saskganesh
First Post
Every D&D gamer approached the game form the outside at one point. Anyhow, the "fire and forget" Vancian-inspired magic system was largely accepted because ... it worked well as part of a game.
I don't know why Gygax decided to model his magic rules on such an obscure source. I think that D&D players only accept Vancian casting because it was their 'first magic system'. Seen from the outside, one might be inclined to question it.
This book is definitely not for everyone.
For instance, despite the name this isn't really a history of games in general. It is a history of the events that lead to the development of the cultural phenomenon of Dungeons & Dragons, whose rules it also examines in exhaustive detail. If you have little interest in D&D this book will not be for you.
But this book isn't for every D&D enthusiast either. It is a dry book, heavily footnoted and thoroughly referenced. It is also massive, a real doorstop of a book. This is an academic's approach to Dungeons & Dragons.
Who is it for? Someone who loves history, roleplaying games and has a high tolerance for academic writing. Like I said, that's not everyone.
THAT said, this book is pretty impressive. The author has obviously undertaken years of research to track down every piece of documentation pertaining to the development of D&D, particularly the war-gaming hobbyist communities in the 60's and 70's. That community was sustained by small newsletters, often with circulations in the tens of people. That Peterson was able to get his hands on this material is really impressive. And these newsletters give a great deal of insight into the cross-pollination of ideas that would eventually give rise to a whole new kind of game.But Peterson doesn't stop there.
Let's be honest: a lot of nerds play D&D. This was as true in 1974 as it is now. And just as today, the nerds of the 70's had many interests. This means the history of D&D intersects with other histories, such as that of American sci-fi fandom, swords-and-sworcery fantasy novels and even computer games. True to form, Peterson gives the reader an extensive grounding in each of these. For instance, he is meticulous in tracing the various monsters and rules from the first edition of D&D back to their literary fantasy influences.
This reader found these pieces of history that are only tangentially related to D&D to be pretty interesting, for the most part. But at times their thoroughness will tax even the most patient of readers. Peterson might have served his reader better by summarizing and compressing in many cases.
The real revelation is the history of war gaming, which actually goes back centuries. War-gaming traces its origins all the way back to medieval Germany, yet Peterson shows that those games had a real and measurable influence on D&D and its kin. Its history also includes such literary lights as H.G. Wells and Robert Louis Stevenson, both of whom developed their own private rules for elaborate war games.
In many ways, the history of Dungeons and Dragons is the history of geek culture. It is inextricably bound up with sci-fi and fantasy literature, fandoms and video games. And anyone who participates in online messageboards regarding any of these topics will find the arguments and drama of the war-gaming community of fifty years ago familiar!
So this is an important work, almost a Bible of geekdom, and I have no doubt that it will be frequently cited as academia begins to mine the geek culture of the 20th century. I enjoyed it and found it illuminating.
But it is definitely not for everyone.