18 pages of notes

[aldarron]

Some of you will be interested in a post I just put up on the 18 pages of notes Dave Arneson mailed to Gary Gygax before he wrote the first draft of D&D. I discuss the content of those pages and other notes:

linky

[Finarvyn]

Very nice post and some solid speculation on a doc which we may never get to see. Well done!

[Merctime]

That, Sir, was a fascinating read. Thank you very much for such an in-depth and thoughtful post. I've learned quite a bit just by reading it, and had fun besides! Can you say, 'Win'?

[tec97]

Interesting read. Thanks for the effort!

[aldarron]

Thanks all, really a pleasure.

[havard]

Good stuff!

Regardless of how things may later have been portrayed, I think in 1973 Gary Gygax had a great respect for Dave Arneson’s ideas and creativity and made a genuine effort to include them in the D&D game, true to Dave’s vision, to the degree that he thought he could make them workable and consistent with the rules framework he developed. In other words, I believe he deliberately meant to be inclusive of Dave as a co-author.

I found this bit quite interesting. What was the relationship between Dave and Gary like in 1973? Gary was older, and already a central figure in organised play and games publishing. Yet it does seem like the younger Dave already has a a reputation of as a creative force within the gaming hobby. Recall Gary's foreword in Supplement II where he praises Dave's skills as a Dungeon Master. Dave also co-authored Dont Give Up The Ship with Gary in 1970 and having contributed to multiple articles in the Domesday Book.

-Havard

[The Semi-Retired Gamer]

A fascinating read with sound reasoning and conclusions about the material.