'Dungeons & Dragons' makes a resurgence

A band of misfits treks through the woods alongside a river. Escorting a cart, they head south along a high road. As they press forward, four goblins creep out of the thickets, weapons drawn.

Rambo, a rogue Halfling, is startled. He notches an arrow with his short bow and attempts to shoot one of the snarling creatures. He misses. Realizing his partner is overwhelmed, a human fighter named Sora unsheathes his longsword. In one swift motion, he decapitates a goblin.

Captivated?

That was just the beginning of an adventure from the creative minds of five people playing the decades-old game Dungeons & Dragons one recent Wednesday evening at Fallout Comics on Apalachee Parkway, not far from Best Buy in the Gulf Wind Shopping Center. The aroma of hot out of the oven Hungry Howie's pizza from across the street filled the store as they prepared for battle.

D&D has been around since the late 1970s. For years, players and dungeon masters (the guides of the game) have taken on grand adventures with nothing more than their imaginations and a handful of polyhedral dice. Recently, the game has seen a spike in popularity with the release of the fifth edition in 2014.

“I compare it more to a band who puts out a new album,” said Tim Nickle, a 50-year-old veteran player and Dungeon Master who works for the state. “There’s a surge for the band’s music, but the band never left. They were always touring and on the radio.”

About the game

The game is set in an imaginary world based loosely on medieval myth. It was created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson and published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. Currently, the game is published by Wizards of the Coast — now a subsidiary of the American multinational, Hasbro, one of the largest toymakers in the world.

According to Wizards of the Coast, a big reason for the game’s success is it strays from traditional “wargaming” by assigning players a personalized character to play instead of a military formation. Characters then set out on fantasy based adventures within a mythical setting.

Each campaign is led by a Dungeon Master or DM who is both referee and storyteller. A DM also provides the setting for the players' fictional characters, creates goals for the characters to accomplish, and fills any secondary roles needed for the quest.

D&D is light on equipment. The essentials? The rulebooks, a character sheet for each player and a number of polyhedral dice. Rulebooks cost between $25 and $50 while a standard set of seven dice costs about $7.

Reason for Surge

One reason audiences are embracing the fifth edition is its reader and player friendliness. Past editions of the rulebook were plagued by small text and other documents, which players found condescending and confusing. With the fifth edition, Wizards of the Coast decided to return D&D to its story-based roots.

Many players also credit their interest in the game to their love for fantasy video games, books, films, and television shows. They realize that many characters and themes in pop culture originated from D&D.

Thanks to online gaming networks like Geek and Sundry, a collection of shows and properties that celebrates tabletop gaming and role-playing, the game has been able to reach an audience it couldn’t before.

New generation D&D 

The 40-year-old tabletop game isn't just attracting adults. At Cobb Middle School, once a week a group of students transforms a classroom into a D&D lair. For many of the club members, D&D was a new adventure.

“My first time playing D&D was last year when my older brother started this club,” said Evan Treadwell, a seventh-grader and DM. “It’s fun. We even have a family game going on at home.”

D&D club members enjoy boundless opportunities they say traditional video games don't offer. From a session of exploring the goblin caves to an encounter with terrorizing dragon-like creatures, players are at liberty to freely go wherever the story leads them.

“D&D is not like a video game where you are limited,” said Cayden Read, another seventh grader and D&D club member. “You have quite a variety of options to choose from that you can’t really get in a video game.”

Many of the members didn't know each other before they joined the club, but after explorations in the goblin caves and encounters with a terrorizing mythical creature, the players have become good friends.

Club adviser and language arts teacher Day Harrington, who grew up playing, loves the effect the game has had on the students.

“It is cool they can get together and play,” she said. “These can be tough years, so having that outlet can really make a difference.”

Old-school D&D 

Under the low overhead lights of Fallout Comics, players meet every Wednesday to continue the tradition of tabletop games.

“For me it is kind of cooperative storytelling,” said Marc Thomas, a 40-year-old D&D club member and graphic designer at Florida State. “I like to tell long drawn out stories and jokes. With this game, you can kind of do that.”

Originally the game was open to the public, but due to the large numbers of interested participants, the club had to become private. The comic bookstore, covered wall to wall with comics dating back as far as the 1950s, has become a second home and extended family to many of the club members.

“It is nice to get together with a group of people who all have a common interest,” said 30-year-old Jason Rhodes, a D&D club member in his thirties who work for the state. “It started out as a group of strangers but has become a group of friends.”

Contact Janeil Jackson at jnjackson@tallahassee.com or follow @jnjackson_TD on Twitter.