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Dungeons and Dragons (DnD)

Dungeons & Dragons (commonly abbreviated as D&D or DnD) is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.

Brief History

The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TSR). It has been published by Wizards of the Coast, later a subsidiary of Hasbro, since 1997. The game was derived from miniature wargames, with a variation of the 1971 game Chainmail serving as the initial rule system. D&D's publication is commonly recognized as the beginning of modern role-playing games and the role-playing game industry, which also deeply influenced video games, especially the role-playing video game genre.

How it's Played

D&D departs from traditional wargaming by allowing each player to create their own character to play instead of a military formation. These characters embark upon adventures within a fantasy setting. A Dungeon Master (DM) serves as referee and storyteller for the game, while maintaining the setting in which the adventures occur, and playing the role of the inhabitants of the game world, known as non-player characters (NPCs). The characters form a party and they interact with the setting's inhabitants and each other. Together they solve problems, engage in battles, explore, and gather treasure and knowledge. In the process, player characters earn experience points (XP) to level up, and become increasingly powerful over a series of separate gaming sessions. Players choose a class when they create their character, which gives them special perks and abilities every few levels.


Technological Advancements

While traditionally played in-person with a paper character sheet and manual bookeeping of character stats, progression,
equipment as well as story events, elements, and interactions the modern age has paved way for new, innovative ways for the game to be played.

Virtual Tabletops (VTT) Online Voice Chat
Virtual Tabletops such as Roll20 or FoundryVTT are tools that enable a gameplay tabletop that can be used in the virtual space instead of requiring in-person meetings and interaction. These tools often contain ways to create, edit, or otherwise manipulate a game space in similar if not more comprehensive ways while also allowing for automated functions for simple and some complex campaign data tracking. Character data control is also a huge part of many VTT's as they automatically update and keep track of player character sheets in regards to things like HP, Spell Slots, remaining uses on items, and more. Another great addition to the modern-day gameplay experience is the development and accessability of online voice/text chatroom software like Discord or TeamSpeak which synergistically work in tandem with virtual table-tops in order for those within a given session the ability to communicate with one another and participate in a DnD campaign without the restriction of needing to all be in the same room together. This development has led to a widespread ease-of-access to an untold amount of people who may have not been able to feesibly or easily play this game due to locational, scheduling, or other conflicts.

Unrivaled Creativity

The tools given to those who choose to embark on an adventure through the high fantasy world of Dungeons and Dragons can find themselves immersed in a world and enveloped in a story limited only by their own creativity and imagination. A player is likely to aquire and utilize the DnD Player's Handbook (seen right) when delving into what goes into a character, and by extension, how to be connected to the story that the character will be a part of. While the book does go over rules, mechanics, and instructions on how to play, there are also suggestions and blueprints on how one can go about manipulating and tweaking the rules to fit one's personal preferences and curiosities. A huge portion of DnD comes from homemade rules, characters, and items refered to as homebrew. With a grasp on basic functionalites and general rules and flows of the game as a whole the sky is the limit as to what you can think of, create, play, and share with the world in the ever-growing game of Dungeons and Dragons.


Homebrew elements can range from rule changes, items, effects, armors, weapons, races, classes, enemies, monsters, and more. There is no real limit to the ammount that you can customize your experience whilst playing DnD. Some people prefer more realism and tend to lean towards rules like swords not being effective against plate or mail, while blunt and piercing weapons are the opposite, while some may lean towards the ridiculous and decide that everyone can fly and chickens have a chance to turn into Elder Dragons, its all up to you and those you play with to make the experience fun and engaging in whatever way you like best.