Ubiquitous
2017-05-30 16:05:10 UTC
Dungeons & Dragons is a name that almost everyone knows. To many
people, Dungeons & Dragons is an awesome game that can be enjoyed with
a group of friends, as team up every week to outfight or outsmart the
monstrous residents of a fantasy world. These games can involve
detailed roleplaying, where you become your character through method
acting, to simple tactical games where you kill monsters and steal
their stuff. Dungeons & Dragons also has a flip side to its reputation,
as there are people in the world who believe a simple game can be
responsible for unholy teachings and inspiring murder. This is to say
nothing of the numerous lawsuits that have been filed against the game
since its creation.
We are here today to look into the bizarre and often controversial
history of the most famous tabletop RPG of all time. From stealing
ideas from the creator of Game of Thrones to the worst movie ever put
to video tape.
Here are the 15 Things You Didnt About Dungeons & Dragons!
15. One Of The Monster Names Was Stolen From The Creator Of Game Of
Thrones
George R R Martin Githyanki 15 Dark Secrets Behind Dungeons & Dragons
In 1981, TSR released a book of material for Advanced Dungeons &
Dragons called the Fiend Folio. This was a tome that was filled with
information on new monsters for the DM to use in their game. One of the
new races introduced in this book was the Githyanki. These are a race
of yellow-skinned humanoids that live throughout the multiverse.
The Githyanki were created by Charles Stross. He submitted them for
publication in White Dwarf magazine and they were well-received by the
fans. They were so popular that they were added into the Fiend Folio
and have been a part of every single edition of Dungeons & Dragons.
Charles Stross never told anyone that he took the name Githyanki from
the novel Dying of the Light, which was written by George R. R. Martin,
the creator of A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones. Martin was
not aware of the name being used until long after the Fiend Folio was
published. He has never sought legal action of any kind, so he must be
fine with the use of the Githyanki name.
14. Vin Diesel Made A Movie Based On His D&D Character
Vin Diesel The Last Witch Hunter 1 15 Dark Secrets Behind Dungeons &
Dragons
There are many famous celebrities that admit to being fans of Dungeons
& Dragons and still play the game when they can. This list includes the
likes of Will Wheaton, Felicia Day, Kevin Smith, and Mike Myers. Robin
Williams was also a huge fan of roleplaying, wargaming, and video
games, which is why he named his daughter after Princess Zelda.
One of the biggest advocates of Dungeons & Dragons is Vin Diesel. He
has spoken about the game in numerous interviews over the years. Vin
Diesel took his fandom to another level when he managed to make a movie
about one of his D&D characters.
Vin Diesel was working with screenwriter Cory Goodman when they started
talking about D&D. Diesel talked about a character he played called
Melkor who was a Witch Hunter (a Ranger/spell caster hybrid). This
character was worked into the star of a movie called The Last Witch
Hunter. The movie follows an immortal Witch Hunter who must stop a
magical plague from destroying New York City. The film received poor
reviews, though it did make a profit at the box office.
13. The Horrors Of The D&D Movie
Dungeons and Dragons Jeremy Irons 15 Dark Secrets Behind Dungeons &
Dragons
There was a Dungeons & Dragons movie released in the year 2000. It was
terrible. We arent going to go into the reasons why here, as it would
take all day. Rest assured, the Dungeons & Dragons movie was savaged by
critics, was a financial failure at the box office, and was forgotten
in the wake of the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings movie franchises.
The most interesting part of the story of the Dungeons & Dragons movie
was what was going on behind the scenes. According to Courtney Solomon,
the director of the film, the whole project was dominated by the owners
of the game. The people at TSR held the project back, due to numerous
unreasonable demands, which forced the script to be rewritten several
times. When Wizards of the Coast bought the rights to Dungeons &
Dragons, they immediately sued the production of the film in order to
get it stopped. The suit was settled out of court, with the caveat that
it had to be filmed straight away, otherwise the producers would lose
the rights to make the film.
12. A D&D Module Had To Be Recalled Due To S&M Themed Artwork
Palace of the silver princess artwork dungeons dragons 15 Dark Secrets
Behind Dungeons & Dragons
The creators of Dungeons & Dragons have released numerous pre-written
adventures over the years. One of the earliest Dungeons & Dragons
adventure modules was called Palace of the Silver Princess. This module
is notable for the fact that is was recalled almost immediately. The
content of the adventure wasnt anything special: it was just another
romp through an abandoned palace. What caused the recall was an
illustration on page nine of the book, which depicted a woman who was
hung from the ceiling by her hair. She is trapped in a torture dungeon
and surrounded by small monsters, who are tearing pieces of her clothes
off from her body. This picture caused the book to be pulled and
reissued with new illustrations.
This image was considered far too risque for a Dungeons & Dragons book,
as they were moving towards making their publications available to all
ages. The earlier books did contain some topless nudity, which was
phased out over time.
11. The Cthulhu & Elric Lawsuit
Deities Demigods cover 15 Dark Secrets Behind Dungeons & Dragons
One book that has been recreated across the various editions of
Dungeons & Dragons is Deities & Demigods. This is a book that details
the strength of the gods, should you wish to include them into your
game.
The first ever version of Deities & Demigods turned out to be a legal
nightmare for TSR. This was due to the inclusion of two different
pantheons that TSR thought they could use. The first was the gods of
the Cthulhu Mythos from the works of H.P. Lovecraft. TSR believed these
fictional deities were public domain (as Lovecraft died a long time
ago). They didnt realize that a company called Chaosium owned the
rights to the Cthulhu Mythos at that time. The second problem was the
gods of Michael Moorcocks Elric series. Moorcock actually gave TSR
permission to use them, without realizing that Chaosium also owned
publication rights for those gods to appear in their books. TSR was
forced to include a reference to Chaosium (one of their chief
competitors) in the second printing of the book. The later printings
removed the offending gods entirely.
10. The Killing Of Venger
Dungeons Dragons cartoon 15 Dark Secrets Behind Dungeons & Dragons
One of the most underrated aspects of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise
is the animated series that ran in the 80s. The series followed a
group of kids who were trapped in the world of the game. They were
given a set of magical items by the enigmatic Dungeon Master, in order
to help them find a way back to their home world. Throughout their
adventures, they were pursued by an evil wizard named Venger, who
wanted to steal their magical items for himself.
The most highly rated episode of the shows run is also the one that
got the producers into trouble with Broadcast Standards & Practises. It
was called the Dragons Graveyard and the episode focused on the
casts decision to lead Venger into a trap and murder him! In order to
do so, they travel to the Dragons Graveyard, as their magic items were
stronger there. They defeated Venger and almost killed him, before
deciding to spare him at the last second. The idea of the cast of a
Saturday morning cartoon plotting to slay their enemy almost got the
episode shelved. Luckily, the producers fought for the episode and it
made it to air, where it became one of the most highly regarded stories
of the series.
9. A House Cat Can Kill A Commoner
Dexter Green lantern 15 Dark Secrets Behind Dungeons & Dragons
There has always been a division among the Dungeons & Dragons community
over which edition is the best. This is simply a matter of taste and
has no definitive answer. What is clear is that there is a huge
difference between the first two editions of the game and the three
that have followed. The differences between the second and third
editions of the game are many, with the two games being almost
unrecognizable from each other.
One of the most amusing aspects of the third edition of Dungeons &
Dragons is a rules disparity between the strength of cats and the
weakness of humans. In D&D, all lethal attacks must deal at least one
point of damage (unless resisted). A house cat can perform several
attacks per turn, which means it can potentially deal a few hit points
worth of damage. By comparison, a regular human commoner has one to
four hit points. This means that it is possible for a regular cat to
kill a person with low hit points in Dungeons & Dragons.
8. The Power Of The Original Bards
Dungeons and dragons bard 15 Dark Secrets Behind Dungeons & Dragons
One of the least popular character classes in the Dungeons & Dragons
series is the bard. The reason for this is because they are a jack of
all trades style of character. They can do a lot of different things at
once, without being especially great at any of them. Bards can fight,
cast spells, sneak around, heal, and use their music on the
battlefield. The problem with this is that D&D is a group based game,
where every player is expected to fill a niche and be great at what
they do. It is for this reason that bards are often portrayed less
seriously in D&D fiction, such as with Elan from Order of the Stick.
In the first edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, the bard class
required you to have several levels in other classes first. When the
bard class became accessible, they were one of the most powerful
classes in the game. This is due to the fact that they were as strong
as fighters or thieves of the same level and possessed the spellcasting
ability of druids, as well as other unique abilities. The original
bards were badasses and would wreck anyone who tried to cross them.
7. The Hellish Name Change
Demons Dungeons and Dragons 15 Dark Secrets Behind Dungeons & Dragons
In the multiverse of the Dungeons & Dragons setting, there are two
warring factions of evil beings that live in hellish domains. They were
originally referred to as Demons and Devils. These two races referenced
real world mythology concerning evil supernatural creatures (such as
the Succubus) and their home plane was the destination for the souls of
evil mortals.
It is no secret that Dungeons & Dragons was highly scrutinized by
religious groups during the early days of the games release. The game
was also blamed for several murders and suicides that have happened
(though the influence of the game on the crimes was blown out of
proportion by the media). As such, there were many changes made to the
second edition of Dungeons & Dragons that were intended to defuse the
controversy surrounding the game.
In Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition, the Demon and Devil races
were called TanarI and Baatezu respectively. They were portrayed as
more of an extraterrestrial threat than as stealers of souls. These
changes were reverted in the third edition of the game, where they
became Demons and Devils once more.
6. D&D Used To Include Hobbits, Ents, and Balrogs
Balrog from Lord of the Rings 15 Dark Secrets Behind Dungeons & Dragons
The creators of Dungeons & Dragons tried to downplay the significance
of Lord of the Rings in its inspiration for the game. This was clearly
a lie, as the early editions of the game featured several elements from
Lord of the Rings that were printed in books and sold at stores. In the
early version of Dungeons & Dragons, you could play as a hobbit and go
on adventures, where you could befriend Ents and battle against the
mighty Balrog.
It didnt take long for these Lord of the Rings elements to disappear.
A man named Saul Zaentz owned the rights to the Tolkien characters
usage in fiction and he took TSR to court. The case was settled out of
court, with future editions of Dungeons & Dragons changing the hobbits
to halflings, the ents to treants, and the balrogs to balors.
Saul Zaentz also tried to claim copyright over words such as dragon,
elf, and orc. These were determined to be in the public domain and were
not limited to Tolkiens work.
5. The Artwork For The Invisible Monster
Invisible Stalker Dungeons and dragons 15 Dark Secrets Behind Dungeons
& Dragons
The owners of Dungeons & Dragons have released numerous books known as
Monster Manuals. These books are filled with statistics for various
creatures that you can use in your game. The Monster Manuals are filled
with beautifully drawn illustrations of each creature, with the
intention of inspiring the DMs descriptions for the players benefit.
It is advised that people who wish to run a game of Dungeons & Dragons
should buy a Monster Manual as one of their first purchases.
One of the most infamous illustrations for a monster was in the
Monstrous Manual for the second edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.
The creature known as the Invisible Stalker just had a blank space
where its artwork should be. This makes sense because it is invisible,
but later versions of the Monster Manual managed to create visually
interesting interpretations of the Invisible Stalker to show in the
book.
4. The Curse Of Myth Drannor
Pools of Radiance Ruins of Myth Drannor 15 Dark Secrets Behind Dungeons
& Dragons
In the Forgotten Realms setting of Dungeons & Dragons, there is a
ruined elven city called Myth Drannor. It was once a beautiful place,
where magic was woven into the very air itself and all races were
welcome to stay. Myth Drannor would fall to the forces of evil and be
overrun by demons and monsters of all description. It is said that the
city is cursed, which is certainly true of the game that was based on
it.
Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor was released for Windows in
2001. It was poorly received at launch, due to the brutal difficulty of
the gameplay and for a large number of glitches. Ruins of Myth Drannor
shipped with what may be the most damaging video game glitch of all
time.
If you installed Ruins of Myth Drannor straight out of the box without
patching it, then you were in for a bad time. When you uninstalled the
game, it would delete the system files of your computer. If you wanted
to use that computer again, then you would have had to reinstall
Windows.
3. The Dawizard Done By Shoddy Editing
Dungeons and dragons Lich 15 Dark Secrets Behind Dungeons & Dragons
Microsoft Word and similar programs possess the greatest tool ever for
the indecisive. Lets say you wrote a five hundred page novel and the
main character is called Dave, what would happen if you wanted to
change his name to Jeff? You could manually go through all five hundred
pages and make the change yourself, or, you could select the
Find/Replace option. This will change all instances of Dave to Jeff in
a second.
If you do decide to use the Find/Replace tool, then make sure to put a
space before or after the word. The people at TSR learned this the hard
way in their 1994 book Advanced Dungeons & Dragons book Encyclopedia
Magica, Volume 1.
At some point during the development of Encyclopedia Magica, the
decision was made to change all instances of the word mage to
wizard. The problem was that the editor didnt put a space before the
word mage. This meant that all instances of the word damage now became
dawizard. A generation of gamers was forced to read their Encyclopedia
Magica in a Jamaican accent.
2. Fifty Shades Of Grey Elf
Book of Vile Darkness dungeons and dragons 15 Dark Secrets Behind
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons was often accused of some unsavory stuff during its
early years. There were religious organizations that claimed it was
teaching witchcraft to kids and lawyers were claiming that the game was
convincing unhinged teenagers to go out and murder people, in a manner
similar to the controversy over violent video games that would come
later. TSR was forced to tone down their product in order to keep the
game alive.
When Wizards of the Coast bought the rights to Dungeons & Dragons, they
embraced the games reputation by releasing a book that needed a
warning on its cover due to its objectionable content. This was the
Book of Vile Darkness and it detailed the evilest things that the
previous editions had been afraid to touch.
The Book of Vile Darkness covered subjects like sexual fetishes (though
it lists S&M as something that only evil people can enjoy). It also
dealt with the benefits of human sacrifice, the effects of torture, the
stats of the incestuous demon lords, and details for classes like the
Cancer Mage.
1. The DragonStrike VHS Tape
Dragonstrike 15 Dark Secrets Behind Dungeons & Dragons
It can be tricky to explain what a game of Dungeons & Dragons is like
to someone who has never seen one before. This isnt so much of a
problem now due to YouTube, but in the old days, you had to do your
best to explain what your group got up to every week without making
them sound like the Manson family.
In 1993, TSR released a simplified version of Dungeons & Dragons as a
board game. It was called DragonStrike, and it came with rule books,
miniature figures, and a selection of cardboard maps. DragonStrike also
came with a VHS tape that contained a thirty-minute movie which was
intended to show newcomers what a game of DragonStrike is actually
like.
For any Dungeons & Dragons who want to feel embarrassed about enjoying
their hobby, the DragonStrike tape is available online. If the
intention was to teach people about the game, then they failed
miserably. The tape tries to show the world of the game, whilst a group
of unseen players is trying to learn the rules. As the audience, we see
a troupe of z-list actors chewing the green screen scenery to pieces,
as they compete with stuntmen in cardboard monster outfits.
DragonStrike is still better than the Dungeons & Dragons movie though.
people, Dungeons & Dragons is an awesome game that can be enjoyed with
a group of friends, as team up every week to outfight or outsmart the
monstrous residents of a fantasy world. These games can involve
detailed roleplaying, where you become your character through method
acting, to simple tactical games where you kill monsters and steal
their stuff. Dungeons & Dragons also has a flip side to its reputation,
as there are people in the world who believe a simple game can be
responsible for unholy teachings and inspiring murder. This is to say
nothing of the numerous lawsuits that have been filed against the game
since its creation.
We are here today to look into the bizarre and often controversial
history of the most famous tabletop RPG of all time. From stealing
ideas from the creator of Game of Thrones to the worst movie ever put
to video tape.
Here are the 15 Things You Didnt About Dungeons & Dragons!
15. One Of The Monster Names Was Stolen From The Creator Of Game Of
Thrones
George R R Martin Githyanki 15 Dark Secrets Behind Dungeons & Dragons
In 1981, TSR released a book of material for Advanced Dungeons &
Dragons called the Fiend Folio. This was a tome that was filled with
information on new monsters for the DM to use in their game. One of the
new races introduced in this book was the Githyanki. These are a race
of yellow-skinned humanoids that live throughout the multiverse.
The Githyanki were created by Charles Stross. He submitted them for
publication in White Dwarf magazine and they were well-received by the
fans. They were so popular that they were added into the Fiend Folio
and have been a part of every single edition of Dungeons & Dragons.
Charles Stross never told anyone that he took the name Githyanki from
the novel Dying of the Light, which was written by George R. R. Martin,
the creator of A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones. Martin was
not aware of the name being used until long after the Fiend Folio was
published. He has never sought legal action of any kind, so he must be
fine with the use of the Githyanki name.
14. Vin Diesel Made A Movie Based On His D&D Character
Vin Diesel The Last Witch Hunter 1 15 Dark Secrets Behind Dungeons &
Dragons
There are many famous celebrities that admit to being fans of Dungeons
& Dragons and still play the game when they can. This list includes the
likes of Will Wheaton, Felicia Day, Kevin Smith, and Mike Myers. Robin
Williams was also a huge fan of roleplaying, wargaming, and video
games, which is why he named his daughter after Princess Zelda.
One of the biggest advocates of Dungeons & Dragons is Vin Diesel. He
has spoken about the game in numerous interviews over the years. Vin
Diesel took his fandom to another level when he managed to make a movie
about one of his D&D characters.
Vin Diesel was working with screenwriter Cory Goodman when they started
talking about D&D. Diesel talked about a character he played called
Melkor who was a Witch Hunter (a Ranger/spell caster hybrid). This
character was worked into the star of a movie called The Last Witch
Hunter. The movie follows an immortal Witch Hunter who must stop a
magical plague from destroying New York City. The film received poor
reviews, though it did make a profit at the box office.
13. The Horrors Of The D&D Movie
Dungeons and Dragons Jeremy Irons 15 Dark Secrets Behind Dungeons &
Dragons
There was a Dungeons & Dragons movie released in the year 2000. It was
terrible. We arent going to go into the reasons why here, as it would
take all day. Rest assured, the Dungeons & Dragons movie was savaged by
critics, was a financial failure at the box office, and was forgotten
in the wake of the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings movie franchises.
The most interesting part of the story of the Dungeons & Dragons movie
was what was going on behind the scenes. According to Courtney Solomon,
the director of the film, the whole project was dominated by the owners
of the game. The people at TSR held the project back, due to numerous
unreasonable demands, which forced the script to be rewritten several
times. When Wizards of the Coast bought the rights to Dungeons &
Dragons, they immediately sued the production of the film in order to
get it stopped. The suit was settled out of court, with the caveat that
it had to be filmed straight away, otherwise the producers would lose
the rights to make the film.
12. A D&D Module Had To Be Recalled Due To S&M Themed Artwork
Palace of the silver princess artwork dungeons dragons 15 Dark Secrets
Behind Dungeons & Dragons
The creators of Dungeons & Dragons have released numerous pre-written
adventures over the years. One of the earliest Dungeons & Dragons
adventure modules was called Palace of the Silver Princess. This module
is notable for the fact that is was recalled almost immediately. The
content of the adventure wasnt anything special: it was just another
romp through an abandoned palace. What caused the recall was an
illustration on page nine of the book, which depicted a woman who was
hung from the ceiling by her hair. She is trapped in a torture dungeon
and surrounded by small monsters, who are tearing pieces of her clothes
off from her body. This picture caused the book to be pulled and
reissued with new illustrations.
This image was considered far too risque for a Dungeons & Dragons book,
as they were moving towards making their publications available to all
ages. The earlier books did contain some topless nudity, which was
phased out over time.
11. The Cthulhu & Elric Lawsuit
Deities Demigods cover 15 Dark Secrets Behind Dungeons & Dragons
One book that has been recreated across the various editions of
Dungeons & Dragons is Deities & Demigods. This is a book that details
the strength of the gods, should you wish to include them into your
game.
The first ever version of Deities & Demigods turned out to be a legal
nightmare for TSR. This was due to the inclusion of two different
pantheons that TSR thought they could use. The first was the gods of
the Cthulhu Mythos from the works of H.P. Lovecraft. TSR believed these
fictional deities were public domain (as Lovecraft died a long time
ago). They didnt realize that a company called Chaosium owned the
rights to the Cthulhu Mythos at that time. The second problem was the
gods of Michael Moorcocks Elric series. Moorcock actually gave TSR
permission to use them, without realizing that Chaosium also owned
publication rights for those gods to appear in their books. TSR was
forced to include a reference to Chaosium (one of their chief
competitors) in the second printing of the book. The later printings
removed the offending gods entirely.
10. The Killing Of Venger
Dungeons Dragons cartoon 15 Dark Secrets Behind Dungeons & Dragons
One of the most underrated aspects of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise
is the animated series that ran in the 80s. The series followed a
group of kids who were trapped in the world of the game. They were
given a set of magical items by the enigmatic Dungeon Master, in order
to help them find a way back to their home world. Throughout their
adventures, they were pursued by an evil wizard named Venger, who
wanted to steal their magical items for himself.
The most highly rated episode of the shows run is also the one that
got the producers into trouble with Broadcast Standards & Practises. It
was called the Dragons Graveyard and the episode focused on the
casts decision to lead Venger into a trap and murder him! In order to
do so, they travel to the Dragons Graveyard, as their magic items were
stronger there. They defeated Venger and almost killed him, before
deciding to spare him at the last second. The idea of the cast of a
Saturday morning cartoon plotting to slay their enemy almost got the
episode shelved. Luckily, the producers fought for the episode and it
made it to air, where it became one of the most highly regarded stories
of the series.
9. A House Cat Can Kill A Commoner
Dexter Green lantern 15 Dark Secrets Behind Dungeons & Dragons
There has always been a division among the Dungeons & Dragons community
over which edition is the best. This is simply a matter of taste and
has no definitive answer. What is clear is that there is a huge
difference between the first two editions of the game and the three
that have followed. The differences between the second and third
editions of the game are many, with the two games being almost
unrecognizable from each other.
One of the most amusing aspects of the third edition of Dungeons &
Dragons is a rules disparity between the strength of cats and the
weakness of humans. In D&D, all lethal attacks must deal at least one
point of damage (unless resisted). A house cat can perform several
attacks per turn, which means it can potentially deal a few hit points
worth of damage. By comparison, a regular human commoner has one to
four hit points. This means that it is possible for a regular cat to
kill a person with low hit points in Dungeons & Dragons.
8. The Power Of The Original Bards
Dungeons and dragons bard 15 Dark Secrets Behind Dungeons & Dragons
One of the least popular character classes in the Dungeons & Dragons
series is the bard. The reason for this is because they are a jack of
all trades style of character. They can do a lot of different things at
once, without being especially great at any of them. Bards can fight,
cast spells, sneak around, heal, and use their music on the
battlefield. The problem with this is that D&D is a group based game,
where every player is expected to fill a niche and be great at what
they do. It is for this reason that bards are often portrayed less
seriously in D&D fiction, such as with Elan from Order of the Stick.
In the first edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, the bard class
required you to have several levels in other classes first. When the
bard class became accessible, they were one of the most powerful
classes in the game. This is due to the fact that they were as strong
as fighters or thieves of the same level and possessed the spellcasting
ability of druids, as well as other unique abilities. The original
bards were badasses and would wreck anyone who tried to cross them.
7. The Hellish Name Change
Demons Dungeons and Dragons 15 Dark Secrets Behind Dungeons & Dragons
In the multiverse of the Dungeons & Dragons setting, there are two
warring factions of evil beings that live in hellish domains. They were
originally referred to as Demons and Devils. These two races referenced
real world mythology concerning evil supernatural creatures (such as
the Succubus) and their home plane was the destination for the souls of
evil mortals.
It is no secret that Dungeons & Dragons was highly scrutinized by
religious groups during the early days of the games release. The game
was also blamed for several murders and suicides that have happened
(though the influence of the game on the crimes was blown out of
proportion by the media). As such, there were many changes made to the
second edition of Dungeons & Dragons that were intended to defuse the
controversy surrounding the game.
In Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition, the Demon and Devil races
were called TanarI and Baatezu respectively. They were portrayed as
more of an extraterrestrial threat than as stealers of souls. These
changes were reverted in the third edition of the game, where they
became Demons and Devils once more.
6. D&D Used To Include Hobbits, Ents, and Balrogs
Balrog from Lord of the Rings 15 Dark Secrets Behind Dungeons & Dragons
The creators of Dungeons & Dragons tried to downplay the significance
of Lord of the Rings in its inspiration for the game. This was clearly
a lie, as the early editions of the game featured several elements from
Lord of the Rings that were printed in books and sold at stores. In the
early version of Dungeons & Dragons, you could play as a hobbit and go
on adventures, where you could befriend Ents and battle against the
mighty Balrog.
It didnt take long for these Lord of the Rings elements to disappear.
A man named Saul Zaentz owned the rights to the Tolkien characters
usage in fiction and he took TSR to court. The case was settled out of
court, with future editions of Dungeons & Dragons changing the hobbits
to halflings, the ents to treants, and the balrogs to balors.
Saul Zaentz also tried to claim copyright over words such as dragon,
elf, and orc. These were determined to be in the public domain and were
not limited to Tolkiens work.
5. The Artwork For The Invisible Monster
Invisible Stalker Dungeons and dragons 15 Dark Secrets Behind Dungeons
& Dragons
The owners of Dungeons & Dragons have released numerous books known as
Monster Manuals. These books are filled with statistics for various
creatures that you can use in your game. The Monster Manuals are filled
with beautifully drawn illustrations of each creature, with the
intention of inspiring the DMs descriptions for the players benefit.
It is advised that people who wish to run a game of Dungeons & Dragons
should buy a Monster Manual as one of their first purchases.
One of the most infamous illustrations for a monster was in the
Monstrous Manual for the second edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.
The creature known as the Invisible Stalker just had a blank space
where its artwork should be. This makes sense because it is invisible,
but later versions of the Monster Manual managed to create visually
interesting interpretations of the Invisible Stalker to show in the
book.
4. The Curse Of Myth Drannor
Pools of Radiance Ruins of Myth Drannor 15 Dark Secrets Behind Dungeons
& Dragons
In the Forgotten Realms setting of Dungeons & Dragons, there is a
ruined elven city called Myth Drannor. It was once a beautiful place,
where magic was woven into the very air itself and all races were
welcome to stay. Myth Drannor would fall to the forces of evil and be
overrun by demons and monsters of all description. It is said that the
city is cursed, which is certainly true of the game that was based on
it.
Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor was released for Windows in
2001. It was poorly received at launch, due to the brutal difficulty of
the gameplay and for a large number of glitches. Ruins of Myth Drannor
shipped with what may be the most damaging video game glitch of all
time.
If you installed Ruins of Myth Drannor straight out of the box without
patching it, then you were in for a bad time. When you uninstalled the
game, it would delete the system files of your computer. If you wanted
to use that computer again, then you would have had to reinstall
Windows.
3. The Dawizard Done By Shoddy Editing
Dungeons and dragons Lich 15 Dark Secrets Behind Dungeons & Dragons
Microsoft Word and similar programs possess the greatest tool ever for
the indecisive. Lets say you wrote a five hundred page novel and the
main character is called Dave, what would happen if you wanted to
change his name to Jeff? You could manually go through all five hundred
pages and make the change yourself, or, you could select the
Find/Replace option. This will change all instances of Dave to Jeff in
a second.
If you do decide to use the Find/Replace tool, then make sure to put a
space before or after the word. The people at TSR learned this the hard
way in their 1994 book Advanced Dungeons & Dragons book Encyclopedia
Magica, Volume 1.
At some point during the development of Encyclopedia Magica, the
decision was made to change all instances of the word mage to
wizard. The problem was that the editor didnt put a space before the
word mage. This meant that all instances of the word damage now became
dawizard. A generation of gamers was forced to read their Encyclopedia
Magica in a Jamaican accent.
2. Fifty Shades Of Grey Elf
Book of Vile Darkness dungeons and dragons 15 Dark Secrets Behind
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons was often accused of some unsavory stuff during its
early years. There were religious organizations that claimed it was
teaching witchcraft to kids and lawyers were claiming that the game was
convincing unhinged teenagers to go out and murder people, in a manner
similar to the controversy over violent video games that would come
later. TSR was forced to tone down their product in order to keep the
game alive.
When Wizards of the Coast bought the rights to Dungeons & Dragons, they
embraced the games reputation by releasing a book that needed a
warning on its cover due to its objectionable content. This was the
Book of Vile Darkness and it detailed the evilest things that the
previous editions had been afraid to touch.
The Book of Vile Darkness covered subjects like sexual fetishes (though
it lists S&M as something that only evil people can enjoy). It also
dealt with the benefits of human sacrifice, the effects of torture, the
stats of the incestuous demon lords, and details for classes like the
Cancer Mage.
1. The DragonStrike VHS Tape
Dragonstrike 15 Dark Secrets Behind Dungeons & Dragons
It can be tricky to explain what a game of Dungeons & Dragons is like
to someone who has never seen one before. This isnt so much of a
problem now due to YouTube, but in the old days, you had to do your
best to explain what your group got up to every week without making
them sound like the Manson family.
In 1993, TSR released a simplified version of Dungeons & Dragons as a
board game. It was called DragonStrike, and it came with rule books,
miniature figures, and a selection of cardboard maps. DragonStrike also
came with a VHS tape that contained a thirty-minute movie which was
intended to show newcomers what a game of DragonStrike is actually
like.
For any Dungeons & Dragons who want to feel embarrassed about enjoying
their hobby, the DragonStrike tape is available online. If the
intention was to teach people about the game, then they failed
miserably. The tape tries to show the world of the game, whilst a group
of unseen players is trying to learn the rules. As the audience, we see
a troupe of z-list actors chewing the green screen scenery to pieces,
as they compete with stuntmen in cardboard monster outfits.
DragonStrike is still better than the Dungeons & Dragons movie though.
--
Dems & the media want Trump to be more like Obama, but then he'd
have to audit liberals & wire tap reporters' phones.
Dems & the media want Trump to be more like Obama, but then he'd
have to audit liberals & wire tap reporters' phones.