Heavy metal and Dungeons & Dragons were a match made in hell

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/07/30/heavy-metal-and-dungeons-dra.html

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“Blood For The Blood God!”
“Skulls for the Skull Throne!”

“Harriers for the Cup!”

Niche joke, I know…

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If you’ve never watched it, the music video for Dio’s song Holy Diver basically looks like a campaign brought to life.

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Beat me to it!

Fun Fact: Listen to the opening of Bolt Thrower’s ‘World Eater’ and tell me it’s not "WOAHHHHHH PIZZAAAA!!! https://youtu.be/QL19beIJSE0

I’m so, so sorry.

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Ciaphas Cain, both the hero we want and the hero we deserve.

Meanwhile, on Holy Terra…

“St George for England!”
“St Pancras for Scotland!”

“Ashford for the Continent!”
“Eastbourne for the incontinent!”

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Welcome to Boing Boing, BoingoOingo.

@FloridaMan My favourite Warhammer inspired video is more 40k based; it has got a Chaos Cult, Inquisitors, jokaero digi weapons (or maybe psykic powers), and even a Psyber-Eagle.

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Thanks! Long, long time lurker, first time caller.

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OMG! This made me think of the old Dungeon Majesty whatever-it-was.

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I was a definitely a Metal kid and a D&D kid in the early 80s. Since Dio has already been invoked, I’ll give you Saxon.

And the Safety Dance video by Men Without Hats always makes me think of a D&D Party having, well… a party:

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MWH’s is what happens when carousing rules are employed…

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Obviously a party under the sway of one of those annoying Bards with their cheesy spells.

@Quinn_Skylark I know that this track concerns a different swarm of Murder Hobos sweeping across the land, killing the natives and stealing their treasure, but this is the sound of 1980’s D&D to me; especially when viewed from the perspective of those poor little kobolds and goblins.

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Just sayin’…

CKvFBzgXAAQyn4R

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Maiden; also good for History class and the odd bit of poetry.

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I remember there being a bit of research in to the link between playing D&D and suicidal tendencies; it turned out that the evidence pointed to the reverse. People who played D&D were less like to try to seriously harm themselves.

@anon59592690 Also, Bruce Dickinson is the guy you want sitting next to you when, mid-flight, the cabin crew ask, “Does anyone know how to land an airliner?” :smiley:

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I guess that we shouldn’t forget the great Rockabilly/Creative Anachronism cross-over. I’d love to see a film featuring Rockabilly Knights.

Ah, Edward Tudor-Pole; Lambeth’s answer to Vincent Cassel.

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I remember seeing Bolt Thrower in White Dwarf, thinking “it’s gotta be a gimmick! How good can they be?!”

Apparently quite good, and I was absolutely wrong.

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I’m pretty sure I still have the “Blood For The Blood God” flexidisk. Or at the very least, the tape copy I made.

Games Workshop/Warhammer/Warhammer 40k was way more heavy metal than TSR/D&D (at least by the late '80s, when they both had settled into their styles). With D&D, although the interest in fantasy medievalism had some overlap with heavy metal, the games themselves seemed pretty nerdy and niche in the '80s, made by people who seemed more likely to be listening to folk and pop music than heavy metal. Whereas the Warhammers seemed like games made by metalheads for metalheads - the games themselves were full of punk/metal style. The text had more of a contemporary metal flavor than the cod medievalism of D&D; characters had tattoos and mohawks and spiked hair (whereas much D&D art had characters with contemporary haircuts that wouldn’t have raised an eyebrow in '80s suburban America). And the art…
D&D was all:

And Warhammer was all:

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Well, I love heavy metal and I love RPGs. So there is that. Its like chocolate and peanutbutter.
Of course I also love other things, but these things get even better combined with the two things above.

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My first thought from the post title was a heavy metal campaign.

Rhythm guitarist (RG): I want to do a solo.
Lead guitarist (LG): HE’S NOT SPECT FOR SOLOS!!!
RG: But I want toooo.
DM: Roll a dex check RG.
Drummer: Am I drunk yet? Are there girls back stage?

hat tip to a classic

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