and Dungeon Master's Guide, the company has produced dozens of volumes of supplemental rules that include newer magic spells, skills and feats, as well as many character classes and material for campaigns in specific settings, i.e. urban, rural, jungle, arctic, and so on.

While Dungeons and Dragons has achieved widespread name recognition and a loyal and growing following, the game still carries a certain stigma. Many people envision a bunch of socially-inept adolescent boys sitting around a table in a dark room, rolling dice, eating cold pizza and sipping soda while they indulge in their bizarre, alternate realities. While this may be true in some cases, Dungeons and Dragons is now generally recognized as a harmless, if somewhat unconventional outlet for acting out one's fantasies.