The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons: 1970-1977 (First Look)
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New book offers never-before-seen art and archival materials from the early days of D&D
In 2024, Dungeons & Dragons will be celebrating its 50th anniversary and as part of the ongoing festivities, Wizards of the Coast will be releasing a new retrospective book entitled The Making of Dungeons & Dragons: 1970-1977. The book will include all new materials from the D&D archives, including early concept art, game materials, and even unreleased correspondence between D&D co-creators Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
The book will be released on June 18th, 2024 and is currently available for pre-order from Amazon (and will be available from local game shops and book retailers soon).
So what else can we expect to see in this roll down memory lane? Below we take a closer look at what we know about the book so far.
What is The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons?
The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons: 1970-1977 is billed as a “retrospective historical account” of the early days of the game and will feature artwork, playtest materials, manuscript annotations and never-before-seen correspondence between D&D co-creators Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. Additionally, the book will feature a complete replica of the original D&D manuscript, including random tables, illustrations, type font and high-resolution scans of the original rules.
To produce the book, Wizards of the Coast hired noted game historian Jon Peterson to help research and assemble the materials. Notably, Peterson has published several books on the history and design of D&D, including the book The Game Wizards: The Epic Battle for Dungeons & Dragons, which is seen by many to be the definitive text on the early days of the famed TTRPG.
The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons: 1970-1977 itself was first announced in December 2023 at PAX Unplugged on a Wizards of the Coast panel entitled 50 Years of D&D Adventures, which was hosted by D&D game design architects Jeremy Crawford and Chris Perkins, along with senior designers Amanda Hammon and James Wyatt.
In a February 12th, 2024 press release, Wizards of the Coast describes it as: “The ultimate book showcasing D&D’s inception, including Gary Gygax’s never-before-seen first draft of D&D written in 1973, a curated collection of published fanzine and magazine articles contribute to D&D’s origin story. Each document is introduced, described, and woven into the story by one of the game’s foremost historians, Jon Peterson.“
When is The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons coming out?
The book is scheduled for release on June 18th, 2024. Notably, Wizards of the Coast has been dealing with a number of printing issues (including reprints that delayed the Book of Many Things box set) and virtually every book that was planned for 2023 saw its data pushed out due to printing and supply chain challenges. That being said, the publisher has said they are expecting it to arrive without any issues.
The book remains a key part of Wizards of the Coast’s plans to celebrate the Dungeons & Dragons 50th Anniversary, with numerous events planned throughout 2024. We’ll likely see more interior art and details on the books in the coming months.
How much will The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons retail for?
Currently, the price of the book has not yet been announced. Similar books such as the recently released Lore & Legends, retail for around $50 USD, so it’s likely that The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons will have a similar price point.
It’s also not clear if there will be alternate covers or any special editions of the book (Wizards of the Coast has released marketing materials that show the primary cover).
Final Thoughts
Longtime fans of D&D are likely going to find a lot to love in The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons, and it will be interesting to see if any new information comes to light in the correspondence between Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson (a creative duo who experienced their fair share of ups and downs over the years).
We’ll be keeping a close eye on the book and update this page with more information as it’s available. In the meantime, below is a video from Wizards of the Coast which offers a little bit more information on the upcoming title.
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Ollie Delano is a Staff Writer who lives in Chicago, Illinois where he majored in Journalism at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. He’s been playing Dungeons & Dragons for over 10 years and currently plays in a weekly game group where he rolls way too many natural 1s and chugs way too much Mountain Dew. His favorite D&D campaign setting is Eberron and his favorite character to play was a Tiefling rogue named Draxiss who enjoys both literal and figurative backstabbing.
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