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Thursday, Jan 23, 2025

Was one of the creators of Dungeons & Dragons a Minnesotan?

Deanna Pistono, MinnPost
yes

Dave Arneson (1947-2009) was born in Hennepin County and attended the University of Minnesota. In 1969, Arneson met E. Gary Gygax at a tabletop games convention, at which Gygax shared the rules of “Chainmail” – a medieval war game he developed – with Arneson. Arneson took the rules back to the Twin Cities and focused on emphasizing characters and improvisation along with combat. 

The first edition of D&D, written by Gygax and Arneson, was published in 1974 by Gygax’s company, Tactical Studies Rules (TSR). In this edition, there were only three different classes — magic-user, fighting-men and cleric — and only four playable races — human, elf, dwarf, and halfling. 

Arneson sued TSR in 1979 after the release of “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons” for failing to pay him royalties and representing Gygax as the sole author. The suit was settled out of court and Arneson was paid royalties and credited as co-creator.

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