Dungeons and Dragons has been around for over 50 years and has left a big mark on the modern world today. As of 2024, there were over 50 million players worldwide. Wizards of the Coast, the company that currently owns D&D(Dungeons and Dragons), has an annual revenue of over 1 billion United States dollars. But this empire was not built in a day. This rise to fame is due to hard work, sweat, and tears.
First of all, you might be wondering, “What is D&D?” Well, D&D is a tabletop role-playing game(TTRPG) made by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, where you roll dice to do different things in a medieval setting. It is a very popular game that has left a major impact on the world today.
The Creation of Dungeons and Dragons
Gary Gyax was a passionate wargamer (someone who plays war games) and a shoemaker before he created D&D. When one of Gary’s friends, Jeff Perren, created a custom set of rules for a game called Siege of Bodenburg, Gary edited it and published it under the name of Geneva Medieval Miniatures. In 1971, Gary decided to make a game similar to D&D called Chainmail. This game came with a 14-page fantasy supplement that included combat rules, spells, and a bestiary of magical creatures.
26-year-old Dave Arneson played a new wargame called Braunstein, which had similar gameplay to D&D, like rolling dice, and decided to create new supplements for it for himself. He got inspiration from The Lord of the Rings, the soap opera Dark Shadows, and Chainmail, and developed a medieval fantasy version of Braunstein.
In 1971, Dave Arneson presented his game to Gary Gygax, and Gary was impressed. They worked together to make a game they originally called Fantasy Game. When they were finalizing things, Gary asked his 2-year-old daughter to pick a name for the game. She picked the name that she liked best, Dungeons and Dragons.
After two years of hard work, Gary completed the three booklets that would make up the game: Monsters & Treasure, Men & Magic, and Wilderness & Dungeon Adventures. This first edition contained four species (human, elf, dwarf, and hobbit), three classes (fighter, magic-user, and cleric), and individual stats for each character.
The TSR Years
In 1973, Gygaax and Arneson got multiple rejections from publishers. Gary decided to found Tactical Studies Rules(TSR) with his Friend Don Kaye. With a budget of only $2,000 and a handcrafted production process, TSR published the very first 1,000 copies of Dungeons & Dragons in 1974.
The first copies of D&D were sold for $10, with an extra $3.50 if you wanted to buy dice. In ten months, the 1,000 copies of D&D sold out. By the end of 1975, Dungeons and Dragons had sold almost 6,000 copies.
In 1975, TSR published two expansions, Greyhawk and Blackmoor. These added the thief and paladin classes, as well as the monk and assassin classes. The same year, Eldritch Wizardry, which added druids as a playable class, and Gods, Demigods, & Heroes, which provided a collection of gods for the realm of D&D, were released.
In 1977, the game was split in half. There were now two versions: Basic Dungeons & Dragons, designed for newer players, and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D), built for more experienced players. AD&D introduced the now-standard three core rulebooks(Player’s Handbook, Monster Manual, and Dungeon Master’s Guide).
In 1989, the second edition of AD&D was released, bringing forth many new rules. But with this second edition, TSR began its decline. It began to lose its influence in the market and started racking up debt. By the end of 1996, TSR declared bankruptcy.
Wizards of the Coast
In 1997, Wizards of the Coast, the publishers of the famous collectible card game, Magic: The Gathering, acquired TSR and all of its intellectual properties. In 1999, Wizards of the Coast was acquired by a company called Hasbro.
In 2000, AD&D was combined with Basic D&D to make the third edition of D&D. This introduced the D20 system, which was based on a 20-sided die as the main mechanic. In 2003, a revised version, referred to as 3.5, was released. This made many minor adjustments to the rules.
In 2008, the fourth edition of D&D was introduced. This simplified the rules more and introduced many changes to the game. This edition made the game easier and faster-paced.
In celebration of the game’s 40th anniversary, in 2014, Wizards of the Coast(owned by Hasbro) released the fifth edition of the game. This edition would be the best-selling of all time, with millions of players in the U.S alone.
Finally, in 2024, in celebration of D&D’s 50th anniversary, 5.5 was released. The new player’s handbook, the new monster manual, and the new dungeon master’s guide were released to go along with this new addition. This standardized the rules even further, added and changed many monsters in the game, and added extra character options.
Movies and Video games.
In 2000, the movie Dungeons and Dragons was released. This got terrible reviews, and many critics hated it. It was directed by Courtney Solomon and written by Carroll Cartwright and Topper Lilien.
In 2005, the sequel, Dungeons and Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God, was released. This was rated even worse than the first one. It was directed by Gerry Lively and written by Robert Kimmel and Brian Rudnick.
In 2012, Dungeons and Dragons 3: The Book of Vile Darkness was released. This movie was rated just as bad as the second one. It was directed by Gerry Lively and written by Brian Rudnick.
In 2023, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, a reboot to the series, was released. It got excellent reviews, scoring a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. It was directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein and was written by John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein, and Michael Gilio.
There are way too many D&D video games to list them all, so I will only mention the main ones. There are three big D&D video games/video game series: Neverwinter Nights, Dungeons and Dragons Online, and Baldur’s Gate. Neverwinter Nights is a two-game series. Both games are single-player RPGs set in the D&D realm: the Forgotten Realms. Dungeons and Dragons Online is an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) set in the world of D&D, where you can interact and play with other players in the realm of D&D. The Baldur’s Gate series has three games, with the third being considered a masterpiece. These games are very similar to D&D, with the same party mechanics and the d20 system, with one major difference being the high-quality graphics.
Gary Gygax
Ernest Gary Gygax was born on July 27, 1938, in Chicago. He dropped out of school at age 16 and, after being rejected by the Marines, he became a shipping clerk for an insurance company. At age 19, he married a woman named Mary Jo Powell. Gary and Mary had five children before their divorce in 1962.
Throughout his life, Gary loved Wargames. He would play them in his spare time. It got to the point where his wife thought he was having an affair, only to discover that he was just playing wargames!
In 1986, Gary left TSR due to bad decisions by his partners and TSR’s approaching bankruptcy.
In 1987, Gary married Gail Carpenter and had a son with her.
In 2008, Gary died of a deadly abdominal aortic aneurysm. In his life, Gary wrote many books and created many games, most importantly the creation of D&D, and has definitely left his mark on the world. One famous quote from Gygax is, “There is no winning or losing, but rather the value is in the experience of imagining yourself as a character in whatever genre you’re involved in.”
Conclusion
Dungeons and Dragons has left a major impact on the modern world. From movies to video games, from the tabletop game to books, Dungeons and Dragons is everywhere. The game that Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax developed from next to nothing now has over 50 million players worldwide. The history of Dungeons and Dragons- the story of the game that will never be forgotten.