Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord

Party, classes, and a first-person grid dungeon — the template Japan would rebuild as the JRPG.

Released 1981 Developer Sir-Tech Platform Apple II Genre Dungeon crawler Era The home cartridge

Mechanics this game introduced

These are recorded as first appearing here. Each links to a full history of where the idea went next.

Progression & Persistence · 1981

Character Classes

Character classes bundle abilities, restrictions and a role into a single early choice, trading a character's breadth …

Origin: Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord

Mechanics it built on

Ideas Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord inherited rather than invented — each traceable back through the ontology to a root.

Experience Points and Levels ~~1980~~Hit Points ~~1980~~Flip-Screen Room Graph ~~1980~~

Look this game up elsewhere

Wikipedia ↗MobyGames ↗IGDB ↗Giant Bomb ↗

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