Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons (in Spanish: Dragones y dungeons or Calabozos y dragones) is a heroic fantasy role-playing game currently published by Wizards of the Coast. The original game was designed in the United States by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson and first published in 1974 by Gygax's company, Tactical Studies Rules (TSR).

Originally derived from board games played with pencil, paper, and dice, the first publication of Dungeons & Dragons is well known as the beginning of modern role-playing games and thus the role-playing industry.

Since its appearance, this game has been published through a large number of editions and many of them have been translated into Spanish, but always keeping the original title in English in the translations: Dungeons & Dragons. In Spain the title Dragones y mazmorras was used for the animated series based on the game and for the first two movies derived from the game (Dungeons & Dragons and Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God). In Spanish America, both the television series and the movies were titled Dungeons and Dragons.

Original editions and versions

A line item Dungeons & Dragons.

In the early 1970s, Gary Gygax had discovered an Australian board game called Dungeon. A little later he discovered another board game, but an American one and titled Dragon. It was from these two titles that he was inspired to create, together with Dave Arneson, what would soon become the first role-playing game to be marketed, whose first "version", Dungeons & Dragons, was published in 1974. In the jargon it is known as Dungeons & Dragons original. Over the years there have been several more "versions" (modifications of the original game with improved rules, beginning with the Greyhawk supplement in 1975) and "revisions" (reissues of the same version that include adjustments, errata, and expanded information).:

In 1977, TSR split the game into two different publishing series, each actually a separate game in its own right. One of them retained the title Dungeons & Dragons while the other was renamed Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Dungeons & Dragons consisted of a series of five boxes, or sets, released progressively to allow players to play with increasingly higher levels as each set arrived. elevated. Instead Advanced Dungeons & Dragons was conceived no longer in a box format but as a set of three books that could be played at all levels.

The last box set in the Dungeons & Dragons, published in 1985, allowed characters who had reached the highest levels to become immortal heroes, becoming something like demigods.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, whose first three books were published in 1977, 1978 and 1979, had a second edition in 1989 and a revised edition in 1996. In 1991 TSR made an expanded reissue of the Basic Set from 1977 entitled The New Easy to Master Dungeons & Dragons, but this time in a new box and with some rule changes. The New Easy to Master Dungeons & Dragons was a version sold with a board, although it could be played without it; in fact, most players ignored the board and played their games like most role-playing games, simply playing the characters.

Both games, Dungeons & Dragons and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons were published until the 1990s, but in 2000 this differentiation of two different series of games ended and a new and unique edition, the third, was started, which applied the principle of the series Advanced Dungeons & Dragon (three basic books), but which dropped the term Advanced from the title, renaming itself simply Dungeons & Dragons. Although TSR kept the numbering started with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons for marketing reasons, radically changed the game system: this third edition was the first role-playing game to make the d20 system public, which from the very moment of its publication became a generic game system through the "Open Game License" (Open Game License). A "revision" of the third edition, known as Dungeons & Dragons 3.5. It is a revision of the original d20 system that consists of introducing a series of modifications that improve the gaming experience. These last two versions of Dungeons & Dragons, the third edition and its revised version, were the first to be published by Wizards of the Coast as in 1997 TSR was purchased by Wizards. At the same time Wizards of the Coast has used the d20 system as a platform to release other games with themes and settings based on the revision of the d20 system. On August 16, 2007, Wizards of the Coast announced the release, for June 2008, of the fourth edition of the game. This new version radically changed the rules system compared to previous versions, greatly simplifying the gameplay. The Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide and the Monster Manual, along with various supplements, have already been translated into Spanish by the Devir Iberia publishing house.

Dungeons & Dragons Essentials (published in 2010) is a reissue of the fourth edition game system but in the format of a 1983 version of the 1977 Basic Rules Set. Known in Spanish-speaking countries As "the red box", the graphical presentation of this old version has been used again for Dungeons & Dragons Essentials, in box format, but this time by Wizards of the Coast and adapted to the rules of the fourth edition. The Spanish translation (by Devir Iberia) was published simultaneously with the English version of Wizards of the Coast, in September 2010.

In January 2012, Wizards of the Coast announced that a new edition of the game, at the time called Dungeons and Dragons Next, was in development. In contrast to previous editions, this version was developed in part through public open testing. An early build was released at the Dungeons & Dragons Experience 2012 in front of approximately 500 fans. Public testing began on May 24, 2012 with the final test package released on September 20, 2013.

The Fifth Edition Core Rules is a free PDF containing complete rules for playing the game, and a subset of player and Dungeon Master content from the core rulebooks, which was released on July 3, 2014.

The Starter Set was released on July 15 of that same year, featuring a set of pre-generated characters, instructions for the base game, and the Lost Mine of Phandelver adventure module. The Player's Handbook was released on August 19, 2014. The Monster Manual fifth edition was released on September 30, 2014- The Dungeon Master's Guide was released on December 9, 2014. The edition again has only three core rulebooks, with the Player's Handbook containing most of the major races and classes. In Spain this 5th was launched. edition in 2017.

Chronological summary of editions and versions

• Dungeons & Dragons (1974): the first edition, known today as Dungeons & original Dragons.
• Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (1977): rules to play with level 1-3 characters
• Dungeons & Dragons Expert Set (1981): levels 4 to 14
• Dungeons & Dragons Companion Set (1983): levels 15 to 25
• Dungeons & Dragons Masters Set (1984): levels 26-36
• Dungeons & Dragons Immortals Set (1985): levels 36 and above
• Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Monster Manual (1977): first book of the edition known today as Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 1.a edition
• Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Players Handbook (1978): second book of the edition known today as Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 1.a edition
• Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Players Handbook (1979): third and last book of the edition known today as Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 1.a edition
• Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 2nd edition (1989): Last delivery Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.
• The New Easy to Master Dungeons & Dragons (1991): a revised reissue of the 1977 version. This 1991 reissue included a board to play in that mode.
• Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 2nd revised edition (1996): a revised version Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 2nd editionSometimes called Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2.5.
• Dungeons & Dragons, 3rd edition (2000): third edition, first role play in using the d20 system.
• Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 (2003): review of the 3rd edition.
• Dungeons & Dragons, 4th edition (2008): The fourth edition.
• Dungeons & Dragons Essentials (2010): a reissue of the rules system of the fourth edition but with the design of the red box of 1983, which in turn was a reissue of the 1977 edition.
• Dungeons & Dragons, 5th edition (2014): edition also called Dungeons & Dragons Next.

Editions in Spanish

In Spain, several publishers have been translating and publishing different original American versions in Spanish.

• 1985: the first translation Dungeons & Dragons in Spanish was published in 1985 by the German publishing house Dalmau Carles Pla. The translated version was the one that in the United States had been, in 1983, a reissue Basic Rules Set from 1977, presented in a red box, which is why in Spain it is still called "the red box" (for the Spanish speaking nostalgic players the editorial Devir Iberia has published the translation of an edition based on that of 1983). His original title in EnglishDungeons & Dragons: Fantasy Role-Playing Game) was translated by Dalmau Carles Pla as Dungeons & Dragons, fantasy game role-playing. Note how the term "play of role" was not yet in use in the Spanish language and the term role-playing was left as, without any effective translation. This was effectively the first role-playing game published in Spain and surely also the first to be published in Spanish. The fans of the role in Spanish-speaking countries still refer to him with affection, often calling him "the red box". For the promotion of the game Dalmau Carles Pla appealed to Joc International, a young company that had just been founded in that same year by the Barcelona Francesc Matas Salla. Joc Internacional took charge of launching Dungeons & Dragons in the Spanish market over the years 1985 and 1986, but neither Dalmau was interested enough in his own edition of the game nor did any other Spanish company do so either, which caused the first role play published in Spain not to obtain conclusive commercial results. 1987 was a year of uncertainty about the fate of the brand Dungeons & Dragons until at the beginning of 1988 it was purchased by the company of organization of Barcelona concerts Doctor Music, S.L. The owner and founder of Doctor Music, Neo Sala, was then an amateur of role games and a great passionate Dungeons & Dragons. However, it was never over to sign a translation contract between the two companies because Sala's only intention was to retain the brand of the game and prevent its publication in Spain. Two years passed between 1988 and 1990 before TSR managed to find new buyers (Borrás Plana and Zinco Editions). From his 1985 edition Dalmau Carles Pla had printed 25 000 red boxes, but they were not sold quickly since in the early 1990s the last boxes not yet sold at normal price were sold at offer price. Dalmau Carles Pla S.A. did not retranslate or publish any other role play but in 1986 translated and published three supplements for its edition of Dungeons & Dragons of the previous year:
  • The fortress at the border (a generic campaign scenario, designed to be adapted by the game director)
  • The palace of the silver princess (a generic campaign scenario, designed to be adapted by the game director)
  • The lost city (a campaign in the Mystara universe)
• 1992: reissue in panel version Basic Rules Set entitled The New Easy to Master Dungeons & Dragons (1991 in the United States) was translated and also published in box format with title The new and easy to play Dungeons & Dragons. The company that published it, in the summer of 1992, was Borrás Plana, specialized in social games and not in role games. The Spanish-speaking players, as the Anglo-speaking already did, often left the board to play directly role with this game. In 1994, Borrás Plana published three supplements:
  • The mystery of the Silver Sword
  • The Dragon's Cubil
  • The Scratch of Thunder
  • La Guarida del Goblin
• 1992: between 1992 and 1997 Zinco Editions translated and published the manuals as well as numerous supplements Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 2nd edition.
• 1998: When Ediciones Zinco signed its closing balance in 1998 the publishing house Martínez Roca took the relay of the edition Dungeons & Dragons in Spanish at the beginning of the translation and publication of the revised version of the second edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (originally published in the United States in 1996). Also for this version were translated numerous supplements, which Ediciones Martínez Roca was published until the year 2000.
• 2001: the third edition, which began the d20 system in 2000, was translated and published in Spanish by the publisher Devir Iberia since 2001. Numerous supplements were also translated and published following the same editorial line of Wizards of the Coast.
• 2003: the third revised edition Dungeons & Dragons (version 3.5) was also translated by Devir Iberia. This translation has the particularity of being published in the same year as the original edition: the American edition saw the light in July 2003 and the edition of Devir Iberia did it in September. The translation and publication of the numerous supplements continued uninterruptedly from 2003 to 2007.
• 2008: Devir Iberia, current publishing house with official license to translate and publish the material Dungeons & Dragons, currently edited in Spanish and since 2008 the fourth edition of the game, with all the basic manuals necessary to play.
• 2010: the edition of a new “red box”, an initiative in the United States of Wizards of the Coast, is renamed in a range entitled Dungeons & Dragons Essentials. Launched in the United States in September 2010 the Spanish translation, by Devir Iberia, is sold simultaneously to the American edition. It is the same box that in 1985 had initiated the publication of role games in Spain, with the same cover illustration that Larry Elmore had painted in 1983 but this time adapted in September 2010 to the rules of the fourth edition. This reissuance therefore commemorates the first quarter of a century of role publications in Spain.

Tactical Studies Rules

For game publishing Gary Gygax founded Tactical Studies Rules (TSR) in 1972 along with Don Kaye. This company experienced tremendous growth during the 1970s and 1980s, reaching its peak in the 1990s (as can be seen in the number of manuals published for the 2nd edition). The enormous number of different publications, the excessive branching of the game, as well as the nascent heyday of collectible card games in the mid-1990s are argued to be one of the main causes of TSR's downfall. In 1997, Wizards of the Coast, the world's leading trading card company, bought TSR.

Magazines

TSR launched Dragon magazine in 1976 to promote the game. Ten years later, in 1986, he launched a second magazine: Dungeon. Both magazines were published by TSR until the publisher's closure in 1997, when it was purchased by Wizards of the Coast. The latter, in 2002, relegated the publication of both magazines to another publisher, Paizo, but in 2007 it withdrew its publication rights. Wizards of the Coast resumed the publication of the magazines but this time only on the Internet, definitively abandoning the paper format. Dragón was introduced in Spain by Ediciones Zinco, which published 27 bimonthly issues from 1993 to 1998, the year the publishing house closed. In the 2000s Devir Iberia relaunched the magazine in Spain but in 2007 it had to submit to the decision to close the publication in paper format. As for Dungeon Spain saw it published for the first time in its newsstands thanks to Ediciones Martínez Roca, but it only published a few issues in 1999 and 2000.

Influences

Complete set of dice Dungeons & Dragons.

Dungeons & Dragons was the first role-playing game, establishing many of the conventions and canons that dominate the genre to this day. Of particular notoriety was the use of polyhedral dice, character sheets, progressive character development, and game dynamics centered on the joint action of a gamemaster who narrates the story and some players who influence and modify it with his actions.

The elements that constituted Dungeons & Dragons can be seen in many other pastimes of the time, although they have been around since before. The role-playing of fictional characters, for example, can be found in historical re-enactment or improvisational theater. Simulation of game worlds has been extensively developed in miniatures wargames. Characteristic elements of fantasy specifically designed for games can be seen in the board games of Glorantha and Tékumel, among others. In the end, however, Dungeons & Dragons represented the ultimate and unique union of all these elements, creating its own niche and kicking off the development of a multitude of other role-playing games. Science fiction, horror, superheroes, cartoons, westerns, spies and many other fictional settings were developed for these.

Over the years, many players have criticized various aspects of the Dungeons & Dragons. It should be noted that the THACO system (To Hit Armor Class Cero, combat system of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons version) is extremely minimalist and was conceived to try to grant maximum playability and speed. It is certainly quite unrealistic and at times quite illogical, which has been widely criticized. The magic system used in the game has also been called into question for similar reasons. These imperfections motivated other authors to start searching and experimenting with systems that better reflected the realities of the game. And in the same way they promoted the attempts to improve the game that the different versions of it demonstrate.

The search for solutions to these problems led other game designers to expand and modify aspects of the game. A few months after the first publication Dungeons & Dragons, new writers and designers began publishing their own role-playing games. Early arrivals and lasting influences were RuneQuest, first published by Chaosium in 1978, and the sci-fi game Traveller, first published by Chaosium. by Game Designers' Workshop in 1977. Some later games include Call of Cthulhu (by Chaosium), Champions (by Hero Games), GURPS (by Steve Jackson Games) and Vampire: The Masquerade (by White Wolf). These games also fed back on their origins, miniatures wargaming, in games like BattleTech, Mage Knight, Warhammer Fantasy Battle, and Warhammer 40,000. Trading card games, such as Magic: The Gathering, were also heavily influenced by his legacy.

With the release of the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons, Wizards of the Coast made the d20 system freely available to other designers under the Open Gaming License (or OGL) and the d20 Trademark License ("d20 Trademark License"). Under these licenses, other authors can make use of the system when creating their own games and supplements. Both licenses have also been responsible for allowing the revival of new versions of old games, such as Call of Cthulhu.

The influence of Dungeons & Dragons has spawned numerous retroclones, such as Dark Dungeons, Swords & Wizardry or Adventures in the Eastern Marches.

In the series The Big Bang Theory the protagonists spend their time playing Dungeons & Dragons in almost every season. In fact, it can be seen that Sheldon and Will Wheaton meet again thanks to a battle in which they participate.

In the animated series Gravity Falls, Dipper and Uncle Ford play Dungeons & Dragons, even some characters accidentally get out. They use a 32-sided die making numerous references to the general story of the game.

In the animated series My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic, Discord, Spike, and Big Mac play a very similar fictional game called "Dungeons and Ogres".

In The CW series The Flash, a version of the game appears for a few minutes in episode 16 of its eighth season, using the game as a pretext for Joe West to get used to his game. new life as a retiree.

In the Netflix series Stranger Things, the protagonists play Dungeons & Dragons and use the game as an allegory for what is happening to them, going so far as to call their enemies Demogorgon, Mind Flayer, and Vecna.

Campaign Scenarios

Although the dungeon master can create his own world, various "official" worlds (so-called "campaign scenarios") have been prepared in which a game of Dungeons" can be set. & Dragons:

• Al-Qadim
• Birthright
• Blackmoor
• Dark Sun
• Dragonlance
• Eberron
• Falcongris
• Mystara
• Planescape
• Ravenloft
• Forgotten Kingdoms
• Spelljammer

Also, thanks to the openness of the Dungeons & Dragons as of its third edition, campaign scenarios have been published by other publishers not related to TSR/Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro. Some of the most notable are:

• Dragonstar
• Iron Kingdoms
• Kingdoms of Kalamar
• Midnight
• Warcraft
• World of Warcraft

History of criticism

At various times in its history, Dungeons & Dragons has received negative publicity, particularly from some extremist Christian groups, for the alleged promotion of practices such as devil worship, witchcraft, suicide and murder, and for the presence of bare breasts in illustrations of females. humanoids in the original manuals of Advance Dungeons & Dragons (mainly monsters such as harpies, succubi, etc.). These controversies led to TSR removing many potentially controversial references and illustrations when publishing AD&D 2nd Edition. Many of these references, including the use of the names "devils" and "demons", were only reintroduced in the third edition. The moral panic over the game created difficulties for D&D fans who faced social ostracism, unfair treatment, and false association with the occult. and Satanism, regardless of an individual fan's actual religious affiliation and beliefs.

Dungeons & Dragons has been the subject of rumors of players having difficulty separating fantasy from reality, even implied to have caused psychotic episodes. Most notable of these was the saga of James Dallas Egbert III, whose events were narrated in the novel Mazes and Monsters and later turned into a television movie in 1982 starring Tom Hanks. William Dear, the private investigator hired by the Egbert family to find their son when he disappeared in college, he wrote a book titled The Dungeon Master refuting any connection to D&D and Egbert's personal problems. He blamed the game for some of the actions of Chris Pritchard, who was convicted in 1990 of murdering his stepfather. Research by various psychologists, beginning with Armando Simon, has concluded that there are no ill effects related to playing D&D. It has also been cited that Dungeons & Dragons encourages people to socialize weekly or bi-weekly, teaches problem-solving skills that can be beneficial in later life, and teaches positive moral decisions.

D&D has been compared unfavorably to other role-playing games of its time. Writing for Slate in 2008, Erik Sofge draws unfavorable comparisons between the violent incentives of D&D and the more versatile role-playing experience of GURPS. He claims that "for decades, gamers have argued that since D&D came first, its pathetic and morally repulsive experience system can be forgiven." But the damage is still being done: new generations of players are being introduced to role-playing games as little more than a collective fantasy of slaughter'. This criticism generated a backlash from D&D fans. Writing for Ars Technica, Ben Kuchera responded that Sofge had experienced a "small-minded Dungeon Master who just wanted to kill things", and that better gameplay experiences are possible.

In 2020, Polygon reported that "the D&D team announced they would be making changes to parts of their 5th Edition product line that fans have called insensitive." Sebastian Modak, of The Washington Post, reported that the board game community has broadly approved of these changes. Modak wrote that "in its statement addressing the errors surrounding the portrayals of different peoples in the D&D universe, Wizards of the Coast highlighted its recent efforts to incorporate more diverse voices in creating the new source books. of D&D due out in 2021. [...] These conversations, surrounding representations of race and the alleged treatment of employees of marginalized backgrounds and identities, have encouraged players to seek other gaming experiences from D&D. tabletop role. Wired's Matthew Gault reported positively on the roundtables Wizards of the Coast has hosted with fans and community leaders on diversity and inclusion. However, Gault also noted that other efforts, such as revisions of old material and the release of new material, have been less grand and at times minimal. Gault wrote: "It seems like WotC is trying to shake things up, but it keeps stumbling and it's often the fans who pick up the pieces. [...] WotC is trying to make changes, but it often feels like hot air. [...] The loudest voices criticizing D&D right now are doing it out of love. They don't want to see it destroyed, they want it to change with the times" 3. 4; after conducting a survey study of 308 adults (38.2% non-white and 17% Dungeons and Dragons players). Ferguson concluded that Wizards of the Coast may be responding to a moral panic similar to the one that surrounded Satanism during the 1990s.

Adaptations to other media

Television

The first adaptation of Dungeons & Dragons for the "small screen" was the cartoon series Dungeons & Dragons, broadcast in the United States between 1983 and 1987. In Spain it was translated as Dragones y dungeons and in Latin America as Calabozos y dragones.

Cinema

There have been, so far, four films based on the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons:

• The first was titled exactly as the game, Dungeons & Dragons, and premiered for the first time in American cinemas in 2000.

• As indicated above, part two, Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God, was rolled in format telefilm and was first released on U.S. television in 2005. It was distributed on DVD from 2006.

• The third film, Dungeons & Dragons: The Book of Vile Darkness, was shot directly for video in 2011 and launched for the first time to the market in DVD format in the UK on August 9, 2012.

• The fourth film is entitled Dungeons & Dragons: Honor among thieves and is scheduled to be released in United States cinemas on March 3, 2023, by Paramount Pictures. The film has no connections with the trilogy premiered between 2000 and 2012.

Board Games

Dungeons & Dragons, In Search of the Dungeon Master was a simple children's board game (similar to the Goose game, although it also used cards) adapted from the 1983 cartoon series. The publisher Dalmau Carles Pla translated it and published it in Spain in the same year that he published the role-playing game: 1985. The original title in English was Dungeons & Dragons: In search of the Dungeon Master, title taken from the fifth episode of the cartoon series.

Game Books

In Spain, the publishing house Timunmas (at that time called Timun Mas) translated and published the game book collection Dungeons & Dragons, endless adventure from 1985 (the collection was launched in parallel with the red box by Dalmau Carles Pla, in the same year). Shortly after Timun Mas himself published another series of game books titled Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

Collection «Dungeons & Dragons, Endless Adventure »:

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, adventure-game»:

Miniature Games

In 2003 Dungeons & Dragons was adapted by the publisher Wizards of the Coast into a miniatures game under the title Dungeons & Dragons Miniature Game. A second edition of this game was released in 2008.

Video Games

Numerous adaptations of Dungeons & Dragons to the video game format have been developed from 1975 to the present, considering the first of them as the first role-playing video game in history.