A Brief History of D&D from a D&D Game store

The beloved fantasy tabletop RPG of Dungeons & Dragons has a long and fabled history filled with many twists and turns and enough minute details to, quite literally, fill a book (just ask David M. Ewalt, author of Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and The People Who Play it)! Even from a bird’s eye view, the history of D&D remains just as fascinating for those both deep in the scene or those just getting started. In today’s article, we’ll be going over some of the rich history that surrounds the game and its origins. As a tabletop and D&D game store, we find these tales no less interesting.

Pre-(D&D) History

Although the 1970s might sound like ancient history to some of the younger Dungeons & Dragons aficionados out there, it was not even close to the first roleplaying or wargame. That is accredited to Prussian college professor Johann Christian Ludwig Hellwig. Hellwig sought to make a tool that would be useful to his students, many of whom were aristocrats, to learn the ins and outs of wartime planning. This concept is what eventually led to what we now know as wargaming and became a major influence that modern D&D still takes many aspects from.

Humble Beginnings

In the late 1960s, Gary Gygax became fascinated with this format of wargames. He would oftentimes devote the majority of his free time to create and play this old-school style of wargames. However, displeased with the limitations of a 6-sided die, Gygax sought out other options to create his own style of wargame using other equipment; initially poker chips. This gave rise to the fabled twenty-sided die.

Although we now know Dungeons and Dragons as a fantasy tabletop role-playing game with fewer aspects of wargaming, when it was first created by Gygax and a friend he had met at the first official gathering of Gen Con (also started by Gygax), Dave Arneson, it was much more in line with a traditional miniature wargame. Known originally as Chainmail, this game was closely related to the original style of wargames with a few of Gygax’s tweaks such as the twenty-sided die and magic. However, to their dismay, the fans of classic wargames in their circle were disapproving of the use of magic and these new features that diverged from the original realism of traditional wargames.

After a long time exchanging ideas, making tweaks, and adding further features, Gygax and Arneson eventually arrived at the first iteration of…

Original Dungeons & Dragons (1974)

After being turned away by a traditional wargame publisher for the same reasons as Gygax and Arneson’s peers rejected Chainmail, Gygax and a childhood friend established Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. in 1973. In 1974 the first version of Dungeons & Dragons was officially published by TSR.

Gygax and Arneson printed a thousand copies of the first version, titled Dungeons and Dragons: Rules for Fantastic Medieval Wargames Campaigns Playable with Paper and Pencil and Miniature Figures. Despite running Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. out of Gygax’s basement (a far cry from today’s D&D game stores!) and relying entirely on word of mouth to sell their game, the entire lot of 1000 units were sold in under ten months.

After rave reviews of the original Dungeons & Dragons game, now referred to as OD&D, introducing the world’s first true tabletop roleplaying game, Gygax and Arneson continued to develop the game.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1977-79)

Building off the success of OD&D, Gygax produced an updated version of the game utilizing the original set of rules but bringing many additions and released three core publications including the Monster Manual (1977), Players Handbook (1978), and Dungeon Master’s Guide (1979).

The biggest addition that came with AD&D was the increase from three alignment systems to nine alignments, as well as incorporating classes from original supplements such as paladin, monk, thief, druid, assassin, as well as bard, illusionist, and ranger, which had previously only appeared in magazine articles.

Basic Dungeons & Dragons (1977-1981)

In 1977, while AD&D was still in the works, TSR, Inc. was approached by a D&D enthusiast and writer named John Eric Holmes. Holmes offered to rewrite and condense the rules of OD&D into a more entry-level, introductory version of the original game to help capture new players into the market, as well as build hype for the upcoming release of AD&D. This iteration of the game would become known as Basic Dungeons & Dragons, or BD&D for short.

1981 saw a major revision to the BD&D set by the likes of Tom Moldvay, as well as an accompanying ‘Expert Set’, which saw the addition of levels 4 through 14 for those who preferred the streamlined ruleset from BD&D over that of AD&D.

Media Controversy & AD&D 2nd Edition (1981-1995)

After the wild success of all three iterations of D&D thus far, it took a few years to feel the need to change or update anything. Many players simply liked the game as it was and felt no need to include any additional content. In addition to a strong fondness from the community, the mass media also began to take notice.

In 1982, at the height of the ‘Satanic Panic’, a TV movie by the name of Mazes and Monsters, starring a young Tom Hanks of all people, saw a dramatic villainization of the game and attributed its rise to devil worshipers. The movie stated that those who engaged in roleplaying games often fell victim to blurred lines between reality and fantasy and oftentimes became trapped within this evil game.

Although Mazes and Monsters did not eradicate the previous and future success of the D&D franchise, it certainly pushed the scene underground along with most other forms of roleplaying and tabletop games. This also forced many D&D game stores to either close their doors or dramatically shift their market towards toys or non-’satanic’ board games.

After the media frenzy began to calm and the public eye began to look elsewhere, AD&D 2nd Edition was released in 1989 after two years in the works. This iteration saw the removal of all mentions of ‘demons’ and ‘devils’ as well as toning down themes of sexuality and violence in an effort to appease the public who blamed the game for satanic acts. This version focused predominantly on evolving game mechanics rather than the overall tone of the game. It introduced some of the most beloved settings to the fore, as well as Spelljammer and Ravenloft. Additions to AD&D v.2 continued until 1995.

Wizards of the Coast & AD&D Editions 3-5+ (1997-Present Day)

In 1997, Wizards of the Coast, the game publisher best known for Magic: The Gathering, purchased TSR and began publishing all future editions of D&D. As the last edition of AD&D was published in 1995, Wizards opted to simply drop the ‘advanced’ part of the name and refer to all future editions as simply Dungeons & Dragons. The newest edition of the franchise was released as Dungeons & Dragons (2000), although it is still typically referred to as 3rd Edition, 3E for short.

This iteration saw the introduction of the new, broader role-playing system revolving around Gygax’s beloved twenty-sided die, known as the d20 system. The 3rd Edition was widely considered a renaissance for the Dungeons & Dragons scene and is accredited to bringing the spotlight back to the game in the 21st century.

In accordance with the rave success of 3E, a revised edition was released in 2003, deemed v3.5. Meant solely to be a balance patch, this edition made the game considerably more playable and gave players much more options while still staying true to the d20 vision.

Here’s where the waters begin to get a bit murky.

After the release of v3.5, Wizards of the Coast realized that they were competing with faster-paced games and MMORPG’s. In an attempt to modernize the game, they released the 4th Edition, a true reboot of the game that simplified and streamlined the rules, while also making playtime significantly faster.

This caused a fork in the community between those welcoming the change with open arms, seeing it as a necessary evil to keep the beloved franchise afloat in a modern landscape, and those who believed this complete and total overhaul would dismantle the core values that were so vehemently beloved by the community. Although the fourth edition was not particularly well received by the community as a whole due to how far it diverged from the original game, it still maintains a consistently strong player base who thoroughly enjoyed the streamlined and different gameplay.

In 2014, The fifth edition of the game was released to mixed reviews. Many perceived it as an attempt to reclaim the roots of D&D and bring back some of the intricacies that were lost in 4E. Although there are enough tweaks to mechanics that it wasn’t simply a rollback to an earlier version, it was clear that the goal was to regain some of the community, as well as the magic of the game, that was lost in 4E. The release of 5E does, however, show that Wizards of the Coast does carry a fondness for the game similar to that of the community. But, as a business, they are oftentimes forced to make hard decisions that are not received well by the community.

In September of 2021, Wizards of the Coast announced a backward compatible “evolution” of the 5th edition in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the game in 2024. Many have speculated that this will be a 6th edition of the game, while others have said it is merely a ceremonial revision, but it is regardless still unclear what the ‘evolution’ and ‘backward compatibility’ will entail.

One of our proudest achievements is hosting the biggest Dungeons and Dragons campaign in the NorthEast, known as The March Living Campaign. This campaign has attracted 18 different Dungeon Masters, and over 100 players, and has even earned its own Facebook page and a significant following. Be sure to check it out for more information on the campaign, as well as event nights and schedules.

No matter what the future of Dungeons & Dragons, The Battle Standard, along with our fellow D&D game stores will continue to support the community in every way possible. No matter if you are a long-time fanatic or are a newcomer curious about the scene, we strive to make our store as welcoming of an environment as possible. If you want to learn more about the game or play in a focused environment around peers who share the same fondness as you, be sure to check out our store at 4 Prospect Hill Road, East Windsor, CT, 06042, or visit our website today to learn more.