!!''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' is the TropeCodifier for:
* ArmorAndMagicDontMix. Also co-UrExample with ''TabletopGame/TheFantasyTrip'', which came out the same year as the Holmes Basic Set and provides the earliest {{justified|Trope}} example.
* CharacterLevel
* ClassAndLevelSystem
* HitPoints
* SkillScoresAndPerks

!!Listed trivia:
* AscendedHouseRules:
** ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsThirdEdition'': In earlier editions, HonestRollsCharacter (six ability scores rolled in order with no rerolls) was the default, but many groups implemented more generous ability score generation methods or allow rerolls when a character is stuck with nigh unplayable stats. With 3rd Edition, the rules were changed to favor above average rolls with the default being 4d6 drop lowest (since the main characters are heroes) and to allow a complete set of rolls to be thrown out if they didn't meet certain minimum criteria. Point buy is also an official rule variant, and became the standard method to generate ability scores in 3.X-based video game adaptations.
** ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsFifthEdition'': A common house rule has been for a skill check to automatically succeed on a natural 20 roll, and for it to automatically fail for a natural 1 (this normally only applies to attack rolls and saving throws). The 5th edition expansion One D&D planned to implement this as part of its base rules; however, this was rolled back due to protests from community members, who preferred it remain a house rule due to inevitable problems that would result from a natural 20 succeeding ''any'' skill check.
* CreatorBacklash: For a few past creators:
** Gary Gygax cited psionics and the Monk class as his. For the former, he felt psionic powers was something that belonged in a modern or futuristic setting and not in a medieval fantasy game; for the latter, the class rode in on a kung-fu action craze that was sweeping America in TheSeventies and he wanted the class moved to an oriental adventures add-on.
** The sexism of AD&D 1st Edition - the ChainmailBikini artwork, the "[[GameFavoredGender female characters suffer a penalty to their Strength stat]]" rules, etc.- is something that a lot of later game designers would like everyone to forget.
** Colin [=McComb=] will probably never live down the AD&D 2nd Edition splatbook "[[CantArgueWithElves The Complete Guide to the]] MasterRace". Uh, the Complete Guide to Elves, sorry.
* DemandOverload: The original edition had a first run of 1,000 copies. It sold out within weeks.
* FollowTheLeader: Inspired many, many other [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_&_Dragons#Acclaim_and_influence tabletop games and video games]].
* FranchiseOwnershipAcquisition: Creator/{{TSR}}, Creator/WizardsOfTheCoast and Creator/{{Hasbro}} make three corporate owners, even if older trademarks were sometimes preserved for a while for the sake of customer goodwill. See the main page for details.
* GenrePopularizer: For pen(cil)-and-paper roleplaying games.
* IntercontinuityCrossover: Before Creator/GamesWorkshop and Creator/{{TSR}} became business rivals they did collaborate on D&D's second [[MonsterCompendium bestiary, the original Fiend Folio]] which was made up partly of monsters from Magazine/WhiteDwarf's Fiend Factory column. GW founder Ian Livingstone was especially proud that his entry, the Hook Horror (the name was just a place-holder he never fixed) made its way into the book. See the book ''Dice Men'' Chapter 13: Independence Day.
* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: 5e is built on this. The DMG directly references worlds for which there are no official 5e materials, since fans have spent the age of the internet converting them anyway. The Dungeon Masters Guild has since made most of those earlier edition books available for purchase as pdfs, along with some fan made material for Forgotten Realms, Eberron, and Ravenloft.
* OfficialFanSubmittedContent:
** A great deal of it in 2nd through 4th edition, especially through the Dragon magazine which often featured articles written by fans. While 5th edition goes the quality over quantity route with fewer but better made sourcebooks, it's still present. Of note is the Oblex from Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, which was designed by a child through the Make-A-Wish foundation.
** The setting of Exandria was created by Creator/MatthewMercer for his home game, which would eventually become ''WebVideo/CriticalRole''. Eventually, the entire setting was implemented as an officially-licensed setting for Fifth Edition, including a campaign called ''TabletopGame/CriticalRoleCallOfTheNetherdeep'', making Mercer a PromotedFanBoy.
* ScrewedByTheLawyers: The reason why third party products usually don't include rules for the Artificer class. The Open Gaming License only completely covers the core rulebooks, while [=WotC=] takes a 50% cut of anything made for their intellectual property -- such as settings. The Artificer was released in an ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'' sourcebook for ''Third'' to ''Fifth Edition'', and are themed around the setting, so the license gets a lot more dicey than most creators want to bother with.
* StreisandEffect: Although [[TheNewRockAndRoll the hysteria brought by ignorant]] MoralGuardians in the 1980s was a source of worry for TSR, it was also a major marketing boost, quadrupling gross income from $2.3 million in 1979, to $8.7 million in 1980. Many buyers purchased the game to see what the fuss was about, liked what they saw, found out that the SatanicPanic stuff around the game wasn't true, and stuck around. It also created a sense of community among tabletop RPG fans which didn't exist beforehand, allowing people to find groups to play with and like-minded fans. Were it not for the attempts to eliminate ''D&D'' by the Moral Guardians, ''D&D'' wouldn't have become the cultural icon of tabletop gaming that it is today.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: In 1979, Creator/GamesWorkshop was approached with an offer from Creator/GaryGygax to merge with Creator/{{TSR}}. GW respectfully declined and still had some business dealings with TSR including making a line of D&D miniatures before they became full-fledged rivals. In hindsight, this was the correct move by GW, as Gar Gygax would be removed in 1985 and TSR soon collapsed.

!!General trivia:
The game is also the subject of the {{filk}} musical ''Theatre/TripodVersusTheDragon''.
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