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Dungeons & Dragons is a tabletop fantasy roleplaying game co-created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson in 1974. Originally published by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TSR), the brand is now owned by Wizards of the Coast, a division of Hasbro.
Gygax acknowledged H. P. Lovecraft as one of the writers of "particular inspiration" to him that he offered as recommended reading to people running the game. Other Cthulhu Mythos-connected writers on the list of 29 recommendations include August Derleth, Robert E. Howard, and Lord Dunsany.[1]
Lovecraft's influence can perhaps most obviously be seen in the game's inclusion of imaginary gods who can be invoked to obtain esoteric powers; one of the main evil deities in the game's original Greyhawk setting was Hextor, whose name echoes Hastur. Some of the deity-like archdemons, who represent Chaos as well as Evil, have a Lovecraftian feel to them, such as Juiblex the Faceless Lord, a formless slime who resembles Ubbo-Sathla, and Demogorgon, whose image combines elements of reptile and octopus in a Cthulhu- or Wilbur Whateley-like way.
The central trope of the game, in which characters explore an underground realm in search of mystery, occurs in a surprising number of Lovecraft stories, from "The Transition of Juan Romero" to "The Statement of Randolph Carter" to At the Mountains of Madness, as well as in the revision story "The Mound".
Some of the monsters intended to be encountered by players have Mythos antecedents, like the sahuagin, a deep sea-dwelling species of reptilian humanoids who resemble deep ones. The mind flayer, an ancient civilization of evil humanoids with cephalopod-like heads and mind control powers, could be inspired by the spawn of Cthulhu; Gygax says he was inspired by the cover of Brian Lumley's The Burrowers Beneath[2]. The ghast, an undead creature resembling a ghoul, seems to take its name from The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath. The lich may be influenced by the "liche" Clark Ashton Smith's "The Stair in the Crypt," although Gygax credited Gardner Fox's "The Sword of the Sorcerer" (1969).
In the 5th edition of the game, players can choose the Warlock class, which requires them to make a deal with an "otherwordly patron" to gain magical powers. One type of patron suggested is a Great Old One, with "Great Cthulhu" offered as an example.
Supplements[]
The 1st edition supplement Deities & Demigods contained a section on entities of the Cthulhu Mythos, alongside gods from Greek, Norse, Egyptian, and other mythologies.
The Castle Amber module is set in Averoigne and explicitly credits Clark Ashton Smith's oeuvre.
The 5th edition supplement Sandy Petersen's Cthulhu Mythos offers a synthesis of Petersen's Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game with D&D's d20 gaming system.
In Popular Culture[]
- The Netflix original television show Stranger Things draws much inspiration from both Dungeons & Dragons and the Cthulhu Mythos: the first season even parallels the protagonists playing the game and combatting a Lovecraftian extra-dimensional monster.
References[]
- ↑ Dungeon Masters Guide, Gary Gygax, "Appendix N".
- ↑ https://www.enworld.org/threads/q-a-with-gary-gygax.22566/post-382749