Questions tagged [dungeons-and-dragons]

For questions primarily relating to Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), a popular fantasy tabletop role-playing game which has gone through several editions since its initial publication in 1974. The 5th edition of D&D, the most recent edition of the game, was released in 2014.

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Was Tenser the Dungeons & Dragons character named after the song from Bester's The Demolished Man?

One of the original characters in E. Gary Gygax's Greyhawk Dungeons & Dragons campaign was Tenser, created by Gygax's son Ernie. The name is an anagram of "Ernest," which was the legal ...
Buzz's user avatar
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How to make any sense of religion and dead gods in Baldur's Gate 3?

In the previous games of Baldur's Gate, the central main story is that the god Bhaal is dead and his powers are scattered among his semi-mortal children. This is central to the lore of those games. ...
Amarth's user avatar
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1 answer
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Did the druid in the DnD movie avoid the wizard at first, then get caught, due to die rolls?

Is that how it would have played out in a game? Like in the first room, while a fly, the druid is not detected, due to a successful die roll. But then in the next room, the druid is detected, due to a ...
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Why isn't the druid affected by her enchanted cuffs?

At one point in the film Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, prior to being thrown into an arena, the druid and sorcerer in the party are fitted with enchanted cuffs that suppress their ...
Nu'Daq's user avatar
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1 answer
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Do D&D dragon scales have any lore?

Is there any lore within D&D relating to the nature/structure of dragon scales? Particularly I am interested in how their scales are distinct from the scales of various types of reptiles in terms ...
Ichthys King's user avatar
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What is the purpose of beholder blood?

Beholders are large aberrations which supply their body with nutrients and oxygen by means of a network of tubes somewhere between a tracheal system and a set of digestive tubules. They also have ...
Ichthys King's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
2k views

What are the differences between Horcruxes and phylactery?

Something has been bothering me quite a lot for a few weeks, and I can't find the answer. In the Harry Potter saga, it is stated that one can prevent one's own death by making one or more Horcruxes. ...
Tloz's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
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Is Boo really a miniature giant space hamster?

The sidekick of the Barbarian, Minsc, who famously “goes for the eyes!” Boo Click to enlarge Boo is described in the game text thusly: Boo is a fuzzy little hamster. While Minsc believes Boo is a ...
Silly but True's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
159 views

Did Goldmoon’s Chieftan Ever Acknowledge Riverwind was Right?

One of the key initiating Macguffin devices of the first Dragonlance novel, Dragonlance Chronicles vol. 1, Dragons of Autumn Twilight is the sudden appearance of Riverwind and Goldmoon on the Solace ...
Silly but True's user avatar
5 votes
0 answers
309 views

"Dragon Magazine" fiction piece about two wizards who betray one another

I would like to find an old piece of fiction in Dragon Magazine - it's located somewhere between issues 50 - 100. I don't remember the title but the general gist goes like this: There is a ...
Avatarr's user avatar
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Why is Bahamut the Grand Master of Flowers in the new MTG set?

As I understand, 'Grand Master of Flowers' is a title given to the leader of the Monastery of the Yellow Rose, What relationship does it have to Bahamut? The monastery appears to worship a different ...
Andrey's user avatar
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D&D book where water could be boiled into gunpowder [duplicate]

I've been trying to find a book series I read when I was a kid. I don't have much information but one of the main things I remember was they invented gunpowder by using magic to boil water into a ...
zquence's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
1k views

Looking for a specific “Dungeons & Dragons” related movie

The movie I know is a Dungeons & Dragons movie and what I remember is that the six kids go to the fair. The main older boy has blonde curly hair they all get on the roller coaster and end up in ...
sara 's user avatar
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Was the illustration of the "Primordial One" in the AD&D Deities and Demigods based on the one from Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials?

Out of the blue, one of my sons asked me today what Cthulhu's "stats" were. My immediate thought was to look them up in the original Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Deities & Demigods. ...
Buzz's user avatar
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9 votes
3 answers
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Is the D&D 5e magic item "Ioun stone" derived from the magic of Mandor from Zelazny's "Amber"?

Background: So I just learned about the "Ioun stone of Intellect". In action, it is described as: When you use an action to toss one of these stones into the air, the stone orbits your head ...
EngrStudent's user avatar
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2 votes
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Can D&D werewolves actively decide whether to turn someone or not?

I'm fleshing out a backstory for a new character in D&D, who has been bitten by a werewolf. My question essentially considers how much control a werewolf has when in wolf-form. Is it generally ...
jonnybolton16's user avatar
12 votes
3 answers
5k views

Does the Dungeons & Dragons Movie (2000) take place in any known setting?

Does anyone know if the Dungeons & Dragons movie from 2000 takes place in any established D&D setting like the Forgotten Realms, or does it take place in an original setting separate from any ...
TreeSpawned's user avatar
15 votes
1 answer
5k views

What is the origin of the “clerics can create water” trope?

All Dungeons and Dragons edition I'm familiar with have its Cleric character class. Apparently, D&D Cleric is a trope of its own. Many D&D "clerical" spells were still inspired by popular ...
enkryptor's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
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Are there any writings and resources regarding Ashardalon and his presence in Firestorm Peak?

I recently got the Wrath of Ashardalon board game and want to extend my experience by reading more about the setting. However, I couldn't find any by googling. I only found the wiki entry for ...
brain56's user avatar
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6 votes
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Was the trident (named Wave) in the AD&D "White Plume Mountain" adventure a reference to anything specific?

The first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons adventure "White Plume Mountain," by Lawrence Schick, was a quest to recover three extremely powerful magical weapons. Since its original 1979 ...
Buzz's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
249 views

Dungeons and Dragons novel where girl accidentally wishes to be strong [duplicate]

Does any one know the name of the novel, written before 1995, from one of the Dungeons and Dragons series, where a girl accidentally wishes to become strong at the start of the novel? I remember that ...
user118472's user avatar
16 votes
1 answer
608 views

Where did the concept of single-use spell scrolls originate?

It has been a standard rule in Dungeons & Dragons for as long as I can remember that spell scrolls are single-use items. Once a spell is cast from the scroll (or, sometimes, even if an ...
Robert Columbia's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
673 views

To what extent were Dungeons & Dragons were-rats based on The Swords of Lankhmar?

Wererats are fairly iconic monsters for Dungeons & Dragons, but they are different in a number of ways from the other "lycanthropes" listed in the game rules. It occurred to me recently that when ...
Buzz's user avatar
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3 votes
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310 views

How did D&D-specific fantasy elements end up in Capcom's "The King of Dragons"?

This is a question about the fantasy background of a video game. In the 1990s, Capcom produced a large number of side-scrolling beat-em-up video games. Many of these had science fiction or fantasy ...
Buzz's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
694 views

What was the inspiration for the 'draco vulgaris'?

Is the draco vulgaris (first described in Guards! Guards! (1989) inspired by the pseudodragons found in Dungeons and Dragons? I recently learned about them and find many similarities: small winged ...
nicolallias's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
259 views

Has Elantris been inspired by Dungeons & Dragons?

I'm reading throught Elantris from Brandon Sanderson (great book by the way) and I'm also a D&D (3.5) DM with a great love for psionics. What struck me was the similarity between the Elantrians ...
Merry38's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
452 views

In Critical Role campaign 1, did Keyleth ever cast Revivify?

My friend is convinced she remembers Keyleth (moon circle druid) using Revivify at some point. Revivify is not a Druid spell, but she swears up an down she remembers Keyleth casting it in Critical ...
Newbie12345's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
2k views

What are the rules of the Guildpact?

In anticipation of the release of the Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica book for D&D I was researching how the Guildpact works and what it's rules were. On Gamepedia's Magic: The Gathering Wiki I ...
ONOZ's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
2k views

Dungeons & Dragons novel about a flying machine

I read this book about 15 years ago, so it is that old at the very least. I remember it was a Dungeons and Dragons novel. I'm not sure about the main characters, but there was a party of adventurers ...
Daft's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
2k views

Was the creature guarding the camp in the Dungeons and Dragons movie a beholder?

In the 2000 movie Dungeons and Dragons we see a creature that looks like a floating meatball with eye stalks. While at first glance, it looks like a beholder. But did the script say that's what it ...
CBredlow's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
2k views

Is the origin story told in The Unbroken Circle of Zerthimon true?

In the 1999 RPG videogame Planescape: Torment, based on D&D's Planescape setting, there's an NPC named Dak'kon who is a zerth, a subfaction of the githzerai race, themselves a splinter of D&D'...
Andres F.'s user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
479 views

Can a warlock pact be inherited

Either in the sense that the pact Is passed down from parent to child or in the sense that a parent could make a pact for an unborn child without their permission? (I understand that ultimately its ...
Ummdustry's user avatar
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7 votes
1 answer
299 views

High fantasy book, possibly "Forgotten Realms", including Leviathan-like undead a necromancer creating experimental undeads

I read a book, about a party of adventurers fighting a lich and his armies of undead trying to take over the continent, very high fantasy. It has been a long time (likely between 2000-2012) and ...
Jon's user avatar
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13 votes
1 answer
1k views

Book where RPG characters are portrayed as real

I'm looking for a Book where RPG characters are portrayed as real. Then at the end it shows that the RPGers are being played by another nested reality of RPGers and there is a bomb in the room. ...
Hillary Jindra's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
3k views

What exactly happens when one attempts to "turn undead?"

From my (exceptionally amateur) understanding of D&D, turn undead basically allows you to turn the undead away by making them run or cower or otherwise lose their morale. Simplified, only good ...
GGMG-he-him's user avatar
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7 votes
1 answer
5k views

Where does the accepted image of fantasy clothing come from?

When I picture characters in a "medieval" fantasy setting like Lord of the Rings or D&D, I tend to think of them looking kind of badass - lots of hooded cloaks, leather armour, and improbable ...
synesthesia's user avatar
4 votes
3 answers
2k views

What did Profion put into Damodar's head?

In the Dungeons & Dragons movie from 2000, evil wizard Profion magically places some kind of creature into the head of his lieutenant Damodar. The creature serves two purposes, both enhancing ...
Omegacron's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
1k views

What would be the alignment of a Slaanesh worshipper?

Would a Slaanesh worshipper necessarily have an evil alignment in D&D? can't a character be a hedonistic Slaanesh worshipper without mutating and going insane, if so, why?
Tazze's user avatar
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11 votes
3 answers
4k views

Why does Raistlin Majere often look ill and weak?

I haven't kept up on Dragonlance lore very well throughout the years. I am still seeing quite a bit of art on various searches for Raistlin. Why is he often depicted as weak and/or ill? Last I really ...
Ruut's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
394 views

Are there any D&D novels with Demogorgon or other popular demon lords as antagonist? [closed]

There have been hundreds of D&D novels published over the years but I am having trouble finding any that have Demogorgon or other popular demon lords as antagonists. Are there any? I do not care ...
Detective Chimp's user avatar
13 votes
4 answers
7k views

What is the origin of D&D's Dragonborn, in fiction?

I'm trying to get a handle on the Dragonborn (humanoid dragon creatures) from D&D. For all the other races (Elves, Dwarves etc) I can reference mythology, or settings like Tolkien's middle earth. ...
AncientSwordRage's user avatar
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8 votes
3 answers
2k views

Why is drider a form for a fallen drow?

The drow cursed by Lolth is transformed into the half-spider form and despised from now on by other drows. The spider is a hallowed animal and killing a spider is punished by death in drow's society. ...
user3284063's user avatar
10 votes
4 answers
3k views

Does Harry Dresden 'Level Up' After Each Book?

I spun this out as an offhand comment on this question but it made me think about it. When we first meet Harry in Storm Front his powers are quite weak for a wizard and as the series progresses he ...
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