D&D General How Dungeons & Dragons Started, WotC video.

[marimbaguy715]

This looks like a really cool book that I'd love to have, but I can't really justify spending $100 on it. Maybe it'll go on a Christmas wish list.

Love listening to the interview though - Jason Tondro sounds like he really enjoyed making this book.

 

[Parmandur]

There's like 8 pages of rules, a handful of different scenarios, and a 24 page actual survival manual. That last one would be a wild inclusion.

Well, the 24 page actually Survival guide probavly not, but the 8 pages if rules seems probable...particularly since that's part of the OD&D rules!

 

[Parmandur]

Holy Zagyg!

Could not sound more awesome. Goodmanesque, and awesome.

This really does feel like it learned the best lessons from the OAR series by Goodman Games.

Also cool to note from the video, the origin of the project was from Peterson taking interesting original documents to WotC because only WotC had the legal right to publish them, and getting total buy-in from the D&D team.

 

[overgeeked]

This looks like a really cool book that I'd love to have, but I can't really justify spending $100 on it. Maybe it'll go on a Christmas wish list.

Love listening to the interview though - Jason Tondro sounds like he really enjoyed making this book.

Exactly. Sounds like an absolutely fantastic book (I hate it so much that they kept referring to it as "product") and I'd love to have it. But $100 is ridiculous. Amazon discounts, used book stores, etc will all have a deep discount on this thing in no time. I'll snag one there.

 

[Mannahnin]

I'm really looking forward to reading the article Gygax wrote for European fans, describing early gameplay.

That video was great! I was always going to buy this book (and not on Kindle for this one), but I am more excited than ever.

The text is already online, as it's been shared and discussed in OSR circles for some years. A while back there was a "Gygax '75 Challenge" involving doing some worldbuilding using that article in Europa as the guidelines.

Here's a PDF of the whole 'zine:

http://www.whiningkentpigs.com/DW/oldzines/europa6-8.pdf

(There's also a fun Middle Earth map for Diplomacy by ENworld columnist Lewis Pulsipher on page 18 of the PDF; the Gygax article starts on page 20)

OCR text transcription of the article, white on black:

Gary Gygax in Europa Newsletter 1975: On D&D and Castle Greyhawk

Extracted From Europa WEB ARCHIVE, issues 6-8, April 1975. Page 20 E 6,8, page 18 GABT GÏGAX: D&D HPV TO SET UP YOUR DÜNGEONS & DRA...

lordofthegreendragons.blogspot.com

More readable version on Reddit, though missing the page numbers:

 

[Parmandur]

The text is already online, as it's been shared and discussed in OSR circles for some years. A whole back there was a "Gygax '75 Challenge" involving doing some worldbuilding using that article in Europa as the guidelines.

Here's a PDF of the whole 'zine:

http://www.whiningkentpigs.com/DW/oldzines/europa6-8.pdf

(There's also a fun Middle Earth map for Diplomacy by ENworld columnist Lewis Pulsipher on page 18 of the PDF; the Gygax article starts on page 20)

OCR text transcription of the article, white on black:

Gary Gygax in Europa Newsletter 1975: On D&D and Castle Greyhawk

Extracted From Europa WEB ARCHIVE, issues 6-8, April 1975. Page 20 E 6,8, page 18 GABT GÏGAX: D&D HPV TO SET UP YOUR DÜNGEONS & DRA...

lordofthegreendragons.blogspot.com

More readable version on Reddit, though missing the page numbers:

It seems to me the value in this book is not mostly that the stuff cannot be found elsewhere, UT in putting it toxin a concise and nice looking package I can take off the bookshelf and see in context together.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

That is a great presentation and I now want to have it.
I also like how he appreciates Gygax, Arneson, and the fan contribution.
And I like how much he seems to enjoy that D&D has evolved to be more inclusive for all kinds of people.
And last but not least I love thr coincindent that Hasbro owns the right to avalon hill's games and d&d.

I really can't see how hasbro being the owner of d&d is all bad. It has some advantages too.

 

[bedir than]

(There's also a fun Middle Earth map for Diplomacy by ENworld columnist Lewis Pulsipher on page 18 of the PDF; the Gygax article starts on page 20)

Oh, I'd love new maps for Diplomacy! I have dreams of a global scale set at the same period of the original game

 

[Mannahnin]

It seems to me the value in this book is not mostly that the stuff cannot be found elsewhere, UT in putting it toxin a concise and nice looking package I can take off the bookshelf and see in context together.

Oh yes. While I'm curious to see new stuff, and there will be a lot of stuff that's new to other people (who haven't been hip deep in the OSR ~fifteen years like I have), just having this stuff compiled into a nice new book is great.

Oh, I'd love new maps for Diplomacy! I have dreams of a global scale set at the same period of the original game

Have you dug much into Diplomacy variants? They were a huge thing in the (war)gaming fan community prior to D&D. Gary Gygax was big into them. Alternate maps, including different takes on Middle Earth and other fictional properties, were to my understanding fairly common. There was a huge zine scene dedicated to them in the 60s from what I remember reading in Playing at the World.

 

[Zaukrie]

fascinating this isn't on dndbeyond at all.....they really need a section for the celebration ...but then, they don't have sections for any blog posts really, not that is easy to find.