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{{trope}}
{{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]}}
[[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 ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade (Tabletop Game)|Vampire: The Masquerade]]'', for instance, would probably dub it something like "''Cloaks & Coffins''". Bonus points if the two nouns are [[Dungeons and Dragons|a place name and a monster name]]<ref>Coffins & Cadavers</ref>.
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 ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade]]'', for instance, would probably dub it something like "''Cloaks & Coffins''". Bonus points if the two nouns are [[Dungeons & Dragons|a place name and a monster name]].<ref>Coffins & Cadavers</ref>


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.
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]]: ''[[Bunnies and Burrows (Tabletop Game)|Bunnies and Burrows]]'', ''Castles and Crusades'', ''[[Mutants and Masterminds (Tabletop Game)|Mutants and Masterminds]]'', ''Villains and Vigilantes'', ''[[Tunnels and Trolls (Tabletop Game)|Tunnels and Trolls]]''... all paying homage to the mother of them all, [[Dungeons and Dragons (Tabletop Game)|Dungeons and Dragons]].
Of course, sometimes there is [[Truth in Television]]: ''[[Bunnies and Burrows]]'', ''Castles and Crusades'', ''[[Mutants and Masterminds]]'', ''[[Villains and Vigilantes]]'', ''[[Tunnels and Trolls]]''... all paying homage to the mother of them all, [[Dungeons & Dragons]]. In real life, the [[Added Alliterative Appeal]] is optional but common.


(Note: [[Pride and Prejudice]] and [[Sense and Sensibility (Literature)|Sense and Sensibility]] are aversions of this trope, being [[Jane Austen (Creator)|Jane Austen]] novels.)
(Note: [[Pride and Prejudice]] and [[Sense and Sensibility (novel)|Sense and Sensibility]] are aversions of this trope, being [[Jane Austen]] novels that predate tabletop RPGs.)


Compare [[The Noun and The Noun]].
Compare [[The Noun and the Noun]].


----
----
{{examples}}
Examples:
== Real-World Examples ==
* Rona Jaffe's ''Mazes & Monsters''.
=== [[Tabletop Games]] ===
* An early issue of ''The Dragon'' (the official ''[[Dungeons and Dragons (Tabletop Game)|Dungeons & Dragons]]'' magazine) actually parodied itself, with an insert cartoon showing several fantasy characters playing a "mundane life" RPG titled ''Papers & Paychecks''.
As mentioned above, the [[Ur Example]] is ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]''. Other examples include:
{{quote| ''"We're pretending we are workers and students in an industrialized and technological society."''}}

* ''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.
** ''[[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''.
** 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".
** ''[[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]].
* A fictional roleplaying game/laser tag hybrid called "Aliens & Asteroids" appeared in an episode of ''[[War of the Worlds (TV)|War of the Worlds]]''
* Black Dog themselves produced ''Axes and Arcana'', parodying [[White Wolf]]'s ''Swords & Sorcery''.
* "Grottos and Gremlins" from the video game ''[[Bully (Video Game)|Bully]]''.

* Literary example: Neal Stephenson's ''The Big U'' explicitly compares the LARP ''Sewers and Serpents'', played by characters in the novel, to ''Dungeons and Dragons''.
=== [[Video Games]] ===
* The [[Web Comic]] ''[[Darths and Droids (Webcomic)|Darths & Droids]]''.
* "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.
** 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 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 (Film)|X-Men]]'')
** In that universe universe, the Irregulars are making [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/mutantsandmiscreants/episodes/0050.html Mutants & Miscreants.] (''[[X-Men (film)|X-Men]]'')
** In THAT universe, they're writing [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/emsandebes/episodes/0050.html Enlisted Men & Extraterrestrial Biological Entities] (''[[Alien (Film)|Aliens]]'').
** In THAT universe, they're writing [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/emsandebes/episodes/0050.html Enlisted Men & Extraterrestrial Biological Entities] (''[[Alien (franchise)|Aliens]]'').
** Then [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/magiciansandmunchkins/episodes/0050.html Magicians & Munchkins]? (''[[The Wizard of Oz (Film)|The Wizard of Oz]]'')
** Then [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/magiciansandmunchkins/episodes/0050.html Magicians & Munchkins], based on ''[[The Wizard of Oz (film)|The Wizard of Oz]]''
** [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/sandalsandspartans/0050.html Sandals & Spartans] (''[[300 (Film)|300]]'', for the 300th strip).
** [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/sandalsandspartans/0050.html Sandals & Spartans], based on ''[[300]]'', for the 300th strip.
** [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/avatars/0050.html Avatars & Avi-Fauna] (''[[Avatar (Film)|Avatar]]'')
** [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/avatars/0050.html Avatars & Avi-Fauna], based on ''[[Avatar (film)|Avatar]]''
** [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/terminators/0050.html Terminators & Temporal Paradoxes] (''[[Terminator]]'').
** [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/terminators/0050.html Terminators & Temporal Paradoxes], based on ''[[Terminator]]''.
** [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/carcasses/0050.html Carcasses & Carcharadons] ''[[Jaws (Film)|Jaws]]''.
** [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/carcasses/0050.html Carcasses & Carcharadons], based on ''[[Jaws (film)|Jaws]]''.
** [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/trenchcoats/0050.html Trenchcoats & Turncoats,] ''[[Casablanca]]''.
** [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/trenchcoats/0050.html Trenchcoats & Turncoats,] based on ''[[Casablanca]]''.
** [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/amphibians/0050.html Amphibians & Anthropomorphisms], ''[[The Muppet Movie]]''.
** [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 ''[[Inception (Film)|Inception]]''.
** [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/heists/0050.html Heists & Hypnagogic Hallucinations], based on ''[[Inception]]''.
** [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/barnacles/0050.html Barnacles & Bilgewater], based on ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]''.
** [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 The Future (Film)|Back to The Future]]''
** [http://darthsanddroids.net/docs/0050.html Docs & Deloreans], based on ''[[Back to the Future (film)|Back to The Future]]''
** [http://darthsanddroids.net/hypnotoads/0050.html Hypnotoads & Hyperchickens] based on ''[[Futurama]]''
* The real-life [[Tabletop Games]] ''Villains and Vigilantes'', by Fantasy Games Unlimited. They also made ''Starships & Spacemen''.
** [http://darthsanddroids.net/chocolates/0050.html Chocolates & Chumps] based on ''[[Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory]]'' (1971)
* ''Wizards & Warriors'' in both [[DC Comics]]' ''Robin'' and an episode of ''[[Quantum Leap]]''.
** [http://darthsanddroids.net/ids/0050.html Ids & Idiots], based on ''[[Forbidden Planet]]''
** [[Wizards and Warriors (TV)|''Wizards & Warriors'']] was also the name of 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.
** [http://darthsanddroids.net/egons/0050.html Egons & Ectoplasms], based on ''[[Ghostbusters]]''
** There's yet ''another'' ''[[Wizards and Warriors]]'' series out there...a trilogy of video games developed by Rareware for the [[Nintendo Entertainment System|NES]].
** [http://darthsanddroids.net/hellenes/0050.html Hellenes & Harryhausens], based on ''[[Jason and the Argonauts]]''
* The webcomic ''Dungeon Damage'' had a group of Dragons playing "Humans and Houses".
** [http://darthsanddroids.net/misadventures/0050.html Misadventures & Marionettes], based on ''[[Thunderbirds]]''
* The (unnecessarily complex, at least for this first-edition AD&D veteran) [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powers_and_Perils Powers & Perils] fantasy role-playing game, published by Avalon Hill, if you can believe it.
** [http://darthsanddroids.net/arks/0050.html Arks & Archaeologists], based on ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]''
* The superhero RPG ''[[Mutants and Masterminds (Tabletop Game)|Mutants and Masterminds]]''.
** [http://darthsanddroids.net/themeparks/0050.html Theme Parks & Theropods], based on ''[[Jurassic Park]]''
** And the supplements for different comic book genres: ''Wizards & Warlocks'' (sword'n'sorcery comics) and ''Mecha & Manga'' (guess).
** [http://darthsanddroids.net/darcies/0050.html Darcies & Diaries], based on ''[[Bridget Jones's Diary]]''
* An episode of ''[[Dexters 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.
** [http://darthsanddroids.net/marmosets/0050.html Marmosets & Meerkats], based on David Attenborough's ''[[The Life of Mammals]]''
* A sketch in ''[[The Onion Movie]]'' featured the game "Wizards & Warbeasts."
** [http://darthsanddroids.net/gags/0050.html Gags & Griswolds], based on ''[[National Lampoon's Vacation]]'' {{spoiler|and ''[[Terminator 2]]''}}
* In ''Spellcasting 101: Sorcerers Get All The Girls'', a group of students at Sorcerer University is always playing "Malls & Muggers".
** [http://darthsanddroids.net/elliotts/0050.html Elliotts & Extraterrestrials], based on ''[[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial]]''
** 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.
** ''[http://darthsanddroids.net/moonshots/0050.html Moonshots & Mishaps]'', based on ''[[Apollo 13]]''
* From the web series, "Gold": "Goblins & Gold"
** ''[http://darthsanddroids.net/pacmans/0050.html Pac-Mans & Power Pellets]'', based on the original ''[[Pac-Man]]''
* The computer RPG ''[[Might and Magic]]''
** ''[https://darthsanddroids.net/drivers/0050.html Drivers & Dubble-yas]'', based on ''[[It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World]]''
* ''[[FoxTrot (Comic Strip)|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]].

* Esther Friesner's fantasy novel ''Majyk by Hook or Crook'' has a brief mention of a game called "Palaces & Puppies."
=== [[Web Original]] ===
* [[Firesign Theatre]]: Ah, I don't wanna play ''Dungeons & Vikings''!
* From the web series, "Gold": ''Goblins & Gold''
* [[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.

* ''[[Something Positive (Webcomic)|Something Positive]]'' of course, has [http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp01142005.shtml its own take on it].
=== [[Western Animation]] ===
* In ''[[Werewolf: The Apocalypse (Tabletop Game)|Werewolf: The Apocalypse]]'', one rival to Black Dog Games' ''Talespinner'' system and ''World of Shadow'' setting (a [[Self-Parody]] of [[The World of Darkness (Tabletop Game)|The World of Darkness]]) was the venerable ''Labyrinths & Lamiae'', formerly owned by LSD Inc, and later by [[Wiszards Of The Coast|Magicians of the Bay]].
* 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.
** Black Dog themselves produced ''Axes & Arcana'', parodying [[White Wolf]]'s ''Swords & Sorcery''.

* Two unrelated video games titled ''Swords & Serpents'': one by Imagic for the [[Intellivision]], another by Interplay for the [[Nintendo Entertainment System]].

* ''[[D and DS 9 (Webcomic)|D and DS 9]]'' is a fairly standard example.
----
: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:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Title Tropes]]
[[Category:Title Tropes]]
[[Category:Tabletop Games]]
[[Category:Tabletop Game Tropes]]
[[Category:Magic Ampersand]]
[[Category:Trope]]

Latest revision as of 18:18, 12 January 2023

The essential element of this trope.
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.)
—RPG Cliche List

Any fictional 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 Vampire: The Masquerade, for instance, would probably dub it something like "Cloaks & Coffins". Bonus points if the two nouns are a place name and a monster name.[1]

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: Bunnies and Burrows, Castles and Crusades, Mutants and Masterminds, Villains and Vigilantes, Tunnels and Trolls... all paying homage to the mother of them all, Dungeons & Dragons. In real life, the Added Alliterative Appeal is optional but common.

(Note: Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility are aversions of this trope, being Jane Austen novels that predate tabletop RPGs.)

Compare The Noun and the Noun.

Examples of Magic Ampersand include:

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 & Burrows, where the player-characters are rabbits and hares.
  • Castles & Crusades
  • Catacombs and Caverns was one of the earliest D&D variants (1976).
  • Chivalry & Sorcery
  • The superhero RPG 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) 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 & 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).
  • 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

Fictional Examples

Comic Books

  • Wizards & Warriors (not one of the real ones listed above), in DC Comics' Robin.

Fan Works

Film

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
  • Another Wizards & Warriors, in an episode of Quantum Leap.
  • Yet another 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

Recorded and Stand Up Comedy

Tabletop Games

  • The Dungeon Master's Guide for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons actually parodied itself, with an insert cartoon showing several fantasy characters playing a "mundane life" RPG titled Papers & Paychecks.

"We're pretending we're workers and students in an industrialized and technological society."

Video Games

  • "Grottos and Gremlins" from the 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 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

Campaign Comics

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 and Dungeon magazine, one niche remained glaringly empty. Here you go: & Magazine!
  1. ↑ Coffins & Cadavers
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