Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) was derived from various miniature wargames which were tabletop games that simulated historic battles and wars using model soldiers, vehicles, and artillery on a model battlefield using a six-sided die to determine the success of actions.

In the late 1960s, Gary Gygax, whose love for wargames would later inspire the creation of the first edition of D&D, got his start creating his own version of wargames. In his version, there was magic and players drew a poker chip out of a bag of twenty to ensured that numbers generated were more random than that of a six-sided die. He would later discovered a 20-sided die in his school supply catalogue and popularize it in his later creation of D&D.