Peter Bebergal talks about his latest book, Appendix N: The Eldritch Roots of Dungeons and Dragons

Boing Boing contributor Peter Bebergal (Season of the Witch, Strange Frequencies) is one of my favorite articulators of the roleplaying game experience and how it ties into popular culture, theater, art, ritual, and enchantment. His latest book is Appendix N: The Eldritch Roots of Dungeons and Dragons, from the fine folks at Strange Attractor Press. — Read the rest
Tags: Post, News, Dungeons & Dragons, Peter Bebergal, Roleplaying Games, Peter Bebergal Season, Strange Attractor Press Read

How Dungeons & Dragons' Next Sourcebook Expands Its View of Horror

Ravenloft is one of Dungeons & Dragons’ most iconic settings—its go-to source for all things spooky and horrifying. But, as iconic as figures like Strahd Von Zarovich and the gothic lands of Barovia are, they’re only one flavor of horror the plane has to offer. A new D&D campaign sourcebook wants to open up new…Read more...
Tags: Science, Films, Dungeons Dragons, Vampire, Ravenloft, Horror fiction, Gothic fiction, Curse Of Strahd, Creative Works, English Language Films, Rise Blood Hunter, Strahd Von Zarovich, Rudolph Van Richten, Dungeons Dragons Campaign Settings, Wes Schneider

3D-printed Braille dice

The DOTSRPG Project started with a few friends looking to improve accessibility in tabletop gaming. From their Patreon: While DOTS started with a focus on accessibility for those who are fully blind, we have since branched out to start addressing many different topics. — Read the rest
Tags: Gaming, Post, News, DICE, Accessibility, Dice Games, Rpgs, Dungeons & Dragons, Dots, Dungeons And Dragons, Tabletop Games, Inclusion, Braille, Blindness, Tabletop Gaming, Roleplaying Games

More Rumors About Cara Dune's Uncertain Star Wars Future

The Dungeons & Dragons movie adds a Bridgerton star. Jordan Peele’s next horror movie is already attracting stars. Is there really hope for a new Gremlins movie? Plus, Zack Snyder wants his hands on Arthurian legend, and Ducktales reveals its farewell plans. To me, my spoilers!Read more...
Tags: Science, Films, Gremlins, Snowpiercer, Dungeons Dragons, Zack Snyder, Jordan Peele, Zach Galligan, Ducktales, Fortnite, The Mandalorian, Cara Dune, Creative Works, English Language Films, Entertainment Culture

‘Bridgerton’ Star Regé-Jean Page Joins ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Film

Regé-Jean Page has nabbed a leading role in the film adaptation of “Dungeons & Dragons,” Variety has confirmed. The fantasy adventure will be Page’s follow-up to his breakout role in Netflix’s “Bridgerton,” on which he causes hearts to flutter, corsets to loosen and generally monopolizes the lusts and affections of a broad swath of Regency-era […]
Tags: News, Netflix, Dungeons & Dragons, Regé Jean Page, Rege-Jean Page

A brief history of the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon

This 13-minute video does a great job of chronicling the emergence, rise, and fall of the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon of 1983-86. It answers such vexing questions as "Why were there never any toy spin-offs of the show?" and "Did the kids ever find their way back to our reality?"
Tags: Post, Video, News, Cartoons, Dungeons & Dragons, Tabletop Games, 1980s

First Time At The Table is an affordable way to setup your first remote D&D game (and learn how to play)

My friend Walt McGough is a fantastic playwright, whose 2018 show Non-Player Character plumbed the depths of geekdom with a compassionate riff on gamer culture. He's also a fantastic Dungeon Master, and an even better teacher. When we were both playwrights-in-residence together, he developed a workshop to teach the other playwrights how to use Dungeons & Dragons to expand their skills and repertoire as writers. — Read the rest
Tags: Gaming, Post, News, Rpgs, Dungeons & Dragons, RPG, Dungeons And Dragons, Role-playing Games, Tabletop Games, Tabletop Gaming, Roleplaying Games, Walt McGough, Table Top Gaming, This Rpg Kills Fascists, Dungeons And Dragons And Dudes, Fantasy Gaming

Dungeons & Dragons & Novels: Revisiting The Wyvern's Spur

The tale of the magically created sellsword and would-be assassin Alias and her boon companion, the saurial paladin Dragonbait, continues in the second volume of the Finder’s Stone trilogy—which, wait a minute…uh…doesn’t actually feature Alias or Dragonbait? At all. But I’ll tell you what The Wyvern’s Spur does…Read more...
Tags: Science, Fantasy, Finder, Dungeons Dragons, Speculative Fiction, Alias, Jeff Grubb, The Wyverns Spur, Song Of The Saurials, Kate Novak, The Order Of The Stick, Azure Bonds, Forgotten Realms Novels

The best and the worst things about 5th edition D&D

On this episode of Dungeon Craft, Professor DM goes through the five things in 5e D&D that he likes the most and likes the least. If you had to articulate such a list, what would you include? Image: YouTube
Tags: Post, Video, News, Dungeons & Dragons, Tabletop Games, Roleplaying Games, D&D 5e

"Muppetborn" homebrew Dungeons & Dragons rules let you add the Muppet race to your 5e campaign

This delightful monster sheet was designed by BJ Hypes, and covers pretty much everything you'd need to make your Muppets canon: MuppetbornFabric? Is that all I am to you? My blood may be colorful and glittery, but I bleed nonetheless. — Read the rest
Tags: Post, News, Muppets, D&d, The Muppets, Dungeons & Dragons, Dungeons And Dragons, BJ, Muppet, Roleplaying Games, Delightful Muppets, Dungeon Crafting, Creepy Ass Muppets, Fake Muppet Movies, 5e

Thomas Middleditch gives the perfect explanation for the allure of D&D

On a recent Late Late Show, host James Corden brings up D&D with his guest, Thomas Middleditch (Silicon Valley). Middleditch and his D&D group have just wrapped up a three year campaign and Corden asks how could a game of D&D go on for so long and why? — Read the rest
Tags: Post, Video, News, James Corden, Dungeons & Dragons, Thomas Middleditch, Tabletop Games, Corden, Thomas Middleditch Silicon Valley Middleditch

Putting more "grimdark" into your D&D

I am in the process of editing an awesome book on Grimdark (of the Warhammer 40,000 persuasion). For those who may not be aware, grimdark is any form of extremely dark, Gothic, and horror-inspired gaming. The term is derived from the Warhammer 40,000 tagline: "In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war." — Read the rest
Tags: Post, Video, Dungeons & Dragons, Horror Games, Roleplaying Games, Warhammer 40k

D&D's new Candlekeep Mysteries includes the first quest for adventurers in wheelchairs

Candlekeep Mysteries is an upcoming Dungeons & Dragons book featuring 17 new one-shot adventures, designed to be started and finished in a single 2-4 hour gaming session. Each of the quests begins with the discovery of a book that launches a mystery, and each one is written by a different creator or story designer, many of whom are working with Wizards of the Coast for the first time. — Read the rest
Tags: Post, News, Accessibility, Rpgs, Dungeons & Dragons, Disabilities, Dungeons And Dragons, Wizards, Disability Rights, Roleplaying Games, Disability representation, People With Disabilities, Rpg Gaming, D & D

New Dungeons & Dragons Book Will Be “Wheelchair Accessible”

The next book in the Dungeons & Dragons series of tabletop games will now be “wheelchair accessible”, yet another form of “representation” for those with low self-esteem and sure to regarded as absolutely preposterous by hardcore D&D players. The collection of 17 one-shot adventures will be called “Candlekeep Mysteries” and each one is deemed a […]
Tags: Games, Politics, Anime, Dungeons & Dragons, RPG

‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Series Adaptation in the Works From ‘John Wick’ Writer

Derek Kolstad, writer for the “John Wick” franchise, will write and develop a series pitch based around the popular game “Dungeons & Dragons,” Variety has confirmed. The game, which features dice, a dungeon master and an active use of the imagination, has encouraged fans across the world to host game nights and weave inventive stories of […]
Tags: News, Dungeons & Dragons, Dungeons And Dragons, John Wick, Derek Kolstad, Dungeons Dragons Variety

Wired's "Tech Support" video series

I really like a number of the YouTube series that Wired produces. One that I just discovered is called "Tech Support." But the support these techs render is not about computers. It's support for subjects as diverse as D&D to screenwriting to brain science. — Read the rest
Tags: Post, News, Education, Youtube, Aaron Sorkin, Neuroscience, Wired, Dungeons & Dragons, Q&a

New ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Movie Will Star Chris Pine

Hollywood’s latest attempt at a Dungeons & Dragons movie just got some star power: Chris Pine. Pine has closed a deal to appear in the fantasy film from writers-directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley (Game Night). There are no plot details at the moment, but the film will be based on the fantasy tabletop role-playing game that has captured the hearts and minds of nerds everywhere. Deadline has the scoop that Chris Pine will star in the Dungeons & Dragons movie from Hasbro, eOne,...
Tags: Hollywood, Movies, Casting, Joe Manganiello, Fantasy, Hasbro, Paramount Pictures, Chris Mckay, Dungeons & Dragons, Paramount, Jeremy Irons, Chris-Pine, Daley, Warner Bros Pictures, Goldstein, Jonathan Goldstein

Reviewer Insists Dungeons & Dragons Book Perpetuates “Racist” Stereotypes

A Dungeons and Dragons sourcebook known as “Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything” has been deemed racist by the usual suspects unable to tell fiction from reality. Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything is a sourcebook for the 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy tabletop game, published in the middle of November of this year. The book […]
Tags: Games, Politics, Racism, Anime, Dungeons & Dragons, RPG, Tasha

Star Trek: Discovery actors play D&D as a creative storytelling outlet

Actors Deborah Ann Woll (Daredevil, True Blood) and Joe Manganiello (True Blood, Justice League, Magic Mike) have talked about the value of actors playing D&D. Turns out, some of the cast of Discovery have discovered the same. — Read the rest
Tags: Post, News, Star Trek, Dungeons & Dragons, Mike, Deborah Ann Woll, Roleplaying

Tabletop gamer's gift guide for 2020

Looking for gifts for tabletop gamers? Here are some of my suggestions, based on games I've enjoyed this year… and games I would love to see under my Alcoa aluminum tree this year. What were some of your favorite games of 2020? — Read the rest
Tags: Post, News, Gift Guides, Dungeons & Dragons, Tabletop Games, Alcoa, Tabletop Gaming

A flick-through more weird and wonderful D&D zines

Last month, I posted about Ben at Questing Beast doing a live stream of him flicking through some of the many D&D zines that he gets sent. Here he is with another installment where he gives us a rather detailed tour through five zines.
Tags: Post, Video, News, Dungeons & Dragons, Ben, Zines, Tabletop Gaming, Old School Games

The history of 1970 polyhedral gaming dice

In this fascinating 25-minute video, game historian Jon Peterson (Playing at the World, Art and Arcana, Heroes' Feast) looks at the polyhedral gaming dice that were introduced in the 1970s and changed the way games were designed and played. — Read the rest
Tags: Post, Video, News, DICE, Dungeons & Dragons, Jon Peterson, Tabletop Gaming, Roleplaying Games

Read the authors that inspired Gary Gygax and the origins of D&D in Appendix N.

UK's Strange Attractor Press has just announced the release of the special hardback edition of Appendix N: The Eldritch Roots Of Dungeons & Dragons, by Boing Boing contributor Peter Bebergal. When I first heard about the idea behind this book, my immediate thought was: This is brilliant! — Read the rest
Tags: Post, UK, News, Fantasy, D&d, Dungeons & Dragons, Gary Gygax, Boing Boing, Peter Bebergal, Tabletop Gaming, Strange attractor press

Getting started in old school Dungeons & Dragons

In this Questing Beast video, Ben looks at a number of popular OSR (Old School Revival, Old School Renaissance, Old School Roleplaying) rulesets and touches on what distinguishes each. If you've seen references to rulebooks like Swords & Wizardry, Old-School Essentials, Troika! — Read the rest
Tags: Post, Video, News, Dungeons & Dragons, Ben, OSR, Tabletop Gaming, Old School Games

Exploring the weird and wonderful world of RPG zines

In case you are unaware, the roleplaying gaming world is not only going through a robust renaissance of interest, it has also led to an explosion in game-related zine publishing. There are thousands of zines covering 5e D&D, OSR (Old School Renaissance), RPGs in general, zine-based rules systems, zine-based adventures, dungeon crafting zines, you name it. — Read the rest
Tags: Post, Video, News, Dungeons & Dragons, Zines, Tabletop Gaming, Old School Games

Building a D&D Book Nook

In this latest episode of Black Magic Craft, Jeremy raises an interesting question. With all of the cool book nooks everyone has been making, where are the D&D nooks? As he points out, it's such a perfect and vast world to draw from. — Read the rest
Tags: Post, Video, News, Jeremy, Dungeons & Dragons, Book Nooks, Dungeon Crafting

Nine Principles of Good Dungeon Design for D&D

Ben, of the YouTube channel Questing Beast, is a very talented fantasy mapmaker and dungeon designer. In this video, he runs through nine principles he applies to dungeon design. These principles include everything from the basics, like making sure you have multiple entrances and exits and appropriate level challenges to thinking about what the dungeon originally was (an actual prison? — Read the rest
Tags: Post, Video, News, Youtube, Dungeons & Dragons, Game Design, Ben, Tabletop Gaming, Fantasy Cartography, Dungeons

This person has been running the same Dungeons & Dragons campaign for 38 years

Robert Wardhaugh is perhaps the most dedicated Dungeon Master in the world. He started a campaign in 1982 and never stopped. Around 60 people are currently playing The Game. "The only thing that's going to limit it, I suppose, is my lifespan," he says. (Below, listen to the Great Big Story podcast about Wardhaugh.) From…
Tags: Post, Games, News, D&d, Dungeons & Dragons, RPG, Robert Wardhaugh

How to launch and run a remote D&D game from quarantine, the Wirecutter way

Over at Wirecutter, my friend and colleague James Austin has a wonderful new guide that covers everything you need to run a remote/online Dungeons and Dragons campaign with your friends while still keeping a social distance from everything but goblins (it's always goblins). Most importantly, the article includes this wonderful passage: The real world is a pretty stressful place to exist in right now, but playing D&D with my family, even though we're stuck thousands of miles away from one anot...
Tags: Post, News, Rpgs, D&d, Dungeons & Dragons, Dungeons And Dragons, James Austin, Wirecutter, Online Gaming, Roleplaying Games, Roll For Initiative, Eldritch Warlock, Smugairle Rón, James Austin Wirecutter

Boldly Get Into Star Trek Adventures and Become a Sentient Gun in the Latest Gaming News

Welcome back to Gaming Shelf, io9's column all about board games, RPGs, and tabletop gaming news. There have been plenty of exciting announcements following the online-only GenCon 2020, along with some really intriguing new Kickstarter campaigns. These include new miniatures based on the Dungeons & Dragons wheelchair…Read more...
Tags: Science, Star Trek, Board Games, RPG, Warhammer, Dungeons Dragons, Tabletop Games, Altered Carbon, WHEELCHAIRS, Gaming Shelf, Star Trek Adventures