The game started in 1982 and is still ongoing with no signs of stopping

Koktail’s third issue revolved around the theme of “creativity”, and for nerds like me, there’s no better way to get steeped in fantastical creativity than the tabletop roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons.

Touted as the world’s greatest roleplaying game, Dungeons & Dragons, or DnD as it’s affectionately called, has seen a resurgence in popularity most probably because of Stranger Things, with the inclusion of the Hellfire Club, Hawkins High’s DnD club led by the lovable Eddie Munson (RIP). There’s also a movie coming out based on the game starring Chris Evans, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, and Hugh Grant titled Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. But as it’s depicted in the Netflix series, the game has been around for a long time, originally published back in the 70’s.

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Without going too into detail on how it all works, DnD is basically a collaborative story told by everyone around the table. Players create characters and roleplay their characters while the game master, known as the Dungeon Master or DM, creates the world the players are in and also roleplays everyone else in the world. If you think it all sounds ridiculous, you’re not alone—many people thought so too, and players would often be ridiculed and labelled nerds (back when it wasn’t cool). However, that didn’t stop people from falling in love with the game. Some of them have even turned it into entertainment like Critical Role, whose campaign also resulted in the animated Prime Video series The Legend of Vox Machina, and G4’s Invitation to Party where the cast was in full costume and acted out the situations happening in the game in real-time. This is only the tip of the iceberg; there are so many more shows out there that revolve around a DnD campaign.

There’s also the fact that many famous people have professed their love for the game. Late night host Stephen Colbert, also a big Lord of the Rings fan, played the game back when he was a kid and more recently played a short game for Red Nose Day. Vin Diesel is a big DnD fan and so is Joe Manganiello, who has an impressive game room where he runs his campaigns. He also talked with Colbert in length about their love of the game. Finally, the late great Robin Williams was also a player. 

Still doubting just how big this game is and how much it can foster creativity? A history professor named Robert Wardaugh has been serving as the Dungeon Master for a campaign, except his campaign has been running for 40 years. As a DM, he’s tracking the events of a campaign that has spanned hundreds of years in in-game time and has also had 500 characters come and go over the years. The game has also become generational: his daughter started playing when she was around six years old and continues to play now as a 20-year-old. Not only is he creating the world and running the story of this decades-long campaign, but he’s also constructing the figurines and terrains for the game. Robert’s basement is dedicated solely to DnD, and that is where he houses a whopping 30,000 or so miniatures, all hand-painted by himself. 

Robert and an example of the terrain he made for a session (Source: IG @the_gamednd)

Not every game is as elaborate or as long as Robert’s, but that’s the fun of DnD. It can be tailored to anyone’s liking. Aside from inspiring the creativity and imagination of the people who play it, DnD is also the perfect excuse for a weekly get-together with friends. As Robert puts it, “More than anything else, the game represents friendship, and I find that friendship is based on planks. You need something to hold it together.”

For him and for many proud nerds out there like myself, Dungeons & Dragons is just that.