Dungeons & Dragons

Since I’ve had the pleasure of playing a few games of D&D already and due to the rising popularity of „actual play“ shows like „Critical Role“ even outside a pure „nerdist“ subculture this RPG-system can’t be ignored.

 

The very first pen&paper RPG

Dungeons & Dragons, conceived in 1974 by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, is said to be the grandfather of all modern pen&paper RPG systems. Developed from strategic conflict simulation games for military trainings and set up with a medieval-like background the first edition of Dungeons & Dragons, or short D&D or DnD, let groups of adventurers roam subterranean caverns and dungeons, slay monsters and hoard treasures.

Over time rules for wilderness adventures and social interactions were added, but to this day the system can’t deny its combat simulation heritage. This leads to combat rules being well fleshed out and usually build upon grid floorplans and the use of miniatures to fully take advantage of all options.

There have been multiple editions over the years. In 1980 TSR, the company founded by the developers, brought out the “Advanced Dungeons & Drabons” (AD&D) which existed parallel to the original, but due to more options it was more popular than the first.

Towards the end of the millennium Wizards of the Coast acquired the game and published the third edition in 1997, now only called “Dungeons & Dragons” again. This version was quite popular, yet flawed, so a few years later the revised version 3.5 came out, and other publishers also ventured into the market with similar rules systems, one notable example being “Pathfinder” which is largely compatible with D&D 3.5.

The fourth edition changed a lot of the rules components and placed special attention on the “encounters” as largely combative scenes with refined tabletop rules that relied heavily on miniatures and battle maps. The current fifth edition (or “5e”) revised a huge part of version 4 and made it streamlined again. Since I have only briefly tried out AD&D 2^nd and D&D 4 I can’t say as much about them as I can for 3.5 which I played more often or 5e which I recently started and also have decent rulebooks for.

 

One set of rules – many worlds

What stands out in Dungeons & Dragons in relation to most other game systems that I’m reviewing here is that there is a separation between rules and settings. Even though the campaign world “Greyhawk” was included with the first D&D rules there have been other settings available early-on like the popular “Forgotten Realms” or “Dragonlance” as add-ons. Other publishers were able to use the open licensing model to create their own game worlds which led to a vast number of possible campaign settings. In order to make this whole system more accessible a meta-cosmos was invented in which all the different campaign worlds were separate “planes” that co-existed in a large multiverse and were theoretically interconnected, so one character could travel from one plane to others – though this was usually complicated and even dangerous.

But it didn’t stop there. The rules system was marketed separately from 3^rd edition onwards under the brand name “d20” as a “universal” rules system to reach out to other target audiences that were not really into fantasy settings. There was d20-modern for modern day adventures, and even known worlds and settings like Call of Cthulhu or Star Wars have had their own incarnations of the d20 rules system and source books.

 

Basic rules

The exact rules differ a bit between editions, but the basics have been mostly kept. There are usually six attributes (strength, dexterity, constitution, intelligence, wisdom and charisma) which are used to calculate or derive attack and defense stats as well as skills. Every character class is tied to attribute prerequisites, skill bonuses and additional feats. Fighters usually require high strength and constitution, rogues and rangers rely on dexterity, wizards cast their spells through intelligence while clerics use wisdom for their magic and bards are known for their high charisma. The chosen character species also influences the attributes, skills, weapons and special feats. The availability may vary, depending on the campaign setting, but most common are humans, elves, half-elves, dwarves, halflings, gnomes and half-orcs.

Though there is the option to multi-class or advance a class into a prestige-class, but all in all the rules system is quite limiting in what a character can or can’t do. (A positive side-effect of this is the fact that it makes it easier to implement it into a computer game, which was made quite often.)

Quite important is the level of a character or monster, as each level-up brings certain improvements or additions to attributes, skills and features. So it can serve as an approximate for determining the might of a character or the danger of a monster. A level-up usually occurs by gathering experience points (XP) and a table shows the thresholds for advancement the gaps between which are increasing as the character gains higher levels. The max level is usually 20, but there are even special rules for god-like characters beyond that.

Even though all “basic dice” are used like d4, d6, d8, d10, d12 and d20 it is the d20 that is most prominently featured as it is rolled for any relevant action be it attacks, skill checks or saving throws. A modifier is then added to the dice result, usually depending on the attribute or skill involved as well as situational modifiers (positive and negative) to get the final result that is compared to a target number that the GM (or DM, Dungeon Master as they are usually called in D&D) sets. Higher results are better and if the d20 shows a 20 (so called “natural 20”) it is considered an automatic success, whereas a 1 usually means a critical failure.

Since the modifiers available from attributes are limited D&D often uses magical treasures to enhance stats or give additional modifiers to certain skills or rolls. This leads to magic items being quite common and every character that has successfully completed a few adventures will eventually have a few. Only special and powerful items stand out a bit, as they not only bring great bonuses, but also come at a cost that makes using or even possessing them risky.

 

Magic

The magic system of D&D is a bit special compared to others. Instead of a second resource like mana or astral points that can limit the number and power level of spells that can be cast within a certain time limit most magic users in D&D make use of the spell slot system. Every mage can cast a number of spells (separated by levels) per day. When all spell slots have been expended the magic user must sleep or rest to regain his spell slots.

Some magic users, like wizards, also have to decide at the beginning of each day which spells they want to prepare in each spell slot and they can cast only the prepared spells during the day. This requires some thought and strategy for some classes, so they will actually prepare useful spells for the upcoming situations.

Other magic users can cast their spells spontaneously at will, but they usually have to come to terms with less available spell slots and less known spells.

 

Alignment

Another defining point in Dungeons & Dragons is the character alignments. Each character must choose one from a 3 x3 matrix from good, neutral or evil, combined with lawful, neutral or chaotic. Some classes may have requirements, like paladins which are usually lawful good.

But this alignment is more than just a simple tool for fleshing out the roleplaying of the character. Most deities of the different realms have an alignment as well and often grant followers with matching alignment greater benefits. Some spells or artifacts may also be linked to an alignment for their use. If a character violates the principles of his alignment regularly there may also be in-game consequences when the game world reacts to that.

 

Conclusion

To sum it up: Dungeons & Dragons as THE oldest pen&paper RPG-system has aged relatively well and is still supported with new editions and source material. It has gained high interest and popularity through shows like “Critical Role” and one could argue that it has already become part of mainstream culture.

My personal opinion is a bit ambivalent. On one hand there are tons of material, campaign settings and near endless possibilities that promise years and years of gaming fun in a nice group. On the other hand the system still has a bit of the stereotype of Dungeon-Hack’n’Slay attached to it when some groups would fight each other over a powerful magic artifact. Fortunately, most of my D&D-groups had been the former, but maybe it’s also a bit due to saturation with fantasy settings in my “portfolio” that don’t make D&D one of my favorites. But it is always great for a nice and short session with some friends.