What would the tabletop RPG world look like if D&D wasn't everyone's first game?

What would the tabletop RPG hobby be like today if D&D had never existed? It's almost impossible to imagine it. I'm sure TTRPGs would have evolved to popularity with some other game as the catalyst, but I'll leave hypothetical histories to the actual historians. I did recently have cause to wonder, though: is my entire perspective on roleplaying skewed by having started with Dungeons & Dragons? If that's true of me, it's true for many millions of others, and begs the question: what would things be like if D&D wasn't almost everybody's first step into roleplaying? Read the full story on Wargamer: What would the tabletop RPG world look like if D&D wasn't everyone's first game?

Jul 21, 2026 - 02:21

What would the tabletop RPG world look like if D&D wasn't everyone's first game?

What would the tabletop RPG hobby be like today if D&D had never existed? It's almost impossible to imagine it. I'm sure TTRPGs would have evolved to popularity with some other game as the catalyst, but I'll leave hypothetical histories to the actual historians. I did recently have cause to wonder, though: is my entire perspective on roleplaying skewed by having started with Dungeons & Dragons? If that's true of me, it's true for many millions of others, and begs the question: what would things be like if D&D wasn't almost everybody's first step into roleplaying?

Read the full story on Wargamer: What would the tabletop RPG world look like if D&D wasn't everyone's first game?

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