Chaturanga is considered the most ancient ancestor of Dungeons & Dragons. It originated as chaturanga, created in the 6th-century Indian subcontinent as a simulation of ancient Indian warfare, particularly the Kurukshetra War (from the Indian epic Mahabharata), with pieces representing roles such as rajas, mantri (counselers), infantry, cavalry, chariots and war elephants. Wargames have origins in ancient strategy games, particularly chess. These groups were largely dedicated to accurately recreating medieval history and culture, however, with only mild fantasy elements, and were probably mostly influenced by historical re-enactment. A similar group, the Markland Medieval Mercenary Militia, began holding events on the University of Maryland, College Park in 1969. In the 1960s, historical reenactment groups gave rise to "creative history" games, which probably originate with the founding of the Society for Creative Anachronism in Berkeley, California on May 1, 1966. A murder mystery game in which a murder was performed by saying, "You're dead," was mentioned in Harpo Marx's autobiography, Harpo Speaks!, in a section covering the 1920s. There is some evidence that assassin-style games may have been played in New York city by adults as early as 1920. Mock trials, model legislatures, and the "Theatre Games" created by Viola Spolin arose, in which players took on the roles of characters and improvised, but without the formalised rules which would characterise modern role-playing games. At the same time in Shanghai, role-playing characters from literature works was an integral part of the Chinese courtesan behavior. In the 19th and early 20th century, many board games and parlour games such as the game Jury Box included elements of role-playing. In 16th century Europe, traveling teams of players performed a form of improvisational theatre known as the Commedia dell'arte, with stock situations, stock characters and improvised dialogue. The ancient Han Chinese organized events in which participants pretended to be from an earlier age with entertainment appearing to be the primary purpose of these activities. Historical re-enactment has been practiced by adults for millennia. Games industry company Hasbro purchased fantasy game publisher Wizards of the Coast in 1998 for an estimated $325 million. In thirty years the genre has grown from a few hobbyists and boutique publishers to an economically significant part of the games industry, though grass-roots and small business involvement remains substantial. Media attention both increased sales and stigmatized certain games. Though role-playing has been accepted by some religious organizations, a few continue to object. Some educators support role-playing games as a healthy way to hone reading and arithmetic skills. Academic research has discredited these claims. The game Dungeons & Dragons was a subject of controversy in the 1980s when well-publicized opponents claimed it caused negative spiritual and psychological effects. This has led to confusion among some non-players about the nature of fantasy gaming. Role-playing games are substantially different from competitive games such as ball games and card games. Within the rules, the participants may improvise freely their choices shape the direction and outcome of the games. Traditionally all the participants but one take on characters and determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization and the actions succeed or fail according to a system of rules and guidelines, and one of the participants takes on the role of game master (or GM for short) who narrates the story, plays all the non-player characters and determine the challenge rating and the outcome of various actions. A role-playing game (RPG) is a type of game in which the participants assume the roles of characters and collaboratively create stories. The history of role-playing games begins with an earlier tradition of role-playing, which combined with the rulesets of fantasy wargames in the 1970s to give rise to the modern role-playing game.
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