A free preview of a significant new history of TSR, the original publisher of Dungeons & Dragons, has been released. Evil Hat Productions has published Designers & Dragons: Origins – Secret Door, a sample from a forthcoming four-volume deep dive into the company’s formative years.
The free PDF is available now on DriveThruRPG. It offers a glimpse into a comprehensive new series by ENnie award-winning TTRPG historian Shannon Appelcline. The full work, Designers & Dragons: Origins, promises to be a product-by-product chronicle of every item released by TSR for Original D&D, Basic D&D, and Advanced D&D 1st edition.
This new series is not a reprint of Appelcline’s previous acclaimed Designers & Dragons books, which covered the industry more broadly. Instead, Origins focuses exclusively on early TSR, delving into the design, art, and stories behind legendary products from the 70s and 80s. The publisher states that the books will cover everything from famous modules and rulebooks, such as Unearthed Arcana, to rarer items, including Up the Garden Path.
The project is being organised into four distinct volumes, which cover the evolution of the world’s first roleplaying game:
- Vol 1: Original D&D and Advanced D&D 1e (1971-1983)
- Vol 2: Advanced D&D 1e (1983-1988)
- Vol 3: Holmes D&D, B/X D&D, and BECMI D&D (1977-1987)
- Vol 4: BECMI D&D, Black Box D&D, and Mystara (1987-1995)
For gamers interested in the birth of the hobby and the often-turbulent history of its foundational company, this series appears to be an essential read. Evil Hat Productions will launch a crowdfunding campaign on BackerKit soon to fund the full four-volume set, and prospective backers can sign up for notifications now.
