Who Created What

I've toyed with an idea to write some blogs with the old what if question. Most of these questions center around D&D, and I'll list a few.

1-What if Dave Arneson had the money to be an investor in TSR?

2-What if Don Kaye had lived?

3-What if Gary Gygax had managed to gain control of TSR in 1985 and could afford to buy out the others?

There are others, but those three are big enough. The potential change in the RPG community all three scenarios could have created is great. But lately, another question has been on my mind. Who created what?

Dave Arneson seems to be the fogotten man in the anals of RPG history. During this decade, as the Wizards were rolling out D&D 3.0, Dave seems to have received the credit some people feel he deserved. Dave was credited in the D&D 3.0 books as a creator of the game along with Gary Gygax. In the 70's and 80's, some of that was blurred. I want to be clear that some of what I say here is my opinion, and some facts may be off. I'm remembering things I've read Gary or Dave say, and it may be off a bit. That both men are creators of original D&D is a fact.

There does seem to be ill feelings even now, 30+ years later. And, D&D isn't owned by either man at this point and never was owned by Dave. Gary has remained in the public eye, posting on forums. He is quite popular with many old AD&D fans on several forums. Dave doesn't post much, but when 3.0 was unveiled, he did some interviews helping hype the product and was part of the first D&D movie project. Interestingly enough, during that time, Dave proclaimed himself the father of role playing games. That comment seemed to bug Gary, but I think he needs to get over it.

Blackmoor was the first RPG and campaign setting, and Dave invented that. Gary has said role playing began with kids playing "lets pretend" and that is true. But, the RPG game as we know it started with Dave. I find it interesting that Gary has told a story, I believe in a D&D documentary on utube, about playing a cops & robbers game as a kid in which a friend acted as a sort of DM by keeping records. While I don't dispute this, I wonder if Gary told this tale prior to Dave's proclaimation of being the father of RPG gaming.

It does seem to me that people tend to get upset when Dave or somebody from his camp just points out Dave's side of RPG history. Why? The other side had every opportunity to shape gaming history. During that time, Dave's role in RPG history has been diminished. Just read articles in Dragon Magazine or check the web. I'm not suggesting for a minute that Gary doesn't deserve the credit he's gotten. There would be no AD&D without him, or D&D for that matter. The man knows gaming. But Dave knows a thing or two as well. What Dave seems to have lacked back then is the writing ability Gary had.

So let's look at some of the history. This has been taken from various comments from Gary, Dave, web history pages and Dragon Magazine articles.

Dave and Gary actually collaberate on a game called Don't Give Up The Ship.

The Chain Mail Miniatures game came out.

Dave played Chain Mail and at some point abandoned the game for his new game, Blackmoor. Dave created several features for the game that became D&D, such as Armor Class, Hit Points and Levels. The game was thriving, and at some point, Dave invited Gary to sit in on the game. Gary was impressed. Dave lent Gary his notes to begin writing the rules for D&D. I understand it was Gary's daughter who came up with Dungeons & Dragons as the name of the game.

Recently, some of Dave's old Blackmoor players, from a time before D&D even existed, have posted over at The Wayfarer's Inn and The Blackmoor Forum at Zeitigest's (sp) Games. Some fascinating stuff here. They have commented that the mechanics from the Blackmoor game and D&D (1st Edition) were essentially the same.

I have read Gary comments in how he wrote the D&D rules. In a Dragon Magazine article, he commented how Dave was credited as a writer of original D&D because of his idea "kernals".

In Tim Kask's thread on Dragonsfoot, Gary posted this:

"Dave Arneson did not write one word of the D&D game as he stated in his interview printed in Different Worlds #3. "

The picture I'm starting to see is that Gary did write that rule book. This is true. But, in my opinion based on what I've read so far, the game existed before the book. Dave created the game. The note book he loaned Gary was probably not the most organized, but the rules were there. Gary saw the game in action. Like Dave, Gary knew this game was a winner. Gary could write and he explained the rules Dave created, added things here and there, and finally named it D&D. Furthermore, Gary and friends invested in the idea, and the rest is history. Dave never invested. I believe I've read he didn't have the money. This begs at least one question about cutting a co creator in on at least a smaller piece of the action, but I won't go there.

It seems to me the debate is over the details. Dave played Blackmoor, created it even. The rule book was a notebook of rules created on the fly. Gary polished it and added a few details. Basically, his descriptions of the rules made it fly. History goes on to record that new D&D gamers, calling at all hours of the night and early morning, prompted Gary to write a more detailed and more rules intensive book(s) that became AD&D (1st Edition).

My opinion doesn't mean squat. It's 30+ years down the road. I respect both men actually. But, until I see better proof to the contrary, it was Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax who created that first version of D&D. Years later, I'm happy to see that Gary is busy with Lejendary Adventures and Castles & Crusaders, while Dave's busy with Blackmoor. I probably wouldn't be writing anything on this blog if not for both of them.