The most frequently asked question at seminars which I have given
on DUNGEONS & DRAGONS is: “How did the game originate?”.
Because of the frequency of this question, and the involved nature of the reply required, I thought it a good idea to once again put it in writing.

The Forward in DUNGEONS & DRAGONS contains most of
what follows, but I will go into greater detail here.

When the International Federation of Wargaming was at its peak,
it contained many special interest groups. I founded one of these, the
“Castle & Crusade Society”. All members of this sub-group were
interested in things medieval and I began publishing a magazine for
them entitled Domesday Book. In an early issue, I drew up a map of the
“Great Kingdon”. Members of the society could then establish their
holdings on the map, and we planned to sponsor campaign-type gaming
at some point. Dave Arneson was a member of the C&C Society,
and he established a barony, Blackmoor, to the northeast of the map,
just above the Great Kingdom. He began a local medieval campaign for
the Twin Cities gamers and used this area.

The medieval rules, CHAINMAIL (Gygax and Perren) were published
in Domesday Book prior to publication by Guidon Games. Of
course, they were in a less developed state, and were only for a 1:20 figure
scale. Between the time they appeared in Domesday Book and their
publication by Guidon Games, I revised and expanded the rules for
1:20 and added 1:1 scale games, jousting, and fantasy. Rob Kuntz and I
had acquired a large number of 40mm figures, and many of them were
so heroic looking that it seemed a good idea to play some games which
would reflect the action of the great swords and sorcery yarns. So I devised
such rules, and the Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association proceeded
to play-test them. When the whole appeared as CHAINMAIL,
Dave began using the fantasy rules for his campaign, and he reported a
number of these actions to the C&C Society by way of articles.

I thought that this usage was quite interesting, and a few months
later when Dave came down to visit me we played a game of his amended
CHAINMAIL fantasy campaign. Dave had taken the man-to-man
and fantasy rules and modified them for his campaign. Players began
as Heroes or Wizards. With sufficient success they could become Superheroes.
In a similar fashion, Wizards could become more powerful.
Additionally, he had added equipment for players to purchase and expanded
the characters descriptions considerably — even adding several
new monsters to the rather short CHAINMAIL line-up.

The idea of measured progression (experience points) and the addition
of games taking place in a dungeon maze struck me as being very
desireable. However, that did not really fit in the framework of
CHAINMAIL. I asked Dave to please send me his rules additions, for I
thought a whole new system should be developed. A few weeks after his
visit I received 18 or so handwritten pages of rules and notes pertaining
to his campaign, and I immediately began work on a brand new manuscript.
“Greyhawk” campaign started —the first D&D campaign!

About three weeks later, I had some 100 typewritten pages, and we
began serious play-testing in Lake Geneva, while copies were sent to the
Twin Cities and to several other groups for comment. DUNGEONS
& DRAGONS had been born. Its final form came over a year later and
consisted of nearly 300 manuscript pages which I wrote during the wee
hours of many a morning and on weekends.

The first D&D (as opposed to variant CHAINMAIL) dungeon adventurers
were: Ernie Gygax, Don Kaye, Rob Kuntz and Terry Kuntz.
They were soon joined by Don Arndt, Brian Blume, Tom Champeny,
Bill Corey, Bob Dale, Mary Dale, Chip Mornard, Mike Mornard, and
Tim Wilson. All of these gamers — as well as the other play-testers —
contributed to the final form of the game.

There were then three character classes, with players beginning at
first level (rather than as 4th level Hero-types or relatively powerful
Wizards), and each level was given a heroic or otherwise descriptive
name. The actions that they could follow were outlined. Spells were expanded.
The list of monsters was broadened again, and a complete listing
of magical items and treasures was given. The reaction to the manuscript
was instant enthusiasm. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS differed
considerably from Dave’s “Blackmoor” campaign, just as the latter
differed from CHAINMAIL: but, based on the reception given to the
game by the others testing it, he had to agree that it was acceptable. Although D&D was not Dave’s game system by any form or measure, he
was given co-billing as author for his valuable idea kernels. He complained
bitterly that the game wasn’t right, but the other readers/players
loved it. In fact, the fellows playing the manuscript version were so
enthusiastic that they demanded publication of the rules as soon as possible.
Thus, D&D was released long before I was satisfied that it was actually
ready. I am not sorry that we decided to publish then instead of
later, even though I’ve often been taken to task about it since, and I
hope all of you feel the same way too. You can, however, rest assured
that work on a complete revision of the game is in progress, and I
promise a far better product.