History of Dungeons & Dragons

Series Summary

Dungeons and Dragons, known by its initiates as D&D, is a fantasy role playing game developed in the 1970s, amidst a Black Sabbath-infused rock culture taken by the mystic appeal of the lyrics to Immigrant Song, Led Zeppelin having ushered in the dark decade with III. Adolescent boys everywhere, saddled with the typical frustrations of youth, turned to the Dungeons rpg in vast numbers, for it served them as a sanctuary in which they could pretend to be what they imagined they were, whether warrior, wizard, wanderer, or ne’er-do-well. This centuries-old ritual has always been a part of the journey to maturity and a necessary stage in the development of the primary male identity. With all of the archetypes of man available for trial, and quests and campaigns established, Dungeons and Dragons could not help but be the theater for the ancient rites of transfiguration to take place, for the journey from helpless youth to axe-wielding barbarian—with rage-filled attacks for 9HP of damage—to unfold.

Still widely popular today for some of the same reasons, Dungeons and Dragons is a game in which players create their own characters and develop a storyline, a quest, to test those characters’ mettle. Along the way they fight battles with orcs, dragons, and other beasts from the realms of Chaos, cross treacherous chasms and travel perilous paths, win gold and jeweled treasure, find fierce weapons and valuable equipment, and gain experience, wisdom, agility and strength, the four pillars of true power. In this free D&D video series, learn how to play a game that can provide a lifetime of adventure. Learn the ways of the wizard and warrior under this experienced Dungeon Master, and be prepared to take action when you see smoke rising from Isengard.

Video Transcript

"Hi! I'm Robert Beverly for Expert Village. Today we're going to talk about the history of Dungeons and Dragons. Dungeons and Dragons is a role playing game. It was invented in 1974 by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was originally published by their company TSR. It's now published by Wizards of the Coast, which is a subsidiary of Hasbro. Dungeons and Dragons inherits from miniature war and strategy games, board games, and of course good old fashion story telling around a camp fire. It was first made popular in the later part of the 1970's. It's been through several editions up to the current edition, which is edition 3.5. That's a little bit about the history of Dungeons and Dragons. "