Innovative storytelling techniques and immersive worldbuilding in today’s popular series and films reflect the enduring legacy of a game that has captivated imaginations for decades.
Created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson and first published by Tactical Studies Rules (TSR) in January 1974, Dungeons & Dragons quickly gained popularity, selling about a thousand copies just in its first year and tripling that amount by the following year, instantly establishing itself as the pioneer of modern role-playing games. Yet, its first burst of massive popularity happened in the early 1980s, when it quickly became entangled with pop culture. Unfortunately, the catalytic Satanic Panic saw its paranoical rise during that same decade.
The game’s fantasy elements, like spells and monsters, gave rise to religious groups that falsely linked the game to real-life Satanism practices. This led TSR to change the game, removing demons and other supernatural creatures and classes like The Assassin and Monk. Still, the 2nd edition also saw the introduction of popular classes like the Paladin and the Druid. Despite this exaggerated controversy and drastic changes, just like its Satanic Panic co-victim Metal music. Dungeons & Dragons saw a huge rise in sales and popularity all across the 80s, with some even considering the decade as a Golden Age for the tabletop game.
The year 2024 marked the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons. Through those 50 years, this tabletop game has left its influence on countless Films and TV shows, both in the fantasy genre as well as outside of it. From the beloved ‘Stranger Things’ to the massively popular ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ series, Dungeons & Dragons has been a massive building block for many industries, including the modern entertainment industry.
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A Profound Tabletop
By far one of the most compelling aspects of Dungeons & Dragons is deep character creation that requires an intense player-character connection. This intimate player interaction allows for more realistic characters with detailed backstories and complex motivations that evolve as the campaign progresses. Although this type of interaction is virtually impossible in Cinema, many writers and creators have drawn from the game’s intricate creation mechanics to develop more interesting and complete characters.
A great example of this is the fan-loved character Íñigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin) in ‘The Princess Bride’ his single quest to avenge his father’s death alongside his exceptional abilities with the sword and preference for stealth make him a perfect contender for the Rogue class. Yet despite his personal vendetta, he is portrayed as a cheerful and pleasant character who is loyal to his companions, allowing the character to feel more well-rebounded, more human.
Dungeons & Dragons’ influence is not just restricted to the Fantasy genre. This is well portrayed in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s 2015 Survival Western film ‘The Revenant’. The historical character Hugh Glass perfectly embodies the Ranger class. Rangers are expert hunters who center themselves on survivalism and isolation to protect civilization from the dangers of the wild. The so-called Warriors of The Wilderness are astonishing trackers designed for exploration. Hugh Glass not only shows expertise in the core ranger archetypes but also shows the resilience and guts that are absolutely needed for a character in such class. Despite his once desire for retribution against those who left him for death he still showed forgiveness once he found them despite the both physical and mental trauma that action caused him, different from ‘Man in the Wilderness’ Glass’ character is portrayed with a moral ambiguity and a deep existential struggle that gives his story multiple extra layers of humanity.
Characters like these showcase the benefits of inspiration and influence when it comes to character development and improvement, reminding us how important a deeper connection between creator and creation can be in order to build more complex personalities that are grounded in reality.
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The Immersion at Its Fullest
A core aspect of Dungeons & Dragons is its remarkable reliance on worldbuilding, Whether a campaign happens within the default setting of The Forgotten Realms or a homebrew custom world. The game lets players dive into the shoes of their characters and experience rich vibrant worlds with deep lore and history. This strong attention to worldbuilding has well into the worlds of the entertainment industry.
The world shown in ’Rick & Morty’ greatly displays this. Thanks to its infinite number of dimensions and immense universe, audiences are able to experience multiple worlds and realities that foster unique cultures and rich inhabitants. This amazingly mirrors the vast realm that is The Forgotten Realms. The game’s influence is more obvious in parody episodes like ‘Meeseeks and Destroy’ or ‘Claw and Hoarder: Special Ricktim’s Morty’ where The Smiths find themselves surrounded by more fantastical elements and worlds. Dan Harmon is known as a devoted D&D player and that is visible in his work as seen in his 2016 series ‘HarmonQuest’.
When creating ‘Gravity Falls’ lore, Alex Hirsch had various inspirations and influences including many classic mythologies and folklores. The show’s small town is filled with dozens of creatures and anomalies, so much so that they fill three full 2-lb journals. Some Dungeons & Dragons creatures themselves are based upon mythological creatures from around the world, yet what the game is widely known for is creating quite some absurd and weird beings like The Intellect Devourer which resembles brains with four clawed, bestial legs, or the Giant Space Hamster. This is what Hirsch drew the most inspiration from when creating his creatures, blending classical creatures with a flair of absurd creativity that is prevalent in D&D’s monsters.
For a world to function properly, no matter if fictional or not, it has to have a set of rules, physics, and lore to follow. If not it feels dull and unexciting. Even though it wasn’t the first to do so, Dungeons & Dragons opened the doors for an unparalleled level of complexity and depth in world creation creating a world where the characters were integral participants in shaping the world and its story rather than just being names in the pages of its history. Inspiring creators across multiple mediums.
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When Lines Aren’t Needed
Dungeons & Dragons is known for its player-driven narrative that popularized the concept of blending linear and non-linear storytelling. The Dungeon Master creates a framework with a central story with a set beginning and ending, but Dungeons & Dragons is a game centered on improvisation and collaboration where luck plays a powerful role through dice rolls.
A player never truly knows if a roll is going to be successful, and a Dungeon Master will never be prepared for an unexpected out-of-hand decision or interaction by a player, lending itself to an always-changing narrative that allows for a profound immersion within a structured story. Narratives like such create a more versatile story that flows alongside a rollercoaster rather than following a straight path. The world of entertainment has borrowed this concept and adapted it for its benefits.
Shows like ‘Adventure Time’ or ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ that follow with more episodic formats are good examples of this. Each episode is an individual adventure, yet they are part of an overarching story where characters interact with each other and their environments, the world shifts based on those interactions and decisions.
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Despite this sort of format being more prevalent on shows, there is a film that I believe perfectly encapsulates a Dungeons & Dragons campaign, from the always-changing narrative to the absurdist humor and situations that happen every so often. ‘Monty Python And The Holy Grail’ has a diverse cast of characters each with their own journey, they have unconventional absurd encounters like The Killer Rabbit or Knights who say ‘Ni!. Despite the story having a clear objective of finding the legendary Holy Grail, the party often finds themselves in countless meaningless side quests.
Over the past 50 years, Dungeons & Dragons has not only played an important role in its players’ lives, but it has left a long-lasting influence on the storytelling world as a whole. No matter what the medium is music, video games, literature, film, or television, Dungeons & Dragons has played a pivotal role in it in one way or another.
By Mario Martinez Ignacio
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Mario Martinez Ignacio is a writer from Mexico City. As a child, he spent most of his free time deep-diving into online wikis, which sparked a passion for lore and worldbuilding. Driven by his love for writing, Mario obtained a BFA in Dramatic Writing at the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2024. With the objective of inspiring others, he fuses writing and education to create narratives that entertain while igniting curiosity and fostering new perspectives, one word at a time.
Mario Martinez Ignacio is a writer from Mexico City. As a child, he spent most of his free time deep-diving into online wikis, which sparked a passion for lore and worldbuilding. Driven by his love for writing, Mario obtained a BFA in Dramatic Writing at the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2024. With the objective of inspiring others, he fuses writing and education to create narratives that entertain while igniting curiosity and fostering new perspectives, one word at a time.
