Dungeons and Dragons have been around for a long time. How long, you ask? Well, if you were any fan you’d know! Look, we’re not judging, but there are definitely a few facts that all fanboys should know about D&D. Let’s get into some of them!
To Answer your first question, it started in 1974.
Dungeons and Dragons was started in 1974 by two creative minds: Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
It was originally an add on to the popular war-game Chainmail.
Gygax and Arneson marketed it as a fantasy version of Chainmail. Apparently there were some creative differences between the creators of Dungeons and Dragons and Chainmail. So, Gygax and Arneson broke away from the game and established their own independent table top game.
The budget for the first game was only $2000.
Only $100 went toward artwork while the rest of the budget was allocated for production. Even so, the original game sold over 1,000 copies-and of course several thousands more since then, cementing it in its place in pop culture and nerd culture history.
The “Satanic Panic” was real.
That wasn’t just fictionalized religious crazy in Stranger Things Season 4, that storyline was based on real attitudes towards the game in the beginning. A Gamrant.com article says, “Its numerous fantastical themes and emphasis on immersion were subject to criticism. Thus, leading to countless controversial issues regarding Dungeons & Dragons and its fanbase. The most critical and pressing claims were that Dungeons & Dragons promoted Satanism, insanity, and insensitive thought. These controversies threatened the franchise constantly and nearly resulted in its downfall.” Of course like those that came after it (i.e. Disney, Harry Potter) reason eventually sets in and D&D was able to rise above the controversy.
Chaos ruled until the 3rd edition.
It’s a bit of dramatization, but things didn’t start to become a bit more organized until the 3rd edition came out. There was noticeable consistency throughout. It had better developed rules and structure unifying play while still allowing customization. Since then the game has been pretty faithful to that 3rd edition.
There is a Dungeons and Dragons movie trilogy.
And, apparently, they’re all bad. The funny thing is, they’re not even that old, starting in 2000 and going until 2012 there have been three D&D movies. Unfortunately none have been very successful. With a new movie slated to be released in 2023, let’s hope the studios have learned from previous flops and can deliver a D&D adaptation that’s worth some fan service.
November 5th, is National D&D Day
There are some traditions one does not mess with. You must watch the movie Groundhog Day on Groundhog Day. You must go get a free slurpy from 7-11 on July 11th, and of course you have to make time to play D&D on National Dungeons and Dragons Day.
Some famous fans of D&D:
It may be that once upon a time, it wasn’t cool to admit to playing D&D, but today that only levels you up. Who else isn’t too cool to play D&D? Jon Favreau for starters. Yes The Mandalorian’s Jon Favreau. Also, Stephen Colbert, Vin Diesel, and Ta-Nehisi Coates.
D&D by the numbers.
According to Dicecove.com here are some fun D&D stats.
- 50 million people played DnD to date.
- 40% of players are aged 25 or younger.
- 11% of players are 40 years or older.
- 39% of players identify as female.
- 4.3 billion minutes of DnD content has been watched on Twitch.
- Dungeons & Dragons saw a growth of 33% in sales in 2020.
- Fifth edition was released in 2014.
- In 2020, the Wizards of the Coast has generated a total revenue of $816 million.
We hope we’ve been able to shed some light on any dark spots of your knowledge of all things Dungeons and Dragons. You’re officially one of the cool kids now, and you can’t say nobody told you. Of course, we’ll be sure to tell everyone else you already knew these things to begin with.