Dungeons and Dragons: Overview

Well here's the big one. Dungeons and Dragons. I can't know for sure, as times change and everybody has different experiences, but it seems like newbies to tabletop games hear about them in a D&D context. Books, movies, and tv shows all seem most likely to use D&D directly or use some sort of D&D analogue if their characters are playing a tabletop game (Castles and Cauldrons, Witches and Warlocks, blah de blah de blah). Which isn't a bad thing. Dungeons and Dragons was the first real, commercial tabletop game out there, it used and helped solidify a lot of the Tolkien-esque traits of the fantasy genre as a whole, as well as laying groundwork for games as a serious hobby and business. There's a reason that most gaming pop culture references are referring to D&D. It's the great grandparent of everything else we're seeing nowadays. And hey, it had to start somewhere, right?

So how do you play D&D? The core mechanic is pretty simple. In almost all significant actions, the player rolls a 20 sided die and adds a number to the result. This added number is based off of how good your character is at doing certain things. And that's the basic gist of it. But hey, there are entire books that tell you the rules, and I'll be focusing on the nitpicky aspects of those later. What else is there?

Well, like any video game or operating system, Dungeons and Dragons has had several versions since it started. I'm not going to go too in depth, but some of the complaints I've heard about people trying to play is that the various versions were confusing and a little intimidating, as they weren't sure where they should be looking. I'm going to skip some of the versions, given that D&D actually followed two different sorts of production lines for a while, and I'm skipping 2.5 for lack of noteworthyness/you won't run into it that often if you're new to these games. These are what you'll see being played or hear about once you start meeting people in the community.

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (AD&D). After a few boxed sets and booklets, this was one of the first sets to have what are now considered the three classic D&D core books (The Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide, and the Monster Manual.) It also introduced the classic 9-part alignment system (I could do a whole post on that too). Overall this one isn't played much, but it's good to know your roots.

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition (AD&D2ndEd.) Slightly more people still play this one. This book had a major change to the basic combat rules, streamlining THAC0 (if you're not playing it, don't try to learn it, you'll just sometimes hear people talking about THAC0 when comparing different games). Usually referred to as "2nd Edition," as in "Oh, I'm used to second edition rules..."

 Dungeons and Dragons 3.0 and 3.5 (D&D 3rd Edition, D&D 3.5) These are combined since the core principles of these games are the same. THAC0 was abolished, specific classes and races were changed AGAIN, etc. Many people still play this, as a lot of people like D&D and don't like the change in rules brought about by 4th ed. I probably won't write too much on these in the future, as Pathfinder is all for free online and is essentially the same game with more polished rules. I still love 3.5, but as a beginner, Pathfiner is just easier to get.

4th Edition. There's a bit of controversy over this, most recent edition (though there is a 5th in beta testing right now). This changed the rules immensely, changing the game from a more storytelling game, where spells and special abilities could be used out of combat for practical purposes, to a much more of a combat centered strategy game that was easily affected by min-maxing. It is a pretty decent strategy game, but in my personal opinion it lost some of it's customizability and storytelling focus in the upgrade. That doesn't make it bad, and many people do enjoy the game; it's easier to teach new and/or younger players, which can be great. It's just a little blockier, and in giving every class the same sorts of powers, they made magic less magic and special non magic powers less unique in their own rights. However, it's easiest to get these books right now, if you want to play D&D, and like I said, it's easier to teach. Your mileage may vary.


So there's a rundown on the various versions of Dungeons and Dragons through the ages. They all have their quirks, and I honestly haven't played a game where the rules didn't get modified a little by the Gamemaster before or even during play.