<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

Dungeons & Dragons was originally published in 1974 by the company TSR (Tactical Studies Rules) and is often referred to as the grandfather of the roleplaying game industry. D&D blends communal storytelling with traditional tabletop wargames, in a fantasy setting that owes a great deal to J. R. R. Tolkien's magnum opus, The Lord of the Rings.

A group of players create characters that they bring to each gaming session. A Dungeon Master (DM) presides over play--setting up the adventure, narrating the story, determining the outcome of rules questions, and controlling the monsters and non-player-characters that the characters encounter. The characters are initially defined by their race (elf, halfling, human, and so on), and character class (paladin, rogue, priest, and so on), with their game statistics (stamina, agility, charisma, and so on) provided by dice rolls.