67 books like Of Dice and Men

Peterson is the foremost historian on the history of Dungeons and Dragons. 

To research this book, he tracked down countless documents from the early history of the game––including things like greeting cards from game creator Gary Gygax. But this book doesn’t just cover D&D.  It traces the history of simulation games from chess through nineteenth-century military training exercises and finally into the emergence of fantasy role-playing games. 

This is the definitive source on the history of these games.

This was the first sociological study of fantasy role-playing games. Fine was able to detect and articulate what is sociologically significant about these games. 

The book takes dynamics that role-players just “get” and articulates them as sociological concepts. For example, he uses “frame theory” to explain how players verbally transition from the frame of the game mechanics and the story world of their characters. 

He also explains how games like Dungeons and Dragons are “autotelic.” In other words, you do not “win” at and these games, the purpose is “engrossment” or being absorbed into the fantasy world. 

Fine also did a great deal of participant observation for this book and it provides a great historical insight into the culture surrounding these games in the early 1980s––warts and all.

Barrowcliffe is a humorist, but reading his autobiographical account of playing D&D in the United Kingdom in the 1970s, you realize humor is a way of coping with tragedy. 

This book contains fascinating descriptions of the early history of D&D outside of the United States. Barrowcliffe is also adept at articulating what exactly is so compelling and fascinating about D&D. Most importantly, this book portrays the brutal culture of toxic masculinity that often existed around this game in its first decades. 

Gen Z players may be shocked by Barrowcliffe’s account of how players treated one another.

This book is an exploration of “geek culture” including Dungeons and Dragons but also other aspects of fandom like live-action-role-playing (LARPing), and Harry Potter fandom. 

This is not a theoretically weighty book, but the author did substantial field work trying to explore and understand these subcultures. The throughline of the book concerns the human fascination with imaginary realms and the cultural forms people will invent to connect with these realms and bring them to life. As a religious studies scholar, I see this longing for other worlds as a “religious” impulse.

I didn’t know I wanted a story about a girl and her talking animal friends, but when it turns out that all of them have been enslaved by an evil witch and are shackled by her torturous magic, I couldn’t put it down. 

Seemingly insignificant creatures decide to try and take their fate back, all while their frailty remains. I found myself invested in the whimsy of the fairy tale juxtaposed with the horrors of enslavement. Watching the girl called “Thing” navigate the human condition was beautiful and painful, and several times, I held my breath, unsure what the outcome would be.

This story is an unusual tale of hopelessness transformed into determination and a beautiful bond formed through shared trauma and circumstance.

The 3rd and final book in the Dragonlance Chronicles installment, Weis & Hickman finished an incredible tale inspired by their Dungeons & Dragons role playing group.

Elves, humans, dwarves, and kender must work together to beat back the rise of an evil goddess seeking its way into the world to ensave its inhabitants. Having been a Dungeon Master for many years, I devoured these books, and remain appreciative to this day that role playing geeks love to read novels as well.

A hybrid Dungeons & Dragons fantasy novel and a gruesome supernatural horror story meet head-on in this story of a Stoner whose job it is to save the world with his RPG skills. You guessed it, the world is doomed. As is the case with most of Communale’s novels, the absurd meets the hilarious to produce the terrifying.

For many Game Masters it can be difficult to understand how the monsters and adversaries in their worlds would act.

In his book, and its sequel, Ammann helps to provide guidance for how different adversaries might act towards the group of heroes. This book helps GMs think critically about the monsters in the world and can help with teaching how to provide a more dynamic and consequential experience for players.

Ammann also helps readers think in terms of a world with magic and how those living in such a world might think and approach problems differently than we do in our magic-free world.

Sometimes you might find you have a great idea for a campaign, or know what theme you want to explore but are struggling to understand how to bring those ideas together.

D’Amato takes you through building your campaign through both a discussion of storytelling devices as well as pointed questions you can use to help flesh out your ideas and turn them into a full campaign. This book also helps GMs learn how to make their world feel lived in through descriptions and building history.

This is the book you want to use to build a small idea into a full campaign! 

Once I began my reading journey in high school, I naturally gravitated to this book series.

It was recommended by a friend I played Dungeons and Dragons with from school. This was the mid to late 80s and Dungeons and Dragons was a bit controversial, but we knew it was harmless fun. My friend knew I loved magic, and he told me of Raistlin the magic user and his twin brother Caramon and how they were central to the plot. I was hooked.

This was another fantasy series I just couldn’t put down. I remember getting my younger brother hooked on these same fantasy books and being angry with him because he was a faster reader and he read ahead of me! These novels were easy to read and were a wonderful part of my teen reading journey. They take the reader away to another realm and you find yourself… show more.