Did D&D nosedive in early 1976?

The earliest chilly pronouncement from Gary that I have found was published in The Dragon #11 (Dec. 1977) on page 5: "Imitation is claimed to be the sincerest form of flattery, and D&D has ample reason to be flattered. Foolish imitations are demeaning however, and shoddy ones are worse still in that to the extent that they are associated with the imitated, they lower its character and repute. Similarly, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS is an entity with excellent repute, and we stringently protect it. This is done from both paternal pride and profit motivation. Not surprisingly, we take the view that the creators and publishers know best how to develop the creation."

But the above was published almost a year after The Arduin Grimoire was published, so the above passage in particular couldn't have been in Hargrave's mind when he wrote his forward in early 1977. In fact, The Dragon #1 was published in June 1976. Thus there couldn't have been more than half a dozen issues in print at the time, plus the seven issues of The Strategic Review.

I'm not remembering cold words and snark directed towards amateurs in The Strategic Review or in the 1976 issues of The Dragon.

On another point, besides the above periodicals, the only other D&D things that TSR had published by the time The Arduin Grimoire was published are:

the 1974 rules
the 4 supplements published in 1975-76
Swords & Spells

Thus, anything stolen must have been printed in the above-mentioned publications. Could Hargrave be referring to, for example, the thief character class, which was included in GREYHAWK but was written by some other guy in 1974?

I regret not "being there" and experiencing all this first-hand.

It's possible. Remember, Geoffrey, that magazines usually go to layout a couple of months before publication. Further, I'm thinking material from Gygax was sent in "spurts" and what he wrote in The Dragon may have actually been written around the same time Hargrave penned that foreword (often the last text added to a document before printing) while Gygax's article was just sitting in a file awaiting printing.

Most importantly, any legal-oriented discussions of trademark and copyright would have been conducted privately, not on the pages of magazines. If TSR started getting aggressive about IP rights, that would not have been generally visible.

The intro might be referring to cease-and-desist letters that were going out from TSR (and possibly others, since he mentions several publishers) -- letters that weren't generally known about.

I believe the cease and desist letters were sent to Hargrave in late '77 or early '78, but I can't cite a source for that. If anything happened in '76, my guess would be that it was the shift in Gary's public persona with regards to fanzines and APAs. Someone with a better command of the source material than I can probably find some pertinent references on this score, but my recollection is that there were some notable flare-ups in the period between '75 and '77. That may be to what Hargrave is referring.

Errr... that assumes reasonable minds, and Gygax had a massive ego and a mouth to match.

I met the man. He was no angel but your description of him is a disservice.

Okay, I'll leave what I wrote above untouched but let me explain so it doesn't sound so harsh. The Gary I met and had a beer with, and whose posts I saw online explaining many times over where those funny dice came from, did he really co-write D&D, where did the name come from, how is Gygax pronounced ... he never really seemed impatient. He could be a bit surly when his buttons were pressed but I think most of will admit to that.

He always insisted he was just another gamer, that he be called "Gary" and not "Mr. Gygax". And top of all that, and be honest now ... if you invited an entirely new genre of gaming, something that had never been seen before? Wouldn't you be just a bit cocky, at times?

I can't find it now, but I seem to remember reading that Hargrave approached TSR before he wrote The Arduin Grimoire and was rebuffed in a manner that he never forgave. Had things turned out differently we might have seen the best of all the Arduin stuff in a supplement or two with Kask as the editor and an easier to read format.

I just scanned through those two issues - what are you referring to? I recall some rants of his but those two don't have any that I see.

NEW AND UNUSUAL SPELLS 41
MAGES' SPELLS
(Cont'd)
Name: STAFFORD'S STAR BRIDGE Level: 9th Mana Cost: 18 plus 1 per minute after 10 minutes Range: 120' Area Affected: Variable Effects: A rainbow-hued bridge of coruscating light 5' wide and 20' long per level over level needed for use. It will carry any weight, cannot be hit by non-magical things, and can be keyed to support any single type (or more), letting all others fall through selectively.

See, however, the foreword in a later printing:

About a year ago, this book first saw the light of day. Since then a lot of water has passed under the bridge of time. During that time a lot of things both good and bad have happened in the fantasy gaming field. Throughout it all I have endeavored to maintain the high standard of honesty, truthfulness and friendliness that I laid down for myself and that you came to expect of me. The high acceptance that my book (and myself personally) have received has shown the wisdom of these standards. I promise to continue on in this way for so long as you, the readers, desire me to. Thank you for a good year and I hope we will be sharing many more together as friends.

This book is offered in the spirit of sharing, and I hope you will share it with others. For in the sharing of fun and hobbys, the true meaning of friendship most often manifests itself.

This book is solely the product of my imagination although many friends helped in its painfull birthing. Therefore I would like to thank Greg Stafford of the Chaosium, Peter Savoy and Bill Voorhees who believed enough to put up money when it was needed ...

I seem to recall that they held up GDW's efforts -- En Garde and Traveller -- as prime examples of real contribution to the field as opposed to rip offs.

Some things were not so settled then, as lawsuits over computer programs, from arcade games to spreadsheets to graphical interfaces, had yet to bring some questions to a head.