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.

The HAWK & MOOR series 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 Book One, The Dragon Rises, includes 68,200 words on over 200 pages, supported by 389 footnotes and annotations. Book Two, The Dungeons Deep, furthers the tale of D&D’s creation with explorations of the Greyhawk campaign and the unforgettable netherworld of Gygax’s alter ego, the Mad Archmage. Book Three, Lands and Worlds Afar, completes the first trilogy of works which chronicles the entire tale of Dungeons & Dragons from 1971 to 1975. Together these works have been made available in a quality and affordable format which is updated on a monthly basis, comprising the most current and adaptive body of knowledge in the burgeoning field of Role-Playing studies.

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