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 ...
I have more daughters than most. They be neither ugly nor dull.
My first question from now on will be Are you a gamer? Answer well, Junior; your future in my house hinges on your reply.
Jesus saves.... everyone else roll a d20...
I’ve been playing for 37 of those 40 years. Which is a bit scary to be honest. How did I get so old?
Third edition is still reasonably recognisable and while Miniatures help they are not necessary. Fourth is really different, and personally I don’t like it.
I’ve been playing since before AD&D first came out - and a lots changed, but I do think the spirit is still there. Given absolute freedom of choice, I’ll play original AD&D, but currently I play and run 3.5 because that’s where most of the action is - that and Pathfinder.
Heh! Good memories. I started plying AD&D in 1980 with my two teen-age sons and their friends. My character was Zot, the lawful-good magic-user.
Loved it when I was a kid, and every game that has spun off of it, and online rpgs too.
Good stuff.
Hello.
My name is Rides a Red Horse.
I’m a Dungeon Master.
Friends got me to try it at school during lunch. I started playing in the evening and soon weekends. Soon, I was hooked.
I still play the old PC RPG’s that are basically digital D&D (like Might & Magic 6, 7 & 8) but I never could get into the real thing - maybe if I had had a good group to play with I would have liked it and stuck with it. The group I played with a few times were a bunch of idiots.
AD&D 1st/Basic is me too. I don’t think I ever have ever even seen the original white box. Still play occasionally. Have you checked out the ‘old school renaissance?’ Holy cow what is old is new again. I take it they use some type of free license to reproduce the old rules. Then they put out their own stuff for free or sell it. I guess it would be like if monopoly radically changed its rules but some still liked the old way and players supported that rule set.
As far as the later editions its what ever trips your trigger, I have no first hand experience with it. Sounded pretty far removed to me I guess.
Freegards
Risk and Stratego are about the extent of my war games. Never played D&D and don’t feel like I missed much.
“I started plying AD&D in 1980 with my two teen-age sons and their friends My character was Zot, the lawful-good magic-user.”
‘Ha, ha, my charm person spell is successful—your thief feels an overwhelming compulsion to mow the lawn tomorrow.’
FReegards in the name of Gygax
Played D&D on paper a few times. Too many rules. Prefered the White Wolf games, and their mythologies. Was heavily into the Marvel Super Heroes RPG too.
Yes, I've played quite a bit of the OSR stuff. It's generally based on Third Edition or 3.5 because Wizards of the Coast (who own D&D having bought TSR out of virtual bankruptcy) introduced the Open Gaming Licence for those two systems which rejuvenated the game incredibly by allowing anybody who was willing to follow the licence to publish material on a for-profit or non-profit basis. And some people came up with ways to create a 'First Edition Feel' game under that licence. OSRIC is my favourite example.
Wizards have now seen the light to, and core rulebooks from 1st, and 2nd Edition, and the old White Box have recently been reprinted, too - they finally worked out that they were losing money by not selling these. They focus on their new editions, but why not sell the old to those who want them as well?
Wow, really cool stuff.
I never understood why they didn’t at least keep the older stuff around, I mean the basic set at least. Say you want to play with your kids after homework, how do you get anything done when combat lasts so long in the current editions? Not that more detailed/grid combat rules wouldn’t be good for the hard core gamers or whatever. Good grief the basic book is only so many pages, couldn’t be that expensive to get it out there somehow. It’s not like ford only sells one product. You would have to figure it would be a diversion that didn’t rely on video games, almost has to be a good thing.
The cool thing about this old school thing is the folks who are doing it are really into it, just independent hobbyists, in my opinion.
Freegards
Yes! That is a very useful spell when one has two teen-age sons. :) FReegards, Gygax
Milady, as one who has not only played many a game of Dungeons and Dragons in the course of my life, but likewise worked at that same Texas Renaissance Festival in years gone by, I thank you for the "counselling" you gave that young man.
While, sadly, those days a far behind me now, I remember them with nothing but fondness...
the infowarrior
I don’t think the roll has much to do with it, he is just chaotic evil and that’s how it is.
“Milady,”
Thanks for the “Milady”, spoken like a true knight.
When the festival is going on, I don’t get on Hwy. 105 west out of Conroe because it is packed with cars going to and from that festival.
Thanks for posting that.
Many of the people who otherwise would have been playing D&D are now instead playing online multiplayer computer games.And they do a lousy job of advertising it, but Warner Brothers, parent company to Turbine, Inc. has a game called Dungeons and Dragons Online (www.ddo.com) that is quite fun.
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