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

 

[lowkey13]

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[Jay Verkuilen]

I did not know the man but taking in Kuntz and treating a lost kid like family sounds pretty nice to me. We're all complex and imperfect. I am sure he was a mixed bag. Like the rest of us.

My step-mom's dissertation advisor (no longer alive) knew Gygax very well. I did get a sense from him that Gygax realized later on that things had gotten to his head at points, which is, of course, not at all an uncommon thing to have happen. Many a small business that takes off has similar tales. Evidently when EGG was in Hollywood he was treated very much as a mark, being a small town guy from the Midwest with money.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[the_redbeard]

Something I wish we had about the origins of D&D would be videos of Arneson and Gygax DMing. None exist that I'm aware of. I think there's a brief clip of Gygax chatting while holding his DM notebook, but not much.

When I began playing in the late 70s (! omg) the 2 co-DMs had a rather low 'Gygax #' and had played with people who had learned the game from folks who had played in some of the original games. That style of open table games and picaresque adventures is still the ideal I shoot for in my campaigns; players make their own story by surviving and/or wrecking the sandbox world I've created for them.

Later a friend had the privilege of being DMed by Arneson at a convention. While not the same as seeing how Arneson ran a campaign, his description was that Arneson described an environment, and then actually appeared bored until the players responded with an action, at which point my friend described that "Arneson turned on like a light, evocatively reacting to the player character actions with urgency."

Given how many folks are learning the game from watching Critical Role and such, with all their modern assumptions and the effects due to being a media creation at least in part, I really wonder what else the founders of the game could have imparted upon the players. Certainly for all the criticism of Arneson's literary and organizational skills, Gygax's also had their (ahem) peculiarities and omissions.

 

[Lanefan]

shrug The difference being that Wesley did not want, or hope, for that to happen. And expressly did not like the direction it went

At the time, maybe; but later on he was more than cool with it.

I was in a Braunstein game he ran off-grid at GenCon (2003?) and remember him complimenting me on my character portrayal...which is kinda hilarious as I was pretty much sleepwalking at the time, having not slept in a few days at that point!

 

[Blue]

YES!

I am running a 1e campaign for teens (thank you and h/t @Blue ) in part for the vocabulary.

Remember, they must come across the word Periapt.

 

[Nilonym]

Okay, I want to talk about this.

And I'm glad you did, Alzrius. Your post was extremely thoughtful and informative. Thank you.

 

[Zardnaar]

Always thought the Blumes get a bad rap

They fronted the money to get the ball rolling.

That's why you would never go into business with friends or family without a clear legal document over who gets what and who is responsible for what.

 

[Parmandur]

Always thought the Blumes get a bad rap

They fronted the money to get the ball rolling.

That's why you would never go into business with friends or family without a clear legal document over who gets what and who is responsible for what.

And it's not like they weren't hobbyists, too: they designed games and content.

 

[ninjayeti]

So we have been “hornswoggled” into a mass delusion that Gary Gygax was the sole creator of D&D? Lets look at the credits pages of various editions:

OD&D is “By Gygax and Arneson”

Basic D&D box sets credit Gygax and Arneson as the authors (the actual authors of those books – Holmes, Moldvoy, and Cook - get credited as editors)

1E books credit Gygax only

2E core books say:
The AD&D game probably never would have existed without the work of Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. Together they introduced the world to the concept of role-playing games. Their efforts resulted in the DUNGEONS &: DRAGONS game, forerunner of the AD&D system. Gary Gygax then went on to be the principal creator and guiding force of the AD&D rules. His particular vision set the standards for what the ADVANCED DUNGEONS &: DRAGONS game was - and what it wasn't.

3E doesn’t mention either

4E and 5E both credit Gygax and Arneson as co-creators of the game

So with the exception of 1E Arneson consistently gets credited as co-author/co-creator. Yeah, Gygax is more closely associated with early D&D. That’s not really surprising as Gygax was the guy that ran TSR, wrote the main books and adventures, and was an active spokesman for the game.