Roll to Hit

An Unofficial History of Dungeons and Dragons

Harry Slater

• Publisher: White Owl
• eBook ISBN:
  9781036121075
• Year: 2025

"It might be unauthorized, but this book sure is comprehensive. This isn't just a book about a game. The author focuses on the people who created it and expanded it over the decades as well as the people whose contributions have been hidden in the shadows. A richly detailed, exciting, and frequently surprising history." -Booklist

Roll to Hit: An Unofficial History of Dungeons and Dragons is a deep dive into the story behind the world's most popular tabletop roleplaying game. From its humble beginnings in a basement in a house in a small town in Wisconsin, through the Satanic Panic and the boom and bust of the 90s, all the way to a modern resurgence that has seen the game become a true pop-culture phenomenon, the book tells the tale of the people who have shaped D&D through every step of its development. But more than that, it's a story of leaps of imagination, of shocking circumstances and tragedies, of conflicts and comings-together both on the table and off. From HG Wells playing with toy soldiers to multi-million dollar movie deals, from early war simulations to crazy homebrew campaigns, the book explores the history of D&D and asks why, even after all this time, its name remains a shorthand for the tabletop roleplaying experience. As Dungeons & Dragons reaches its fiftieth birthday, and with the game is as popular as it's ever been, regular players, old school gamers and newcomers are going to find something here to excite and entice. After all, without them, without the players, there'd be no Dungeons & Dragons at all.

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Foreword Roll for Initiative
• Chapter 1 A Brief Pre-History of Tabletop RPGs
• Chapter 2 Gygax and Arneson
• Chapter 3 The Original
• Chapter 4 Inspirations (and Lawsuits)
• Chapter 5 Advancing the Game
• Chapter 6 Don’t Panic! (Everyone Panics)
• Chapter 7 Home Brewing
• Chapter 8 Second Edition
• Chapter 9 Cartoon Time
• Chapter 10 Takeovers
• Chapter 11 Across the Multiverse
• Chapter 12 Third Edition
• Chapter 13 Open, Then Ajar
• Chapter 14 Fourth Edition
• Chapter 15 Pathfinder
• Chapter 16 Computing Power
• Chapter 17 Fifth Edition
• Chapter 18 Stranger Things Have Happened
• Chapter 19 Back to the Movies
• Chapter 20 The Future
• Afterword Roll to Hit
• Bibliography
• Photo Credits
• Plates