We were in the heat of the battle against the evil nagpa—a powerful vulture wizard. We were worn out. We have already lost members of our group—our rogue was mauled to death by a monster camouflaging as their cat girlfriend. Our cleric was suffering from a mind-shattering spell that left him with the mental capacity of an infant. The ranger was pelting the wizard with arrows. My character was playing her magic bagpipes as hard as she could—but to no avail. When all hope seemed lost, a bright light pierced the darkness. It was our sorcerer! His well-aimed spell saved the day, and the wizard fell lifeless from the sky.
At least, that was how it seemed to us.
If a stranger had walked in, they would have seen nine adults sitting on bean bags in a university dormitory. We were a group of friends who met up every week to tell a collective story about characters we had made up. The only physical item we had to supplement our spoken words was a plastic sheet on which we had drawn a map. The rest existed in our minds. We were playing Dungeons & Dragons.
Though D&D was popular before the pandemic, interest in the game has risen significantly over the past two years. From 2019 to 2020, Wizard of The Coast, the company that owns D&D, reported a 35 per cent increase in their revenue. Recently, it has been featured in TV shows such as Stranger Things and The Big Bang Theory. In January, Amazon Prime will release The Legend of Vox Machina, an animated show based on the D&D adventure of Critical Role, a group of voice actors who play D&D professionally. Next year, Hollywood will release a live-action Dungeons & Dragons movie starring Chris Pine, Hugh Grant and Regé-Jean Page.
So what is D&D, and why it is so appealing? It was created in 1974 by American game designers Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. It is a tabletop roleplaying game, where a group of people create characters for a fictional world. They choose what their characters do, a set of rules determine the outcome of their actions, and their choices directly shape the story, which may involve actual dungeons and actual dragons, but not necessarily. When I play D&D, I am a storyteller, an improv actor, and an adventurer all at the same time.
There are a lot of rules to the game, which can be intimidating to new players, but once you start playing, it all becomes self-explanatory. You can find starter packs in hobby stores and book retailers or you can join a local club. There are seven roleplaying game clubs in London, including a French speaking one.
The appeal of D&D is its relative accessibility. Compared to games that require you to purchase miniatures like Warhammer or online roleplaying games that require hefty subscription fees like World of Warcraft, D&D is a cheap hobby. You do not need any financial investment to start playing. Most clubs will provide or rent all the equipment you need. There are plenty of ways for you to spend money on the hobby if you want to, but there are also ways to play the game cheaply.
Other than rulebooks and dice, you can tell your stories without any props—this is called “theatre of the mind,” or you can make the game as visual as possible. Some do this by creating physical terrains, buildings and realistic figurines representing their characters, which they use to play out their story in real life. Others do this online, with applications that allow you to create a fully immersive digital experience with realistic scenery and sound effects, and digital avatars controlled by the players. Wait, does Mark Zuckerberg know about D&D?
But D&D is not the metaverse. Yes, the game offers escapism, but it is collective at its core. You cannot play D&D alone; it is a fundamentally social experience. It is also not a competition—you can only win or lose against monsters or villains. The people you play D&D with are your teammates, not your enemies. You decide on a common goal to work towards together.
Why the revival now? Perhaps it is caused by nostalgia. The pandemic has made people yearn for a simpler time, so it makes sense for people to rediscover this weird game. D&D have existed since the 1970s, and it has had a long journey from its first publication to its current popular form, including a period of being falsely linked to satanism–due to the game’s fantastical setting and free-form storytelling where essentially anything can happen, some Christian groups have criticised D&D for allegedly promoting taboo themes such as devil worship, witchcraft, suicide and murder.
D&D has always appealed to me because of its history. Though there are plenty of other roleplaying games out there, it is commonly recognised as the first modern role-playing game, and the fact that it has existed for almost 50 years is, to me, a sign of its quality. In the worldwide uncertainty of the pandemic, D&D is the type of reliable entertainment I need.
However, the most obvious reason for the spike in interest is that the world is in sore need of escapism. People’s mental states are suffering in a global pandemic. What better way to cope is there than to pretend to be magical heroes together in a high fantasy world? The key word is “together.” D&D offers a great way for people to bond with family and friends, or to make new friends.
By playing D&D, you get close to people and you are learning to solve problems together—something the world needs now more than ever.
Anna Han Jin took part in the Prospect internship programme. To apply email sameer.rahim@prospect-magazine.co.uk
