Dungeons & Dragons related products

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The Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game has spawned many related products, including films and videogames.

Contents

[edit] Magazines

Dragon Magazine, #342 (Paizo, 2006)
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Dragon Magazine, #342 (Paizo, 2006)

In 1975, TSR began publishing The Strategic Review. At the time, roleplaying games were still seen as a sub-genre of the wargaming industry, and the magazine was designed not only to support Dungeons & Dragons and TSR's other games, but also to cover wargaming in general. In short order, however, the popularity and growth of Dungeons & Dragons made it clear that the game had not only separated itself from its wargaming origins, but had launched an entirely new industry unto itself. The following year, after only seven issues, TSR cancelled The Strategic Review and replaced it in 1976 with The Dragon (later Dragon Magazine). Although Dragon Magazine was originally designed to support the roleplaying industry in general, it has always been primarily a house organ for TSR's games with a particular focus on D&D. Most of the magazine's articles provide supplementary material for the game, including new races, classes, spells, traps, monsters, skills, and rules. Other articles will provide tips and suggestions for players and DMs. The magazine has also published a number of well-known, gamer-oriented comic strips over the years, including Wormy, SnarfQuest, Yamara, Knights of the Dinner Table, Nodwick, Dork Tower, and The Order of the Stick.

In 1986, TSR launched a new magazine to complement Dragon. Dungeon Adventures, published bimonthly, published nothing but adventure modules for Dungeons Masters. While Dungeon now publishes other kinds of material as well, Dungeons & Dragons adventures remain its main focus.

Although many other magazines have partially or fully devoted themselves to supporting Dungeons & Dragons, Dragon and Dungeon remain the only two official publications for the game. In 2002, Wizards of the Coast licensed the two magazines to Paizo Publishing.

[edit] Films and TV

A popular Dungeons & Dragons animated television series was produced in 1983. The cartoon was based upon the concept of a small group of young adults and children who get transported to a D&D-based fantasy realm by riding a magical roller coaster. When they arrive, they are given potent magical weapons and must survive against the chromatic dragon Tiamat and a power-hungry nemesis called Venger. They are assisted in each episode by a gnome-like creature called Dungeon Master and a baby unicorn named "Uni".

A Dungeons & Dragons movie was released in 2000. Dungeons & Dragons 2: Wrath of the Dragon God, a made-for-TV sequel, was first aired on the Sci-Fi Channel on October 8th, 2005, and was released on February 7, 2006 on DVD. (This sequel is also known by the alternate title Dungeons & Dragons 2: The Elemental Might.)

In 2003, a computer animated motion picture entitled Scourge of Worlds: A Dungeons & Dragons Adventure was produced for DVD, featuring the iconic characters (Regdar, Mialee, and Lidda) created for the 3rd Edition. This is an interactive movie that asks viewers to decide what actions the heroes should take at crucial points in the story, allowing hundreds of different story-telling combinations. A special edition was released later that included even more choices, two additional endings, the making of the Scourge of Worlds, and the original (linear) version of film.

[edit] Computer and video games

Seventy-three unique digital games had been released and sold under the D&D license as of May 2006. Almost half of these games were published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI). Most, but not all, are computer role-playing games that use rules derived from some version of the D&D rules. Many of the games were released on multiple platforms, including programmable computers, consoles, and handheld devices (including mobile phones). Notable titles include:

Baldur's Gate (1998), a computer role-playing game based on Dungeons & Dragons
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Baldur's Gate (1998), a computer role-playing game based on Dungeons & Dragons

For a full list of licensed D&D digital games, see List of Dungeons & Dragons computer and video games.

[edit] Novels

Several hundred novels have been published based upon Dungeons & Dragons.

  • Fantasy Grand Master Andre Norton's novel Quag Keep, published in 1978, was set in Greyhawk, making it the first novel to use a D&D campaign setting.
  • Throughout the early 1980s, TSR printed several series of "Choose Your Own Adventure"-style novels under the Endless Quest, Super Endless Quest, Heart Quest Books, and 1 on 1 Adventure Gamebooks trademarks. Most of these books were based on D&D, although some were based on other TSR role-playing games.
  • The Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, published in 1984, were the first major novels published by TSR.
  • D&D creator Gary Gygax's series of Gord the Rogue novels, published from 1985 to 1988, was set in his Greyhawk campaign setting.
  • Author R. A. Salvatore wrote a number of books based in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, including 17 that feature his famed character Drizzt Do'Urden.
  • In addition there were several books published under the generic Dungeons & Dragons heading. They are as follows.

[edit] 2nd Edition Novels

[edit] Dragon Strike

[edit] Iconic Character

[edit] Knights of the Silver Dragon

[edit] Penhaligon

[edit] Comics

Tempest's Gate: Born of Fire by Sean Smith (Kenzer & Co., 2001)
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Tempest's Gate: Born of Fire by Sean Smith (Kenzer & Co., 2001)

During the 1980s and 1990s, DC Comics published several licensed D&D comics, including Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, and Spelljammer. Also during the 80s, one-page "mini-comics" appeared as advertisements in both Marvel and DC publications, always ending with "To Be Continued..."

After the release of the 3rd Edition, KenzerCo, better known for the popular gaming comic Knights of the Dinner Table, secured the licensing rights to produce official D&D comics. Using the license, they produced a number of different mini-series. One notable mini-series for this comic line entitled Tempest's Gate was authored by Sean Smith. It featured memorable iconic characters of D&D such as Zed Kraken, a powerful and influential magus.[1]

In 2002, Iron Hammer Graphics published the single-issue comic Vecna: Hand of the Revenent. In 2005, the license passed to Devil's Due Productions. Starting in June of that year, Devil's Due began releasing official adaptations of D&D tie-in novels, starting with Salvatore's Dark Elf Trilogy.

As webcomics grew, many were created around the idea of D&D, some of them even going as far as publishing actual books. Amongst the more popular ones are Rich Burlew's The Order of the Stick and Tarol Hunts's Goblins. The game has also been seen in several FoxTrot comic strips over the years played by Jason and his best friend Marcus. Some comics, such as Commissioned, are based around a D&D gaming group, and follows their games (although the comics often move into other settings in later strips). Commissioned also contains an ongoing series, "The Adventures of Elf, Dwarf and Weretiger", which follows a D&D campaign played out by the usual characters of the comic.

[edit] Board games

Several board games have been sold either under the Dungeons & Dragons trademark or in association with it:

  • Dungeon! (1975), a board game published by TSR, featured similar gameplay and genre tropes to D&D and was frequently advertised in D&D products.
  • Dungeons & Dragons Computer Labyrinth Game (1980) This was the first computer/board game hybrid and the first D&D licensed game that contained digital electronics.
  • Quest for the Dungeonmaster (1984)
  • Dragons of Glory (1986)
  • Dragon Lance (1988)
  • Mertwig's Maze (1988) by Tom Wham [2]
  • The New Dungeon (1989)
  • The New Dungeon Miniatures and Game Supplement (1989)
  • Magestones (1990)
  • Greyhawk Wars (1991)
  • Dragon Quest (1992)
  • The New Easy to Master Dungeons & Dragons (1991) This game is in a way an introduction to RPG but is played as a board game. Three expansions were released for it: Dragon's Den, Haunted Tower, Goblin's Lair.
  • The Classic Dungeon (1992)
  • DragonStrike (1993) used a simplified form of D&D and included an instructional video tape in which costumed actors, combined with computer-generated imagery, played the characters and monsters from the board game.
  • Introduction to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1995) An introductory board version of the AD&D system via basic scenarios played with miniatures (plastic, included), and a campy/nifty CD for both ambiance and automated DM instructions.
  • Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Game (2000) Based upon the roleplaying system D&D here we have a typical dungeon crawl game.
  • Dungeons & Dragons Clue (2001) Standard Clue with a D&D fantasy theme and optional wandering monsters.
  • Dungeons & Dragons Fantasy Adventure Boardgame (2002) Cooperative dungeon crawl game in which a party of four heroes strives to complete adventures that the Dungeon Master puts before them (In the Style of HeroQuest). Two expansions have been released for this game:
    • Eternal Winter (2004)
    • Forbidden Forest (2005)
  • Dungeons & Dragons Basic Game (2004 & 2006) A simplified version of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, designed as an introduction to roleplaying, but is in essence a boardgame in the style of presentation.

[edit] Software

  • Advanced Dungeons & Dragons CD-ROM Core Rules (1996) – Collection of tools for players (ISBN 0-7869-0602-2)
  • Core Rules CD-ROM 2.0 (1998) – Collection of tools for players (ISBN 0-7869-0793-2)
  • Core Rules 2.0 EXPANSION (1999) – Updates for Core Rules CD-ROM 2.0 (ISBN 0-7869-1543-9)
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