Dungeons & Dragons

I have a confession, or perhaps a boast. I have never played the roleplaying game Dungeons and Dragons, and now, at the grand old age of forty-one, I doubt I ever shall. But there’s no doubt it’s a cultural phenomenon that has long since transcended any suggestion of being the preserve of adolescents, literal and overgrown alike. Since it was created in 1974, sales of the game have grossed billions, and it has been played by tens if not hundreds of millions of people worldwide. To be an aficionado is to find yourself in broad company — but how does that translate at the movies?  The first answer to this question came in 2000, when a film that starred Jeremy Irons as the villainous Mage Profion was released in cinemas.

East Lansing, Michigan, August 15, 1979 — James Dallas Egbert III, 16, disappears. The child prodigy went missing at Michigan State University, where he studied computer science and played the fantasy roleplay game Dungeons & Dragons. Egbert was shy and especially small for his age. The young boy faced intense academic pressure, battled drug addiction and was a latent homosexual. He entered the steam tunnels underneath his college, intending to commit suicide by consuming methaqualone but failed. Egbert woke up the next day and fled. His parents hired private investigator William Dear to track him down. Dear discovered Egbert’s fascination with D&D after scoping through his dormitory, where he found evidence suggesting Egbert hosted games in the tunnels with other students.