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2023


Keys From The Golden Vault
February 21st


Bigby Presents Glory of the Giants
Spring 2023


The Book of Many Things
Summer 2023


Phandelver Campaign
Summer 2023


Planescape
Fall 2023

2024


Revised Core Rulebooks
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From the Freelancing Frontline – Meeting Giants
Dec 16
  • 4
Like so many TTRPG writers, I got where I am now by standing on the backs of giants. But it’s easier to stand on a giant’s back after you meet them, and I am a depressive socially-awkward...
GENCON IX: When Many Sought Adventure
Dec 09
  • 27
GECON IX, Baby! It was happening. TSR was on a roll. The last supplement for OD&D had just been released, Empire of the Petal Throne was a reality, and Fritz Leiber’s board game, Lankhmar...
Diversity in D&D Third Edition
Dec 05
  • 683
With 3rd Ed, our main goal was to return D&D to its roots, such as with Greyhawk deities and the return of half-orcs. By staying true to the feel of D&D, we helped the gaming audience accept the sweeping changes that we made to the rules system.
Luke Gygax Shares Old Magazine Features
Nov 25
  • 2
Amongst some more personal pieces, Luke Gygax has shared some items acquired from his mother, Mary Gygax Walker, including a 1980 People Magazine article, and one from Milwaukee Magazine in 1982...
TSR's "Designeritus"
Nov 22
  • 22
We had a lot of design talent in the heyday of TSR. Zeb Cook and Jeff Grubb strode the world like giants and put together some amazing million dollar profit centers. There were other designers and...
From the Freelancing Frontline – From Hobby to Career
Nov 18
  • 7
Originally, all I wanted from my game writing was to sell enough RPG game articles to afford a subscription to Dragon Magazine. But once I had done that, I found I wanted to write more. Much more. So, I kept sending pitches to Dave Gross, at Dragon, and began looking for other venues.
Gary’s Immersion in Castle El Raja Key: The Four-Way Footsteps
Nov 12
  • 42
(Very early 1973, 1st level of my Castle El Raja Key) -- In November of 1972 four stalwarts of the LGTSA (Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association; of which I was then its current...
3E and the Feel of D&D
Nov 08
  • 270
For 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons, the big picture was to return the game to its roots, reversing the direction that 2nd Edition had taken in making the game more generic. The plan was to...
The Sales of D&D vs. AD&D vs. AD&D 2nd Edition
Nov 07
  • 166
The 2nd edition of AD&D sold well when it was released. Combined, the Dungeon Master’s Guide and Player’s Handbook sold over 400,000 copies in their first year. That’s a lot of books. Not the most ever sold by TSR, but a lot. To give some historical comparison, the 1981 D&D Basic Rules Set sold over 650,000 copies in its first year. To compare to previous editions of AD&D, the 1st edition DMG and PHB together sold over 146,000 copies in 1979. Putting those numbers together makes AD&D 2nd edition look like a solid hit. But it hides a deeper problem.
RETHMAR, Rathole of the Shaar
Nov 04
  • 4
So how to turn a name on a map of the Realms into a place that “feels real”? Well, I start with an idea in my head of what’s there—and regardless of whether I’m developing a locale for a story or for gaming adventures, from that base idea I leap straight into what gamers now call “adventure hooks.”
Ed Greenwood's Original Forgotten Realms Map
Nov 01
  • 34
Alex Kammer, the director of Gamehole Con, has shared some photos of the original map of the Forgotten Realms as drawn by Ed Greenwood himself, with Sage Advice D&D. More images at the link!
Jim Ward: Demons & Devils, NOT!
Oct 28
  • 241
In the very early to mid '80s religious nongamer people discovered AD&D had magical spells and demons and devils in its rules. The problems started with Sears and Penny's retail stores. TSR was selling thousands of Player Handbooks and Dungeon Master's Guides every month to both of those companies. I know this because I was in sales and inventory control at the time.
From the Freelancing Frontline: The Beginning
Oct 24
  • 21
Welcome to a new column from veteran game designer Owen K.C. Stephens! He's worked at Green Ronin, Paizo, and Wizards of the Coast, as well has his own company, and was co-author of the Star Wars Saga Edition RPG and Design Lead for the Starfinder Roleplaying Game. This first instalment covers his beginnings as a freelancer.
Greyhawk Theatrics, Comments and Quips in Play: Snippets, Funny Lines and Outbursts from the Lake Geneva Gamers
Oct 21
  • 32
What follows are some dear and treasured memories—snippets, funny lines, and outbursts recalled from play. Many eluded both myself and Gary over the years. But these few should serve to indicate how the majority of us gamed in those days, and especially how we gamed while the original D&D game was still in the midst of being play-tested.
Jonathan Tweet: Streamlining Third Edition
Oct 16
  • 106
The D&D 3rd Ed project was part big-picture vision and part a collection of individual decisions about rules, terms, and characters. In terms of rules, a lot of what we did amounted to streamlining.
Getting A Realms Campaign Up And Running
Oct 11
  • 12
One-shot adventures, like binge-watching a great mini-series, can be fun, but sooner or later any FRP gamer will want to try a campaign, a sequence of interconnected adventures where the stakes—and hopefully achievements—can be higher.
Jim Ward: SSI, Dungeons & Dragons and the Computer Industry
Oct 07
  • 53
The time is about 1987. I had played Ultima and thought a computer game license could be great for TSR; besides I wanted to play a D&D computer game. I was surfing the net on a Commodore 64 and that was interesting and that effort gave me a little insight into the computer game industry. I went to upper management and pitched them the idea of searching for a computer game license. They didn't think much of the concept.
Jonathan Tweet: Legacy of Ars Magica
Oct 02
  • 17
Ars Magica had an obscure origin, but it had long-lasting effects. We did a number of influential support products that influenced 1990s game design, and it launched the careers of five of us who...
When Random House Sued TSR For $9.5M
Oct 01
  • 91
Benjamin Riggs is continuing to talk about his research into the history of TSR. He recounts here a tale of TSR's accounting practices which contributed to their eventual demise.
The Beginning: 1968 and Meeting Gary Gygax and the Gygax Family
Sep 27
  • 45
Roughly two years before Luke Gygax was born I walked through the front door of the Gygax residence at 330 Center Street in Lake Geneva. This was at the invite of Gary through his gamer friend and a very recent acquaintance of mine, Larry Zirk. Very few people from that time know of Larry Zirk, so I will tell the story of our meeting and how that would, soon thereafter, lead me to Gary's doorstep.

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