The Tale of Dungeons and Dragons

By Zeeman Haus

Know ye now of days gone by where elves ruled and dragons flew? Know ye not? Well I'm going to tell you a thing or two about Dungeons and Dragons so you can impress all your friends.

Dungeons and Dragons was first on the scene nearly 36 years ago as a game. Invented in 1974, it saw several rules changes and some refinement of the last three and half decades, though it say it's hay day in the mid-80s when everyone short of your Grandmother tried the game at one point or the other.

Dungeons and Dragons could be considered a board game as well and a role playing game. It does, after all, have a "board" or map that players will have to navigate. There are game pieces to be used, but all similarity ends there. The dice used is the beginning of the divergence from the "normal" board game.

Dungeons and Dragons requires a 6, 8, 10, 12 and 20 sided die to place. As crazy as it sounds, they are an important part of the game. They are not used for movement, that is predetermined by the game it's self, but instead as a "luck and skill" factor for the character's individual talents. If the character shoots something, battles something or a number of other actions, they will have to roll the dice to see what the result is. Understanding the notation of the dice is important as well. A 1d12 roll is "1 die 12 sided" to be rolled while a 2d6 would be "2 dice 6 sided" and so on. Not knowing your die notation will get you laughed at.

Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Half-Elves and Halflings are all races that can be played through 99.9% of the mods; they are the base classes. Each of these races has areas of strength and weakness. Which one is chosen as the character to be played will help in determining the class of the character.

Class is what the character does for the group or party. The four main classes are: Warriors, who provide strength and tenacity and are the "shock troops" of the group. Wizards, which lack the Warrior's strength and stamina, but have the ability to use magic. Priests, which are the healers of the game and will keep a party moving forward without having to stop and heal "naturally." And Thieves, which specialize is stealth, trap detection and lock picking. There are infinite combinations of these classes, from Paladin knights to Rangers, but typically, these are considered the main character types.

The alignment of the character is the character's moral stance; good, neutral or evil. Since this is a role-playing game, this is also how your character will interact with other characters. Being an evil character does not mean you can eat another party member's hot pocket if they fall asleep on the couch, but it does mean that your character might argue with say, one of the "good guys". This adds a little something to the game. So does your character's level. The level of your character is based on what you've accomplished while playing them. With every battle won and quest completed, the player is awarded experience points, which when added to points already accumulated, will "level" a character. Higher levels mean more options as characters will gain strength and new skills with each new level achieved.

Even after over 35 years of being played, Dungeons and Dragons is still enjoyed around the world. The game has survived other Role Playing games, Online RPGs and other game platforms. Though not as prolific as they once were, D&D game groups do still exist. Most of these groups are hard to find, but they do still exist and are generally happy to take on a new person. To find groups you may check on the web, in a local comic book shop or hobby store. - 31879

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