HAWK & MOOR I (2014)

From publisher blurb:

Lake Geneva, 1972. Gygax. Arneson. Come experience the Golden Age ...

THE CREATION of the world’s preeminent Fantasy Role-Playing Game (FRPG), Dungeons & Dragons®, is one of the most fascinating tales to be told in all the shared histories of entertainment, play and game design. Two very different men, David Lance Arneson and Ernest Gary Gygax, undertook an unprecedented collaboration which gifted us — as their shared legacy — with one of the most intriguing games the world has yet experienced. Their game did not just simulate one isolate corner of reality; it dared to encompass the entirety of all realms of adventure, the consensual playground of the human imagination.

HAWK & MOOR tells the story of Dave and Gary, and the many other people whose efforts gave first life to the game we know and love today. Arneson had spectacular ideas, but Gygax knew how to refine them. Collaboration soon turned to conflict as Arneson believed his game was being taken from him, and Gygax crystallized systems where incomprehensible riddles had stood before. Both men were creative geniuses, but the game they created from Gygax’s Chainmail (1971) was the end result not only of their teamwork, but also of their clashes and disagreements.

HAWK & MOOR chronicles that first legendary game to arise from the Golden Age of Fantasy Role-Playing. Herein you will find Gary’s life story, the history of Gen Con and the Castle & Crusade Society, and details concerning the conception of Castle Greyhawk. This first book also includes new revelations pertaining to Arneson’s Blackmoor and its influences; tales from the Blackmoor Dungeons and Loch Gloomen; details on Gary’s first dungeon adventure; an exploration of the links between H. P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, and the earliest underworld adventures; the secrets of the asylum which inspired Castle Greyhawk; and much more.

HAWK & MOOR, The Unofficial History of Dungeons & Dragons®, includes 107,300 words on over 470 pages, supported by a detailed chronology, extensive research into the inspirational origins of D&D, and over 490 footnotes and annotations.

The adventure begins here. Prepare yourself, take up torch and sword. Come along and experience an unprecedented journey into the Golden Age!