Designers & Dragons
A History Of The Roleplaying Game Industry
By Shannon Appelcline
DESIGNERS & DRAGONS is a four volume series written by Shannon Appelcline that covers the tabletop roleplaying industry, those that created the influential games and the companies they started, during the '70s / '80s / '90s / '00s. Each decade is covered by one volume of the series.
Today, let's talk about Volumes 1 and 2, the '70s and '80s respectively, the glorious years of tabletop roleplaying.
Some will come to this series seeking to learn the history of RPGs. Others, like myself, lived through at least part of the dawn of RPGs and view the time with a great sense of nostalgia. In the early '80s when I was in high school I first laid eyes upon the most famous of all RPGs, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS. A classmate had brought in a module and showed it to me as he explained what DUNGEONS & DRAGONS was all about. I was instantly hooked by the talk of a medieval fantasy world inhabited by mighty warriors, sage wizards, and frighting monsters who lived underground and guarded vast treasure. That was my start on a decades long journey of playing RPGs and attempting to infect others with the fun, joy and mystery that is an RPG.
The game I first played, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS and the company that created it TSR, takes up about one third of the well over three hundred page Volume 1. The volume also includes other companies that helped birth and raise RPGs such as FANTASY GAMES UNLIMITED (a favourite of mine), CHAOSIUM (Call of Cthulhu), FLYING BUFFALO (Tunnels & Trolls) and others. Author Appelcline presents a history of each company, its rise (and often its fall), an overview of the product they produced and incite into how and why they were influential on the RPG industry. Data is collected from the RPG journals and magazines of the time, interviews with company founders and authors of the rules, modules and gaming aides, and Appelcline's own experiences within the industry.
The material, which is often intertwined with the histories of other companies and can span decades, is clearly written. At the end of each company's section are notes on what to read next and pointers to the threads in other decades where one can pick up the trail of creators or products that moved on to another company in a later decade. Each chapter includes images for the rules systems, modules and gaming aids talked about in that chapter.
Yes, Volume 2 is where we get the details on the STEVE JACKSON GAMES V. The Secret Service debacle.
Two minor complaints come to mind about Volume 1 & 2. First, I would liked to have read interviews with the creators. Sadly, many have passed on, but it would have been nice to read interviews specifically for this series of those that remain. Which leads into my second issue. I came away from reading the volumes without understanding why the creators did what they did. Was it as simple as they had fun playing the games and wanted to share their rules or adventures with the rest of us? The money wasn't that great for most of them so what kept their passion burning? Neither volume tackles those questions.
DESIGNERS & DRAGONS is a fantastic read for those who want to delve into the history of the RPG industry and those seeking a hit of nostalgia as they read a page and exclaim 'I remember that!'
Recommended.
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