In the world of cult games, probably none captured the imaginations of kids more than Dungeons & Dragons. This was a game that was so unique that the rules of the game were that there were really no rules. How you played was limited only by your imagination.
The game was actually influence by the great book "Lord Of The Rings". The gentlemen who created Dungeons & Dragons, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, were such Rings freaks that they turned their love of the book into what became one of the most popular role playing games of all time. This vision first took form in 1973.
This game was not like your traditional board game. The fact is, it didn't have a board at all. The original Dungeons & Dragons game came with a map. The players would follow the map to see where it would take them and ultimately uncover the rewards and dangers that lay in store for them.
There were no real rules to the game. Each game that was played could have as many players as you wanted. Each player would take on the role of a different character, which was also made up based on various races. The common races were humans, elves, dwarfs, orcs and a number of others. Each race then had various professions or specialties. For example. You may decide to play a human character who was a fighter. Maybe you preferred to play an elf who was a cleric, someone who healed other characters. The common professions aside from fighters and clerics were wizards, mages, paladins and thieves. Each profession had a different skill. Mages and wizards were very adept in casting magic spells that could be quite powerful in a battle against the enemy. Clerics had great healing powers. Thieves had the ability to pick locks and disarm traps.
In putting together a party to go out adventuring, it was a good idea to put together one that had a number of different skills. A common 6 member party consisted of 2 fighters, 1 cleric, 1 wizard, 1 thief and 1 paladin. This party was diverse enough to handle anything that it happened to run into.
And what exactly did these parties run into? Anything and everything. There were monsters of all kinds in the game of Dungeons & Dragons, from goblins to skeletons to the all dreaded dragon itself. Each monster had its own powers and abilities. Some monsters were easy to defeat and others were quite hard.
The excitement of the game was in creating a character and watching your character gain skill levels. Characters start at the lowest levels and work their way up to the highest levels possible. This could literally take months or even years of play.
Each character itself is made up of various abilities such as dexterity, strength, intelligence and a number of others. The scores for these abilities are randomly generated by dice, which are the whole engine of a Dungeons & Dragons game. The common dice used are 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 20 and 100 sided. These dice are also used to determine the outcome of battles and the ability to disarm traps. They even determine what treasures may or may not be found. And the amazing thing about all this is that there is no board, no pieces, nothing but paper and pencil and the dice. It is just about the cheapest game to play while being the most fascinating.
If you have never experienced the fantasy world of Dungeons & Dragons, you owe it to yourself to get yourself a party and go exploring.
Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Toys
