How Dungeons & Dragons Shaped Fantasy: Tropes, Worldbuilding and Storytelling Explained

Discover how Dungeons & Dragons influenced modern fantasy, from iconic tropes to worldbuilding techniques and storytelling styles used by writers today.

Few things have shaped modern fantasy as much as Dungeons & Dragons. From character archetypes to entire worldbuilding systems, its impact runs deep across books, games, and storytelling as a whole.

In this episode, I’m joined by Janina Arndt and Lucy Atkinson from The Fey Fellows Podcast to explore exactly how DnD has influenced the fantasy genre—and what writers can learn from it.

We break down the key ways DnD has shaped fantasy storytelling, including:

• How DnD influenced modern fantasy tropes and archetypes
• The impact of role-playing on character creation and storytelling
• Worldbuilding lessons writers can take from DnD systems
• Why DnD inspires so many writers to create their own stories
• The crossover between tabletop gaming and fantasy fiction
• How to use DnD-style thinking to improve your writing

If you write fantasy—or want to understand the genre more deeply—this episode reveals how one game helped shape the stories we tell today.

OUR GUESTS

Janina Arndt and Lucy Atkinson from the Fey Fellows Podcast - https://www.instagram.com/feyfellowspodcast/

JOIN OUR WRITING COMMUNITY

https://www.patreon.com/TheFantasyWritersToolshed⁠

LEARN MORE ABOUT FANTASY WRITING

To join our writing community, access exclusive interviews, discussions, fantasy writing classes, books and more, head over to our ⁠Patreon⁠ page - ⁠https://www.patreon.com/TheFantasyWritersToolshed⁠