2024 has witnessed the 50th anniversary of Dungeons and Dragons, the most popular system of tabletop roleplaying in the world. The game has captured huge audiences, including many in the military and policymaking worlds. It is not obvious that any U.S. President has played Dungeons and Dragons, at least not as a regular (notwithstanding some parodies), but players in military, policy, and academic circles are well known. In celebration of that 50th anniversary, let’s take a look at how the phenomenon of Dungeons and Dragons has intersected with the national security community in the United States and abroad.
History of Dungeons & Dragons
The potential for cross-pollination between gamers and national security professionals was evident from the start. Dungeons and Dragons emerged from the wargaming communities of the Upper Midwest. Tied together by epistolary networks, a collection of magazines, occasional group-meets, and a shared interest in playing out historical battle scenarios, this community proved especially fertile ground for innovation in gameplay.
D&D itself resulted from experimentation with the problems associated with simulating medieval warfare. Medieval combat poses problems for the simulator not found in either ancient or modern warfare. Units are small, equipment irregular, and discipline poor, making it difficult to model the movement of troops through space and their performance in combat. Armies tied together by bonds of personal loyalty are also difficult to model, as the performance of individual combatants matters a great deal to battle strategy and outcomes. The Battle of Hastings, for example, largely ended when King Harald took an arrow to the eye.
At some point gamers began to experiment with combat systems that focused on individual capabilities, allowing for “Heroes” to make outsize contributions on the battlefield. Unsurprisingly, the folks obsessed with wargaming were also obsessed with fantasy literature, primarily Tolkien but also L. Sprague De Camp, Fritz Leiber, and others. If Heroes could be simulated on the battlefield then so could wizards and dragons; once the problems of modeling human armies were solved elves, orcs, and dwarves were no obstacle. Early versions of Dungeons and Dragons retained this relationship with medieval warfare, including many references to Chainmail and other large-scale combat simulators. Players would adventure until they were rich and powerful enough to buy or steal a castle, then act as lords of the fictional feudal landscape.
Over time D&D slowly shed that association as designers and gamers realized that small combat scenarios and role-playing were more fun than reproducing medieval Europe. With an infinite slate, gamers expanded the potential of the game beyond combat and into puzzle-solving and role-playing against an endless set of backdrops. Dungeons and Dragons has since evolved through a bewildering series of editions, waxing and waning in popularity across its fifty year history. Most aficionados argue now that the game is more popular than ever, although they disagree bitterly as to the best of version of the game (I personally play edition 3.5).
A cursory inquiry online demonstrates the depth and breadth of the penetration of D&D into national security communities. There is no shortage of stories of D&D campaigns taking place in military and security environments. One reason why deployed troops play D&D is that the game is flexible; it can be played with a board and pieces, with just pencil and paper, or online. Games can go on for months or even years, with players dropping in and out as availability dictates. Its attraction for groups of deployed soldiers, sailors, or intelligence professionals is obvious under the circumstances. Like any other kind of game, D&D can offer relief in stressful situations. A robust gaming culture has developed among soldiers and citizens in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion, for example. Of course, not everyone is a fan. The IDF famously views Dungeons and Dragons with suspicion, reducing the security clearances of draftees who play the game avidly.
And D&D may be more useful to the national security community than simply a way to pass the time. In the next column, I look at how some have proposed that Dungeons and Dragons can be played to positively enhance certain kinds of training and organizational performance. The founders of D&D did not envision that the wargame would feed back into the actual practice of national security, but it has done so and seems to have an expanding footprint in that professional world.
About the Author: Dr. Robert Farley
Dr. Robert Farley has taught security and diplomacy courses at the Patterson School since 2005. He received his BS from the University of Oregon in 1997, and his Ph. D. from the University of Washington in 2004. Dr. Farley is the author of Grounded: The Case for Abolishing the United States Air Force (University Press of Kentucky, 2014), the Battleship Book (Wildside, 2016), Patents for Power: Intellectual Property Law and the Diffusion of Military Technology (University of Chicago, 2020), and most recently Waging War with Gold: National Security and the Finance Domain Across the Ages (Lynne Rienner, 2023). He has contributed extensively to a number of journals and magazines, including the National Interest, the Diplomat: APAC, World Politics Review, and the American Prospect. Dr. Farley is also a founder and senior editor of Lawyers, Guns and Money.
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