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RPG Evolution: The Crazy Origin of the Dungeon
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<blockquote data-quote="talien" data-source="post: 7698941" data-attributes="member: 3285"><p><em>Dungeons & Dragons </em>is known for the titular dungeon, but its origins are a little more prosaic than wargames alone. It turns out there was a formative experience in co-creator Gary Gygax's life that would inspire dungeon exploration.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">[ATTACH=full]269476[/ATTACH]</p><h3><strong>A Link in the Chainmail</strong></h3><p>It's telling that <em>Chainmail</em>, Gygax's rules for miniatures combat, featured mines but not dungeons. Jon Peterson explains in <em><a href="http://amzn.to/1qeUA5x" target="_blank">Playing at the World</a></em>:</p><p></p><p>In essence, Gygax established the "fog of war" mechanic in D&D as a means of keeping players in the dark -- an integral part of dungeon exploration being revelation of the unknown, room by room. The dungeon exploration we are familiar with today had its roots in co-creator Dave Arneson's Blackmoor. Shannon Appelcline explains in <a href="http://amzn.to/1qEkUXj" target="_blank"><em>Designers & Dragons -- the 70s</em></a>:</p><p></p><p>Peterson explains what happened next:</p><p></p><p>Gygax's collaboration with Arneson would take dungeon exploration at a whole new sub-level.</p><h3><strong>"You Stand Before a Chain-Link Fence..."</strong></h3><p>Michael Witwer describes Gygax's experience in <a href="http://amzn.to/1S2Upno" target="_blank"><em>Empire of Imagination</em></a>:</p><p></p><p>There's scant information about Oak Hill Sanitarium and for good reason, <a href="http://followmeanddie.com/2016/03/10/a-solo-presentation-and-chat-with-michael-witwer/" target="_blank">as Larry Hamilton observes</a>:</p><p></p><p>The sanitarium is known by a few different titles, including <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ElkhornLibrary/posts/1066578940028392" target="_blank">Oakwood Sanitarium</a>:</p><p></p><p>Lisa M. Schmelz picks up the thread in her article, "<a href="http://lisaschmelz.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/Sanitariums.167110230.pdf" target="_blank">Mysteries of the Mind</a>," where the sanitarium is referred to as Oakwood Springs:</p><p></p><p>Witwer imagines how Gygax would have perceived the secret dungeon:</p><p></p><p>The Sanitarium eventually <a href="https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tgUkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GhAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5704%2C1979423" target="_blank">burned down in 1956</a>.</p><h3><strong>Leaving the Dungeon</strong></h3><p>Gygax confirmed on ENWorld that a certain abandoned building <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?22566-Q-amp-A-with-Gary-Gygax/page478#ixzz44wt9wRaN" target="_blank">inspired the exploration of dungeons in D&D</a>:</p><p></p><p>As Witwer observed:</p><p></p><p>The dungeons we know today are a combination of Arneson's imaginative use of a toy castle and Gygax's childhood inspiration of a place -- whatever its name -- in which the mind was exercised in another fashion entirely.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="talien, post: 7698941, member: 3285"] [I]Dungeons & Dragons [/I]is known for the titular dungeon, but its origins are a little more prosaic than wargames alone. It turns out there was a formative experience in co-creator Gary Gygax's life that would inspire dungeon exploration. [CENTER][ATTACH type="full" alt="12045333_1066575653362054_5818085893087585941_o.jpg"]269476[/ATTACH][/CENTER] [HEADING=2][B]A Link in the Chainmail[/B][/HEADING] It's telling that [I]Chainmail[/I], Gygax's rules for miniatures combat, featured mines but not dungeons. Jon Peterson explains in [I][URL='http://amzn.to/1qeUA5x']Playing at the World[/URL][/I]: In essence, Gygax established the "fog of war" mechanic in D&D as a means of keeping players in the dark -- an integral part of dungeon exploration being revelation of the unknown, room by room. The dungeon exploration we are familiar with today had its roots in co-creator Dave Arneson's Blackmoor. Shannon Appelcline explains in [URL='http://amzn.to/1qEkUXj'][I]Designers & Dragons -- the 70s[/I][/URL]: Peterson explains what happened next: Gygax's collaboration with Arneson would take dungeon exploration at a whole new sub-level. [HEADING=2][B]"You Stand Before a Chain-Link Fence..."[/B][/HEADING] Michael Witwer describes Gygax's experience in [URL='http://amzn.to/1S2Upno'][I]Empire of Imagination[/I][/URL]: There's scant information about Oak Hill Sanitarium and for good reason, [URL='http://followmeanddie.com/2016/03/10/a-solo-presentation-and-chat-with-michael-witwer/']as Larry Hamilton observes[/URL]: The sanitarium is known by a few different titles, including [URL='https://www.facebook.com/ElkhornLibrary/posts/1066578940028392']Oakwood Sanitarium[/URL]: Lisa M. Schmelz picks up the thread in her article, "[URL='http://lisaschmelz.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/Sanitariums.167110230.pdf']Mysteries of the Mind[/URL]," where the sanitarium is referred to as Oakwood Springs: Witwer imagines how Gygax would have perceived the secret dungeon: The Sanitarium eventually [URL='https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tgUkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GhAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5704%2C1979423']burned down in 1956[/URL]. [HEADING=2][B]Leaving the Dungeon[/B][/HEADING] Gygax confirmed on ENWorld that a certain abandoned building [URL='http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?22566-Q-amp-A-with-Gary-Gygax/page478#ixzz44wt9wRaN']inspired the exploration of dungeons in D&D[/URL]: As Witwer observed: The dungeons we know today are a combination of Arneson's imaginative use of a toy castle and Gygax's childhood inspiration of a place -- whatever its name -- in which the mind was exercised in another fashion entirely. [/QUOTE]
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