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The History of Dungeons & Dragons

@dndhistory.bsky.social

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Charting the half-century history of Dungeons and Dragons from its start in 1974 onwards, the website will update with new content year by year, month by month.

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

573.1 Various Authors – Articles in Dragon #126 (October 1987)

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

573. Various Authors - Dragon #126 (October 1987)

573. Various Authors – Dragon #126 (October 1987)

So we come to the month of October 1987, and with it we reach one of the most iconic of Dragon magazine covers, this time by Daniel Horne and it is a fitting cover for a special issue on the undead…

The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

572.1 Short stories in Gary Gygax - Night Arrant (1987)

572.1 Short stories in Gary Gygax – Night Arrant (1987)

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

572. Gary Gygax - Night Arrant (1987)

572. Gary Gygax – Night Arrant (1987)

Sorry I’ve been taking so long in updating this project, but I did get a bit stuck reading through Night Arrant, something which might happen as I hit some duller or harder going novel as we …

The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

Let's Play: Secret of the Silver Blades (1990) - Part 5

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

Let's Play: Secret of the Silver Blades (1990) - Part 4

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

571.1. Articles in Polyhedron #37 (September 1987)

571.1. Articles in Polyhedron #37 (September 1987)

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

571. Various Authors - Polyhedron #37 (September 1987)

571. Various Authors – Polyhedron #37 (September 1987)

As usual, every two months, we get the RPGA magazine, Polyhedron, aimed at the competitive side of TTRPGs, but with some good extra articles on rules and sundry game optimizations. This issue is, u…

The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

Let's Play: Secret of the Silver Blades (1990) - Part 3

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 19/04/2025

570.1. Stephen Fabian and Bruce Heard - Sample Illustrated pages in GAZ 3: The Principalities of Glantri (1987)

570.1. Stephen Fabian and Bruce Heard – Sample Illustrated pages in GAZ 3: The Principalities of Glantri (1987)

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

570. Bruce Heard - GAZ 3: The Principalities of Glantri (1987)

570. Bruce Heard – GAZ 3: The Principalities of Glantri (1987)

Further fleshing out the world of Mystara (before it even had that name) the third Gazetteer in the series brings us the magocracy of Glantri. A collection of principalities ruled by aristocra…

The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

Let's Play: Secret of the Silver Blades (1990) - Part 2

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 12/04/2025

569.1. Various Artists- Maps and Illustrations from C6: The Official RPGA Tournament Handbook (1987)

569.1. Various Artists- Maps and Illustrations from C6: The Official RPGA Tournament Handbook (1987)

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

569. Various Authors - C6: The Official RPGA Tournament Handbook (1987)

569. Various Authors – C6: The Official RPGA Tournament Handbook (1987)

Looking for all intents and purposes like an adventure module, C6: The Official RPGA Tournament Handbook is actually a bit more than that. Firstly it has not one, but two adventures, written by Dan…

The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

Let's Play: Secret of the Silver Blades (1990) - Part 1

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

568.1. Various Authors - Adventures in Dungeon #7 (September/October 1987)

568.1. Various Authors – Adventures in Dungeon #7 (September/October 1987)

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

568. Various Authors - Dungeon #7 (September/October 1987)

568. Various Authors – Dungeon #7 (September/October 1987)

We reach the second year of Dungeon Magazine and this time we get some more variety than usual in terms of adventures that come packaged in the issue. In the first year the magazine was heavily bia…

The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

Let's Play: DragonStrike (1990) - Part 1

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

567.1. Various Authors - Sample pages from Forgotten Realms Campaign Set (1987)

567.1. Various Authors – Sample pages from Forgotten Realms Campaign Set (1987)

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

567. Ed Greenwood, Jeff Grubb et al. - Forgotten Realms Campaign Set (1987)

567. Ed Greenwood, Jeff Grubb et al. – Forgotten Realms Campaign Set (1987)

A really important item that somehow slipped through the cracks on my list, the Forgotten Realms Campaign Set is probably the most important campaign setting since Gary Gygax’s 1980’s W…

The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

566.1. Stephen Sullivan - Maps for N5: Under Ilefarn (1987)

566.1. Stephen Sullivan – Maps for N5: Under Ilefarn (1987)

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Let's Play: Champions of Krynn (1990) - Part 21 (Finale)

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

565.1. George Barr - Illustrations for Dragonlance Adventures (1987)

565.1. George Barr – Illustrations for Dragonlance Adventures (1987)

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

565. Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis - Dragonlance Adventures (1987)

565. Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis – Dragonlance Adventures (1987)

As the Dragonlance modules came out (DL1-12 came out between 1984-86, four more will come out in the future), each of them would contain some information about the world of Krynn where players woul…

The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

Let's Play: Champions of Krynn (1990) - Part 20

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

564.1. Articles, illustrations and adverts in Dragon #125 (September 1987)

564.1. Articles, illustrations and adverts in Dragon #125 (September 1987)

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

564. Various Authors - Dragon #125 (September 1987)

564. Various Authors – Dragon #125 (September 1987)

With a cover that takes us back to a period centuries before the age of Chivalry, the main feature and collection of articles in this issue is about that very age, when stories about King Arth…

The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

563.1. John and Laura Lakey - Illustrations for Greyhawk Adventures #3: Master Wolf (1987)

563.1. John and Laura Lakey – Illustrations for Greyhawk Adventures #3: Master Wolf (1987)

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

563. Rose Estes - Greyhawk Adventures #4: The Price of Power (1987)

563. Rose Estes – Greyhawk Adventures #4: The Price of Power (1987)

Although listed as the fourth book in the Greyhawk Adventures series, it’s more helpful to think of this as the second book in the Rose Estes’ Mika series, as the first two volumes were…

The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

Let's Play: Champions of Krynn (1990) - Part 19

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

562. Gary Gygax and Lawrence Schick - S1-4: Realms of Horror (1987)

562. Gary Gygax and Lawrence Schick – S1-4: Realms of Horror (1987)

With a title like “Realms of Horror” you might think that this is some kind of Ravenloft compilation, but looking at the author’s names you realise that this is a different kind o…

The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

Let's Play: Champions of Krynn (1990) - Part 18

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

561.1. Richard Bennett and Dave Sutherland - Illustration and Maps for OA4: Blood of the Yakuza (1987)

561.1. Richard Bennett and Dave Sutherland – Illustration and Maps for OA4: Blood of the Yakuza (1987)

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

561. David "Zeb" Cook - OA4: Blood of the Yakuza (1987)

561. David “Zeb” Cook – OA4: Blood of the Yakuza (1987)

As is the case with most of the Oriental Adventure modules, Blood of the Yakuza is partly an adventure module but also a campaign setting. This time the setting is Nakamaru, inspired by Tokugawa Ja…

The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Let's Play: Champions of Krynn (1990) - Part 17

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

560. James Brumbaugh - Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Gamebook #14: Trail Sinister (1987)

560. James Brumbaugh – Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Gamebook #14: Trail Sinister (1987)

Occasionally we get to some books that I haven’t been able to source digital or physical copies of in a way that was timely and affordable, this is one of those books, so you’ll get the…

The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

Let's Play: Champions of Krynn (1990) - Part 16

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

559. Ken Rolston - IM3: The Best of Intentions (1987)

559. Ken Rolston – IM3: The Best of Intentions (1987)

A comedic romp set in the Immortals game system for D&D it is, essentially, a wholly different game than the usual sword & sorcery shenanigans that you get up to in the regular game. In thi…

The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

558.1. Jan Jacobsen and others - Maps for CM9: Legacy of Blood (1987)

558.1. Jan Jacobsen and others – Maps for CM9: Legacy of Blood (1987)

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

558. Steve Perrin and Katharine Kerr - CM9: Legacy of Blood (1987)

558. Steve Perrin and Katharine Kerr – CM9: Legacy of Blood (1987)

With a nifty Clyde Caldwell cover and written by the creator of RuneQuest and the writer of the Deverry novels, this is a companion level module for the BECMI version of D&D, in this tale you p…

The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

Let's Play: Champions of Krynn (1990) - Part 14

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

557.1. Various Authors - Articles and adverts in Dragon #124 (August 1987)

557.1. Various Authors – Articles and adverts in Dragon #124 (August 1987)

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

557. Various Authors - Dragon #124 (August 1987)

557. Various Authors – Dragon #124 (August 1987)

An issue dedicated to aerial adventuring in D&D, this has a bunch of articles, which appear up front in the table of contents, all about fighting in the air, setting adventures in the air, flyi…

The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

Let's Play: Champions of Krynn (1990) - Part 13

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

556.1. Steve Fabian - Illustrations for Tales Volume 2: Kender, Gully Dwarves and Gnomes (1987)

556.1. Steve Fabian – Illustrations for Tales Volume 2: Kender, Gully Dwarves and Gnomes (1987)

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

556. Various Authors - Tales Volume 2: Kender, Gully Dwarves and Gnomes (1987)

556. Various Authors – Tales Volume 2: Kender, Gully Dwarves and Gnomes (1987)

The second volume in the Dragonlance short story collection “Dragonlance Tales” this collection includes ten stories set in the universe exploring hidden corners of the world of Krynn, …

The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Let's Play: Champions of Krynn (1990) - Part 12

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

555.1. Robert J Blake, Anita B Frank and Rex A Zinn - Pilgrim's Pool in Polyhedron #36 (July 1987)

555.1. Robert J Blake, Anita B Frank and Rex A Zinn – Pilgrim’s Pool in Polyhedron #36 (July 1987)

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The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

555. Various Authors - Polyhedron #36 (July 1987) dndhistory.org/2025/02/21/5...

555. Various Authors – Polyhedron #36 (July 1987)

With a fun animation/manga inspired cover by Gary M. Williams we get yet another issue of the RPGA Network zine which as usual features a mini-module, this time the conclusion to the Maiden of Pain…

The History of Dungeons & Dragons @dndhistory.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Let's Play: Champions of Krynn (1990) - Part 11

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