What's the connection between heavy metal and early roleplaying?

[Bedrockgames]

I'm often told that early D&D was very metal and that there are connections between it and the early days of the industry. Is that true?

I wasn't around in the real early days, but I started gaming in about 86. A few years later, in about '89 when I got into 7th grade, I started developing an interest in heavy metal and picked up guitar. But well before that, I had already started buying Iron Maiden Posters simply because I liked the imagery (and hadn't even heard their music yet). I think the subject matter of heavy metal and gaming has a lot of cross-over.

Among the musicians I knew, the hard rock guys were definitely not into RPGs, but the metal guys were. I think it largely boiled down to the sound and subject matter. Everything from death to doom, thrash and British New Wave all kind of blended well with the gaming stuff I was interested in. Just look at the cover art of metal albums and many of them could work as a cover of a D&D book. And I think the connection became a lot more conscious over time (bands like Bolt Thrower and Iced Earth were clearly influenced by this sort of hobby).

In my mind it is pretty hard to separate the two things. That music was often on in the background when we made characters or played.

It wasn't the only music that influenced gaming though. I remember a lot of people who were into punk playing, as well as there being a lot of goth and industrial people.

 

[jasper]

At 10 gold pieces to the pound we were all interested in heavy metal. Never heard of a connection expect some fantasy artists did album covers.

 

[Sunseeker]

And here I was going to mention the animal sacrifices but.....

 

[was]

The fact that various TV preachers were claiming both were devil worship probably helped with the crossover aesthetic too.

...This. Heavy Metal and DnD are remotely linked by the fact that they were targeted by many of the same protest groups in the late 70's and early 80's.

 

[Salamandyr]

There was a bit of discomfort for kids like me in that, thanks to the Satanic Panic, both D&D and Metal started attracting people who were interested in actual Satanism. Fortunately they were usually fairly easy to spot.

 

[nightwind1]

We played mostly Traveller in the late '70s/early '80s, so our play list was Alan Parsons Project, Moody Blues, ELO, and soundtracks from Logan's Run, Star Wars, Star Trek the Motion Picture, and Alien.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Been plying since the 70's/Satanic Panic myself- never gamed with music on until the 21st century.

And while I am a known metalhead, my tastes are so broad, you never know what you'd have gotten...

 

[CydKnight]

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Guilty as charged, there. Also a musician. Back in college, my one gaming group consisted of me (goth), a punk, a metalhead, a trad (non-racist) skin, and then one person that wasn’t subculturally-aligned. All of us but the last were in bands.

Also, another time when I was briefly in a black metal band, we used to practice in the bassist’s dorm room. I totally spied a copy of the FASERIP Marvel boxed set tucked away.

My feeling is that being into gaming earlier in life taps into the same creative impulse that leads to musical inclinations later.

It wasn't the only music that influenced gaming though. I remember a lot of people who were into punk playing, as well as there being a lot of goth and industrial people.

 

[Hand of Evil]

I got to think it was the ART