More Info about the Museum

What comes to mind when you think of Dungeons & Dragons? The amazing thing is that it’s different for everyone. Did you play the game years ago and then stop? Did you start playing in the last few years? Have you played consistently since it started 50 years ago (or when you were old enough to understand the game)? Have you never played, but seen it on TV shows and movies?

ALL of those experiences are valid. The Museum of Dungeons & Dragons needs to tell the story of the game from the beginning 50 years ago and into the future so none of the history is lost.

Dungeons & Dragons is an icon. It has touched so many lives and so many industries. For example, without it, the video games that we have today wouldn’t exist. It was the first game where you, the player, were actually “in” the game instead of playing from outside of it. 

The early video games were things like Pong or Duck Hunt. The player, again, wasn’t playing a character who was “in” the game. Our video games would most likely have continued to evolve, but would have been unlikely to develop the roleplaying concept that we see in most, even things like Donkey Kong have the player “being” a character in the game.

Dungeons & Dragons has inspired so many people, I don’t think its reach can be overstated. It encourages creativity in many ways. The first, most obvious one, is roleplaying: creating a character and acting like that character at the table. How many actors, screenwriters, directors, and other Hollywood types do you know played D&D? There are dozens who have said they did, while there are probably hundreds or thousands more who played, but didn’t mention it.

Out-of-the-box thinking is a necessary skill for players. The most obvious way forward isn’t always the smart one. Evaluate what the characters are facing, think of as many ways as possible to deal with it, then choose the one that you think is most likely to succeed… that’s how to keep the characters alive. It also encourages team work and strategy because the characters don’t survive if they don’t work together in smart ways.

It’s interesting that when Dungeons & Dragons first started, if you said you played it, people would think you lived in your mother’s basement. Now, if you say you play Dungeons & Dragons, people say, “That’s awesome, me too,” or, “I’ve always wanted to learn.”

Why not? It’s a place that lots of people will come to see the Museum because they’re already coming here for Disney, Universal, a personal or business convention, or one of a half a dozen other reasons. Dungeons & Dragons has been played across the world, and people from all over the world come to Orlando. It’s easier to add a day at the Museum of D&D to a larger trip than it is to make a special trip across the country or across the world to visit.

There are places that have history connected with the game – Lake Geneva WI (where the game started, where Gary Gygax lived, and where TSR was headquartered), Minneapolis MN (where Dave Arneson lived), Renton WA (where Wizards of the Coast is headquartered). Some of those places already have areas in their museums for the part of the history that occurred there, like the one in the Geneva Lake Museum (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057312525185). They do a great job telling the part of the story that happened in Lake Geneva, we will tell the story of Dungeons & Dragons overall.

But for those people who feel a strong need for the location of the Museum of Dungeons & Dragons to have a connection with the creators of the game, this area has one. Dave Arneson (who brought the original idea to the gaming group that included Gary Gygax) taught game design at Full Sail University in the Orlando area from the 1990’s until 2008. They even opened an entire studio named after Dave’s original campaign, Blackmoor (https://www.fullsail.edu/about/full-sail-stories/blackmoor-studios-opens-on-campus).

No one else has done it, and it needs to be done... Also, we have one of the largest collections in the world (from Chainmail through to the DMG and Monster Manual released in 2025). Our collection doesn’t just include one edition, or one type of product. We have the RPG books, of course. But we also have the metal miniatures, the prepainted miniatures, the boardgames (produced by TSR and WotC), a very wide variety of licensed products, and more (from a physical print of the trailer for the first D&D movie that was released in 2000, to a flyer sent out by Wizards of the Coast to stores after they purchased TSR). 

These are the kind of things that need to be remembered and we have those. Right now, they’re just sitting in boxes. We are the only people who get to actually enjoy them. We want the world to look at some of the items, and say, “Wow, I didn’t know that existed!”

Another thing that no one thinks about is the character sheets and campaign notes that the average person has used in their games for half a century. We want to preserve those and make them available for others to view. Some of these may be on display in the museum, but we hope to make the rest available electronically.

That answer will change based on our funding when we open the physical location. We are sure of a few things, though. First, it won’t have white walls with boring displays. It will be themed to look like you’re walking through a dungeon maze. Because this is, after all, a museum, there will be displays that showcase the products, but many of those will be interactive exhibits. On the other wall of the “dungeon” will be a timeline showing the different editions and settings. The timeline will also include offshoot games (like Hackmaster and Pathfinder), as well as spotlighting many of the people who contributed to the game.

Once you reach the center of the maze, you will encounter an audioanimatronic black dragon, guarding a treasure hoard, of course! A dice roll will determine how the dragon reacts to you… roll badly enough, and you might get a certificate of TPK… roll well enough, and you might get to take a coin from his hoard. 

After your adventure in the maze, you can retire to the tavern. All of the staff here will be in costume to keep the atmosphere. And the drinks (virgin options always available) won’t be anything normal. They’ll be more like bubbling potions and similar. This area will also host events like murder mystery style events such as, “Who killed the bard?”

In addition, we will have game rooms. These will be available for guests to use to run their own games. We’ll also host “learn to play” events for all of the editions. Last, but certainly not least, we’ll have games run by celebrity Dungeon Masters.

The “phase two” idea for the Museum is to add escape rooms. These would be based on rooms from adventures, both classic and recent. Can you survive what your characters couldn’t? Again, as gamers, these will be highly themed and visually interesting.

The “blue sky” plan would be to also include a dark ride. This ride would take you into the middle of some of the artwork. Can you imagine going under the dragon’s arm in the Elmore art from the red box… seeing the dragon on one side of you, and the fighter on the other? What about watching the thiefs trying to pry the gem out of the idol’s eye from the 1stEdition Player’s Handbook. Or looking up at the beholder from the 2024 Edition of the Monster Manual and seeing Vajira’s magic starting to appear on the other side of you? 

First, and most important, spread the word. We have Facebook (www.facebook.com/MuseumOfDnD) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/MuseumOfDnD/). You can also subscribe to our mailing list at the bottom of our webpage. TikTok, X, and YouTube will be coming soon.

Second, help us out via donations. You can give a one-time donation via Paypal, or commit to a small monthly amount via Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/c/museumofdnd - this helps cover travel to conventions, webhosting, and similar costs and has more tangible rewards coming soon).

If you have items that otherwise might get thrown out or given to Goodwill, consider donating them to the Museum. Our 501(c)3 status request has been filed, and is waiting for federal approval. Once that is received, we can backdate donation receipts to make them tax deductible for you.

Lastly, if you know of anyone with the following skills who might be willing to help us out, please let us know, or ask them to reach out to us: 1) SEO, 2) Grant writing, 3) Social media marketing.