Historian addresses D&D, documenting the battle between Gygax and Arneson

On Game Wizards: The Epic Battle for Dungeons & Dragons, historian Jon Peterson hopes to put an end to the rumors and speculation that have plagued the early history of D&D. At the center of this new book is the feud between co-creators Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax. His work is based on a trove of first-hand interviews and primary documentation, as well as the remains of the lost archives of D & D’s original publisher, TSR.

Polygon sat down with the author to discuss his work and reflect on what the original RPG would look like today if things had been different.

Peterson is the co-author of several books, including the New York Times best seller Feast of Heroes: The Official Dungeons & Dragons Cookbook and the one nominated by Hugo Art and Arcana, a lavish visual history of D&D. But before those more conventional hits, Peterson was best known for the Playing in the world, a fundamental work in the modern study of board games that goes back to its roots in the late 18th century.

For Game wizards, Peterson’s journey began in 2014 on Medium with a story titled The Ambush at Sheridan Springs. In it, he tells the gripping story of the final push to oust Gary Gygax from his role as leader of the company he helped found.

“That was my initial look at how Gary lost access to the company,” Peterson said in an interview with Polygon. Game wizards includes that story and many others, all drawn from D & D’s turbulent early history. “In the seven intervening years that I’ve been working on this, I get things from where I can. From private collections, sometimes people sell things on Facebook or eBay, which I can collect […] and a lot of the private correspondence Gary had with people. “

One of the more unusual documents Peterson discovered in his research is the original ledger of D & D’s first quarter sales in 1974. Written in pencil on a plain white sheet of paper, it shows that the initial royalties from the first printing of the game it was only $ 106.40. Split two ways between its creators, that amounted to just $ 53.20 each.

“When this started, this was not going to make anybody money,” Peterson said with a laugh. “It is an interesting […] from poverty to wealth, if not poverty, at least to cheap clothing. “

Arneson only received $ 52.90 due to the cost of a stamp and money order needed to send him his share. It may only be 30 cents, but it’s early evidence of the kinds of little slights and oversights that would eventually grow to bring the entire company down.

“In the last few decades there have been people who have volunteered that maybe Gary Gygax did all the work at D&D,” Peterson said. “Or maybe Dave Arneson did the work at D&D; or how Dave Arneson was misled with copyright; and what exactly was the gist of your claim with TSR. Many of these things were said long after the fact, and they were influenced by all kinds of factors, [including] the vagaries of memory. They were [also] colored by a long-standing animosity that had been raging for so many years, and this is my attempt to really get into that. “

The publication of Game wizards marks the 36th anniversary of the so-called Sheridan Springs Ambush, where on October 22, 1985, Gygax lost control of D&D forever. Polygon asked Peterson what the game would be like today if he had somehow managed to keep control. He pointed to the work of Lorraine Williams, the woman who would replace Gygax after his overthrow.

Photo: Charlie Hall / Polygon

By 1985, the Dragonlance project was already in full swing. It consisted of a series of novels, adventures, and other ancillary products. Peterson sees it as one of the first true examples of a modern transmedia approach.

“That was where the business was growing,” Peterson said. “So Lorraine leaned on that a lot. Find me another one of those. Find the designer staff, shake them by the lapels. Find more of those! ‘”It is that quest for the next Dragonlance that ultimately led to the discovery of Forgotten Realms, an expansive world created by Ed Greenwood where most of the published D&D novels and adventure modules take place today.

Of course, it also gave birth to an early computer game called Glow pool. Released in 1988, it was D & D’s first home computer adaptation.

“That really changed the way people thought about CRPGs and really the strategy of what it was like to be a tabletop company,” Peterson said. “Gary was always very dismissive of the computer game dimension in this. He felt like he was lacking the real-time interaction that made RPGs what they were. There is the degree to which we would all admit there is some truth to that, but under his leadership I don’t think we would have seen the same momentum. “

Game Wizards: The Epic Battle for Dungeons & Dragons comes out on October 12. Pre-orders are currently available online and at your local bookstore. Polygon will have an exclusive publication of the book next week.

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