[Designers & Dragons 01] • Designers & Dragons 1970s by Appelcline, Shannon -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

The Magic of Beginnings Foreword: The ’70s

A Future History of Roleplaying A Note to Readers of the First Edition

Part One: Founding Days (1953-1974) TSR: 1973-1997

A Brief Introduction: 1958+ Gary Gygax & Chainmail: 1967–1971 Dave Arneson & Black Moor: 1969–1972

Miniatures vs. Board Games What’s with the Scale!?

Publishing the Fantasy Game: 1972–1973 Selling the Fantasy Game: 1974–1975

How Much Did That Cost!? A Year of Innovative Products: 1975 When Did That Appear!? A Year of Innovative Changes: 1975 What Was In Those Issues!? A Year of Expansion: 1976 Allies & Competitors: 1975–1982 The Tolkien Connection: 1974–1977 Mini-History: Wee Warriors: 1974?–1978, 2000–2006 Basic & Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: 1977–1980 Growing Staff, Changing Priorities: 1977–1980 Back to Basics: 1981 D&D Supplements & Growth: 1978–1981

The Settings of Yore: Greyhawk

Mutants, Gunfighters, Spies, Gangsters & Knight Hawks: 1978–1983 A Hysterical Interlude: 1979–1982

Rapid Expansion & Growth: 1980–1983

TSR Sales: 1975–1982 The Blumian Revolution: 1981–1982 The SPI Takeover: 1982 The Lawsuits, Round One: 1982–1984 The Book Explosion: 1982–1983 D&D Soldiers On: 1982–1984 The Bubble Bursts: 1983–1985

The D&D Cartoon

Dragonlance & Other Media: 1984–1985 Marvel Super Heroes & Other Color-Chart Games: 1984–1986 The Gygaxian Counter-Revolution: 1985–1986 Lorraine Williams vs. Gary Gygax: 1985–1986 Enter the Forgotten Realms (and Mystara): 1987–1989 Other Media—Books, Computers & Comics: 1988–1993 Dungeons, Dragons & Computers

Public Games: 1975–1979 Prelude on the PC: 1980–1989 The Licensing Golden Age: 1988–1993 Later Days: 1992-Present

The Rest of the Hysteria: 1982–1990 AD&D 2: 1984–1989 TSR West: 1989–1992 Dungeons, Dragons & Comics

The First Comics: 1981–1982 The Dragonlance Expansion: 1987–1991 The DC Explosion: 1988–1991 The Lean Years: 1992–2000 Kenzer & Comics: 2001–2004 The Devil Has Its Due: 2004–2008 The Rest of the Story: 2002, 2004, 2010-Present

Early Second Edition Lines: 1989–1991 New Settings: 1989–1993 Basic D&D Ends (Triumphantly): 1989–1996 A Buck Rogers Interlude: 1988–1995 Other Games: 1987–1994 The Lawsuits, Round Two: 1987–1994 AD&D’s Nadir: 1993–1996 Innovation to the End: 1994–1996 TSR’s Demise: 1996–1997 Thoughts on a Rise & Fall: 1997 Thoughts from the Future: 2013 Luminaries and Personalities

Part Two: The Floodgates Open Flying Buffalo: 1970-Present

PBM Beginnings: 1970–1975 Enter Tunnels & Trolls: 1975 Other Roleplaying Beginnings: 1975–1980 Death, War, Traps, and Retail: 1980–1981 Blade Appears: 1982 A Hysterical Interlude: 1979–1982 The Crunch: 1983–1985 RPG Endings: 1986–1997 Quiet Years: 1995–2004 The RPG Revivals: 2005–2009 Flying Buffalo Today: 2010-Present

Games Workshop: 1975-Present

Before the Dwarf: 1975–1977

Seeing Double?

The Birth of White Dwarf: 1977–1978 Citadel & Explosive Growth: 1978–1982 Fighting Fantasy: 1980–1995 The End of the Beginning: 1982–1985 The Move to Nottingham: 1986 The Last Years of Roleplay: 1986–1988 Beyond Roleplaying: 1989–2004

Worlds of Warhammer

The Black Library: 1997-Present Back to Miniatures: 2008-Present

GDW: 1973–1996

Wargaming Beginnings: 1972–1975 The Path to Traveller: 1975–1977 Traveller the RPG: 1977 Little Black Books All the Same: 1978–1984 The Early Licensees: 1979–1984

Edu-Ware’s Space Games

The Rest of Classic Traveller: 1982–1987 Wargames and Twilight: 1977–1987 The First New Traveller: 1986–1989 DGP and MegaTraveller: 1985–1987 Hard Times: 1987–1991 The New Era Dawns: 1990–1991 The New Era Emerges: 1991–1995 The Dangerous Journey: 1992–1994 Final Days: 1991–1995 Latter Days: 1996-Present

Judges Guild: 1976–1983, 1999–Present

The Founding of the City State: 1974–1976 The Initial Subscriptions: 1976–1977 Becoming a Business: 1977–1978

The Settings of Yore: The Wilderlands

A Dungeoneer Interlude: 1975–1981 Meeting the Competition: 1978–1980

What Judges Guild Did for Dungeons & Dragons

Licenses, Licenses, Licenses: 1978–1982 Guilded Heights & A Fall: 1980–1981

Judges Guild Sales

Judgement Day: 1981–1983 Rebirth: 1999–Present

Part Three: The First Wargaming Wave Metagaming Concepts: 1975–1983

Board Game Beginnings: 1975–1976

Early SF&F Games

Roleplaying Beginnings: 1975–1977

That’s Not an RPG!

The MicroGame Breakout: 1977–1982 A Fantasy Trip Begins: 1977–1978 The Metagaming/Jackson Split: 1980–1981 TFT after Jackson: 1980–1981 The Rest of The Fantasy Trip: 1981–1982 Final Trends: 1981–1983

Fantasy Games Unlimited: 1975–1991

Scattered Beginnings: 1975–1976 A Chevalier Rides Through: 1976–1979 Other Early Publications: 1978–1980 Space Opera & The Rest of Simbalist: 1980–1984 Picking Up Other Lines: 1981–1983 The Good Times: 1981–1986 FGU’s Waterloo: 1987–1988 Aftermath (Not the Game): 1988-Present

Chaosium: 1975-Present

Board Game Beginnings: 1975–1981 Roleplaying Beginnings: 1977–1980 The Birth of RuneQuest: 1977–1983 Other Supplemental RPGs: 1979–1987

Different Worlds: 1979-1987

The Birth of BRP: 1980–1982 BRP Growth & Change: 1982–1987 A Licensing Interlude: 1979–2000 The Emergence of Arkham Horror: 1984 The Waking of the King: 1985–1987 The First Downturn: 1985–1988 The Second Golden Age: 1989–1992 Fiction Lines: 1992–1997 Another Boom & Bust: 1993–1998 The Chaosium Split: 1997–2000 Modern Chaosium & The Third Downturn: 1999–2003 Mostly Monographs & Reprints: 2003-Present A BRP Renaissance: 2008-Present

Gamescience: 1965–1969, 1974-Present

Wargaming Beginnings: 1965–1969 Lou Zocchi, Independent Author: 1971–1973 Lou Zocchi, Independent Distributor: 1973–1975 The Early Dice Chronicles: 1975–1980 The Return of Gamescience & The Start of Roleplaying: 1974–1977 The First Superhero RPG: 1977–1978

Little Soldier Games: 1975–1978

Soldiers & Martians: 1978–1980

Phoenix Games: 1978–1980

The Empire Strikes Back: 1980–1987 The Rest of the Roleplaying: 1987–1995, 2010 The Rest of the Dice: 1983-Present Winding Down: 1997-Present

Heritage Models, 1974–1983

Separate Paths: 1964–1976 The Boom Years: 1977–1979 The Year of Change: 1979 The Final Years: 1980–1983

Part Four: Universal Publishers Grimoire Games: 1979–1984, 1993

The San Francisco Bay Area Before Grimoire Games: 1975–1977 Dave Hargrave Before Grimoire Games: 1968–1978

Hargrave’s Life and Chaosium Roleplaying

Enter Grimoire Games: 1979–1980 An Adventure & Other Revisions: 1981–1984 Dragon Tree & The Last of Grimoire Games: 1984–1993 Arduin After Grimoire Games: 1993-Present

DayStar West Media: 1979–1982

A Few Publications: 1979–1980 Secrets Uncovered: 1981-Present

Midkemia Press: 1979–1983

The Press Gang: 1975–1977 The Publication History of Midkemia Press: 1979–1983 Raymond Feist’s Midkemia: 1977-Present The Chaosium Rebirth: 1986–1988 Latter-Day Midkemia: 1993-Present

Appendix I: 10 Things You Might Not Know About Roleplaying in the ’70s

1. Roleplaying Still Lay Very Near Its Wargaming Origins 2. Games were Competitive 3. Rules were Guidelines 4. D&D was the De Facto Standard 5. Science-Fantasy was a Heavy Influence 6. Players Made Up Their Own Stuff 7. Players Published Professional Content Too 8. Companies Didn’t Know What to Publish 9. There Were No Editions as We Know Them 10. Centralization Was Poor

Appendix II: Bibliography & Thanks

Books Magazines Web Sites Fact Checkers Scanners Special Thanks

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