Shots From The Studio #28

Last year an anniversary passed without me commenting on it and in this weeks Shots from the Studio I’d like to rectify that oversight. 2024 was the 50th anniversary of my favorite hobby/obsession Dungeons & Dragons.

   In 1974 two friends named Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson who met through a mutual love of miniature war gaming thought that it would a fun idea to try their Hand at designing their own game. So they took the bones of of the war games they both enjoyed, mixed in fantasy elements such as elves and dragons (mostly based on the writings of JRR Tolkien and European folk lore) and created what would become known as Dungeons and Dragons or D&D for short. It would soon become known as 1st Edition Dungeons & Dragons as through the subsequent years it would under go many changes. The first real change was when the game was split into Advanced Dungeon & Dragons and the “Basic” game.

   That’s where I came on board. I started playing Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) in the mid-80s. But in 1989 with the release AD&D 2nd Edition I really went all in and I’ve been playing steadily ever since. I even tried to start a D&D club at my high school in ’88 but was denied due to “The satanic practices that role playing game promote.” Don’t worry an article about the 80s “Satanic Panic” is forthcoming.

   In 1997 TSR, the company that published D&D, was purchased by Wizards of the Coast who had struck it rich with their collectable card game Magic: The Gathering. Three years later they published Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition. This ruleset focused heavily on character customization and detailed, tactical combat. My group switched over to the newest edition and we were quite pleased with the changes (goodbye THAC0). We also kept on when, in 2003, WotC released version 3.5. A slightly modified edition that smoothed out some of the rough edges of its predecessor.

   But in 2008 D&D 4th edition hit the stands. And while it has it’s fans it is widely regarded as the worst of the new editions. Rules were streamlined and powered up to appeal to the growing video game crowd that WotC felt like it was losing it’s market share to.

   Meanwhile independent game company Paizo bought the rights to 3.5 and used the rule set for their new role playing game, Pathfinder. And that’s where my group went. We played Pathfinder for several years until 2014.

  2014 was the year Wizards of the Coast released the 5th edition of the game. With its main focus in streamlining character creation while still maintaining plenty of customization options appealed to a great many Role Playing Game enthusiasts who had jumped ship during 4th edition. The 5th edition game was gaining momentum, largely due to its easy start up for new and returning players, when two events occurred that caused it’s popularity to skyrocket.
   The first was the Netflix runaway hit, Stranger Things. This hugely popular show not only had the main characters playing D&D in the first episode but using terminology and references from the game through out the first and subsequent seasons. It took place in the 80s and reminded a lot of Gen X viewers that they used to play when they were younger.
   The second, and possibly more important factor, was the rise if of on line actual play D&D streamers. The most notable of these was Critical Role. When nine friends, who just happened to be uber talented voice actors and improv performers, decided to switch their home Pathfinder game to 5th edition D&D they also decided to start live streaming their sessions. Now people could see how this game, which on the surface is just a lot of math and some strange dice, was actually played. But Critical Role phenomenon deserves its own exploration so we’ll save that for another article.

   That brings us to 2024 and the 50th anniversary of the game. And it has never been more popular. In honor of this momentous occasion Wizards of the Coast released an updated core rule set which includes the Players Handbook,  Dungeon Masters Guide and Monster Manual. Think of it as a sort of 5.5 edition as the updated rules are generally backwards compatible. Thus continuing  a long tradition of keeping the game fresh and alive for another fifty years and beyond.