2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary - Day Twenty-Seven

Celebrating 2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary!

In the essay I linked to two days ago (see my post) the writer says:

The white box, I soon discovered, was the original edition of Dungeons & Dragons (or, rather, a later printing of it) and the tiny books were its first supplements. I dimly knew of the existence of this white box, but little of its actual contents. The forward [sic] to Volume 1, written by Gary Gygax, on November 1, 1973, however, offered up some useful historical tidbits:

Gygax writes: “Once upon a time, long, long ago there was a little group known as the Castle and Crusade Society. Their fantasy rules were published, and to this writer’s knowledge, brought about much of the current interest in fantasy wargaming. For a time the group grew and prospered, and Dave Arneson decided to begin a medieval fantasy campaign for his active Twin Cities club. From the map of the “land” of the “Great Kingdom” and environs – the territory of the C&C Society – Dave located a nice bog wherein to nest the weird enclave of “Blackmoor,” a spot between the “Great Kingdom” and the fearsome “Egg of Coot.” From the CHAINMAIL fantasy rules he drew ideas for a far more complex and exciting game, and thus began a campaign which still thrives as of this writing! In due course the news reached my ears, and the result is what you have in your hands at this moment.”

The writer then says:

What a revelation! Here, in just a few sentences. Gary Gygax had given not just a capsule summary of the creation of Dungeons & Dragons, but, perhaps more importantly to me, he had made clear that it was Dave Arneson, not himself, who had pioneered the concept of a roleplaying game and laid the groundwork for the rules of D&D.

Then from the foreword to the Blackmoor Supplement for the Original D&D which Gary Gygax wrote dated September 1, 1975 Gygax says:

“Dave Arneson … Is there really such a creature? Yes, Gentle Readers, there is, and shudder when the name is spoken. Although he is a man of many talents who has authored many historic rules sets and games (which TSR will be publishing periodically), Dave is also the innovator of the “dungeon adventure” concept, creator of ghastly monsters, and inscrutable dungeon master par excellence.”

The essay author then states:

Gygax later states outright that he “co-authored the original work with Dave” and that he “would rather play in his campaign than any other.” This is high praise indeed and once again confirms that Dave Arneson was once an important person in the history of RPGs.

Ponder these things for I will come back to them as I talk about the Blackmoor Supplement and the writing and editing of it, and as time permits I will also talk about The First Fantasy Campaign as it was published.  I want to look deeper into this question of "Who in the World is Dave Arneson?” I also will address as part of that, the common mistake that is made when people talk about Arneson's notes and the incorrect assumptions that lead to that mistake.