Games - Dungeons & Dragons

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Dungeons & Dragons is an animated television series that was a coproduction of Marvel Comics and TSR, and made in the United States during the 1980s. Based on TSR's Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, the show was popular in the US, and ran for three seasons on CBS.

Although aimed at a young audience as many animated series are, the show had distinctive plots, and was unusual in children's television for the amount of ethical awareness and empathy displayed to and encouraged in the viewer. It was not unusual for members of the band to lose hope or break down in tears, only to be comforted by others, or reinvigorated through good works. The level of violence was controversial for children's television at the time, and the script of one episode, "The Dragon's Graveyard", was almost shelved because one of the characters contemplated killing one of their enemies. In 1985, the National Coalition on Television Violence claimed it was the most violent show on television.

In 1987, the series premiered in France, and in the United Kingdom, satellite television channels were showing re-runs at least into the late 1990s. In 1999, Saban Entertainment bought out the Marvel cartoons, including all the airing rights. Saban merged with the Fox Entertainment Group, and for a while (about six months), the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon was aired during the Saturday morning and weekday afternoon FoxKids time block. In August 2002, Disney acquired Fox & Saban and gained the broadcast rights to the cartoon; however, it has not been shown on any affiliated television channel.

Premise

The general premise of the show was that a group of kids were pulled into the "Realm of Dungeons & Dragons" by taking a magical rollercoaster trip at a fairground. Invariably, the children just wanted to get home, but would often take detours to help people, or, especially, find that their fates intertwined with the fate of others.

After arriving in the Realm, the children were a little out of place, but the Dungeon Master (named for the role of the referee in the role-playing game) appeared, assuming the role of their mentor, and gave them each clothing and magical paraphernalia to suit their abilities.

The original title sequence is a concise dramatization of the kids' arrival in the realm and the assignment of their respective character classes. The second season version begins with the ride, only to shift to a stylized action sequence with the kids, more accustomed to the demands of the realm, capably doing battle. A storyboard for the second season's introduction can be viewed

Main characters

The main characters of the show were the children, trying to find their way home. They were:

Episode & Plot guide

Season One: 1983-1984

:01 - The Night of No Tomorrow - Presto, teased one too many times for his unpredictable magic, decides to enter into an apprenticeship with Merlin while the rest of the gang reluctantly journey to the town of Helix. The only problem...Merlin has been dead for centuries, and Presto's just undone his biggest spell!

:02 - Eye of the Beholder - The kids are charged with defeating the evil Beholder who guards a portal to Earth, but first their new friend, the cowardly knight Sir John, must overcome his own fears.

:03 - The Hall of Bones - The weapons are failing, and must be recharged in the Hall of Bones. The kids run into trouble trying to find a guide to get them there, and into more trouble when the guide charges more than they can afford!

:04 - Valley of the Unicorns - The evil wizard Kelek is making a bid for power by stealing unicorn horns, including Uni's. When the kids find themselves no match for the madman, they have to turn to their enemy for help.

:05 - In Search of the Dungeon Master - Dungeonmaster has been captured by the evil bounty hunter Warduke, who plans to sell the helpless mage to Venger. But before they can rescue him, they must first rescue themselves and their fellow slaves from Venger's slave mines of Barramore.

:06 - Beauty and the Bogbeast - Eric does not heed Dungeonmaster's warning, "Beware the Beauty that breathes the Beast..." Now he must help a tribe of bogbeasts fight off the evil ogre damming the River that Rains Upside Down to free himself from a curse and help his friends get home.

:07 - Prison Without Walls - The Heartless Dragon must have a heart before the great conjunction of the four suns in order to send the kids home, and that means the gang must first locate and free the Spellbinder Lukion to save his fellow gnomes from Venger.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Dungeons & Dragons (TV series) ]

Games - Dungeons & Dragons

Premise

Main characters

Episode & Plot guide

Season One: 1983-1984

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