The humanity ’s most democratic tabletop role - play secret plan , Dungeons & Dragons , co - created by Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax , was issue in 1974 by TSR . One of the first video recording game we could relegate as a role - playing biz was Dungeon , turn for PDP-10 mainframe computers just a year or two later .
Now , in 2025 we have thousands of TTRPG systems fully grown and low , and 100 of role - play video games , many of which can hunt their roots to their analog cousins .
How did we arrive here ? Tracing the full story of both hobbyhorse through five ten of history would be a ambitious errand , but there are sure points of Light Within shining through the haze of story .
The 1980s
The eighties were foundational for both hobbies . Not only did D&D blossom , but the broad TTRPG hobby have off as well , with several essential organisation appearing for the first time , including Shadowrun and Cyberpunk 2013 , as well as GURPS which almost grow a video game adaptation .
The 1980s also see the spillage of two video games upon which two dissimilar writing style were founded .
One of them was Rogue , known from its “ scallywag - like ” and “ Rogue - lite ” heir . It was inspired in part by Ster Trek video games from the 70s and in part by D&D. Nowadays , its descendants tend to be closer to action game such as Hades orDead Cells , but at the clip they were hardcore dungeon crawlers , such as Hack ( and its fork , Nethack ) and Moria .
The other statute title which define what role - play television game could be was Ultima , a rather prolific serial which influenced some of the expectant RPGs to ever embellish computer concealment including Larian Studios ’ modern - day hit .
The 1990s
To take over a common turn of idiomatic expression , the eighty walk so that the 90s could extend . While the games from the late ten laid the foundations , the single we ’ve seen in the 90s set the criterion and ideas we ’re still abide by and craving .
Systems such as Vampire the Masquerade ( which got several playfulness television games ) and Legend of the Five Rings ( which baffle an unusual version this twelvemonth through Shadowveil : L5R ) were gaining popularity . What ingathering D&D recede in TTRPGs , it gain twofold in video games . The nineties brought keep - crawl classics such as Eye of the Beholder , but there was also a small Canadian studio apartment whose games codified the cRPG music genre for the next two decades .
The studio apartment was , of class , Bioware , and the genre - codify secret plan wasBaldur ’s Gate , publish in 1998 . fructify in the Forgotten Realms and adapt the rules of Dungeons & Dragons 2e , to many it became the gilded standard . Its real - metre , party - free-base combat , branching conversation , memorable companion and an epic fib became the core mode to set about the genre for decades to come .
However , BG was n’t technically the first pop game to do thing this way . In 1997 Interplay released the originalFallout . It was have in mind to adapt GURPS , but after objections from the system ’s creator , it wound up using its own resolve system . It had character in - nigra , crisp writing and a surprising level of graphic furiousness dramatise its satisfying routine - base combat .
Unfortunately , neither it nor its stellar sequel Fallout 2 managed to influence the literary genre the fashion Baldur ’s Gate ’s literal - time with pause battles did . Thankfully , fans of turn - base fighting would get their due in the 2010s .
The new millennium
The 2000s check the arriver of the influential third edition of Dungeons & Dragons and , necessarily , there were video games based on the Modern rules .
Perhaps the most significant wasKnights of the Old Republic , set in the Star Wars universe , and , one year earlier , Neverwinter Nights , which was completely unrelated to the 1991 original . Both were made by BioWare , and cemented its status as the tycoon of cRPGs at the clock time , although the extraordinary continuation to these claim were made by music genre veterans from Obsidian Entertainment .
Bioware also worked on its own original worlds and systems , which in 2009 throw usDragon Age : origin . Despite its fresh mise en scene and original mechanics , the bequest of D&D in general ( and Baldur ’s Gate and Neverwinter Nights specifically ) , was clear for all to see . Future installing ( including last class ’s district attorney : The Veilguard ) finally strayed from that templet .
It was n’t all D&D however . 2004 also see the release of a cult - classic based on the World of Darkness . Vampire : the Masquerade – Bloodlines explore the vampiric government of night - time LA , and the plot ’s rooter are now await the release of Bloodlines 2 , scheduled for October 2025 .
Towards the roaring RPG twenties and beyond
It could be argued that the winner of 2012 ’s XCOM : Enemy Unknown invited the return of good turn - based fighting into the mainstream , and RPGs follow cause . Larian ’s Divinity : Original sinning paved the developer ’s route towards its imposing cRPG epic , Baldur ’s Gate 3 .
There were also several RPG video games released base on systems other than D&D.
Shadowrun Returns andCyberpunk 2077quite skillfully adapt the systems first published in the mid-eighties . Meanwhile , Owlcat Games ( know for its Pathfinder adaptations ) launchedWarhammer 40k : Rogue Traderbased on a 2009 TTRPG system of the same name .
Intertwined legacy
Role - play television game are at least as old as their pen - and - paper full cousin and for half a C both hobbies have act upon each other . The Covid lockdowns make them to blend even more , as masses sought digital , online tools to keep playing their games .
Fans now use package such as Tabletop Simulator or Foundry VTT to revivify and experience the universe of Neverwinter Nights ( both Bioware ’s and 1991 original ) , or Multi - User Dungeons of old — open up a digital gateway to once analog - only dangerous undertaking .
What ’s the next step ? You could ( and should ) seek out the TTRPGs and get your friend to play them with you . However , you may also find many of the video secret plan mentioned here on the G2A.COM Marketplace , and get the feel for the hobby this way , on your own time and , thanks to many awesome deals , without straining your budget .
Whichever course you choose , unbelievable , creative , and satisfying journeys await .
