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Gary Gygax always seems to get all the credit when it comes to RPGs, but there are others who made major contributions that just don't get enough props. I'd like to devote this entry to my top 5.
Dave Arneson: Billed as the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, he got the raw end of the deal. He was really the one that created the roleplaying and dungeon-crawling aspects of D&D as well as hit points, levels, and XP.
Eric Holmes: Edited the 1979 D&D rules, making them more cohesive while compiling all the original edition supplements into one book. This book helped solidify D&D. And Gygax was only remotely involved, since his focus had turned to AD&D by this time.
Tom Moldvay: Editor of the 1981 D&D rules, who made the game easier for beginners to grasp, compiling a basic and expert set. He moved D&D another step closer to mainstream acceptance.
Frank Mentzer: Credited with designing the 1983 version of D&D rather than just editing, he was responsible for the Basic, Expert, Companion, Master, and Immortal sets. This is my favorite version of the original D&D rules. He introduced beginners to the game with a solo adventure as a way to describe the basic rules before covering them in depth. To my knowledge, this is the first edition of D&D to include separate books for players and GMs.
Ken St. Andre: Not content with D&D, he chose to write his own game in 1975 that did the same thing, only making it easier to grasp. Tunnels & Trolls is considerably different from D&D mechanically: it has a more consistent system, easier to learn, and needs only three six-sided dice. | | 5 Comments | Add Comment | Permanent Link | | Return to Overview | | zacharythefirst Commented: | Jul 19, 2010 | 9:14 pm | |
| Brett Commented: | Jul 19, 2010 | 10:02 pm | |
| trekfanatic Commented: | Jul 20, 2010 | 12:18 pm | |
| Brett Commented: | Jul 20, 2010 | 2:49 pm | |
| trekfanatic Commented: | Jul 20, 2010 | 6:10 pm | |
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