08-20-2019, 01:15 PM
RobJN Wrote:...his interpretation that the Blackmoor that Dave ran for Gary is the first game of D&D....
I'm a bit late to the discussion, but I think this is a misguided interpretation. None of what I have to say will be new to anyone here, but I still think it's worth saying.
Strictly speaking, "D&D" didn't officially exist until it was published, but the reality is that the first-ever Blackmoor session that Dave Arneson ran is D&D. It's the game that evolved into and became D&D. If you're going to suggest that the Blackmoor game that Dave ran for Gary was the first game of D&D, why wouldn't you follow that logic back to the first Blackmoor session? Dave was running the same core game that he ran in the first Blackmoor session, although it had evolved and expanded since then.
D&D is still based largely on Dave's fundamental rules and concepts, many of which were adapted from or inspired by other game systems. As I've said before, Gary's key contribution was in gettting inspired, encouraging the collaboration, and doing much of the work to codify the rules, build out the system, turn it into a publishable game, and launch the business side of D&D.
But Dave effectively created the fantasy role playing game and created D&D. Without his contributions, the sessions he ran, and the rules he developed, there is no D&D as we know it. Yes, the Blackmoor game that Dave ran for Gary can be said to be the beginning of their collaboration, which led to the official condification and publication of D&D as a game. But the true origin of D&D traces back to that first Blackmoor session. That was effectively the first game of D&D, and every time anyone sits down to play the game today, regardless of the version, you're playing the same core game that Dave ran during that first session.