If you’re not sure about investing in D&D just yet, grab the Fifth Edition Starter Set. Players need three essential resources from any given edition: the Players’ Handbook (which details most of the game’s core rules) the Dungeon Master’s Guide (which explains how to properly run and adjudicate a game) and the Monster Manual (which provides details about various monsters and adversaries for the DM’s use). Total RPG newbies will want to head straight to their local game shop and ask to see what D&D rulebooks and sourcebooks are in stock. RELATED: 8 Must-Play Sci-Fi and Fantasy Board Games Although longtime fans were initially dismissive of WotC’s efforts to revitalize the brand in the face of competition from dozens of other alternate RPG systems, subsequent editions have been hailed around the world and driven hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for the company (including sales of books and video games which add to the mythos). In over three decades since its inception, D&D has gone through six different major editions honing and redefining its particular rules the past four have been published by Wizards of the Coast, beginning with the controversial release of D&D 3.0 in 2000. Instead of armies, players crafted a single character, and joined with other players to tackle a perilous adventure crafted by the all-knowing Dungeon Master (DM).

But in 1974, Gygax and Arneson-both keen wargamers in their own right-published the first edition of D&D through Tactical Studies Rules, or TSR. Before Dungeons & Dragons creators Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson revolutionized the industry, tabletop gaming was dominated by wargames, in which players fielded armies of their own design against one another in tactical contests.

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