DUNGEONS & DRAGONS. BtVS Intertext/Allusion.
Dungeons & Dragons (or D & D) is the original fantasy role playing game in which players assume the characters of warriors, wizards, druids, bards and the like to embark on adventures and battle monsters and other creatures while accumulating treasure and experience points. Played in traditional board game format, online or as live action role playing where participants dress as their characters, a Dungeon Master creates the fantasy world and directs the action of the game that can last years in extreme cases.
Typically played by (predominately male) teens and young adults who are often perceived as nerdy outcasts, the game has been condemned by some religious groups and conservatives for what they see as promoting sorcery and the occult. Urban legends abound of young players committing suicide or mass murder while immersed in a game.
In the series finale “Chosen,” Giles, Xander, Andrew and Amanda, unable to sleep in the pre-dawn hours before the final confrontation with the Ubervamps and the First, play a game of Dungeons & Dragons.
During the game Giles laments, “Could it possibly get any worse? I used to be a highly respected Watcher. Now I’m a wounded dwarf with the mystical strength of a doily. I just wish I could sleep.”
In the same episode, Anya refers to Andrew as the Dungeon Master as the Scoobies and SITs strategically deploy themselves inside Sunnydale High for the coming battle.
Anya: So that leaves me and the Dungeon Master in the north hall.
Andrew: We will defend it with our very lives.
Anya: Yes, we will defend it with his very life.