Games
Chainmail
Considered
the precursor to D&D, a tabletop wargame created by Gary Gygax and Jeff
Perren. Each miniature on the table was a proxy for 20 of that type
of unit on the battlefield. Battle outcomes are decided by dice as
players battle across the table. According to Gygax, the inspiration
for D&D came when Arneston would play as a single miniature who was a hero
in a fantasy world ruled by “Chainmail” combat mechanics. [5] It
was re-released by Wizards of the Coast in 2003, and later became “D&D
Miniatures,” which Gilsdorf played in the basement of Pandemonium Games in
Cambridge, Massachusetts.
TSR Chainmail V3 rulebook
Dungeons
and Dragons
According
to the Wizards of the Coast website - “The first Dungeons
& Dragons game was played back when Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson
chose to personalize the massive battles of their fantasy wargames with the
exploits of individual heroes. This inspiration became the first fantasy
roleplaying game, in which players are characters in an ongoing fantasy story.
This new kind of game has become immensely popular over the years, and D&D
has grown to include many new ways to vividly experience worlds of heroic
fantasy.
The
core of D&D is storytelling. You and your friends may tell a story
together, guiding your heroes through quests for treasure, battles with deadly
foes, daring rescues, courtly intrigue, and much more. You can also explore the
many worlds of D&D through any of the hundreds of novels written by today's
hottest fantasy authors, as well as engaging board games and immersive video
games. All of these stories are part of D&D.” [1]
A
brief history - D&D was originally released in 1974 by TSR under the
assuming name of “The Fantasy Game.” The basic game, as well as its supplements
“Grewhawk,” “Blackmore,” “Eldritch Wizardry,” and “Gods, Demigods, and Heroes”
sold well. In 1978 D&D began to take on its current form with
the “Advanced Dungeons and Dragons.” The AD&D Players Handbook
is linked below. The game sold well, promoting TSR to the top of the
fantasy game industry. D&D produced many spin off product lines
including the Dragonlance book series and “Forgotten Realms,”
another campaign setting. In 1989, a second edition of D&D was
released, revision of the old the rules. TSR was purchased by
Wizards of the Coast (of Magic the Gathering fame) in 1997. They
released D&D version 3 in 2000, which simplified the game and created a
larger framework of rules. An update, known as 3.5 was released in
2003, it contained only small changes. The whole game was overhauled
for 4th edition in 2008 and a new version, “D&D Next” is slated for release
in 2014. [2][3][4]
D&D
played using paper, pencils, dice, and miniatures. Players explore a
world created and run by the DM (there are pre-made adventures from Wizards of
the Coast which still require a DM, but where’s the fun in
that?). As the DM tells the story, the players choose their actions
and the dice determine their level of success. Miniatures can be
used to give a more concrete layout of dungeons and combat situation, though
they are not necessary.
Magic
the Gathering
A
fantasy trading card game created by Richard Garfield and released by Wizards
of the Coast in 1993. With the release of the 78th set, Theros (Sept
2013), there are over 13,000 unique cards[6]. The game
can be played by two or more players. Players are ‘Planeswalkers,’
powerful mages who can control the flow of mana. Each deck contains
60 cards, which are either spells (which summon creatures, produce
enchantments, or have a one-time effect) or lands (which produce mana to play
spells). There are a few specific non-spell/land exceptions, but that’s beyond
the scope of this glossary. The goal is to bring all other player’s
‘Life Totals’ to zero using spells.
Warhammer
and Warhammer 40K
A
tabletop wargame in either a medieval setting (Warhammer) or the year 4000
(Warhammer 40K) created by Games Workshop. It is played on a flat
surface with armies of miniatures, tape measures and innumerable d6s to decide
combat. The goal is the wipe out all other player’s
armies. Both versions of Warhammer have many armies available for
players to choose from. Models are hand-painted by players, and many
consider this half the fun of playing.
Electronic
Games
EverQuest
A
MMORPG from Sony that was released in 1999. It was the most popular
RPG until 2004 when it was unseated by “World of Warcraft”[12]. It
takes place in the Land of Norrath and consists of standard RPG fare, elves, dragons
and dungeons. A new version of “EverQuest”, called “EverQuest Next”
is coming soon.[13] Its goal as a ‘next gen’ MMO is to
create a world that really can be influenced by player actions, including
destructible terrain.
Ultima
Online
A
MMORPG from Electronic Arts that has been around since 1997[12] and
is regarded as the first mainstream MMORPG. It is a very open world
that is not just about the high fantasy tropes of other popular MMORPGs.[11] Players
can choose what they do in world, whether that’s building up a home and a
business or going on the more normal quests and dungeoneering.
Warcraft
and Starcraft
Two
RTS (real time strategy, the electronic version of games like Chainmail and
Warhammer) games created by Blizzard Entertainment. Warcraft takes
place in the same universe as World of Warcraft and is its predecessor, while
Starcraft is set in a futuristic human colony. The goal in the games
is to destroy other player’s bases with units that range from cheap
foot-soldiers to expensive super units like dragons and
battlecruisers. Each player gather resources from the map which are
used to build buildings and units.
World
of Warcraft
A
MMORPG created by Blizzard Entertainment in which players control a single
character at a time as they adventure through the land of
Azeroth. Once the most popular online game (recently lost that title
to League of Legends with 32 million active players[8]), WoW
currently has around 7 million active players[7] (though around
70 million people have played it since it’s release in
2004). Players may choose from 13 different races and 11 classes for
their avatar. The game encourages group play with instanced dungeons
and raids meant to be completed by parties of 5 to 40 people depending on the
challenge level. Since 2004 there have been four expansions, each
one adding new territory to explore with new races, classes, and monsters to
fight.
League
of Legends and Defense of the Ancients 2
Though
never mentioned in Gilsdorf’s book, LoL and DotA 2 merit mention as the next
big thing in online gaming. Both are Multiplayer Online Battle
Arenas (MOBAs), like D&D came from one-character focused games of
Chainmail, MOBAs were born of single character play in Warcraft (DotA 1 is a game
mode within Warcraft III). In them, players control a single hero,
part of a team (5 players in the default game mode) that seeks to destroy the
enemy’s base. Each character has unique abilities that they use to
fight other players and monsters. There are approximately 32 million
players in LoL[8] and 6 million for DotA 2[9].
Books
The
Chronicles of Narnia
A
seven-book children’s fantasy series with major Christian themes written by
C.S. Lewis in the 1950s. This series concerns the adventures of
children in the magical land of Narnia which children from earth stumble upon
and help its creator, Aslan the lion, save the world from some
evil. The seven books are in the progress of being turned into
movies by Disney and 20th Century Fox, as of this writing, The Lion the
Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, and The Voyage of the Dawn
Treader have been completed and The Silver Chair is
rumored for release in 2015.
Harry
Potter
Harry
Potter is
a 7 book fantasy series written in the 1990-2000s by J.K. Rowling. It
follows the adventures of Harry Potter, a young wizard as he leaves the
non-magical (muggle) world to study at Hogwarts, a school for
wizards. He soon realizes that he’s famous among wizard-folk because
as a baby he survived a spell that instantly kills its target. The
wizard who cast the spell, Lord Voldemort, was severely injured by the rebound,
but regains strength over the course of the series leading to a climactic
confrontation between he and Harry Potter. The books were adapted
into a 8 movie series released 2001-2011[10]. In 2013 it
was revealed that there would be a TV show set in the world of Harry
Potter entitled “Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them” which will be
written by J.K Rowling.
Pottermore- The website for all things
Harry Potter
Lord
of the Rings, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion
Perhaps
the most read and most beloved fantasy series today. These books,
written by J.R.R Tolkien in the mid 20th century, take place in the fantasy
world of Arda (which Middle Earth is but a small part of). The
Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy tell the
story of The One Ring, once used by the evil lord Sauron, but was lost in the
distant past, only to be found again by the simple hobbit, Bilbo Baggins
in The Hobbit. The wizard Gandalf enlists Frodo Baggins,
Bilbo’s nephew to destroy the ring. The Lord of the Rings follows
the adventure Frodo and his multi-racial fellowship in their journey across
Middle Earth to destroy the One Ring. The Silmarillion is
a collection of stories that tells the history of Arda up to the time of The
Hobbit. The Lord of the Rings and The
Hobbit were both made into major movie franchises in the early 21st
century directed by Peter Jackson.
TheOneRing.net - a major fansite
Movies
Star
Wars
Lucasfilm’s
6 (soon to be 9, thanks to Disney) film space epic released in three blocks
(4-6 released 1977-1983, 1-3 released 1999-2005 and 7 will be released in 2015
with 8 and 9 following)[14]. The movies, along with the
extended universe of books and video games tells the story of the Jedi order, a
group of warrior-sages who have a connection with a magical power that
permeates the universe called ‘The Force.’ It is one of the highest
grossing franchises of all time (Behind only the 24-installment James
Bond)[15].
Fanfiction
An
expansion of the original work by fans. Thanks to the internet, these
have exploded in number and popularity. One of the most common themes of
fanfictions is non-canon relationships between characters, known as shipping
(famously 'Darry,' or Draco and Harry from Harry Potter).
Sources
[1]
“New to D&D?”, Wizards of the Coast. Web. 6 Oct.
2013.
[2]
“The History of TSR”, Wizards of the
Coast. 2003. Web. 6 Oct. 2013.
[3] Grabianowski, Ed, “Deluxe Reissues Take
You Deep Into Dungeons and Dragons History”. iO9.com. 29 Apr.
2013. Web. 6 Oct. 2013.
[4]
“Dungeons and Dragons”, Lybetry.com. May 2005. Web.
6 Oct. 2013.
[5]
Veronese, Keith, “Discover Chainmail, Gary Gygax's Dungeons
& Dragons Prototype” iO9.com. 31 Aug.
2012. Web. 6 Oct. 2013.
[6] “List
of Magic Sets”. Wikipedia.org. 3 Oct.
2013. Web. 6 Oct. 2013.
[7]
Zhu, Kent, “How Many People Still Playing WoW 2013?”. SanRamon
Patch. 29 Jan. 2013. Web. 6 Oct. 2013.
[8]
“League of Legends has 32 Million Monthly Active Players”. Destructoid.com. 10
Dec. 2012. Web. 6 Oct. 2013.
[9]
dota2.com number of players tracker. Web. 6 Oct. 2013
[10]
“The Harry Potter Movies in Chronological Order by Date of Release”
IMDB.com. 9 May 2011. Web. 27 Oct. 2013.
[11]
“Welcome to Britiannia” uo.com 2013. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.
[12]
“RPG Evolution” University of Florida Interactive Media Lab Web. 28 Oct. 2013.
[13]
Bailey, Kat. “EverQuest Next is Real, and it’s Amazing”
ign.com. 8 Oct. 2013. Web. 28 Oct.
2013.
[14]
“Star Wars Episode IX Connections” IMDB.com. Web. 28 Oct.
2013.
[15]
Levy, Jake. “The Highest Grossing Movie Franchises”
Buzzfeed.com. 27 June. 2013 Web. 28
Oct. 2013.
By
Erik Poppleton
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