Dungeons & Dragons

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For other uses, see Dungeons & Dragons (disambiguation)}}}.

Dungeons & Dragons (abbreviated as D&D or DnD) is a fantasy tabletop roleplaying game (RPG) published by Wizards of the Coast. The original Dungeons & Dragons, designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, was first published in 1974 by Gygax's company, Tactical Studies Rules (TSR). Originally derived from tabletop wargames, D&D's publication is generally regarded as the beginning of modern roleplaying games, and by extension, the roleplaying game industry.

Contents

Introduction to D&D

Players of D&D invent fictitious characters who embark upon imaginary adventures in which they battle many kinds of fictional monsters, gather treasure, interact with each other, and earn experience points, becoming more and more powerful as the game progresses. D&D departed from traditional wargaming in this regard by assigning each player a specific character to play, as opposed to legions and armies. D&D also developed the concept of a Dungeon Master (DM), the storyteller and referee responsible for creating the fictional setting of the game, moderating the actions of the players' characters, and roleplaying the supporting cast of non-player characters. The similar term Game Master or GM was a later term coined in the game Tunnels and Trolls.

A game usually continues over a succession of meetings among the players and the DM, in which case it is called a "campaign". Usually, each player plays one character, although some games allow a player to play more than one character. The players and the DM keep track of their characters' activities, attributes and possessions using paper and pencils, or the electronic equivalent. The published rules of the game explain how to create and equip a character for adventure, how the powers and abilities of the characters work, how interactions and combats work, and describe the many magical spells and items that characters are likely to encounter. However, the rules encourage DMs to modify the rules as suits their own campaigns and the group they are playing with.

The early success of Dungeons & Dragons quickly led to a proliferation of similar game systems, such as RuneQuest, Tunnels and Trolls, Traveller, and Arduin. Despite this competition, D&D has continued to dominate the roleplaying game industry throughout its existence, enjoying a nearly impenetrable market position. In 1977 the game was split into two slightly different versions: the simpler Dungeons & Dragons and the more complex Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (abbreviated as AD&D or ADnD). In 2000, the simplified version of the game was discontinued and the 3rd Edition of Dungeons & Dragons was released as a major revision of the AD&D game. The current version of the game, released in July 2003, is Dungeons & Dragons v.3.5 (also known as the Revised 3rd Edition or D&D3.5).

As of 2006, Dungeons & Dragons remains the best-known and best-selling roleplaying game, with an estimated 20 million players worldwide and over US$1 billion in book and equipment sales (according to a BBC news report). Products branded Dungeons & Dragons made up over fifty percent of the RPG products sold in 2002. Outside of the gaming community, "D&D" has become a metonym used to refer to roleplaying games in general.

Play overview

The Player's Handbook for D&D version 3.5, one of the game's three core rulebooks

Dungeons & Dragons is a structured, yet open-ended, "make-believe" game. Each player in the game typically takes on the role of a single character. During the course of play, each player directs the actions of his or her character and their interactions with the other characters in the game. As a group, these player characters (or PCs) are often described as a "party" of adventurers.

The results of the party's choices and the overall storyline for the game is determined by the Dungeon Master (or DM) according to the rules of the game and the DM's interpretation of those rules. The DM selects and describes the various non-player characters (NPCs) the party encounters in the game, the settings in which these interactions occur, and (based on the players' choices and actions) the outcomes of those encounters. The game's extensive rules guide the DM in making these decisions, covering everything from social interactions, magic use and combat to the effects of weather on the PCs.

The most recent version of the game's rules are detailed in three core rulebooks: The Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide, and the Monster Manual. Additional rulebooks, such as the Complete Warrior, contain additional optional rules which can be used if the DM permits it. Abbreviated versions of the rules, such as the Basic Game boxed set, are available to help beginners learn the game.

The only items required to play the game are the rulebooks, a character sheet for each player, and a number of polyhedral dice, although there are many optional items which can be used to supplement or enhance the gaming experience, such as pre-designed adventures and campaign settings. Special gameboards or cloth mats are sometimes used to visually depict the situations in the game, and miniature figures can be used to provide a three-dimensional representation of the characters. Computer programs are also available for supporting the game. [link]

Game Mechanics: How does it work?

A set of standard D&D dice: (from left) d4, d6, d8, d12, d20, and two d10s for percentile: ones and tens.

Before the game begins, each player creates his/her own character, recording the details on a character sheet.

First, a player will determine their character's ability scores, which consist of Strength (defined as the ability to physically manipulate other objects), Dexterity (the ability to freely move), Constitution (the state of being a living creature), Intelligence (the ability to think, learn and remember), Wisdom (the ability to perceive one's environment in any fashion), and Charisma (the ability to distinguish between oneself and others). This is typically done by rolling dice, but in other Role-playing Games, different methods are used, for example the point buy system. (Note: the most common method in DnD is to roll four six-sided dice and discard the lowest, giving a reasonably high number between 3 and 18; if stronger characters are required, more dice will be rolled. This is performed six times, the results being allocated by the player to each score to determine a character's basic abilities.)

The player then chooses a race (such as human, elf, half-orc, or dwarf) and a character class (such as fighter, wizard, or rogue). The player also selects a number of "skills" and "feats" for their character, each a specific talent that complements the basic capabilities of the character's chosen race and class. The player also selects an alignment that describes the PC's moral and ethical outlook. Some players develop a detailed background for their character (a "bio"), covering his or her circumstances of birth, family, upbringing, nationality, personality profile, moral outlook, and other topics.

During a game, players describe their characters' intended actions, such as punching an opponent or picking a lock, and converse with the Dungeon Master as their character. Trivial actions such as picking up a letter or opening an unlocked door are taken as automatic and the game will continue, but for many actions the rules specify how the outcome of such an attempt should be determined, generally by rolling a target number or higher on one twenty-sided die (as below). Multiple factors may be relevant in the rules governing the outcome, including the character's abilities and the difficulty of the task. In some situations, the DM may choose to substitute or override one of the game's many rules, a prerogative called "DM discretion". In the 3rd edition of the game, all actions are resolved by rolling a combination of one twenty-sided die, an ability modifier (-5 to +5) and a skill (if applicable), with modifiers (also if applicable), versus a target number. A typical difficulty is 10, representing something an average, unskilled character could do 50% of the time.

As the game is played, each PC grows and changes over time as they gain experience. Players become more adept at playing the role of their character, just as actors do in long-running performances. Characters develop new skills, learn new feats, gain (or lose!) wealth and prestige, and may even change alignment or add additional character classes as they progress. Different PCs will therefore become capable of accomplishing different types of objectives, and the game is designed to reward a well-balanced party of specialised characters. To represent this process, PCs are awarded an appropriate number of experience points (XP) when they defeat an enemy or accomplish a difficult task. Attaining a certain number of experience points allows a PC to advance a level, granting the character enhanced abilities and often permitting the player to choose new skills and feats for the character.

If a player makes a major mistake, or the character runs in to some extraordinary bad luck, the character may die. In many of D&D's campaign settings, it is possible to bring a character back to life, although this is very difficult or very expensive. When such events occur, they are often the foci of adventures. More often, the player will simply create a new character and either rejoin the campaign or join another campaign that is suitable for new characters.

Adventures and Campaigns

S3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks was one of the few adventures released by TSR to include science-fiction elements, such as ray guns and robots.

A typical Dungeons & Dragons game consists of an "adventure", which is roughly equivalent to a single story. After completing one adventure, players will usually start a new adventure while continuing to play the same characters. A series of adventures are sometimes referred to as a "campaign". Adventures are usually designed by the Dungeon Master, but throughout the history of Dungeons & Dragons, numerous pre-made "adventures" or "modules" have been published. These modules allow DMs to run a game without needing to create their own adventures, and typically include a backstory, maps, and one or more objectives for players' characters to achieve. Some modules include illustrations or hand-outs to supplement the basic gaming experience.

A series of adventures played through by a common group of characters is commonly referred to as a "campaign". As a result, the fantasy settings in which D&D games take place are often known as "campaign settings". Like the individual adventures themselves, many Dungeon Masters create their own fantasy settings, but there are also many official campaign settings which can be purchased. These worlds range from magic-rich to magic-poor, from European medieval settings to east Asian realms, from sword and sorcery to swashbuckling adventure to futuristic or post-apocalyptic settings. A campaign may be site-based, event-based, or a combination of the two. For example, in a site-based campaign, the players might defend a town throughout a long war without ever leaving it. In an event-based campaign, the players might pursue and defeat a warmongering villain through several locations over a long period of time.

Miniature figures

The wargames from which Dungeons & Dragons evolved used miniature figures to represent combatants. D&D continued the use of miniatures in a fashion similar to its direct precursor, Chainmail, with each figure representing a specific character or monster.

A Dungeons & Dragons miniature figure

While the original rules of D&D required the use of miniatures (or at least two-dimensional indications of the positions of the characters) to resolve combat situations, the rules quickly evolved to a point where combat could be resolved verbally and miniatures were no longer required for gameplay. Some players prefer not to use miniatures.

Although no longer essential, miniatures remain popular with many players and continue to serve as a useful visual reference. Even though prepainted miniatures are available, many gamers take pride in painting and decorating their figures to make them unique. The miniatures could be placed on acetate-covered graph paper with walls and other references drawn with grease pencils. As the adventurers moved from one area to another, the grease pencil markings could be wiped off and a new area drawn. Now that they are available, more gamers use dry wipe markers on commercially available plastic sheets with preprinted one inch squares. However, many gamers who use miniatures do not use battlemats at all, and some use hexgrids rather than a grid of squares.

In the 1970s, numerous companies began to sell miniature figures specifically for Dungeons & Dragons and similar games. In 1977, the British manufacturer Miniature Figurines Limited became the first company to partner with TSR and release miniatures under the official "Dungeons and Dragons" label. [link] Other miniature manufacturers (such as Ral Partha and Citadel Miniatures) simply released generic, fantasy-themed figures. Later, TSR partnered with Grenadier Miniatures to produce their brand-endorsed figures.

Professional products were also released to serve as grid-references for miniature play, from simple rollable mats printed with square or hexagonal grids, suitable for use with non-permanent markers, to elaborate systems of interlocking tiles. Some players would build entire floor-and-wall sets from wood or cardboard and would invest in large inventories of trees and other model objects to create more realistic environments for their miniatures. Professionally-built sets were later released, as well.

Periodically, Dungeons & Dragons returned to its wargaming roots with supplementary rules systems for miniatures-based wargaming. Supplements such as Battlesystem (1985 & 1989) and a new edition of Chainmail (2001) provided rule systems to handle battles between armies. The Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures Game (2003) is sold as sets of plastic, randomly assorted, pre-painted miniatures that can be used as either part of a standard Dungeons & Dragons game or as a stand-alone collectible miniatures game.

Game History

Chainmail, a Dungeons & Dragons predecessor.

Sources and Influences on the Development of D&D

The fantasy game Dungeons & Dragons, designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, evolved in the early 1970s from a naval wargame system, and certain rules of early D&D versions reflect this history. The game was influenced by mythology, pulp fiction, and contemporary fantasy authors of the 1960s and 1970s.

The presence of halflings, elves, dwarves, half-elves, orcs, dragons and the like often draw comparisons to the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, although Gygax maintains that he was influenced very little by The Lord of the Rings (although the owners of Lord of the Rings copyright forced the name change of Hobbit to Halfling), stating that he included these elements as a marketing move to draw on the then-popularity of the work (Kuntz 1978, Gygax 1985). The magic system--where wizards memorize spells which they then forget when they cast them--was heavily influenced by the The Dying Earth stories and novels of Jack Vance. The original alignment system (which grouped all players and creatures into "Law" and "Chaos") was derived from the Eternal Champion stories (Elric, Corum, et al) of Michael Moorcock. Other influences, according to the original edition of the Dungeon Master's Guide, include the works of Robert E. Howard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, A. Merritt, H.P. Lovecraft, Fritz Leiber, L. Sprague de Camp, Roger Zelazny, and Poul Anderson. Monsters, spells, and magic items used in the game have been inspired by hundreds of individual works ranging from A. E. van Vogt's "The Destroyer" (the Displacer Beast) to the Book of Genesis (the clerical spell "Wall of Swords" was inspired by the "flaming sword which turned every way" at the gates of Eden).

Edition history

Dungeons & Dragons has gone through several revisions. Parallel versions and inconsistent naming practices can make it difficult to distinguish between the different editions.

The original Dungeons and Dragons was published in 1974 and was supplemented over the next two years with Blackmoor, Greyhawk, Eldritch Wizardry, and Gods, Demi-Gods and Heroes. Official and popular unofficial rule supplements were also published in the magazines The Strategic Review and its successor, Dragon Magazine.

In 1977, TSR released two new versions of the game: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and Dungeons & Dragons.

Dungeons & Dragons was a simpler, sometimes "introductory", version of the game. In 1977 the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set, also referred to as the Second Edition, was published as a boxed set. This edition was revised in 1981, which also coincided with the release of an Expert Set to accompany the Basic Set. Between 1983 and 1985 the Third Edition was released in a series of five boxed sets, including the Basic Rules, Expert Rules, Companion Rules, Master Rules, and Immortal Rules.

The Dungeons & Dragons game was revised again in 1991. This edition included the Dungeons & Dragons Game (an introductory boxed set) and the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (a hardback manual which included the material from the Basic, Expert, Companion, and Master sets). In 1994 the introductory boxed set was renamed the Classic Dungeons & Dragons Game. In 1999 the introductory box set was revised and released as the Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Game.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (or AD&D) was a more complicated version of the game, designed to collect, revise, and expand on the rules from the original version and its supplements. Between 1977 and 1979, three hardcover rulebooks, commonly referred to as the "core rulebooks", were released: The Player's Handbook (PHB), the Dungeon Master's Guide (DMG), and the Monster Manual (MM).

In 1989, AD&D was revised for a 2nd Edition (sometimes referred to as AD&D2 or 2nd Ed). The game was once again published as three core rulebooks, incorporating the expansions and revisions which had been published in various supplements over the previous decade. The Monster Manual was replaced by the Monstrous Compendium, a loose-leaf binder which was later replaced by the hardcover Monstrous Manual in 1993.

The release of AD&D2 also corresponded with a policy change at TSR. An effort was made to remove aspects of the game which had attracted negative publicity. Character classes such as the assassin and monk were eliminated, half-orcs were no longer presented as a player character race in the core rulebooks, heroic roleplaying and player teamwork were stressed, demons and devils were renamed tanar'ri and baatezu (respectively, and only after they were eliminated from the game entirely and were "restored" by the outcry of outraged fans), and the product artwork became less racy. The target age of the game was also lowered, with most 2nd edition products being aimed primarily at teenagers. The Second Edition art and marketing were also modified to appeal more to female players.

Critics of TSR have suggested that the second edition was produced mainly to have a set of core rulebooks to sell which did not list Gary Gygax as the primary author, and thus deprive Gygax of royalties; certainly, few major changes to the rules were made, aside from the addition of nonweapon proficiencies (which were introduced in various 1st Edition supplements) and the division of magic spells by group into Schools (for mages) and Spheres (for clerics) of magic.

In 1995, the core rulebooks were slightly revised and a series of Player's Option manuals were released as "optional core rulebooks". Although still referred to by TSR as the 2nd Edition, this revision is seen by some fans as a distinct edition of the game and is sometimes referred to as AD&D 2.5.

The cover, a painting by David C. Sutherland III, of the 4th printing of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Masters Guide shows an efrit grasping a damsel while engaged in combat with a fighter and a magic-user. Scenarios such as this one were common for the game during the era when the manual was released.

In 1997, a near-bankrupt TSR was bought by Wizards of the Coast. The new company almost immediately began designing a new version of the game, which would be released in 2000 as Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition (also referred to as D&D3 or 3E and not to be confused with the 1983 edition of the basic D&D game). The 3rd Edition was the largest revision of the D&D rules to date. 3rd edition also served as the basis for a broader roleplaying system designed around 20-sided dice, called the d20 System.

The 3rd Edition rules were designed with the intention of making them more internally consistent and significantly less restrictive than previous editions of the game, allowing players much more flexibility in creating the characters they wanted to play. Skills and feats were introduced into the core rules to encourage players to further customize their characters. The new rules also standardized the mechanics of action resolution and combat. 3rd Edition also introduced the concepts of "Prestige Classes" (high-level classes which characters can only enter upon meeting certain character-design prerequisites or fulfilling certain in-game goals) and expanded the idea of high-level campaigns with the Epic Level Handbook (a supplementary core rulebook).

In 2003, the 3rd Edition rules were revised as Dungeons & Dragons v.3.5 (also known as Revised 3rd Edition or D&D3.5). This release incorporated numerous minor rule changes and expanded the core rulebooks.

A wide variety of optional supplements have been published for every edition of D&D. These supplements commonly include new rules, items, spells, and creatures. Other supplements include new adventures or detail entire fantasy worlds.

The various editions of Dungeons & Dragons have won many Origins Awards, including All Time Best Roleplaying Rules of 1977, [link] Best Roleplaying Rules of 1989, [link] and Best Roleplaying Game of 2000 [link] for the three flagship editions of the game.

Influence

Dungeons & Dragons was the first modern roleplaying game, establishing many of the conventions which have dominated the genre. Particularly notable are the use of dice as a resolution mechanic, character record sheets, progressive character development, and game-master-centered group dynamics.

The elements which made up Dungeons & Dragons can be seen in many hobbies of the time, though they had existed previously. Character-based roleplaying, for example, can be seen in historical reenactment and improvisational theatre. Game world simulations had been well-developed in wargaming. Fantasy milieus specifically designed for gaming could be seen in Glorantha's board games and M.A.R. Barker's Tekumel, among others. Ultimately, however, Dungeons & Dragons represented a unique blending of these elements, creating its own niche and leading to the development of a multitude of roleplaying games. Science fiction, horror, superheroes, cartoons, westerns, spies and espionage, and many other fictional settings were adapted to roleplaying games.

Over the years, many gamers have criticized various aspects of the Dungeons & Dragons rules. In previous editions, clunky and inconsistent mechanics were often seen as inefficient and confusing. Trying to find solutions to these problems led to other game developers to expand on and modify aspects of the game. Within only months of Dungeons & Dragonss release, new roleplaying game writers and publishers began releasing their own roleplaying games. The first arrivals to achieve lasting influence were the science fiction roleplaying game Traveller, released by Game Designers Workshop in 1977 and RuneQuest, released by Chaosium in 1978. Some of the later systems include Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu, Champions by Hero Games, GURPS by Steve Jackson Games and ' by White Wolf Game Studio. These games also fed back into the genre's origin, miniatures wargames, with combat strategy games like Battletech, Warhammer Fantasy Battles and Warhammer 40,000. Collectable card games, like , were also heavily influenced by Dungeons & Dragons'' and its legacy.

With the launch of Dungeons & Dragons's 3rd Edition, Wizards of the Coast made the d20 System available under the Open Gaming License (OGL) and d20 Trademark License. Under these licenses, authors are free to use the d20 System when writing their own games and game supplements. The OGL and d20 Trademark License are also responsible for making possible new versions of older games, such as Call of Cthulhu, using the new system.

Related products

D&D's commercial success has led to many other related products, including (but not limited to) Dragon Magazine, Dungeon Magazine, an animated television series, the Neverwinter Nights computer game and expansion packs, and the Baldur's Gate computer game. Hobby and toy stores sell dice, miniatures, modules and other game aids related to D&D and its game offspring.

Some fans have felt that the game has changed too dramatically over the years and has lost its connection to its roots. Consequently, Kenzer and Company produces the Hackmaster line of gaming products, a semi-satirical follow-on to 1st and 2nd Edition D&D differing in tone and content from the current official version of the game.

References in popular culture

As the popularity of D&D grew throughout the late-'70s and '80s, references to the game often began to appear in popular culture. Numerous games, films and cultural references based on D&D or D&D-like fantasies, characters or adventures have been ubiquitous since the end of the 1970s. Typically, though by no means exclusively, D&D players are portrayed as the epitome of geekdom, and references to the game are used as a shorthand to establish characterization or provide the punchline of a joke. Many players, miffed with this stereotype, embrace the fact that film stars Vin Diesel and Stephen Colbert have confessed to playing D&D (Johnson et al. 2004).

Controversy and notoriety

Religious objections

In Dark Dungeons by Jack Chick, a girl gets involved in witchcraft through the "occult training" she receives while playing D&D. Later she converts to Christianity and rejects the game, burning the materials.

At various times in its history, Dungeons & Dragons has received negative publicity for alleged promotion of such practices as devil worship, witchcraft, suicide, and murder. In the 1980s especially, some religious groups accused the game of encouraging interest in sorcery and demonic creatures. Many of these criticisms, though often mentioning "Dungeons & Dragons" by name, were actually aimed at RPGs or the fantasy genre in general and are discussed in the article on the History of roleplaying games. However, many Christians, even fundamentalist Christians, view D&D as merely a harmless and enjoyable game.

The controversy nevertheless led TSR to remove references to demons, devils, and other potentially controversial supernatural monsters from the 2nd Edition of AD&D (Ward 1990). Many of these exclusions were not returned to the game until the release of the 3rd Edition in 2000. In fact, a few 3rd Edition products have addressed demons and devil-worship far more explicitly than materials from previous editions. The more 'extreme' manuals, such as the Book of Vile Darkness and the Book of Exalted Deeds, bear a "For Mature Audiences Only" label.

Though some religious groups have alleged that the game promotes satanic and evil ideas, the game's rules actually provide for an equal balance of power between the capabilities of good and evil forces. This equipotential view of good and evil, itself controversial to some groups, continues to be found in newer editions of the game. Although the players can choose to play the role of an "evil" character, because success in D&D is often dependent on smooth coordination among characters in a party, it is usually easier to achieve goals if the characters follow "good" ethical precepts, because they will be more likely to help each other reach their goals.

Mazes and Monsters

Dungeons & Dragons has also been plagued by rumors of players having difficulty separating fantasy and reality, even leading to schizophrenia. The Mazes and Monsters book and especially the 1982 CBS made-for-TV movie helped fuel these rumors, particularly since they were based on media coverage of a real incident, the disappearance of James Dallas Egbert III. James was a bright but very socially awkward teenager who had played D&D before entering college (prematurely at the age of 16), who went missing for nearly a month in 1979, allegedly after entering steam tunnels under Michigan State University. Egbert had been known to be a member of a group at MSU that had played a proto-LARP version of D&D. William Dear, a private investigator searching for James, initially linked his disappearance to Dungeons & Dragons, which the media widely reported. Dear wrote the 1985 book, The Dungeon Master, about the case and revealed that James' disappearance was not related to Dungeons & Dragons (he had run away following a failed suicide attempt; he would later successfully commit suicide in 1980 at the age of 17; neither his attempted suicide nor the successful one were linked to the game).

Business disputes at TSR

The game's commercial success led to lawsuits initiated in 1979 regarding distribution of royalties among Arneson and Gygax. Specifically at issue were the royalties for AD&D, a product for which TSR did not acknowledge Arneson's intellectual property claims. Those suits were settled out of court by 1981.

Gygax himself became embroiled in a political struggle for control of TSR and disputes related to the company’s deteriorating financial situation in the early 1980s. The disagreements culminated in a court battle and Gygax’s decision to sell his ownership interest in the company in 1985.

Licensing and trademark violations

Early in the game's history, TSR summarily revoked the license to create AD&D-compatible items it had previously granted to the publishing company Judges Guild. TSR's action was a primary cause of the smaller publisher's decision to cease operations in the early 1980s.

Grimoire Games, which published David A. Hargrave's multi-volume Arduin series, had no such license. When presented with a cease and desist order regarding the use of TSR's trademarks, Grimoire was forced to rely on white-out and typing correction tape to mask its use of AD&D references in subsequent printings of the Arduin series.

TSR itself ran afoul of intellectual property law with respect to the Cthulhu Mythos and Melnibonéan Mythos it had included in early versions of the Deities & Demigods manual. These problems were ultimately resolved by excising the material from later editions of the book. Similarly, references in early TSR publications to certain creatures from J.R.R. Tolkien's mythical Middle-earth were also removed or altered due to intellectual property concerns. For example, TSR replaced all references to the race of Hobbits in D&D with their alternate name, Halflings - which was also coined by Tolkien but judged by TSR to be non-infringing.

Powergaming

A point of controversy within the gaming community is so-called "powergaming." This term describes the style of gaming in which players design their game characters with the intent to create a mechanically-superior character than normal on some aspects. A player may be able to min-max a character with skills and capabilities greater than would normally be expected, providing that player with a potentially significant advantage in the game.

Strictly speaking, powergaming may not qualify as "cheating" because it does not actually violate the game's rules. Some D&D players nevertheless view it as unfair and actively discourage the practice. Opponents object to powergaming because it encourages "metagame thinking." Specifically, they argue, placing such an undue focus on the rules inhibits the player's ability to suspend their disbelief, roleplay their characters and simply enjoy the game.

Proponents of powergaming see the practice as simply a way to use the rules to the player's tactical advantage, and therefore a legitimate approach to the game. Some powergamers also derive enjoyment from the careful planning and tactical execution necessary to develop perfectly optimized characters within the rules system. Further, they argue that such planning are logical and reasonable, given that even fictional characters would try to be the best they can be akin to how we seek the best career or business opportunities in the real world - especially if they put their lives on the line everyday in the dangerous fantasy adventures.

It should be noted that the attributes of a casual gamer (or a "roleplayer") and a powergamer are not mutually exclusive; one can have both sets of attributes in one's playing style. From this view point, powergamers argue that the focus on character planning would improve one's tie to the fictional character and in turn assist the roleplaying aspect of the game. They also claim that by planning and thinking in-character on the character creation and progression process, it is also a form of roleplaying. Opponents of this view claim that while technically correct, the view does not address the problem of imbalance of power caused by the powergamers within the group (assuming at least one player in the group is not a powergamer).

Another type of powergamers (although such classification is often opposed by powergamers as described above) focuses on exploiting loopholes or other anomalies in the rules system to their advantage or even disregard rules completely - these players are generally referred to as "Munchkins" or "Roll-Players" more interested in rolling dice than roleplaying. In addition, some of them may engage in acvitities that would be considered cheating, including, but not limited to, intentionally miscalculating figures, manipulate results from dice-rolling, make use of out-of-character knowledge for in-game advantages, etc. In short, they seek to "win" the game of Dungeons & Dragons, in the incorrect sense of it being a game of the player versus the other players or the players versus the dungeon master.

Both regular players, who values the roleplaying and social aspects of the game, and powergamers, who values the integrity of rules, object to this type of behavior as it opposes the two basic elements of the game: enjoyability and rules of the game.

Stemming from the idea of powergamer is a group of players advocating the choice of purposefully-inefficient or sub-optimal characters in an effort to increase the dependency of (or, to induce the total dependency of) the roleplaying aspect of the game. These players are sometimes referred to as "anti-powergamers" and are not widly accepted in normal gaming groups.

The issue of powergaming is not unique to Dungeons & Dragons, but rather a generic concern common to many roleplaying games.

References

Beattie, Robert. [The Courier's Timeline of the Historical Miniatures Wargaming Hobby], retrieved June 8, 2006.
Gygax, Gary (1979). 'Looking back, and to the future' in Best of Dragon Vol. 2, TSR Hobbies, Inc. 1981.
Gygax, Gary (1985). 'On the influence of J.R.R. Tolkien on the D&D and AD&D games.' Dragon, 95:12-13, Mar 1985.
Johnson, Harold et al. (2004). , Wizards of the Coast, 2004. ISBN 0-7869-3498-0
Kuntz, Rob (1978). 'Tolkien in Dungeons & Dragons' in Best of Dragon Vol. 1, TSR, Inc. 1985.
[Origins International Game Expo - 1977 List of Winners], retrieved June 9, 2006.
[Origins International Game Expo - 1989 List of Winners], retrieved June 9, 2006.
[Origins International Game Expo - 2000 List of Winners], retrieved June 9, 2006.
Ward, James M (1990). 'The Game Wizards.' Dragon, 154:9, Feb 1990.

External links

[Dungeons & Dragons] – official website.
[Wizards of the Coast] – owner and publisher of Dungeons & Dragons which is owned by Hasbro.
[TSR Archive] – a catalogue of (almost) everything produced for D&D (all editions, including d20). Started as a catalog of TSR titles, but has grown to include just about every publisher of D&D works. Presents cover pictures, back cover blurb and publishing info.
[The Hypertext d20 SRD] – Dungeons & Dragons rules available online

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