Where RPGs Came From

Trace the origins of tabletop RPGs from wargaming to early games so newcomers understand the hobby's roots.
5 min read
Everyone

Where RPGs Came From

Tabletop RPGs didn't appear fully formed. They grew from hobby wargames in the 1960s. A few players asked: what if we controlled one soldier instead of an army? That question opened the door.

Prerequisite: What is a Tabletop RPG

What you'll learn

  • How wargaming became something new.
  • The first RPG and what made it different.
  • Why those early choices still matter today.

Core idea

In the early 1970s, hobbyists played miniature wargames with painted figures on tabletop battlefields. These games simulated history—Napoleonic wars, medieval sieges—using dice and rulebooks. A small group in the American Midwest began adding fantasy elements: dragons, magic spells, dungeons under castles.

In 1974, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson published Dungeons & Dragons (often called D&D). It broke from wargaming in three ways. First, each player controlled a single character instead of units. Second, a referee—later called the Game Master (GM)—the facilitator who frames scenes, adjudicates rules, and plays NPCs—ran the world and narrated what happened. Third, characters grew over time, gaining abilities and stories.

D&D was rough and confusing, but it showed a new kind of play. You could try anything your character might do. The GM decided if it worked or if you needed to roll dice. Success and failure both pushed the story forward.

Other designers built on that idea. Traveller (1977) explored science fiction with starships and planets. Call of Cthulhu (1981) brought horror and investigation. Each game adapted the core pattern: describe intent, resolve uncertainty, react to consequences. A tabletop role-playing game—a collaborative storytelling game played by talking, using agreed rules and dice or tools—had arrived.

Try this (2 minutes)

Imagine you are playing a 1970s wargame. You control one knight in a castle siege. Write one thing that knight might do that has nothing to do with combat. That impulse—to act like a person, not a game piece—is where RPGs began.

Common pitfalls

  • Assuming D&D is the only origin. Many designers contributed ideas; the hobby grew from shared experiments.
  • Thinking early games were simple. They were dense and contradictory; clarity came later through play and iteration.

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