Once viewed with suspicion, Dungeons and Dragons now seen as creative fun
Dungeons and Dragons has greatly evolved over its 51 years of existence.
In its early stages, in the 1980s, it was misunderstood and grouped with “Satanist” activities. But even as its popularity, accessibility, and public perception have shifted over the decades between then and now, its core values have remained mostly the same.
This continuity amid the massive changes offers a view into how American culture has changed in the way it treats fantasy, community, and creativity.
Playing
At its core, Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is a tabletop role-playing game where players work together to tell a story. One person takes on the role of the Dungeon Master (DM), who serves as the narrator and referee. They describe the world and set up scenarios for the players to experience.
“Basically a video game, but instead of doing different inputs, it’s just dices,” said first-year Mason McGraw, the Dungeon Master of the TTRPG (Tabletop Role-Playing Game) club. “There are no visuals, just what you can picture in your mind.”
The other players create characters that they play as to experience the world created by the DM. The options available to the players are boundless, limited only by their imagination.
“D&D is a game that is very dependent on teamwork, even if you’re working against each other,” said sophomore Ava Doody, a member of the TTRPG club. “Whether or not you have a fun game is dependent on your DM and other players and whether they want to have fun with you.”
The game unfolds as the players become their characters using the character sheets they make for them. Character sheets track everything about the character, from their health to their abilities.
Players describe what they want to do, and the DM tells the story using this information and what they have built in the world. When success isn’t guaranteed, players roll dice to determine the outcome.
Individual sessions of D&D may only last a few hours, but a campaign can stretch from days to months or years. All that is needed for such an activity is paper, pencils, and dice. Miniatures, maps, or digital tools aren’t essential.
D&D is all about telling a story and, most of all, having fun with your friends and/or family.
Creation
D&D was created by American game designers Ernest Gary Gygax and David Arneson in 1974 and published that year by Gygax’s company, Tactical Studies Rules. The game was acquired in 1997 by Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc.
The game soared in popularity, which led to D&D-themed figurines, books, TV shows, and movies. D&D has gone through several editions, each offering basic changes and reflavoring, the most recent being Fifth Edition.
Story
While it was once widely frowned upon, D&D has become quite popular once again.
“When I was in high school, D&D was underground,” said Latin teacher and DND club advisor Johanna Beck. “People thought it was dark or anti-Christian.”
That stigma kept many players quiet, even as the game slowly built a loyal following. But attitudes have changed.
“Now, you can walk into a café and find a game,” Beck said. “It’s everywhere.”
The boom can be credited in part to Stranger Things and recent film adaptations that introduced the game to younger audiences and brought back nostalgic older players.
In the 1980s, D&D faced intense scrutiny from some conservative Christian groups, who viewed the game through a lens of moral panic.
“In the 1980s, in some conservative Christian groups, there was alarmism around satanic practices,” said chemistry teacher Naomi Dillner. “Somehow, DND was thought to be associated and was looked on negatively.”
Fueled by sensational media reports and a lack of understanding about the game’s fantasy elements, D&D became a symbol of cultural anxiety—a supposed gateway to occultism that led some parents to ban it outright.
Today, that perception has shifted significantly. Rather than being shunned, D&D is now embraced by many in faith communities as a positive force for youth engagement.
“Among Christian groups today, DND is seen as a good because young people are interacting face to face and building relationships,” said Dillner.
This reversal highlights how the game’s core mechanics—collaborative storytelling, empathy, and critical thinking—have become more visible and valued, even in spaces where it was once misunderstood.