Tag Archives: Gary Gygax

Why Did So Many Classic Adventures Come From 7 Years of D&D’s 45-Year History?

Posted on May 28, 2019 by David Hartlage

When Dungeons & Dragons fans rate adventures, the ones published early get the most accolades. In 2004, Dungeon magazine listed the greatest adventures of all time. Of 30 adventures, 20 came from 1985 or earlier. TSR started publishing adventures in … Continue reading →

Posted in Role-playing game history | Tagged , , , | 19 Comments

Why Dungeon & Dragons Dropped Assassins and Renamed Thieves

Posted on May 21, 2019 by David Hartlage

Why did D&D’s second edition drop assassins and its third edition change thieves to rogues? Continue reading →

Posted in Role-playing game history | Tagged , , , , , , , | 74 Comments

Strong Moral Dilemmas in D&D and the Unwanted Kind that Keeps Appearing

Posted on May 14, 2019 by David Hartlage

The best tales climax when the heroes must choose between what they’ve learned is right and an easy route to what they thought they wanted. In fiction, such moral dilemmas reveal character. When a woman who only ever wanted to … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

My Two Most Controversial Posts Prompt a Trip Into the Comment Section

Posted on May 7, 2019 by David Hartlage

The last two months included the two most discussed posts in the 7-year history of DM David, which calls for another trip into the comment section. In Should a Dungeon Master Invite Players to Help Create the D&D World Beyond … Continue reading →

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6 Popular Things in D&D That I Fail to Appreciate

Posted on April 16, 2019 by David Hartlage

I’m used to having fringe tastes: I love Dungeons & Dragons, fantasy, and science fiction. These days, none of these passions rate as weird, but only because of a recent flip in popular tastes. As a teen, all these interests … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 47 Comments

The History of Traps In Dungeons & Dragons

Posted on April 9, 2019 by David Hartlage

In original Dungeons & Dragons, the three brown books only include one rule for traps. “Traps are usually sprung by a roll of a 1 or a 2 when any character passes over or by them.” That’s it. Except for … Continue reading →

Posted in Role-playing game history | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

How D&D Shed the Troubling Implications of Half -Orcs

Posted on March 19, 2019 by David Hartlage

In real life, we all sometimes feel bound by caution and frustrated by rules of decorum, so we enjoy characters who act recklessly, play by their own rules, and boast the power to ignore the consequences. This accounts for some … Continue reading →

Posted in Role-playing game history | Tagged , , , , , | 77 Comments

How Years of Trying to Fix Obnoxious People Shrank D&D’s Appeal

Posted on March 12, 2019 by David Hartlage

How much should the outcomes of characters’ actions be decided by the dungeon master instead of the rules? Before roleplaying games, the rules of a game specified every action players could take, and then decided the outcome of each possibility. … Continue reading →

Posted in Role-playing game design, Role-playing game history | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments

Bring the Thrill of Finding Treasure Back to the Adventurers League

Posted on March 5, 2019 by David Hartlage

Dungeons & Dragons started as a game about treasure hunting. The rules awarded as much of 80% of total experience points for finding gold, so no one missed the point. Co-creator Gary Gygax knew a thirst for gold resonated with … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventurers League | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

5 Tricks for Creating Brilliant Dungeon Maps From Will Doyle

Posted on February 26, 2019 by David Hartlage

If you played the Dungeons & Dragons adventures Tomb of Annihilation or Storm King’s Thunder, you adventured through dungeon maps created by Will Doyle. In an episode of the Official D&D Podcast, D&D’s principle story designer, Chris Perkins, explained why … Continue reading →

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