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Dungeons & Dragons turns 50 this year, and there's a lot planned for it
"We have just fromed [sic] Tactical Studies Rules, and we wish to let the wargaming community know that a new line of miniature rules is available."
With this letter, written by Gary Gygax to wargaming zine publisher Jim Lurvey, one of the founders of what would become TSR announced that a January 1974 release for Dungeons & Dragons was forthcoming. This, plus other evidence compiled by Jon Peterson (as pointed out by the Grognardia blog), points to the last Sunday of January 1974 as the best date for the "anniversary" of D&D. The first sale was in "late January 1974," Gygax later wrote, and on the last Sunday of January 1974, Gygax invited potential customers to drop by his house in the afternoon to try it out.
You could argue whether a final draft, printing, announcement, sale, or first session counts as the true "birth" of D&D, but we have to go with something, and Peterson's reasoning seems fairly sound. Gygax's memory, and a documented session at his own house, are a good point to pin down for when we celebrate this thing that has shaped a seemingly infinite number of other things.
As with playing a good campaign, you've got a lot of options for how you acknowledge D&D's long presence and deep influence. The game system itself, now under Wizards of the Coast, will this year push "One D&D," a name the D&D leaders sometimes stick with and sometimes don't. Whatever the next wave is called, it includes new handbooks, guides, and Monster Manual books that are not exactly a new "edition," but also an evolution. Books like Xanathar's Guide to Everything and Tasha's Cauldron of Everything will be codified and unified by a new sourcebook at some point, but all of it will be compatible with 5th Edition material.
Also, at some point this year, stamps celebrating D&D's 50th will be available from the US Postal Service, at least if you rush. Ten different designs, leaning heavily on the dragons, were commissioned based on existing illustrations. There's a documentary from Joe Manganiello (still in pre-production, seemingly). And there's a 500-plus-page non-fiction book, The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons: 1970-1976, with research help from the aforementioned Peterson, containing never-before-seen correspondence between co-creators Gygax and Dave Arneson.
[...] Take a moment on this occasion to look back through some notable D&Dcoverage at Ars:
- A preview of D&D "Next"in 2012, when the system started streamlining on its way toward 5th Edition
- A full review of 5th Edition in 2016, after a year that saw staggering sales based on warm reception
- D&D's entry into the Toy Hall of Fame at the Strong National Museum of Play, alongside such icons as the Frisbee, the Barbie doll, and the Atari 2600
- Annalee Newitz's review of Rise of the Dungeon Master, a graphic novel about Gygax's powerful creativity but also notable flaws
- Last year's controversy over Wizards of the Coast's attempt to rework its Open Gaming License, the exodus it fomented, and its eventual rollback.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by looorg on Tuesday January 30 2024, @12:06PM (2 children)
Werewolf was always the eco-warrior-hippie game tho wasn't it? That said if they changed WoD then I guess they also changed the other WOD games such as Vampire TMR (or however many letters there is to that now). Does Mummy, Wraith and the others even exist anymore? They were so small as I recall it I guessed they had just died by the side of the road by now. But overall I assume they have gotten a similar rework? Is there a good vampire clan? Poor old Nosferatu? Cause as I recall it the others were more or less messed up big time in one direction or another and the entire setting was just one giant deluxe circle backstab.
It's a good thing they came in hardcover books tho. They can't ever edit the books I already own. They are immune.
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Tuesday January 30 2024, @02:55PM (1 child)
Depends. As far as I'm concerned, Werewolf was a game about the dual nature of your being, being of two worlds, in more than one way, but belonging in neither. You are a battle machine that will win every fight but you already lost the war. Deal with it.
The "smaller" Splats pretty much got canned, at least I don't know about any plans to push them to the 5th ed. What's out is Vampire (their flagship), Hunter and Werewolf. I would expect a Mage update somewhere in the near future. Other than that, I wouldn't count on seeing anything. The rest of the bunch didn't exactly develop a large playerbase. Changeling was too cutesi-poo. Mummy became a playable splat too late and was more an afterthought, and it didn't exactly work out it seems. Demon is anathema now because they already cut away any religious references to Cain in Vampire (not to mention rebranding the Setites and the Assamites to remove any semblance to any religious themes), so a game about fallen angels that became devils is probably a no-go now. And Wraith will probably only get a resurrection when some corporation that needs to peddle antidepressants can be won as a sponsor.
Vamipre is now basically a "boomer vs. millennials" game in the metaplot. Frankly, not my cuppa java.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Wednesday January 31 2024, @06:09AM
There is always KULT, it was a weird weird spooky game when it came out. It took a few years but there was an english version eventually. Not sure if it gained any following. It was a very niche game in some regard.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kult_(role-playing_game) [wikipedia.org]