I remember one of my mom's church friends warned her that, by playing D&D, we were putting ourselves in danger. My mom's reaction was "The only thing those boys are in danger of is not getting a date." I love that woman.

My high school actually banned AD+D for a few years, so we had to have secret games out on the cross-country track. Come to think of it, that may have made the games even better, as we were outdoors in the "wilderness" having grand adventures. Eventually, the school allowed AD+D again after the principal was fired for "getting a bit TOO close" with a student, and we could play inside - a boon in ice-bound Canuckistan winters...

Some of my happiest memories. Sleepovers, all weekend sessions. Dice rolling and hots and hollers. The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Forged life long friendships.

I started playing ADnD at school. It corupted me, however due to my dyslexic Dungeon Master my soul is owned eternally by Santa

I wish I could send this video back to 1987 so young me could show my parents who took all my dnd stuff away to save my dirty dirty soul. I got back into it in 1995 and we had a campaign that lasted for five years. Such a great game.

Nice video. I've been playing for 36 years. We watched the 60 Minutes special when I was a teen and my Mother (who was extremely religious) just dismissed the panic as people needing something to blame. She was happy I was using my imagination and not getting into drugs or antisocial behaviour. My school, on the other hand, politely killed our club. I've never been deterred in all this time and play it with kids and adults alike. So many great skills learnt in this game...

Thanks for this, guys. I've been playing D&D for 35 years now. Was given my first red box Basic Edition when I was ten, never started worshiping Satan, am not dead, and now, I'm a fantasy author in my own right, thanks to the influence of D&D. Okay, not a successful one, but let's not dwell on details, yeah? Probably shoulda made that deal with the Devil, now that I think about it. Missed opportunities.

I had the honor of working with Dave Arneson up until his unfortunate death. Dave was the designer that changed Chainmail into a game with singular characters, instead of controlling an entire unit or army. In a rather shit move, the name change to "Advanced" Dungeons & Dragons was simply to bump Dave out of royalties. Gary and Dave largely fought for years after, resulting in several settlements...they once were fairly close friends. Arneson held one of the longest campaigns in his Blackmoor setting, while Gygax had another campaign with friends set in Greyhawk.

I literally went through this. My friends parents owned a comic shop and we ordered all of the 2nd ed books and played. My parents had been buying into all of the hysteria and church info and held a fucking intervention for me. I ended up grabbing all of my books and throwing them on the couch and demanded they find Satan in any of the 2nd ed AD&D books, lol. They failed and I ran Dark Sun for a good decade.

I remember getting the TMNT role playing game by Palladium. I was so young, I didn't understand what an RPG was exactly... so I read the book over and over but never played! It wasn't until a few years later when someone showed me how to play AD&D that I finally understood.

I stared playing in 1982 and today I am game designer, publisher, podcaster, and blogger in the RPG industry. Great video!

My mom believed in the D&D fear mongering in the 80s and early 90s. Would not let me even look at the books. Frustrating to a young kid who loved the fantasy and scifi world.

It's a shame to see Dave Arneson once again get the short end of the stick. He deserves better than what he's gotten over the years.

D&D ohh what a way to shape a childhood, it brought people together of like minded interests from day one. I live in such a rural part of TN and in the late 80's it was even played way out in the sticks. You would get a smattering of cousins and whatever friends you happened to not be kin to and play all night on Friday well into the A.M of Saturday just in time to watch cartoons...sigh how I miss those days of adventuring. We country boys put our own spin on some of the things and we had a lil "fort" in the woods where we played..even at times camping out to engross ourselves within the experience. Till All Are One!

Discovering D&D (AD&D 2nd ed, specifically) when I was 12 was an amazing experience for me. I even managed to set up a small business selling D&D products and running games for a few years. 😊

D&D was the reason that I used to sacrifice squirrels on an altar and drink their blood from a thimble sized chalice. When I burned my D&D books I was freed from the curse of Tiamat.

I'm still waiting for all those demons I conjured to show up.

Hasbro: "'Til all are one!"

I picked up the game in 1991. When I brought home the basic boxed set with the big red dragon on it, my mom was like "You can play that, but if I see any of that stupid stuff we hear on the news, it's gone!" Those were good times. Even seeing the "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons" red logo gives me all kinds of nostalgic feelings. Thanks to digital media, I have every book from the beginning up until 3rd edition, because the only drawback to collecting all the "necessary" books (like we all did) was actually having to lug them around. I was always the DM and that was part of the gig. Thanks for this video!

A very nice overview of the history of the game. I would have liked to see more credit given to Dave Arneson for his contributions to the game. Arneson was the one to make the leap from tactical miniatures combat to a dungeon run by a Game Master. You also elided why Wizards of the Coast acquired TSR: the corporate mismanagement of TSR after Gary Gygax was pushed out of the company. But overall an enjoyable introduction to the history of the game.

My oldest brother played D&D all the time and sometimes I would sit in on his sessons and listen, ask questionws, and even considered playing on a few occasions." It wasn't until 2020 during the Thanksgiving holiday that I finally decided to buckle down and start do some serious playing. So far our campaign has been going for a year and I do not regret a second. I play as a human female rogue who always wears a red outfit and an eyepatch (not because she's missing an eye, but because it's useful for changing quickly from bright areas to dark quickly) named Melissa the Red Rogue.

I started playing in 1981 4 months before my 8th birthday. Been playing ever since. My group skipped 4th Ed. Sticking with 3.5 until 5th Ed was released.

I read The Dungeon Master back around 9th grade and it was an excellent book. One of the unmentioned tragedies of James Egbert's suicide is what he might have accomplished in life. He was a genius who had finished high school early and went to university at age 15 studying computers in the late 70's. Sadly, he was too young for that level of pressure and his overbearing parents drove him to suicide.

I have never played D&D but that 80's cartoon was what i looked forward to every Saturday.

1974 I was 12. I was living in a small "conservative" midwestern town, about an hour or more away from Lake Geneva. Our history teacher taught us using Gettysberg historical war game, and also was involved with medieval miniature wargaming at the local college. We knew we were a different type, playing Chainmail and Dungeons and Dragons, as he'd "loaned" us his paperbacks. It was there two years later, I met Gary Gygax at a wargame convention held at the college. There's way too much to say here. So I'll just say, -Thanks for the video. You summed it all up fairly well.

Oh Toy Galaxy and Dungeons and Dragons 2 great tastes that tastes great together..

I own a tabletop gaming store and I love this video, it's currently on a permanent rotation on our Stores TV. I already loved the style and content of Toy Galaxy and am so glad that there is some content that relates to my store now too. I hope you do some other games as well in the future. Keep up the good work Dan

I’m 37 years old and just recently have finally been able to play some D & D . The great thing is my younger brother( by just five years ) is the dungeon master and we have somehow convinced our mom and dad to play. It’s very therapeutic . The first game we played my mom and brother saw that I was showing empathy for fictional NPCs in ways that I rarely do for real people. Great video you are one of those channels that I look forward to watching new content like well like opening a brand new toy. Peace

It's crazy how you posted this. My friends and I have been talking about playing D & D on our chat group for a week now. It's Friday, just printed out our character sheets and I'm leaving the office to happy hour to meet and start working on our characters. This really got me pumped. Thanks! Any tips would be much appreciated.

I have been playing D&D since 1992,but I was hooked by the cartoon,action figures,and the comic book advertisements.

Dallas Egbert was actually in my Dad's English class at MSU. I guess he was something of a child prodigy; he was still a teenager, maybe 15 or something, when started college. He was under tremendous pressure from his parents and I'm sure being a high school age kid thrust into college must have been extremely tough. Sad story.

Here's my fondest memory of playing DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: In 7th and 8th grade, after school, a group of us would stay after school, and play D&D, with my Social Studies teacher, Mr. Spangler, as the Dungeon Master. We would use the chalk board for drawing the maps. Fun times. You may think this may be odd. I attended a Catholic school. I still have copies of the books from the Basic Set -- the "Red Box" (sans the box) today.

My brothers and I played Dungeons & Dragons first edition we had the basic set which included the module Keep on The Borderlands. We then moved on to the hardback books released in 1978. We got the Dungeon Masters Guide, The Players Hand Book and Monster Manual first then picked up subsequent books as they were released.

More I understood D&D and the satanic panic, less I understood what the panic was all about. What especially baffling is that ScoobyDoo was originally aired when those parents were still kids. I mean, back in 1969, who wouldn't have role-played as a gang of ScoobyDoo if there were nothing else to do? Aren't ScoobyDoo villains pretty much an embodiment of devils?

D&D, horror films and heavy metal...by some people's standards I should be a dead Devil worshipping cold blooded murderer! Ha,ha!

Started playing in the late 90s with my then girlfriend. Running games with my wife & kids today.

HOT DAMN!! I've never seen that D&D commercial before! It gave me chills! Also, you're totally right about DMs having a thankless job! I volunteered to be the DM for my friends' D&D group. (I had no prior experience DMing) I had to go out and buy the Dungeon Masters rule book and grab an adventure module! I've been learning to DM while playing and in my spare time and have I had any thanks? No! But yeah, D&D is pretty fun.

I started playing in the mid-to-late 90s but then stopped. It wasn't until 2 years ago that I started playing again and I've been playing ever since. I've even started my own campaign.

A 14+ min episode of Toy Galaxy AND it's about D&D? You Sir have my complete and total attention. *Grabs some snacks and a drink*

I remember seeing the white box of D&D in a hobby store, but my older brother & I were into Star Wars and picked up the black box of Traveller. It would be junior high before I picked up the Moldvay edition of D&D (& later Expert) before getting quickly into AD&D rules, running campaigns with friends after classes in empty classrooms while official extra-curricular activities were going on. It continued throughout high school & we became the core of the high school games club. No suicides or occult events occurred, no demons or devils summoned, no souls or minds corrupted. Monsters slain, hot princesses rescued, loot & magic items acquired, evil gods defied, fun had. I have always regretted selling that AD&D edition (though I still have the Moldvay box set, and subsequent AD&D editions, along with various Traveller sets).

Japanese Anime: Record of Lodoss War. The first episode in the OVAs is a recreation of an actual D&D play session in Japan (they had audio tapes recorded). They tried with TSR to add the Lodoss world unsuccessfully. There is a total of three unrelated anime series in this world setting (no idea if there were also books), all of them are worth watching for D&D fans, they will instantly recognize and even feel identified in them :) Speaking of "Satanic panic", 2nd edition removed the Succubus, it was apparently restored in the 3rd edition.

I ADORE the retro commercials you put in these, please never stop.

I think I got my edition of the Player's Handbook and the Basic set for Christmas, 1979 (same versions as in the video at 6:12 - 6:30). I went out with my older brother and we split the cost of the advanced version a few days later. I played until about 1985 but by then sports and girls had invaded my world too completely and I didn't have any friends left that played anyway (they had all either moved away, drifted away or stopped playing). To this day I still play historical war games whenever I see my brother (everything from ASL to Twilight Struggle), but D&D is just a fond memory.

Hey Dan, First we love your channel. I remember in the 80’s my cousin Jonathan was the dungeon master and we had creature turn to smoke and came under the door to the room our team was in during the game. Still remember how scared I was. Lol. Born in 1971, I Loved D&D and it’s been so long since I played. That scene in Stranger Things was like a mirror to my childhood. Thank you and keep up the great videos. All the Best. Thanks, Tim

I’m so glad the Satanic Panic is over, my cult can finally play AD&D in peace!

Thanks to the Satanic Panic around D&D, I was 17 before I even knew it was literally a game. Sad, because I would have loved the game.

I used to work for a comic shop for about 10 years. The owner, my boss, was at Michigan State University when Egbert got lost in the steam tunnels, and if I remember right, he was even a friend of and played D&D with Egbert. He used to tell me and my friend, that also worked for the comic shop, about all kinds of stories in the steam tunnels, and the various tabletop games he played when they first came out. Hell, we even had a lot of the real old modules and play books in the store, most of which were from my boss' personal stash. My boss also was friends with the curator of the largest collection of comics in the world at MSU, because in their college years, they played D&D. D&D helped make a lot of history, if not nationally, interpersonally and brought strange and interesting people together to form friendships that have lasted a long time.

Great stuff! My first intro to DND was in 1980 when I was only five. Some older kids were playing in the park and I got to roll some dice. Was playing well into the early 90’s where games had morphed into religiously honored 8-10 hour sessions on Saturdays with a clan of hessian that numbered from 6-10 at a time around my families oak table that could comfortably accommodate a small army! My mom would make lunch for us! She was an open minded gal and saw the fun and camaraderie that the game fostered and supported our endeavors full heartedly.

Oh, and I should mention: Gary's kids all had a hand in his part of D&D's history; his son Luke is the original organizer of GaryCon in Lake Geneva, a great little game convention.

My dad, now 71, got into the original release in 74. I watched him play several times in the late 70s and started in 1981 with basic, then expert, then advanced and played into my mid 30's. I quit until 2016 with 5e and have been playing ever since, six games going as high as 11th and now running eight people through Dungeon of the Mad Mage. They have fast tracked to tenth character level and are accumulating properties (as they have conquered 1st to 6th level) below and in Waterdeep itself.

Ive never played D&D but i love forgotten realms and ive read 2e,3.5e and 5e handbooks. Wish i had friends who would want to play 😣

It is impressive how consistently high quality these videos are! Even if I go back to a video released four years ago, it is very high quality too!

Just found this channel and been binging all night, as a 90's kid and geek, this is scratching an itch I didn't know I had

I have been playing since1978. My little brothers introduced me and I was hooked. Now that I am retired I have more time to play.

I got into DnD way back in 6th grade, circa '83, after one of my teachers recommended, to my mom, that I should play it to help become less shy. The last edition that I played was 3.5, but I still play many different RPG's to this day.

I started playing D&D in the early 90s when one of my friend’s uncles invited us to a game. I was always a kid with a strong imagination so it was perfect for me. I’ve been playing whenever I can ever since. I’ve recently started teaching my nieces how to play, and they love it too.

I got into D&D late (3rd edition around 2003) and LOVED IT!! I genuinely miss playing with my cousin and a few of his buddies. It's what actually started me on the path to WoW.

I had that basic set. It was my group's entry to D&D. Bought it at the local toy store.

GG and I go way back to 1980 playing D&D and naval war miniatures at UW Parkside college on the gym floor during the early days of gen con. "Greybeard" (TM) has finally been put to rest, we had some great adventures together. I do miss him.

Played from about '88-'94. A friend's(who did not play) older brother was our DM, and was awesome. When he moved away our gaming ended. Thanks for the fun video.

I got sucked in by the cartoon and a Strongheart figure for Christmas. I finally started playing D&D in late 1992.

Not one mention of THAC0?! Aww, cult.

D&D truly is the gift that keeps on giving. Some of my best memories take place around the gaming table (or squatting on the floor).

I got into D&D sometime during my high school years. I remember playing the first module, In Search of the Unknown, and having our 1st Level party nearly getting wiped out by a pack of kobolds.

My first exposure was around 1983. It was a few years later that I actually got my hands on some of the books and started to learn the rules.

In 1984 my sister purchased the blue starter set and became the Dungeon Master for all of my siblings and my Mother. Though my Mother only played to see if the game was evil or whatever (it wasn't). We only played once as a large family unit, but my elder brother and I were hooked and still play to this day. All but fourth edition.

This is exceptionally well done. Direct, to the point, you don't get bogged down into the minutia of "company politics" etc. Very nicely done. Consider this old-school AD&D/Original D&D grognard _subscribed_ !

I've played D&D for close to 3 years, I knew of the "Satanic Panic" around the game, but had never heard about what spun that frenzy up until today. As always great work

I played d&d, marvel super heroes, robotech, and tmnt as a way to get off the streets

I own every 1st and 2nd ed book. Stopped playing but kept buying the books through the 3rd ed. One day my boys came home with these curious 5th ed books and I found myself DMing. I miss THAC0... but its still fun.

Been playing D&D since 1977. I absolutely love it and 5e has proven to be an easy game to get new people into! I owned a gaming store for awhile so I've played a ton of different RPG's over the years, but D&D is still my favorite - my first love. I have a question for Dan - Are you a player or a DM? I'm betting a DM!

What people tend to forget is how unique D&D was. How utterly strange it was. Before it came out all games were either board games or, very rare, miniatures games. I grew up in the 70s and all I had were basics such as Monopoly, Clue, Sorry, Risk, Stratego, chess, The Generals, Stop Thief! Etc. Then my friends and I discovered "Role Playing" games. (First, I think, was Gamma World, then the red-box D&D.) Wow! What a huge change in ideas! Characters, story that continues, making choices and decisions, changing maps and scenarios. Imagine spending your entire childhood playing sports such as bowling, tennis, badminton, jogging... Then one day someone shows you team sports: baseball, basketball, football, hockey. You'd be blown away, your consciousness would expand overnight. That's how I felt when I discovered RPGs.

I teach middle school and I am wanting to build some classes off of D&D for LA. Students will learn to create and write stories on their characters. Saw it as a teaching conference a while ago.

It is great that you included a clip of Bill Allen and his Gaming with High School students in the video! The funny thing about Pat Pulling and the media is that all the Uproar just helped introduce D&D to people.

Got to love how in the first two minutes this video lists all the main issues more recent editions and other games try, and often succeeded, to fix.

Man, I loved me some D&D. Played from the early 80s until 1991. D&D was the reason my first year of college didn't go so well but I had a great time missing those classes. I still have a lot of the books and occasionally pull them off the shelf to reminisce about those far off fantasy lands.

I played a campaign once where my character was so broke and frustrated, he yelled at a rock. I rolled a d20 got a 20 and turned said rock into pure platinum. This is why I love DnD

Toy Galaxy lands another CRITICAL HIT on my heart with another fantastic video!!! A+++

Just a little note on this: in the 90s when I lived in West L.A., I had a pal who worked at a Real Estate company on Sepulveda Boulevard in Westwood Village. I visited him there a few times, and it turns out, in the same building was the L.A. office for TSR. Sadly, nobody ever seemed to be inside it when I would visit, but it would've been great if luck was right one of those times...

Been playing D&D for over 20 years. Started with second edition. I now play 5th edition with my kid who is now 15. I love playing. Don't care who thinks it's cool or not. Keep on rolling the D20's

The concept art for some of the D&D toys was uncredited work-for-hire created by John Totleben, an artist on Alan Moore's run on Swamp Thing, the same guy who invented John Constantine (by constantly drawing a guy who looked like Sting into crowd scenes.)

As a kid, I watched the cartoon and had many of the action figures from the AD&D line, which were all amazing. Around '89 or so, I played 2nd Ed. with some friends during the summer. Around 2002, I dabbled in 3E, but we couldn't all coordinate play sessions, so our campaign didn't last beyond a few sessions. Currently, I'm playing 5E with a new group pretty regularly and having a blast.

I love D&D! I started playing a high school, and I still play

I started playing AD&D steadily in 1997. Still do. 2nd Edition is still the greatest one.

Great video! I was first introduced to AD&D 1e while serving in the Marines in the early to mid 1980's. After a twenty five year hiatus I started back with 1st edition but then jumped to 5e when it came out.

“No way to predict the outcome” but that’s what the divination school does

My first D&D and RPG experience was at a lunchtime activity in secondary school (Australia) in the late 80s. The GM was less than keen on embellishing the game with backstory. As soon as a new player (or an old player who had lost his last character) had rolled up a character the GM would bring them into the game by saying 'you appear on a road'. Despite that, the game was still enticing and I have never entirely left it.

Of all the old toys and collectibles that I wish I still had, the ones I miss the MOST are the original D&D books - and I mean the original ones. Trade size, tan paper covers, old rusty staples holding them together. I had them in a Ziploc bag for years, but must have lost them somewhere in a move. ARRRGH. (EDIT: Yup, you showed them in the video @4:13. I had so many of the later books that you showed, too... all gone, and I have no idea where.)

5e was my intro to Dnd and my Dad’s intro was 2e. I got him to get back into it after I purchased the 5e starter set and played the mines of phandalar(forgot how to spell the name) with him. Projared inspired me to pick up the starter set and I’m so glad I did.

The humor and writing for these are great! Subscribed!

Great video as always. I LOVE love LOVE this channel. Keep up the good work.

As a kid I remember first seeing D&D at Toys R Us. They had a whole section of books in the back of the store. But later Toys R Us stopped selling them, and you could only find them in hobby stores.

I started in 1983 with the Red Box Set and Iconic Larry Elmore cover. We graduated to AD&D when 2e came out although we had been using AD&D books for a number of years and had houseruled the game to a rules heavy behemoth that was far more complex than 2e.

I got my start actually from HeroQuest. Then I started reading Dragonlance and then got into AD&D 2. I followed Dragonlance into the short lived Saga system and continue to play that today.

Thanks for this video! It was a surprise to see you cover my favorite game of all time on this awesome and entertaining channel, but I also learned some things about the early years of Gygax and D&D that I was not aware of. I thought I knew all there was to know about the history of D&D, but then Toy Galaxy rolls a crit and hits me upside the head with some facts! Kudos!

My 1st experience of playing D&D was at the age of 7, with my 12 year-old uncle (long story) trying to DM me and my 4 year-old brother to play a game with level 1 Red Box characters. It was school holidays and we were hanging out in the boardroom of my dad's office for some reason. I don't remember much about our characters, but I do remember having my mind blown at the thought that I made the decisions to create the story and felt daunted by having too much choice. LOL

My D&D story. I had a Big Brother from Big Brothers/Big Sisters program. Hanging out in his dorm with him and a friend of his, he was cleaning some stuff out of his closet and pulled out his dungeons and dragons stuff. This was the late 70s so it was the old school basic boxed set stuff. I didn't really understand anything about it, but the sketches of heroes and monsters and the odd maps fascinated me. Later that week I bought the boxed set at Kmart, yes they sold the game in the toy section of your Kmarts and Walmarts back then rather than having to go to a game store. Though I lived in the bible belt during the Satanic Panic, I had very little personal experience with the complaints about it. We'd see the stuff on the news, and there were the occasional picketers outside the game shops, and the occasional mention from people of "I had a friend who killed themselves because of D&D, that's bad stuff". A teacher ran a club for D&D at the highschool, but I never got into the club. My mother never actually worried about it. Her only complaint was that I spent way too much time on it and ignored my homework. And she was right on that. I played through the basic and expert boxed sets, AD&D, 2nd edition, got more into other games for awhile, then got back in full force with 3rd. I checked out 4th a few times when it came out but just couldn't get into it, and have now gotten into 5th. Still play to this day. Fully invested. Been building my game world fully and once this stuff settles down, hope to get a group or 2 together.

I love the Billy Mays cosplay.

Ages 12 and up, lol. We started playing at 7, 🤘🏼🤘🏼.Vividly remember when I got "the speech" about satanism, etc, got temp banned from playing. We picked right back up and kept playing on-the-sly until X months later when everybody's parents figured out we weren't for-real killing each other nor would we. So many years, so many campaigns, so many characters. Among the best hours I've spent with friends during my ~40 years on this mote of dust suspended in the cosmos. Somewhere out there in the vastiness of space, our worlds are still spinning too. Nice vid as always guys. Thanks✌🏽

I played AD&D for the first time in 1985, and actually owned my first TSR product (red box basic D&D) in early 86!