Few people would have thought that a group of friends gathering around a set of dice and spinning around stories that came from their imagination, would change the fate of a multi-billion industry.
Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) was developed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson in the 1970s, and has completely influenced the mechanics and storytelling of the games that came after it. Everything from how we think about quests and character progression to the player’s decisions that foster immersion has D&D DNA.
Fascinatingly, even sectors unconnected to fantasy roleplaying have appropriated some of D&D’s original concepts. In online casinos, for instance, developers incorporate that exhilarating dopamine-laden feeling that you can get from randomization, reward loops, and progression mechanics that are recreated at a night of playing casino pokies online. Just like rolling a nat 20 in D&D, hitting a winning combination in a digital game of chance replicates this satisfying risk-reward feeling. Developers in a wide variety of game genres realized that keeping users engaged depended less on ‘fun’, and more on a careful balance of randomization, skill, and excitement of anticipation for each user.
While the dice mechanics may be one of the most recognizable elements of the game, D&D’s more enduring legacy is its redefinition of narrative control. Prior to D&D, games were fairly rigid; there was a very strong delineation between player intent and designer intent. D&D created that barrier. D&D introduced collaborative storytelling; the Dungeon Master sets the scene, but the players’ decisions determine what happens next. This is now the basis of every open-world, choice-driven, or role-playing video game we play today.
The Birth of Player Agency and Role-Playing Mechanics
D&D’s main innovation was player agency. The notion of allowing players to make impactful decisions to change the story was a groundbreaking concept during the game’s inception. Early computer RPGs like Ultima defined their gameplay based on an extensive adoption of this paradigm, taking pen-and-paper adventures and transferring them to the computer. In turn, players took control of a virtual dungeon, built their character, and encountered variables they were uncertain of based on their actions.
The feeling of options became the groundwork for some of the most influential titles in the history of gaming. Titles such as Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter Nights, were pieces that directly adapted the D&D ruleset by immersing players into adventures as it would have been experienced in person. The impact here extends beyond only official adaptations. Titles such as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and The Witcher 3 owe their central design philosophy to D&Ds influences with character progression, branching dialogue, and moral ambiguity.
The hero in D&D is never a blank slate. Every player begins with a background, motivation, and your character has skills that change with the player’s experience. This character driven approach was the genesis for modern RPGs. The level up systems, skill trees, and morality choices that are central in modern day gaming stem directly from D&D’s original mechanics. Even in genres that don’t resemble fantasy games, from survival games to shooters, developers will still use a progression loop and narrative progression harkening back to its RPG origins.
Storytelling and the Art of the Quest
One of the defining marks in D&D is its storytelling structure. Each campaign is a living story made up of various arcs, side quests, and character interactions that all link together. This is ultimately a structure that became the basis for the majority of modern video game stories.
Take open world games, like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild as examples of narrative design. Rather than slotted missions that always move from point A to point B, or even a series of linear missions straddled together, they create stories through their worlds that react to players exploring them. Similar to the role of Dungeon Master, who responded to players exploring the adventure, these games respond to players engaging with their world. It doesn’t matter if the purpose is to rescue your friend, kill the enemy player, or simply wander around and maybe stumble upon some lore, every action feels meaningful because it has to do with the players’ agency.
The vernacular of gaming is indebted to D&D as well. “Campaign,” “quest,” “party,” and “XP” have all become incorporated into everyday parlance for tabletop and digital audiences alike. It didn’t take long for developers to understand that D&D’s commitment to storytelling in favor of the player led to greater investment from players personally and emotionally. It was never just about winning; it was about being someone.
Dungeons and Dragons’ legacy extends beyond mechanics, it includes a mindset. The game has demonstrated to many generations of designers that games can be most exciting when players can tell the stories themselves. Whether through dice rolls or moving a character with a joystick, the basic concepts are similar: adventure, imagination, and the belief that every choice matters.