Dungeons & Dragons Turn 50

The game that started it all and has the most influence in the world than anything else, Dungeons & Dragons turns 50.

Dungeons & Dragons or D&D for short was created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson in 1974 and was published by Tactical Studies Rules Inc., or better known as TSR, a company that Gygax co-founded as well. The game had nothing to do with what was popular at the time which was wargame minis and instead focused on storytelling adventures, group play, and your imagination.

It didn’t take long for the game to blow up in popularity and 1977 Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (AD&D for short) was released. AD&D is more or less 1.5 edition and the game rules were reorganized and touched up in three hardcover books and these books are the Monster Manual, The Player’s Handbook, and the Dungeon Master’s Guide. In 1989 second edition came out and that’s what most people who started playing D&D can remember because to third edition did not come out until 2000. The second, third, and 3.5 editions of D&D were for many who have been playing D&D a great era of the game series and introduce us all to Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, Spelljammer, Ravenloft, Al-Qadim, Planescape, and Mystara. It was during this time that TSR was nearly bankrupt and was purchased by Wizards of the Coast and in 2008, the 4th edition was released and in 2014 the current 5th edition is going on right now.

The impact D&D and AD&D have on the world is beyond crazy. Stats were a joke in almost everything but after D&D, they are everywhere and everything, don’t believe me look at video games, sports, and other real-world things that were impacted by this game. D&D would go on to inspire many others who play the game and create other things and many of us love it, it doesn’t even have to be D&D related.

Thank you, D&D for being a part of my childhood and keeping me out of trouble.