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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 8203260" data-attributes="member: 29398">You're right that there's quite a few possible jumping-off points.  Here's a short list (which people are welcome to add to, it's not complete by any means):CYOA books and attempts to make such things live-playableFantasy novels e.g. LotRText-based computer games (Advent)===> ASCII-based computer games (Rogue)===> Graphics-based computer games (roguelikes)[===> Multi-player roguelikes]*Wargames (tabletop historical re-creations)===> Wargames (tabletop but non-historical)===> Wargames (minis-based a la Warhammer)===> Wargames (live-action re-creations)===> Other historical re-creations and the SCABraunstein===> Fantasy-based LARP* and - again - the SCAThe two I've marked with '*' are I think the most likely seeds.  It's just two short-ish jumps from fantasy-based LARP to TTRPGing: the concept of a continuing story involving the same characters, and someone codifying it into a tabletop form so these characters can continue to be played when it's 20 below outside on a stiff nor'easter.It's an even shorter jump from multi-player roguelikes to TTRPGs.  In reality multi-player roguelikes never took off that I know of, but had D&D never come about I think this concept might have received a lot more attention from programmers. Once there, it's a very short jump from a co-operative version of that to a TTRPG: all it needs is someone to codify what the program does into written-out game rules to take the computer out of the equation.</blockquote>

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