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Playing at the World, 2E, Volume 1

The Invention of Dungeons & Dragons

Part of Game Histories

Author Jon Peterson
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Paperback
$29.95 US
The MIT Press
6.06"W x 9"H x 1.01"D   | 17 oz | 20 per carton
On sale Jul 30, 2024 | 392 Pages | 9780262548779
FOC Jul 1, 2024 | Catalog May 2024
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The first volume of two in a new, updated edition of the 2012 book Playing at the World, which charts the vast and complex history of role-playing games.


This new edition of Playing at the World is the first of two volumes that update the 720-page original tome of the same name from 2012. This first volume is The Invention of Dungeons & Dragons, which explores the publication of that iconic game. (The second volume is The Three Pillars of Role-Playing Games, a deeper dive into the history of the setting, system, and character of D & D.) In this first volume, Jon Peterson distills the story of how the wargaming clubs and fanzines circulating around the upper Midwest in the 1970s culminated in Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson’s seminal role-playing game, D & D. It augments the research of the original editions with new insights into the crucial period in 1972–3 when D & D began to take shape.

Drawing from primary sources ranging from eighteenth-century strategists to modern hobbyists, Playing at the World explores the origins of wargames and roleplaying through the history of conflict simulations and the eccentric characters who drove the creation of a signature cultural innovation in the late twentieth century. Filled with unparalleled archival research (from obscure fanzines to letters, drafts, and other ephemera), this new edition of Playing at the World is the ultimate geek’s guide to the original RPG. As such, it is an indispensable resource for academics and game fans exploring the origins of the hobby.
Jon Peterson is a New York Times–bestselling author and Hugo Award finalist. He is the author of The Elusive Shift and Game Wizards and the coauthor of Dungeons & Dragons: Art & Arcana, Lore & Legends, and Heroes’ Feast: The Official Dungeons & Dragons Cookbook, as well its sequel Flavors of the Multiverse.
Jon Peterson View titles by Jon Peterson
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Series Foreword
Preface
1   First Principles
2   Rise of the Wargaming Clubs
3   Miniature Wargaming
4   The Medieval Setting
5   The Castle & Crusade Society
6   From Amateur Attempts to Guidon Games
7   Chainmail and Fantasy Wargaming
8   “Will Cooperate on Game Design”
9   The Fall of the IFW
10   The Return of the Referee
11   Blackmoor
12   The Fantasy Game
13   Claiming an Audience
14   Selling the Story
15   Courting the Wargamers
16   GenCon 1974 and Its Aftermath
17   Dungeons & Dragons in Los Angeles Fandom
18   Seeds of Success
19   Alarming Excursions
20   The Summer Conventions of 1975
21   The Bully Pulpit of Lake Geneva
22   Canonicity and Control
23   Cooperate or Compete?
24   D&D among the RPGs
Notes
Index
additional book photo
additional book photo
additional book photo
additional book photo
additional book photo
“Peterson proves an able guide . . . carefully selecting which individuals and publications to highlight, building toward a taxonomy of role-playing games and their core elements. . . . A highly readable history of ideas.”
—The Washington Post

“[Peterson] is our dungeon master, guiding us through history with the precision of a veteran player who knows every rule and secret of the game. . . . This book is a critical hit.”
—Stuff Stoners Like

About

The first volume of two in a new, updated edition of the 2012 book Playing at the World, which charts the vast and complex history of role-playing games.


This new edition of Playing at the World is the first of two volumes that update the 720-page original tome of the same name from 2012. This first volume is The Invention of Dungeons & Dragons, which explores the publication of that iconic game. (The second volume is The Three Pillars of Role-Playing Games, a deeper dive into the history of the setting, system, and character of D & D.) In this first volume, Jon Peterson distills the story of how the wargaming clubs and fanzines circulating around the upper Midwest in the 1970s culminated in Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson’s seminal role-playing game, D & D. It augments the research of the original editions with new insights into the crucial period in 1972–3 when D & D began to take shape.

Drawing from primary sources ranging from eighteenth-century strategists to modern hobbyists, Playing at the World explores the origins of wargames and roleplaying through the history of conflict simulations and the eccentric characters who drove the creation of a signature cultural innovation in the late twentieth century. Filled with unparalleled archival research (from obscure fanzines to letters, drafts, and other ephemera), this new edition of Playing at the World is the ultimate geek’s guide to the original RPG. As such, it is an indispensable resource for academics and game fans exploring the origins of the hobby.

Creators

Jon Peterson is a New York Times–bestselling author and Hugo Award finalist. He is the author of The Elusive Shift and Game Wizards and the coauthor of Dungeons & Dragons: Art & Arcana, Lore & Legends, and Heroes’ Feast: The Official Dungeons & Dragons Cookbook, as well its sequel Flavors of the Multiverse.
Jon Peterson View titles by Jon Peterson

Table of Contents

Series Foreword
Preface
1   First Principles
2   Rise of the Wargaming Clubs
3   Miniature Wargaming
4   The Medieval Setting
5   The Castle & Crusade Society
6   From Amateur Attempts to Guidon Games
7   Chainmail and Fantasy Wargaming
8   “Will Cooperate on Game Design”
9   The Fall of the IFW
10   The Return of the Referee
11   Blackmoor
12   The Fantasy Game
13   Claiming an Audience
14   Selling the Story
15   Courting the Wargamers
16   GenCon 1974 and Its Aftermath
17   Dungeons & Dragons in Los Angeles Fandom
18   Seeds of Success
19   Alarming Excursions
20   The Summer Conventions of 1975
21   The Bully Pulpit of Lake Geneva
22   Canonicity and Control
23   Cooperate or Compete?
24   D&D among the RPGs
Notes
Index

Photos

additional book photo
additional book photo
additional book photo
additional book photo
additional book photo

Praise

“Peterson proves an able guide . . . carefully selecting which individuals and publications to highlight, building toward a taxonomy of role-playing games and their core elements. . . . A highly readable history of ideas.”
—The Washington Post

“[Peterson] is our dungeon master, guiding us through history with the precision of a veteran player who knows every rule and secret of the game. . . . This book is a critical hit.”
—Stuff Stoners Like

Other books in this series

  • Game Wizards
    Game Wizards
    The Epic Battle for Dungeons & Dragons
    Jon Peterson
    9780262542951
    $24.95 US
    Paperback
    The MIT Press
    On sale Oct 12, 2021
  • Game Wizards
    Game Wizards
    The Epic Battle for Dungeons & Dragons
    Jon Peterson
    9780262542951
    $24.95 US
    Paperback
    The MIT Press
    On sale Oct 12, 2021

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