Happy 40th Birthday Dungeons & Dragons

 Today marks the 40th birthday of Dungeons & Dragons, well at least most people think it is  and it would be unfair not to celebrate this behemoth of a game.

We don’t often talk about roleplaying games on this little blog but there is one I hold in much reverence and that is Dungeons & Dragons . I see it as one of the most pivotal games in my gaming history not only introducing me to the world of roleplaying games but a crucial step into the world of tabletop gaming as a whole.

Over 40 years the game has seen numerous editions, from the now classic coloured box series, through to D&D Next the fifth edition which many people are expecting out this year. Although Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition reined supreme at my time of playing experience with the game centred on the Basic series, sometimes referred to as Dungeons & Dragons Challenger series. I was always the DM so would spend hours adapting adventures from Dungeon magazine from 2nd edition to basic. In hindsight it was amazing how smoothly it worked out. That was until my heroes found a magical jar.

I can’t remember the name of the item but by uttering a magic word and uncorking the lid the jar would suck inside any kind of air elemental. Unfortunately this being a 2nd edition item and me not owning that rule book I thought it could contain any living creature. This meant that my players now had an item that could imprison any adversary. It completely overpowered the game!

I discovered my error and was wondering how best to get the item out of my players hands when they did it themselves; they got too greedy. An adventure came up where players needed a rare ingredient for a spell; the powdered shell of a dragon turtle, a creature so big a village had formed on its back. My players decide they need to keep this constant supply of magical turtle shell so attempted to capture the dragon turtle into the magical jar. I turned the tables on the players making the object appear too big and too magical so the jar turned inside out and now the players were trapped inside the jar!

I can’t remember how my players escaped but this is one of my many memories playing such an amazing and imaginative game. Let’s hope it lasts another 40 years.