Die hard fans of Dungeons & Dragons will get to explore the origins of the world’s oldest role-playing game with The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons, releasing this summer to celebrate the game’s 50th Anniversary. The hefty tome documents the very beginnings of D&D including Gary Gygax’s first draft of original D&D, and early published writings such as the 1974 original D&D “white box” booklets and supplements. These are all accompanied by commentary by gaming historian Jon Peterson. The book, currently priced at $99.99, hits stores June 18.
![Explore The Origins Of The World's Oldest Roleplaying Game With First Look At 'The Making Of Original Dungeons & Dragons' 1 The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons book](https://www.thefandomentals.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DnD_WotC_TMODD_RC2_020224.0003.png)
- Unearth the very first draft of original D&D, never released to the public until now. Crafted on Gygax’s home typewriter, this 1973 document contains handwritten notes by both Gygax and Dave Arneson.
- Discover approximately 30 early articles and rare documents that lay the foundation for modern D&D, including unpublished correspondence between Gygax and Arneson.
![Explore The Origins Of The World's Oldest Roleplaying Game With First Look At 'The Making Of Original Dungeons & Dragons' 2 The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons chainmail look](https://www.thefandomentals.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/71eWfKJc2oL._AC_SL1500_.jpg)
- Peruse a remarkable collection of magazine and fanzine articles, many of which are no longer publicly available or remain undiscovered by D&D historians and fans of classic D&D.
- Flip through facsimiles of all the first printings of Original D&D, compiled in a single book for the first time in D&D’s publishing history.
![Explore The Origins Of The World's Oldest Roleplaying Game With First Look At 'The Making Of Original Dungeons & Dragons' 3 The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons pages](https://www.thefandomentals.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/71hGGpA5-5L._AC_SL1500_.jpg)
- Explore the creation and development of the original 1974 game with insightful commentary by Jon Peterson, one of D&D’s foremost historians.
![Explore The Origins Of The World's Oldest Roleplaying Game With First Look At 'The Making Of Original Dungeons & Dragons' 4 An early draft of a character sheet](https://www.thefandomentals.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/The-Making-of-Original-DD-Page-65.png)
![Explore The Origins Of The World's Oldest Roleplaying Game With First Look At 'The Making Of Original Dungeons & Dragons' 5 A list of skills](https://www.thefandomentals.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/The-Making-of-Original-DD-Page-66.png)
![Explore The Origins Of The World's Oldest Roleplaying Game With First Look At 'The Making Of Original Dungeons & Dragons' 6 Correspondance between co-creators Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson](https://www.thefandomentals.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/The-Making-of-Original-DD-Page-77.png)
![Explore The Origins Of The World's Oldest Roleplaying Game With First Look At 'The Making Of Original Dungeons & Dragons' 7 Title page of the 1973 drafr](https://www.thefandomentals.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/The-Making-of-Original-DD-Page-85.png)
![Explore The Origins Of The World's Oldest Roleplaying Game With First Look At 'The Making Of Original Dungeons & Dragons' 8 An original spell list](https://www.thefandomentals.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/The-Making-of-Original-DD-Page-193.png)
![Explore The Origins Of The World's Oldest Roleplaying Game With First Look At 'The Making Of Original Dungeons & Dragons' 9 TSR Printed Character sheets](https://www.thefandomentals.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/The-Making-of-Original-DD-Page-429.png)
![Explore The Origins Of The World's Oldest Roleplaying Game With First Look At 'The Making Of Original Dungeons & Dragons' 10 Dragon Magazine #1](https://www.thefandomentals.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/The-Making-of-Original-DD-Page-571.png)
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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).
Images via Dungeons & Dragons
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