OD&D Annotated

A closer look at a seminal work. 

Our purpose is drawing back the curtain of OD&D to get a glimpse at what lies behind.

Abbreviations used in this work include: 

OD&D: the first set of Dungeons & Dragons rules, OD&D being shorthand for Original Dungeons & Dragons. This the 1974 edition of the game that grew into whatever edition of D&D played at your home table.

EGG: Ernest Gary "Gary" Gygax, one of 2 co-authors.

DA: David "Dave" Arneson, one of 2 co-authors.

CM: Chainmail, a set of rules for miniatures warfare. CM included a fantasy supplement allowing gamers to recreate battles with goblins and dragons.

OS: Outdoor Survival, a set of rules by The Avalon Hill Game Company. The game involved being lost in a wilderness and attempting to both survive and escape. These rules formed the basis for outdoor movement in D&D.

FFC: First Fantasy Campaign by Dave Arneson and published by Judge's Guild. This work detailed the very first D&D fantasy campaign. Certainly other milieus existed in the imaginations of others before D&D gave structure to them. Other notable forerunners include Phil Barker's Tekumel, Forgotten Realms by Ed Greenwood, and Kalibruhn by Rob Kunz.

Basic History: 

David "Dave" Arneson (DA) formed the first fantasy campaign around Blackmoor, a small kingdom. Taking ideas from various games, such as ongoing campaigns around a location instead of a battle and heroes who would not die from a single successful attack, DA forged something entirely new.

Gary Gygax (EGG) eventually met DA and played in the latter's campaign and was hooked. The two men collaborated on a set of rules to be published and thus D&D was born.

Foreword 

Originally called the "forward" and corrected in the latest edition.

The foreword gives us some insight into EGG's thought processes as an editor and co-author. Gygax had long maintained the game was not based upon Tolkien's Lord of the Rings but rather on Burrough's Barsoom series, or Lieber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. While this may be consistent with EGG's memory? The original printing contains references to Ents, Balrogs, Nazgûl, Hobbits, etc. These are  mostly expunged in later printings though a few escaped the editor's eraser.

Others present at TSR at the time said the inclusion of such was a sop to the many fans of Tolkien's works. While this would certainly explain their presence, many fans believe the reluctance of EGG to discuss the influence of the Lord of the Rings (LotR) on D&D may have had to do with the "cease and desist" letter received from representatives of the Tolkien estate.

In our personal conversations with EGG? His antipathy toward LotR seemed genuine. He claimed to enjoy Tolkien's "The Hobbit" but not the trilogy following that work.