Posted on 02/02/2014 1:28:33 PM PST by Timber Rattler
Dungeons & Dragons, that ground-breaking role-playing game, celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.
Specifically, the game's big "4-0" comes this month. It was in January of 1974 when the game's co-creator, Gary Gygax, officially announced in a newsletter that "the Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association has now released its set of fantasy campaign rules (Dungeons and Dragons)." In that announcement, Gygax invited folks to drop by his Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, home some Sunday afternoon to experience Dungeons & Dragons themselves.
But lo, those four decades ago, when D&D first debuted, no one knew what to make of it. D&D was intended to be a new twist on traditional war games. New, because "role-playing" games as a category did not exist. Newcomers found D&D to be weird and complex and confusing and trippy. You want me to "play" a dwarf fighter named Frowndorf? You want me to tell you how my hobbit thief is going to kill the gang of orcs? These dice have how many sides? WTF?
But to those who were intrigued, the “Huh?"s of doubt quickly turned to “Hey, this is fun.” No one guessed Dungeons & Dragons would be revolutionary.
(Excerpt) Read more at boingboing.net ...
My now-husband and I and our various roommates used to work the Texas RenFest back in the late 1980s. Good memories. I never cared for role-playing games - I preferred poker and cribbage - but he was into it for a while.
I’m not embarrassed to say I still play every Wednesday night. (Well, Pathfinder actually, because 4th edition suX0rz.)
I’m a highly professionally, well-paid executive. I don’t care. I still enjoy D&D. It’s awesome.
I played D & D in high school and very briefly afterward. Then I realized I had a life to live.
I haven’t played D&D since the early 80’s. I still have my books and lead figures that I painted myself.
“They have these weird looking bludgeons that they use to whack the balls with, and then they chase the balls around the landscape. Real strange bunch. You should look into them.”
I have heard about these strange people and have been told the worst one of these mentally deranged ones, is president of the United States. He stays fixated on the white round balls and is destroying the country since his round ball game is so bad. He blames all the rich people and conservative people for his bad scores.
“My now-husband and I and our various roommates used to work the Texas RenFest back in the late 1980s.”
It was in those years the “mentally deranged” young man was sent to me for evaluation.
“Most DMs today play it like it’s a miniatures game, and the 3rd and 4th edition reflect that lack of imagination by catering to the rules lawyers.”
That 3rd and 4th stuff doesn’t even seem like it is the same game from what I have seen about it. Some dude told me that the combat sometimes take 1-2 hours+ and you have to use a combat grid, I was like holy cow no wonder no kids are playing it in the library or on the bus any more. Somehow they thought it must be made into an even more dorky spectacle.
FReegards from the Isle of Dread
You camped out, you dressed up, you played a part ... good times. I understand there was drug use and debauchery, but I was very naive and didn’t notice, and my roommate was a Chinese pre-law student and very strait-laced.
We still do it, camp out and dress up, only now we wear Scout leader uniforms. (I’d rather camp in a dress - much less constricting - but one does what one must.)
Many of the people who otherwise would have been playing D&D are now instead playing online multiplayer computer games.
Taking a break from WoW while flying to anther zone to check out what’s on FR.
Obama rolls double zero resulting in a heavily tanking economy.
Of course you are correct. That online stuff isn’t the same deal at all in my book, at least so far. These new editions of D&D still seem like they pushed the casual player right out and replaced them with something else.
Freegards
Evil? no. The butt of a million jokes however.... ;’)
>> Some dude told me that the combat sometimes take 1-2 hours+ and you have to use a combat grid
Yep. It’s horrible.
I played D&D but I was more of a Gamma World, Twilight: 2000 and Morrow Project junkie.
Yeah, I have all the oldies stacked up as well. My first was the second edition of Gettysburg, when AH first introduced the hex grid. I played through the SPI and GDW monster game era. Haven’t played in years but I’ve not been able to resist picking up occasional Civil War or Napoleonic tactical games when I see them, on the theory that I might retire someday and need something for a rainy day. The old Marshall Enterprises games were worth getting just for the art — the prettiest counters ever devised by the hand of mortal man ....
You studied for finals?
I’m pretty sure I still have a square grid Gettysburg and Tactics II.
Don’t have any GDW stuff, don’t know the Marshall Enterprises reference. Will have to look into that just out of curiosity.
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