How Dungeons & Dragons Changed Video Games

When it comes to the origins of video games there are many factors – tech advancement being an obvious one. But, when it comes to the nuts and bolts of modern gaming, there’s no more important influence than “Dungeons and Dragons.” While DnD never went mainstream, it was popular enough to gain a devoted following, and in that following just so happened to be the future generations of video game creators. So, while we’re enjoying a time when games are dominating mainstream entertainment, we figured we’d look back on the seminal tabletop game, see how it helped to form modern titles of today, and also give it some much-deserved props at the same time. “Dungeons and Dragons” was created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson in 1974 and was an instant success, selling 3000 copies a year later in 1975. It was the beginning of the role-playing game industry and has remained on top of said industry despite lots of competition. Looking back, gamers can recognize many similarities with the tabletop game in that it provided an outlet for their imaginations, allowed for deep character creation and customization, and it helped set the rules for exploration and adventuring. Another major thing DnD did was keep fantasy-based works of literature and art from fading from public memory during the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. Series like “Lord of the Rings” found a strong community in DnD that relished fantasy-fiction and kept such works (and far less popular ones) in circulation and part of pop culture. In fact, the kids playing DnD during the 70s and 80s were the ones who would grow up and start creating the video games we know and love today. As noted by Brad King and John Borland in their book “Dungeons and Dreamers: The Rise of Computer Game Culture from Geek to Chic,” DnD set in motion the beginnings of the video game industry by creating, quote, “a community of, mostly, young men who were at the same time discovering the power and creativity offered by computer programming. In seeking to combine these two loves, this group of programmers, developers, and game players would over time profoundly shape an industry that would ultimately come to rival Hollywood in terms of scope and influence.” These are the people who ultimately began programming their own games on ancient computer systems, resulting in the first RPGs that would end up influencing countless others and so on and so forth. “Zork” is one such prime example. Eventually, these text-based RPGs led to the first fully-rendered RPG worlds in the form of “Dragon Quest” and “Final Fantasy” coming out of Japan in the mid-to-late ‘80s. As mentioned, “Dungeons and Dragons” helped free players’ imaginations and created concepts that we take for granted in today’s video games. We’ve progressed to a point now where players are hunting, fishing, sleeping and eating in games as well as battling monsters, learning magic and saving damsels in distress. Character creation is another DnD trope that is alive and well today, with many games offering such vast creation systems that gamers spend hours on end perfecting their own heroes and enemies. Also, as games progress, we’re seeing choice affect the narrative in a way unheard of just a few years ago, but in a way in which “Dungeons and Dragons” players have been well aware of for decades. DnD also helped shape the very mechanics that many games use today in terms of hit points, experience points and leveling up. It’s kind of a given nowadays that hit points determine whether you live or die (your health bar, essentially) and grinding out levels to increase experience points is invaluable in leveling up characters to progress through harder areas in games. Think the “Baldur’s Gate” series, which is set in The Forgotten Realms, one of DnD’s most popular campaign settings. Further, armor and weapons systems are another DnD creation, and could you even think of a modern RPG that doesn’t employ the hunt, search, and upgrading of such items? Also, don’t forget classes and races as well, which give us different skill sets and unique powers right from the beginning of a play through. Yes “Dragon Age” series… thank DnD for that. In fact, many games took the rules of Dungeons & Dragons and simply adapted them to video games. “Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic” uses the d20 System, the same system used by Third Edition DnD, as the foundation for combat. Each attack is determined by each characters modifiers and an invisible dice roll that you can actually see if you open up the menu. DnD’s influence goes far beyond it hasn’t just influenced RPGs and MMOs either. First person shooters owe a lot to “Dungeons and Dragons” as well. Those early shooters like “Wolfenstein 3D” and “Doom” are basically advanced dungeon crawlers. Think about it. We’re trying to find our way through a maze, collecting health and items in the process, but we’re using shotguns and pistols instead of swords and shields. Doom’s iconic Cacodemon borrows heavily from DnD’s Astral Dreadnaught. Hell, the monsters found in many FPS games were probably cooked up in the imagination of DnD players long ago over some dice, a rulebook and some paper and pencils. With the technological and creative advancement in video games today it’s easy to forget the early days of gaming and even easier to forget a time when games didn’t even exist. While Role-Playing video games have done a great job of trying to capture the magic of DnD, the classic pen and paper game still provides more narrative freedom and interactive possibilities than any video game could. The immersive, beautifully rendered RPGs we know and love today are built on a foundation of pens, paper, dice, and the imaginations of Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, without whom, the video game landscape would look very different.