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{{trope}}
[[File:Ampersand.jpg|thumb|right|The essential element of this trope.]]{{quote|'''Ampersand Law #1.''' Early RPGs always had names in this format: [Something] & [Something Else That Usually Begins With The Same Letter]. (Dungeons & Dragons, Tunnels & Trolls, Villains & Vigilantes, Chivalry & Sorcery, etc.)|[http://www.criticalmiss.com/issue7/rpgcliche1.html RPG Cliche List]}}
Any fictional [[Tabletop Games|roleplaying game]] can be recognized as such, because it will have a title consisting of two alliterative plural nouns suggestive of its genre separated by an ampersand. A writer in need of a fictitious parallel to ''[[
The Magic Ampersand form serves the same instant-identification purpose for ad hoc roleplaying games that the [[Chest Insignia]] does for ad hoc superheroes. It's also frequently used to make jokes about fictional creatures playing a roleplaying game based on our own mundane lives.
Of course, sometimes there is [[Truth in Television]]: ''[[
(Note: [[Pride and Prejudice]] and [[Sense and Sensibility (
Compare [[The Noun and
----
{{examples}}
== Real-World Examples ==
=== [[Tabletop Games]] ===
As mentioned above, the [[Ur Example]] is ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]''. Other examples include:
* ''Axis & Allies'', the most famous [[World War II]] wargame franchise of them all.
* ''[[Bunnies and Burrows|Bunnies & Burrows]]'', where the player-characters are rabbits and hares.
* ''[[Castles and Crusades|Castles & Crusades]]''
* ''[http://playingattheworld.blogspot.ru/2017/12/a-forgotten-variant-catacombs-and.html Catacombs and Caverns]'' was one of the earliest D&D variants (1976).
* ''Chivalry & Sorcery''
* The superhero RPG ''[[Mutants and Masterminds|Mutants & Masterminds]]''.
** And the supplements for different comic book genres: ''Wizards & Warlocks'' (sword'n'sorcery comics) and ''Mecha & Manga'' (guess).
* The (unnecessarily complex, at least for this first-edition AD&D veteran) [[wikipedia:Powers & Perils|Powers & Perils]] fantasy role-playing game, published by Avalon Hill, if you can believe it.
* ''Starships & Spacemen''
* Two different games called ''Swords & Sorcery''; one by SPI, one by White Wolf.
* More creatively named ''Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea''
* ''[[Tunnels and Trolls|Tunnels & Trolls]]''
* ''[[Villains and Vigilantes]]'', one of the oldest superhero RPGs (and one that dares to be different by using the word "and" instead of an ampersand).
* [http://www.corone.co.uk/mainsite/hellcatsindex.htm ''Hellcats and Hockeysticks''], "A Role-Playing Game of chaos, anarchy, and decidedly unladylike bahaviour". (Presumably, either they chose not to or they could not get a license for [[St Trinian's]].)
* ''Steel & Flame''
* ''Spitfire & Straightlace''
* ''Blasters and Bulkheads''
=== [[Video Games]] ===
* The computer RPG ''[[Might and Magic]]''
* ''Sword & Sworcery''[sic] by Superbrothers
* Two unrelated video games titled ''Swords & Serpents'': one by Imagic for the [[Intellivision]], another by Interplay for the [[Nintendo Entertainment System]].
* ''[[Wizards and Warriors|Wizards & Warriors]]'', a trilogy of video games developed by Rareware for the [[Nintendo Entertainment System|NES]].
* Another ''Wizards & Warriors'', developed by David W. Bradley for the PC in the style of his earlier ''[[Wizardry]]'' games.
== Fictional Examples ==
=== [[Comic Books]] ===
* ''Wizards & Warriors'' (not one of the real ones listed above), in [[DC Comics]]' ''Robin''.
=== [[Fan Works]] ===
* ''[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/282766/ogres-and-oubliettes Ogres and Oubliettes]'', set in a ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]'' universe.
* The ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]/[[The Martian]]'' crossover fic ''[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/396744/the-maretian The Maretian]]'' by Kris Overstreet, references ''Ogres and Oubliettes'' as a game played on the Pony homeworld.
* ''Cities & Cyclists'', an RPG played in the ''[[Rosario + Vampire]]/[[Ranma ½]]'' crossover fic ''[[Big Human on Campus]]: After School''. The monsters try playing perfectly ordinary human beings going about their daily lives. It goes hilariously wrong.
=== [[Film]] ===
* A sketch in ''[[The Onion Movie]]'' featured the game ''Wizards & Warbeasts.''
=== [[Literature]] ===
* Rona Jaffe's ''[[Mazes and Monsters]]''.
* Neal Stephenson's ''The Big U'' explicitly compares the LARP ''Sewers and Serpents'', played by characters in the novel, to ''Dungeons and Dragons''.
* Esther Friesner's fantasy novel ''Majyk by Hook or Crook'' has a brief mention of a game called ''Palaces & Puppies.''
=== [[Live-Action TV]] ===
* A fictional roleplaying game/laser tag hybrid called ''Aliens & Asteroids'' appeared in an episode of ''[[War of the Worlds (TV series)|War of the Worlds]]''
* Another ''Wizards & Warriors'', in an episode of ''[[Quantum Leap]]''.
* Yet another [[Wizards and Warriors (TV series)|''Wizards & Warriors'']] was a summer replacement TV series in the early 80s. It parodied many themes and tropes from fantasy stories and FRP games. One episode even featured the hero gathering a "Dungeons and Dragons"-style party of specialists to go on a quest.
=== [[Newspaper Comics]] ===
* ''[[FoxTrot]]'' had a series of strips where Jason and Marcus were playing ''Houses & Humans'', which is [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|pretty much what it sounds like]].
=== [[Recorded and Stand Up Comedy]] ===
* [[The Firesign Theatre]]: "Ah, I don't wanna play ''Dungeons & Vikings''!"
=== [[Tabletop Games]] ===
* The Dungeon Master's Guide for [[Dungeons & Dragons|''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'']] actually parodied itself, with an insert cartoon showing several fantasy characters playing a "mundane life" RPG titled ''Papers & Paychecks''.
{{quote|''"We're pretending we're workers and students in an industrialized and technological society."''}}
** ''[[Robot Chicken]]'' had a similar parody in one of its small in-between scenes.
** One college comedy magazine in the US had another "mundane life" RPG called ''Driveways and Desk Jobs''.
** ''[[Kingdom of Loathing]]'' has "Cubicles and Conference Calls".
* In ''[[Werewolf: The Apocalypse]]'', one rival to Black Dog Games' ''Talespinner'' system and ''World of Shadow'' setting (a [[Self-Parody]] of [[The World of Darkness]]) was the venerable ''Labyrinths & Lamiae'', formerly owned by LSD Inc, and later by [[Wizards of the Coast|Magicians of the Bay]].
* Black Dog themselves produced ''Axes and Arcana'', parodying [[White Wolf]]'s ''Swords & Sorcery''.
=== [[Video Games]] ===
* "Grottos and Gremlins" from the video game ''[[Bully (video game)|Bully]]''.
* In ''Spellcasting 101: Sorcerers Get All The Girls'', a group of students at Sorcerer University is always playing "Malls & Muggers".
** And they're still playing - with no evidence of having stopped at any point in the year between games - in the next game. One of the tasks that your would-be fratmates have to accomplish in order to get through hazing week (which you can watch) is to make them stop.
* ''[[Simon the Sorcerer|Simon the Sorcerer II]]'' features a group of characters interested in a game called "Apartments and Accountants". Since Simon the Sorcerer is a fantasy series, A&A simulates real life.
=== [[Web Comics]] ===
* The webcomic ''Dungeon Damage'' had a group of Dragons playing "Humans and Houses".
* ''[[Something*Positive]]'' of course, has [https://web.archive.org/web/20140109050206/http://somethingpositive.net/sp01142005.shtml its own take on it].
* The title of ''[[Square Root of Minus Garfield]]'' strip [http://www.mezzacotta.net/garfield/?comic=2666 No. 2666: Lasagnas & Litterboxes Revisited], a retelling of a ''Garfield'' Sunday strip as a tabletop RPG session.
==== [[Campaign Comic]]s ====
* ''[[Benders and Brawlers]]'', based on ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''
* ''[[D&DS9]]'', based on ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]''
* ''[http://jutsuandjinchuriki.thecomicseries.com/comics/first Jutsu and Jinchuriki]'', based on ''[[Naruto]]''
* ''[[Wizards and Wands]]'', based on ''[[Harry Potter]]''
* ''[[Darths and Droids]]'':
** Due to the [[Celebrity Paradox]], in the ''Darths & Droids'' universe, the makers of Darths and Droids are working on a similar comic about an RPG version of ''[[Harry Potter]]'': ''[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/wandsandwarts/episodes/0050.html Wands & Warts]''. Every [[Milestone Celebration|50 episodes]], they add a new burrow to this little rabbit hole.
** In the ''Wands & Warts'' universe, the makers are working on a screencap comic about ''[[The Sound of Music]]'': ''[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/notesandnazis/episodes/0050.html Notes & Nazis]''
** In that universe universe, the Irregulars are making [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/mutantsandmiscreants/episodes/0050.html Mutants & Miscreants.] (''[[X-Men (
** In THAT universe, they're writing [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/emsandebes/episodes/0050.html Enlisted Men & Extraterrestrial Biological Entities] (''[[Alien (
** Then [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/magiciansandmunchkins/episodes/0050.html Magicians & Munchkins]
** [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/sandalsandspartans/0050.html Sandals & Spartans], based on
** [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/avatars/0050.html Avatars & Avi-Fauna], based on
** [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/terminators/0050.html Terminators & Temporal Paradoxes], based on
** [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/carcasses/0050.html Carcasses & Carcharadons], based on ''[[Jaws (
**
** [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/amphibians/0050.html Amphibians & Anthropomorphisms], based on ''[[The Muppet Movie]]''.
** [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/heists/0050.html Heists & Hypnagogic Hallucinations], based on ''[[
** [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/barnacles/0050.html Barnacles & Bilgewater], based on ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]''.
** [http://darthsanddroids.net/docs/0050.html Docs & Deloreans], based on ''[[Back to
** [http://darthsanddroids.net/hypnotoads/0050.html Hypnotoads & Hyperchickens] based on ''[[Futurama]]''
** [http://darthsanddroids.net/chocolates/0050.html Chocolates & Chumps] based on ''[[Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory]]'' (1971)
** [http://darthsanddroids.net/ids/0050.html Ids & Idiots], based on ''[[Forbidden Planet]]''
** [http://darthsanddroids.net/egons/0050.html Egons & Ectoplasms], based on ''[[Ghostbusters]]''
** [http://darthsanddroids.net/hellenes/0050.html Hellenes & Harryhausens], based on ''[[Jason and the Argonauts]]''
** [http://darthsanddroids.net/misadventures/0050.html Misadventures & Marionettes], based on ''[[Thunderbirds]]''
** [http://darthsanddroids.net/arks/0050.html Arks & Archaeologists], based on ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]''
** [http://darthsanddroids.net/themeparks/0050.html Theme Parks & Theropods], based on ''[[Jurassic Park]]''
** [http://darthsanddroids.net/darcies/0050.html Darcies & Diaries], based on ''[[Bridget Jones's Diary]]''
** [http://darthsanddroids.net/marmosets/0050.html Marmosets & Meerkats], based on David Attenborough's ''[[The Life of Mammals]]''
** [http://darthsanddroids.net/gags/0050.html Gags & Griswolds], based on ''[[National Lampoon's Vacation]]'' {{spoiler|and ''[[Terminator 2]]''}}
** [http://darthsanddroids.net/elliotts/0050.html Elliotts & Extraterrestrials], based on ''[[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial]]''
** ''[http://darthsanddroids.net/moonshots/0050.html Moonshots & Mishaps]'', based on ''[[Apollo 13]]''
** ''[http://darthsanddroids.net/pacmans/0050.html Pac-Mans & Power Pellets]'', based on the original ''[[Pac-Man]]''
** ''[https://darthsanddroids.net/drivers/0050.html Drivers & Dubble-yas]'', based on ''[[It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World]]''
=== [[Web Original]] ===
* From the web series, "Gold": ''Goblins & Gold''
=== [[Western Animation]] ===
* An episode of ''[[Dexter's Laboratory]]'', (Itself called ''D & DD'') features the titular character running a game of "Monsters & Mazes". Dee-Dee replaces him as the Game Master, with amusing consequences.
----
:It eventually came to the fans' attention that while ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' had [[Dragon (magazine)|''Dragon'' magazine]] and [[Dungeon (magazine)|''Dungeon'' magazine]], one niche remained glaringly empty. Here you go: [http://www.and-mag.com/ ''&'' Magazine]!
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Title Tropes]]
[[Category:Tabletop
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