How Dungeons & Dragons went from ‘diabolical panic’ to pop culture staple

The Current12:37 Fighting Goblins, Live Radio Dungeons & Dragons is everywhere, from blockbuster movies to popular TV shows and even Lego sets. It’s cool now. But that wasn’t the case when Toronto’s Louie Albino started playing the popular tabletop role-playing game, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. “Back then it wasn’t cool to be a nerd, so it was almost a secret society. And it wasn’t cool to play D&D either,” said the 56-year-old Albino, who first played the game in the 1980s. said the 56-year-old albino who played the game. People played this game, and it became a fixture in popular culture. The Netflix show Stranger Things references this show heavily. The blockbuster film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor of Thieves, starring Chris Pine, grossed $274 million worldwide in 2023. “It’s not just geeks who play games anymore; there are a lot of people from all kinds of different aspects of life who are drawn to this game,” says John, who runs a Dungeons & Dragons game in Toronto. Dempsey told The Current host Matt Galloway. And while the game is all the rage now, it was for many years considered unpopular and geeky, even branded by some as “Dungeons & Dragons.” A gateway to devil worship and murder. John Dempsey and his daughter Zena run a Dungeons & Dragons game in Toronto. (Pete Morey/CBC) What is Dungeons & Dragons?Dungeons & Dragons was created in 1974 by game designers Gary Gygax and David Arneson. They both enjoy historical war games and wanted to create their own system. There they are, a tabletop role-playing game set in a unique world inhabited by humans, elves, halflings, and dwarves for players to explore. The rules of the game have changed over the years, including a major update this year, but the core idea remains the same. Players begin by creating a character, including choosing a class such as a noble warrior or a hard-working wizard. Another player, called the Dungeon Master, tells the story to the other players, determining successes and failures along the way with the help of a 20-sided die. Want to swing your sword at goblins? Please roll. Want to pickpocket a shopkeeper? Please roll. “This was definitely a place where my imagination could take flight and I could experience being someone else at a different time,” said Albino, who started playing in the eighth grade. Dungeons & Dragons released a new Player’s Handbook in September that features the above art work, including new rules and content about the game. (Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro) “Satanic Panic” games became popular in the late 1970s. Most people like Albino were introduced by friends, and the game grew as friends told their friends. But in reality, some parents worried that it would have a negative impact on their children. This reaction was part of what became known in North America as the “Satan’s Panic.” From Dungeons & Dragons games to movies to rock and roll, fear of the devil and demonic influence grew. The game gained notoriety with the disappearance of 16-year-old Michigan State University student James Dallas Egbert III. Investigators and journalists linked Egbert’s disappearance to a game of Dungeons & Dragons he was playing with friends. Is Dungeons & Dragons Dangerous? Is Dungeons & Dragons Dangerous? In 1985, a popular role-playing game called Dungeons & Dragons is at the center of controversy. Egbert was eventually found, but died a year later from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His association with Dungeons & Dragons propelled the discussion surrounding the game. People started associating murders and disappearances with games because they mentioned demons, demons, and all kinds of fictional spells and spells, and that games were introducing children to demonology, witchcraft, and murder. I blamed it. . Fundamentalist religious groups called for the game to be banned, and according to a 1985 CBC report, the game was banned in some schools in Canada. “I had an aunt who was a Jehovah’s Witness, and she basically said it was a form of witchcraft, and it was basically blasphemy,” said Albino, who is a Dungeons & Dragons player. When playing, miniature figures like this are used to represent characters. (Ted S. Warren/Associated Press) Gygax called it a “witch hunt” in a segment on CBS’ “60 Minutes” in 1985. Despite her aunt’s protests, the albino’s mother had no concerns about the game. She was just happy he was home and not involved in any other mischief. But he also never broadcast that he was playing the game. “I remember my dad saying, ‘Are you guys still here? Don’t you want to come out?'” And my brother said, ‘What are you doing here? Why don’t you meet girls at bars? ‘ he said. Changes This game has finally shed its most negative connotations. According to Chris Prynoski, it took time and it took time for the public to become more accepting. “In the late ’90s and early 2000s, this issue wasn’t on anyone’s radar. And I think when that happens, you can kind of reset and have a completely different perception.” said Prynoski, a longtime Dungeons & Dragons player and founder of the animation studio Titmouse. Then, the fifth edition of the game came out in 2014, which introduced new rules and mechanics, making the game easier to play and more accessible. . Abria Iyengar started playing shortly thereafter in 2015. She was an NCAA Division I volleyball player, but had turned down an invitation to play in her first match. This image released by Paramount Pictures shows Sophia Lillis, Justice Smith, Chris Pine, and Michelle Rodriguez in a scene from Dungeons & Dragons: Honor of Thieves. (Paramount Pictures, via Associated Press) But when her now-husband invited her to hang out, she decided to join in and was instantly hooked. “Everyone else was like, “What a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon…and I was like, ‘Oh, this is everything I wanted,'” Iyengar said. Ta. “I was in a dusty house and all the lights just turned on. And I thought, ‘Oh, this is all I have.'” That passion turned into a career. The Dungeons & Dragons streaming game has become a popular form of entertainment for many, with groups like Critical Role amassing millions of subscribers on Steam with weekly streams on YouTube and Twitch. Iyengar has appeared as a player and dungeon master on Critical Role and other programs such as Dimension 20. Watch | Critical Role’s Dungeon Master Abria Iyengar Iyengar, who herself has appeared on Critical Role, said this type of show offers an avenue to a wider audience. She also attributes the rise in popularity to the rise of geek culture. When she was a child, reading comic books was considered nerdy. “But now I would argue that you can no longer call Marvel nerdy. You can’t call Marvel the nerd, by far, the biggest series if nerd is a small thing in the corner,” Iyengar said. “I think D&D carries the same weight across the universe right now,” said Jess Rancillo, vice president of product and franchises for Dungeons & Dragons. He said it was not the driving force behind the decision. . “At this point, I don’t think that necessarily means we should avoid challenging content,” Lancillo said. Sam Riegel (left), Abria Iyengar (center), and Travis Willingham (right) get ready to play Dungeons & Dragons on Critical Role’s YouTube series “Exandria Unlimited: Calamity” I am. (Michael Schmidt) Why it resonates with me Langillo says he was bullied as a child for being weird. But she says she’s grateful Dungeons & Dragons hasn’t gotten as much flak. “It’s so nice to see that these cool, creative, brilliant kids don’t particularly have that experience, and to understand their creativity and weirdness and the fact that they like monsters.” … Making people believe that they are worthy is like the most heartwarming thing to me,” Lancillo said. Dungeons & Dragons continues to be a big part of Chris Prynoski’s life. His studio worked on the Amazon Prime series “The Legend of Vox Makina,” based on the adventures of Critical Role. Prynoski recently donated $5,000 to charity so that it could spend a year with a legendary relic called the “Sandal of Gygax,” an actual sandal made in the game. Creator Gary Gygax says the game created lasting friendships. Chris Prynoski has a pair of sandals made by Gary Gygax, one of the creators of Dungeons & Dragons. (Submitted by Chris Prynoski) “I think it formed a lot of friend groups,” Prynoski said. “This is our version of something like a poker night or something where people get together on a regular basis and have a good time.” The idea was to let them work freely. But it also inspired his career work as a storyboard artist for animated shows and video games. He has also developed his own tabletop role-playing game. “In hindsight, it was definitely a story. Everything was a story,” Albino said.