TSR Rob Kuntz Recounts The Origins Of D&D

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In this interesting article from Kotaku, Rob Kuntz relates a history of early TSR that differs somewhat from the narrative we usually hear. It delves into the relationship between Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson (D&D's co-creators) and the actual development of the game, which dates back to Arneson in 1971.

Dungeons & Deceptions: The First D&D Players Push Back On The Legend Of Gary Gygax

Everybody calls Rob Kuntz last, he says. Those who want to know about the history of Dungeons & Dragons start with co-creator Gary Gygax’s kids, one of Gygax’s biographers, or D&D publisher Wizards of the Coast. As they’re wrapping things up, they might get around to dialing up Kuntz, a...

kotaku.com

 

[Alzrius]

Kask discussed the bushel basket here. Kask noted that "I did have to empty the basket that day because Gary’s wife needed it for laundry," which tells us that it was not Arneson who delivered his work in a bushel basket, but probably Gygax, who apparently had put Arneson's work in his wife's laundry basket.

I'm not sure that it matters too much who delivered the basket. My understanding is that before Tim Kask received the materials, it had gone to Brian Blume for editing first. Why it then went to Kask is uncertain (insofar as I'm aware), but given that Kask was, at that time, a new hire (with Supplement II being his very first assignment), my guess is that Blume was pawning a difficult/cumbersome job off on the new guy.

In terms of the contents, Kask said that there were "about 50 odd sheets of mostly handwritten material and charts," which seems commensurate with the number of pages of the final product, which actually has less than 50 pages of text--on half-sized pages (5.25" x 8.5")-- once the artwork is subtracted out. So it appears that Arneson did deliver enough material to produce a supplement-sized booklet.

Leaving aside questions of just how much material was written on each sheet, the issue isn't whether or not Arneson was able to write enough material (the first two printings of First Fantasy Campaign are both over ninety pages, and the third printing is over sixty), but rather is with regard to how usable it was. If nobody could understand what was written, then it wasn't worth much. Again, First Fantasy Campaign is illustrative in this regard.

Kask said that he "threw most of the crap away, determined to start over and do it my way," and in an article here, Kask said that "what came out was about 60% my work, 30% Dave Arneson’s and the remainder came from Gary and Rob Kuntz." So it appears that Kask was at least somewhat interested in a design role at the time, rather than just an editing role. Kask also talked about "what has been perceived as a personal animus that I have for Dave Arneson" here. Given that context, its hard to be sure that what Arneson submitted truly was "crap."

The part about what percentage of the work came from who can also be found on the DM's Guild page for Supplement II that I linked to previously. But I don't think that conveys that "Kask was at least somewhat interested in a design role at the time." As noted, he had just started at TSR and was essentially told to take Arneson's notes and make them fit to publish. The end result was that he needed to personally rewrite more than half of what was eventually put out the door. That wasn't so much an interest in design (particularly since he later went on to become the editor of The Strategic Review, Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry, Supplement IV: Gods, Demi-gods & Heroes, Swords and Spells, and the first thirty-three issues of The Dragon) as it was him being told "get this done."

 

[Farenn]

I never looked at Gary Gygax as solely the father of role playing. But instead credit both Gygax and Arneson. However if you told me that I have to pick one I would still pick Gygax. As the article stated Gary was responsible for the ecology and world. All the fantastic things like owlbears, liches and blue dragons that captured my imagination as a 10 year old were all because of Gary. The red box edition of Dungeons and Dragons back in the 80's was the best gift that I ever received.

 

[Rob Kuntz]

I never looked at Gary Gygax as solely the father of role playing. But instead credit both Gygax and Arneson. However if you told me that I have to pick one I would still pick Gygax. As the article stated Gary was responsible for the ecology and world. All the fantastic things like owlbears, liches and blue dragons that captured my imagination as a 10 year old were all because of Gary. The red box edition of Dungeons and Dragons back in the 80's was the best gift that I ever received.

No RPG architecture created by Arneson = no RPG game engine. There is one thing in common with every RPG proceeding Arneson's Blackmoor 1971-1972, including D&D: They ALL, every one of them, use Arneson's systems architecture. However, very few outside of D&D use Gary's mechanics. Again, every RPG uses Arneson's ground breaking architecture. Without it there would have been no RPG form, period. Think about it.

 

[lowkey13]

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[MonsterEnvy]

They are both Key. They were both needed for it to happen. Arneson for sure deserves more credit than he got. But I don't want to discount Gary's contributions, namely being the one who made it accessible.

Don't think it should be a Arneson vs Gygax thing, as they were both invaluable.

 

[Rob Kuntz]

But that works both ways, doesn't it?

Without Gary, what does Arneson do? Who wrote it down? Who codified it? Who tried to sell it to, inter alia, Avalon Hill, and then put his own future and family on the line to make it a product?

Who stopped futzing by constantly improvising in order to iterate and release? Who led up the efforts to create a lot of what we think of as the "D&D" lore?

Chicken and egg. Without Gygax, Arneson would just be an unknown guy too, who moved on to a different project.

The reason Arneson demo-'d the game in 1972, along with Megarry's Dungeon, is because Gary was Guidon Game's Rules Editor and they were hoping that Gary would push these through to Don Lowry who had already published Arneson's Gygax's and Carr's "Don't Give Up The Ship". That's why they were there, to sell both upstream to Guidon Games.

 

[lowkey13]

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[Rob Kuntz]

Unless you know something that I'm not aware of, that story has been recounted pretty extensively already. But yeah, Guidon passed, and Avalon Hill passed. And?

Absent Gygax's drive, where would it be? I mean, we can argue counterfactuals day-in and day-out, but we see what we have.

The idea that he was not going to publish it eventually is of course a non-fact as he was seeking to do so. He had invested 1.5 years in play-testing and iterating it and in creating the breakthrough architecture for it in order to do so. Lowry passed and so did AH, much to their dismay later on, of course. But that was because they did not know what it was. Arneson had proven what it was and thought it suitable for publication, thus the Demo 1.5 years later.

 

[lowkey13]

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[Rob Kuntz]

Yeah, we can agree to disagree on that. I respect your opinion, but the following is pretty obvious (to me, at least):

1. No game (codified rules, as opposed to improvisational play) without EGG;

2. No game (financial support) without EGG; and

3. No game (continued iteration) without EGG.

Calling it playtesting, especially in light of his later comments re: same, is overly generous. It is perfectly acceptable and fair to credit Arneson with the spark of the idea, and nurturing it, without attempting to analogize it to a polished iterative/QA process.

Well one cannot play a game in 1972 like I did, from village to Castle (with maps and distances) to outdoor, with an IDEA. It was a functioning system, and that system had been born over 1.5 years of adding to it and refining it in the Blackmoor Campaign. That's a fact, especially from design theory (can't play a game without a functioning system).