Ritual of Dungeons and Dragons
Ritual Assignment- Storytelling, Myth & Legend
Kelsey Dahlberg
Thesis Statement:
In this essay I will explore the ideas of luck, control by consent, unpredictability and the illusion of skill present in the ritual of the game Dungeons and Dragons, and why they are so prevelant in this ritual.
The game of Dungeons and Dragons is a popular fantasy roleplaying game created in 1974. The ideas of luck, control by consent, unpredictability and the illusion of skill are all very prevelant throughout the ritual, particularly in dice rolling and in the role of the Dungeon Master.
These ideas have come about through the beliefs and needs of the players themselves, so by further investigating why these constructs are so present in the ritual we may be able to make some educated assumptions about the types of people attracted to these dice games.
Players of Dungeons and Dragons in particular already have a desire to believe in more than just reality, which is very obvious by the way in which they try to affect the 'luck' of their dice and therefore have more control over the outcomes.
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy roleplaying game made by the company Wizards of the Coast, and has gained huge popularity throughout the world since it was first created in 1974. Players create characters by selecting from the many choices of races, classes, backgrounds, religions, weapons, and many other factors such as height and weight, to special abilities that allow the character to become more specialised. The characters also each have a basic set of basic abilities such as acrobatics, diplomacy, intimidation, perception, and many more. These are used during the game to aid in 'checks' to see if the player can successfully complete actions such as unpicking locks, checking for traps, climbing walls, etc. This is done by rolling a die and adding the appropriate ability stat to the roll. How skilled a character is in each of these abilities is decided randomly either by the
Kelsey Dahlberg
Thesis Statement:
In this essay I will explore the ideas of luck, control by consent, unpredictability and the illusion of skill present in the ritual of the game Dungeons and Dragons, and why they are so prevelant in this ritual.
The game of Dungeons and Dragons is a popular fantasy roleplaying game created in 1974. The ideas of luck, control by consent, unpredictability and the illusion of skill are all very prevelant throughout the ritual, particularly in dice rolling and in the role of the Dungeon Master.
These ideas have come about through the beliefs and needs of the players themselves, so by further investigating why these constructs are so present in the ritual we may be able to make some educated assumptions about the types of people attracted to these dice games.
Players of Dungeons and Dragons in particular already have a desire to believe in more than just reality, which is very obvious by the way in which they try to affect the 'luck' of their dice and therefore have more control over the outcomes.
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy roleplaying game made by the company Wizards of the Coast, and has gained huge popularity throughout the world since it was first created in 1974. Players create characters by selecting from the many choices of races, classes, backgrounds, religions, weapons, and many other factors such as height and weight, to special abilities that allow the character to become more specialised. The characters also each have a basic set of basic abilities such as acrobatics, diplomacy, intimidation, perception, and many more. These are used during the game to aid in 'checks' to see if the player can successfully complete actions such as unpicking locks, checking for traps, climbing walls, etc. This is done by rolling a die and adding the appropriate ability stat to the roll. How skilled a character is in each of these abilities is decided randomly either by the