Media When We Were Wizards: An Oral History of Dungeons & Dragons

[Paul J. Stormberg]

Three years ago, screenwriter, Adam Turner and Dungeons & Dragons® historian, Paul Stormberg, embarked on a project about Gary Gygax, D&D®, and TSR Hobbies, the company he founded to publish the game. During the course of this project they recorded their ongoing conversations, not only about the cultural impact of the game, but the profound personal impact it had on Gary, his family, friends, and colleagues. The result is an unprecedented 10-episode podcast that tells the story with the voices of the people who were there, through never before released interviews, personal letters, and internal company documents.

D&D® was the world's first published role-playing game and, as such, is one of the few types of table-top games ever created by humanity.

Can we say who created chess? Or dice? No, of course not. But we can name the people who created Dungeons & Dragons®, and we can tell their story. This is that story. One of dreamers and gamers who changed the world.

Dungeons & Dragons® is a truly global phenomenon. An estimated 50 million people have played the game since it was created and it has been translated into dozens of languages. Nearly 14 million people play it currently and 9 million people watch livestreams of other people playing it. The game pervades popular culture and has become part of the very fabric of our civilization.

Gary Gygax believed in the power of games to transcend age, gender, ethnicity, culture, language, religion, and class. Even as a child, that power drew him to games like chess, cribbage, mahjong, and others. But all those games were based on competition. In a millennia of game design, a thousand years of human history, no one had broken this paradigm of us vs. them, victory or defeat. The purpose of games were to win, and losing meant failure.

But for the first time in thousands of years, D&D® gives us something different. It’s a game whose only boundary is the imagination of everyone sitting around the table playing it. Where the shared experience is the reward.

Join Adam and Paul as they explore the origins of a cultural phenomena and how it changed the lives of those who created it and, ultimately, the whole world.

When We Were Wizards is currently available on these platforms:

ANCHOR: When We Were Wizards • A podcast on Anchor

APPLE PODCAST: ‎When We Were Wizards on Apple Podcasts

GOOGLE PODCAST: When We Were Wizards

AMAZON MUSIC: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/5ef4cc84-8e34-4d24-8a8b-b136c77ca0c3/when-we-were-wizards

SPOTIFY:

 

[Geoff Thirlwell]

Really enjoying the podcast. An excellent look at the early days of the game

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Just about done with the first episode. Digging it so far, and there was plenty of information new to me. The portrait of Gary Gygax being painted definitely doesn't veer into hagiography.

 

[MNblockhead]

I've enjoyed the first two episodes. Eagerly awaiting the next!

 

[Mannahnin]

I listened to the first episode the other day and enjoyed it. At some points I was a little surprised that speakers weren't identified/introduced, and it made me wonder if this was originally supposed to include video, or if that was just an editing issue.

It was neat hearing new stuff from people like Mary Jo, Rob Kuntz, and others. I've read Jon Peterson's books and Empire of Imagination, and lots of Gary's Q&A posts and other old school folks online, but there's still new stuff to learn.

I expect I'll get to episode two this week.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

I really am enjoying this podcast

 

[Paul J. Stormberg]

Really enjoying the podcast. An excellent look at the early days of the game

Howdy,

Super glad you are enjoying them. We have had a lot of great feedback from listeners, even people who don't play D&D.

Working to get episode 3 out in a few days!

Futures Bright,

Paul

 

[Paul J. Stormberg]

Just about done with the first episode. Digging it so far, and there was plenty of information new to me. The portrait of Gary Gygax being painted definitely doesn't veer into hagiography.

Howdy,

Yes, Gary was an incredibly interesting person and it is a disservice to him to not explore who he really was. A lot of what he experienced and the paths he chose and just his essential personality makes him fascinating to learn about.

Also, there is just a lot of plain inaccurate or uninformed perceptions of him out there. These podcasts explore who Gary really was and what shaped him.

More to come!

Working to get episode 3 out in a few days!


Futures Bright,

Paul

 

[Paul J. Stormberg]

I've enjoyed the first two episodes. Eagerly awaiting the next!

Howdy,


Thank you so much for listening. Please share with anyone you know--we have had some really great feedback from non-D&D players who are fascinated by the story and how it develops.

Hoping to get episode 3 out in a few days!


Futures Bright,

Paul

 

[Paul J. Stormberg]

I listened to the first episode the other day and enjoyed it. At some points I was a little surprised that speakers weren't identified/introduced, and it made me wonder if this was originally supposed to include video, or if that was just an editing issue.

It was neat hearing new stuff from people like Mary Jo, Rob Kuntz, and others. I've read Jon Peterson's books and Empire of Imagination, and lots of Gary's Q&A posts and other old school folks online, but there's still new stuff to learn.

I expect I'll get to episode two this week.

Howdy,

Thanks for the feedback. Indeed this did start as a video-based project but as we worked throughout Covid it became impossible to meet face to face with people--so we did virtual interviews with some folks and recorded some of our commentary on an internet recording platform.

You really get a more emotional connection with people when you can hear how the events affected them in their own voices. More great stuff to come!

Planning to get episode 3 out in a few days!

Futures Bright,

Paul