In the FOREWORD FROM THE ORIGINAL EDITION, I read a mysterious fairy tale. It began with “ONCE UPON A TIME, long, long ago . . .” and turned quickly esoteric. There were castles, crusades, and societies. There was a character named Dave Arneson and a map of a “Great Kingdom” and its “environs.” There was a bog and, in it, a “weird enclave” called “Blackmoor” in “a spot between the ‘Giant Kingdom’ and the fearsome ‘Egg of Coot.’” There were medieval fantasy “campaigns,” which were more than just a game. Blackmoor was one, another was Greyhawk.

The place names were unfamiliar, as were many of the words. They all came together in my mind like pieces of an insolvable jigsaw puzzle. . . .

—Excerpt from Blue Flame, Tiny Stars

The last Sunday in January. That’s when D&D historian Jon Peterson marks the anniversary of the game’s release: January, from a 1975 fanzine article by Gary Gygax; late in the month, from the co-creator’s recollection in the 1999 Silver Anniversary edition, and Sunday, because that’s the day “Gary invited the world to drop by his house, at 1:30 PM, to have a first experience of Dungeons & Dragons.” According to Peterson’s reckoning, on January 28, 2024, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of D&D.

Another date must have been an important milestone to Gary Gygax. The foreword is often written last. When it’s done, the author’s work is complete. The manuscript now goes to typesetting, layout, proofreading, and, finally, to the printer. As he punched out “1 November 1973” on typewriter keys, Gygax must have felt, at the same time, great satisfaction in having completed the game and hopeful trepidation about its reception by the wargaming community. These emotions may have clouded his vision such that he didn’t catch an error in the title.

The milestone is also important to many fans, who, like myself, found so much wonder in that single half-size page. In the opening citation, I describe my fascination when I first encountered the text in the 1977 Holmes Basic edition. By now I’ve read it countless times. It is with the same fascination, the same wonder, that I read it again today—and maybe once more.

If the last Sunday in January is the anniversary of its birth, November 1 marks the advent of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS.

In the years since, I learned all the place names from the mysterious fairy tale and all the words, too. I learned about the Castle & Crusade Society and their Chainmail fantasy wargame rules. I learned that Dave Arneson and the FOREWORD’s author, Gary Gygax, invented the game, of which the “original edition” was published in the previous decade. I have adventured in Greyhawk and Blackmoor and set scenarios for my own medieval fantasy campaigns in those worlds. And although now I know its origin and character, in my mind, the Egg of Coot remains fearsome.

—Blue Flame, Tiny Stars