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Message: <blockquote data-quote="M.T. Black" data-source="post: 7127032" data-attributes="member: 6782171">Rob Kuntz was present at the dawn of the RPG hobby. He was a foundation member of the Lake Geneva Tactical Studies  Association founded by Gary Gygax, co-DM of Gygax's famous Greyhawk  campaign, and one of the first employees of TSR. When he speaks  about the origins of Dungeons and Dragons in particular, he speaks with rare authority.He  has written a small monograph  called "Dave Arneson's True Genius".  Kuntz describes it as "The FIRST book ever written on D&D's  co-designer!" Kuntz primarily wants to draw attention to Arneson's  "unparralleled achievements" in the field of game design; along the way,  he wishes to correct several historical errors he has seen published  concerning the origins of D&D. Kuntz immediately  weights into the perennial debate about whether Gygax or Arneson  invented D&D. In the preface he describes Arneson as "the inventor  of the RPG conceptual engine. He and his players from the Twin Cities  were the founding Fantasy Role-Players of the world, and almost a good  two years before they introduced Dave's concept to Gary Gygax, myself,  my brother Terry Kuntz and Ernie Gygax in November 1972". He further  spends a substantial amount of time "debunking" the idea that D&D  was directly derived either from Gygax's Chainmail game, or the  Braunstein game devised by David Wesley. He will allow these systems no  more than the status of "influences". Kuntz has no doubts that Gygax and  Arneson developed and published the game that Arneson alone had  devised. These are conentious claims and will no  doubt spur much debate (it's worth pointing out that another early TSR  employee, Tim Kask, has a very different view on Arnesons' contribution  to game). But Kuntz makes an even bolder assertion - that Arneson's  "open" concept of gameplay, as embodied in classic (or original)  Dungeons & Dragons, was compromised and corrupted in later versions  of the game, starting with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Kuntz  believed this was done for purely commercial reasons, and that the hobby  never recovered. A sequel to the present book is currently being  produced, whereby Kuntz will develop this idea further, and also paint  his own vision for the hobby.Large parts of this book  are dense with abstract ideas, and Kuntz uses a very specific (and  sometimes unfamiliar) vocabulary when talking about systems and games  theory. Some people will find these parts challenging. The most  accessible parts are the small historical anecdotes that Kuntz peppers  throughout the pages. I wish there had been far more of these (the  author does hint at a forthcoming memoir), and I also would have liked  to see a little more biographical information about Arneson, given he is  the subject of the book. Clearly not a book for  everyone, but for those (like myself) who are interested in the history  of our hobby, it provides some fascinating and idiosyncratic insights. Dave Arneson's True Genius by Robert J. Kuntz is published by Three Line Studios, and can be <a href="https://www.threelinestudio.com/store/dave-arneson-s-true-genius/#cc-m-product-10879625673" target="_blank">purchased here</a>.Please follow me on twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/MTBlack2567" target="_blank">@MTBlack2567</a> and check out <a href="http://www.dmsguild.com/product/198501/" target="_blank">my products</a>!</blockquote>

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