Here There Be Dragons

Computer Games Online has written an elaborate eight-page article entitled “Here There Be Dragons” that gives an entire history of the most popular role-playing game of all time, Dungeons & Dragons. The article gives a comprehensive look at how Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson created the successful RPG and what troubles they had over the years. A snippet to follow:

In 1977 TSR released the Monster Manual, the first Advanced Dungeons & Dragons hardcover rulebook. They followed it up in 1978 with the Player’s Handbook, and then the Dungeon Master’s Guide in 1979. They also published a boxed set called the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Rules, which came with a paperback rulebook, an adventure module by Gygax called Keep on the Borderlands, and a set of cardboard chits that could serve as dice. TSR was releasing new material as fast as players could grab it up, and business was booming. Role-playing was no longer a cult hobby it was a pop culture phenomenon.