The role-playing renaissance

Hudson Fox & Marrisa Chow

Dungeons & Dragons is everywhere in popular media. Mentions in series such as “Community,” “The Big Bang Theory,” and “Stranger Things” have elevated this pastime into one of the most widely-played tabletop role-playing games in the world.

Twenty years ago, television played an important role in spurring interest in Dungeons & Dragons. That's when Travis Callan, a current AVID, US History, and Life Skills/Ethnic Studies teacher, discovered Dungeons & Dragons as a sophomore at Carlmont.

“So, there was the final episode of Freaks and Geeks. They sit down, and they play a game of Dungeons & Dragons,” Callan said. “My buddy went out, and he bought the starter set. And he's like, ‘let's give it a try.’”

An on-and-off player since 2002, Callan recognizes how massively popular the game has become.

“I think it's way more accepted. It's definitely in the mainstream,” Callan said.

Statistics tell a similar story. As the world entered into lockdown in early 2020, the role-playing game flourished, notching its most successful year ever. With a 33% growth in sales, players adapted to virtual tabletops and Zoom calls to play with friends, according to an infographic released by the developer of the game, Wizards of the Coast, LLC.

In a virtual environment, however, the game underwent fluctuations in player satisfaction. Recent Carlmont graduate Ana Hoffman Sole reflected on the shortcomings of the online version.

“Whereas in-person D&D tends to leave me excited or full of ideas, after Zoom D&D, I’d generally have a snack and take a nap,” Hoffman Sole said.

Jack Rizvi, a recent Carlmont graduate who has played Dungeons & Dragons since middle school, compared using a website to emulate in-person game tools to the virtual school experience.

“Think of the difference between Zoom classes and in-person classes, except you actually want to be there,” Rizvi said.

Despite these impediments, growth continued throughout the COVID-19 lockdown and into the following year. According to a Hasbro, Inc. February 2022 press release, 2021 represented the ninth year of consecutive revenue growth for the franchise.

Much like the “Freaks and Geeks” episode Callan and his classmates watched two decades ago, the success can partly be attributed to the revival of Dungeons & Dragons imagery in television series such as “Stranger Things.”

The show’s global reach is no overstatement. Following the release of its fourth season, “Stranger Things”

joined “Ozark” and “Tiger King” as the third show to achieve over 5 billion streaming minutes in a week, according to Nielsen’s Streaming Content Ratings for the week of May 23 to May 29, 2022.

Even in years past, while teaching at Abbott Middle School, Callan noticed just how far the impact of “Stranger Things” reached.

“When I taught at the middle school, every time a season of Stranger Things came out, there was a big wave of ‘Mr. Callan, you know how to play the game, right? Let's play the game,’” Callan said.

Things are no different at Carlmont. The Dungeons & Dragons club was restarted this year, according to an analysis of Carlmont’s club registry.

However, even in the past, Dungeons & Dragons has been widely accepted by certain communities. Hoffman Sole noted that “being in an incredibly nerdy place like the Bay Area” may have something to do with it.

Twenty years ago, Callan did not see shaming as a problem.

“There was none of the stereotypical stigma. None of us got shoved into lockers,” Callan said.

Attributing the reason for the culture shift in part to “beginner friendly” releases of the game and “Stranger Things” portraying the game in a “positive and nostalgic limelight” Rizvi described the game culture as accepting.

“I have found (the culture around D&D) to actually be an incredibly positive and welcoming one,” Rizvi said.

Building off that narrative and emphasizing community, Callan drew attention to how open the Dungeons & Dragons community was at Carlmont.

“Generally speaking, it's made up of everybody and anybody who's interested,” Callan said.

Within the larger community, demographics released by Wizards of the Coast, LLC. seem to reflect a shift towards more female players, now making up 40% of surveyed groups.

Rizvi agreed, noting that there was usually an “even split between the amount of men and women” involved in his Dungeons & Dragons groups.

As for the benefits of playing Dungeons & Dragons, Callan emphasized the flexibility and creative freedom that it provides.

“Dungeons & Dragons is very open, and you can pursue whatever you can think of as long as the Dungeon Master can think up rules for it,” Callan said.

Hoffman Sole agreed, adding that one can gain real-life experience and skills.

“You end up sitting around a table with a whole bunch of people trying to solve a problem pretty often in D&D,” Hoffman Sole said. “That’s something we’ll all continue doing for the rest of our lives.”

That structure comes from what Callan sees as the foundation of the game: teamwork.

“The person running the game is supposed to make sure that the people playing are having fun,” Callan said. “So it's cooperative. There are no opponents.”

In terms of media, Dungeons & Dragons fans still have more to look forward to. A stream of video games are being developed, and the theatrical release of “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” starring Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Rene Jean-Page, Justice Smith, and Sophia Lillis will come to the big screen in 2023.

According to Rizvi and several gaming publications, a new version of the game, called One D&D, is to be released in 2024. Expanding on the introductory elements of Dungeons & Dragons to inspire a new generation, the journey the game has taken could serve as a blueprint for other roleplaying games.

“If you want to start playing, the next few years are the perfect time,” Rizvi said.