The story of the arcane table-top game that became a pop culture phenomenon and the long-running legal battle waged by its cocreators. When Dungeons & Dragons was first released to a small hobby community, it hardly seemed destined for mainstream success--and yet this arcane tabletop role-playing game became an unlikely pop culture phenomenon. In Game Wizards, Jon Peterson chronicles the rise of Dungeons & Dragons from hobbyist pastime to mass market sensation, from the initial collaboration to the later feud of its creators, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. As the game's fiftieth anniversary approaches, Peterson--a noted authority on role-playing games--explains how D&D and its creators navigated their successes, setbacks, and controversies. Peterson describes Gygax and Arneson's first meeting and their work toward the 1974 release of the game; the founding of TSR and its growth as a company; and Arneson's acrimonious departure and subsequent challenges to TSR. He recounts the "Satanic Panic" accusations that D&D was sacrilegious and dangerous, and how they made the game famous. And he chronicles TSR's reckless expansion and near-fatal corporate infighting, which culminated with the company in debt and overextended and the end of Gygax's losing battle to retain control over TSR and D&D. With Game Wizards, Peterson restores historical particulars long obscured by competing narratives spun by the one-time partners. That record amply demonstrates how the turbulent experience of creating something as momentous as Dungeons & Dragons can make people remember things a bit differently from the way they actually happened.

A fast, fun, friendly RPG for players of all skill levels. This book is comprehensive for your tabletop games, including the very best Game Mastering how-to's, monsters, adventures, maps, characters, and loot!See lots more about ICRPG at www.icrpg.com

Weave legendary stories in the world’s greatest roleplaying game. All you need to run a Dungeons & Dragons game is your imagination, some dice, and this book. The Dungeon Master’s Guide teaches you how to how to run D&D adventures for your players— how to invent monsters for them to fight, mysteries for them to solve, and fantasy worlds for them to explore. “[The Dungeon Master’s Guide is] the one book to rule them all, the most comprehensive and powerful set of resources needed to run a game of D&D. . .” —Charlie Hall, Polygon.com “D&D acolytes are everywhere...Tech workers from Silicon Valley to Brooklyn have long-running campaigns, and the showrunners and the novelist behind ‘Game of Thrones’ have all been Dungeon Masters.”—Neima Jahromi, The New Yorker • The Dungeon Master’s Guide is one of the three main Dungeons & Dragons books, along with the Player’s Handbook and Monster Manual. It’s a reference used by the Dungeon Master (the game’s narrator) to create adventures—to run Dungeons & Dragons games and fill them with characters and stories. • The Dungeon Master’s Guide (DMG) is full of tools to help you immerse players in the game. What’s the demon lord’s secret weakness? Are the orcish invaders a criminal enterprise, or traitorous allies? Dozens of tables throughout the book help inspire your decisions and keep the game flowing smoothly. • In the Dungeon Master’s Guide (DMG), even the tables tell tales. A legendary sword takes five decades to craft. Who created it, and why? A tavern-crawling gnome has an eye twitch. How did she get it, and when? In every detail is an architecture for narrative—and the Dungeon Master’s Guide has all the tools you need to flesh it out with ease. • In Dungeons & Dragons, you and your friends coauthor your own legend. Guided by a Dungeon Master, you create characters and play their roles in a story, rolling dice and navigating maps as you unfold a tale as limitless as your imagination. • Dungeons & Dragons is the world’s greatest roleplaying game. Created in 1974, D&D transformed gaming culture by blending traditional fantasy with miniatures and wargaming.

All three 4th Edition core rulebooks in one handsome slipcase. The Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game has defined the medieval fantasy genre and the tabletop RPG industry for more than 30 years. In the D&D game, players create characters that band together to explore dungeons, slay monsters, and find treasure. The 4th Edition D&D rules offer the best possible play experience by presenting exciting character options, an elegant and robust rules system, and handy storytelling tools for the Dungeon Master. This gift set provides all three 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons core rulebooks (Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual) in a handsome slipcase that looks great on any bookshelf.

After narrowly surviving an invasion of her dungeon by some seriously dangerous Elves, Sandra needs to recover from having all of her defending constructs destroyed in the process. With the bulk of her forces lost while shattering the Core of a Reptile Classification dungeon, the merchant-turned-Dungeon Core is feeling a little vulnerable. Luckily, she has Violet, a Gnome Apprentice Enchanter, to help her get things back to normal. With Felbar, another Gnome that has decades of experience culling Dungeon Monsters, and Echo, an Elf that mistakenly got tangled up with Sandra and her dungeon, now awake from their Visitor Bond-induced comas, she can finally work on improving her relationship with the Gnomes and Elves by providing them with much-needed supplies. Unfortunately, during her time of recovery and looking into crafting new things with her recent access to Enchanting, she neglected to keep an eye on the dungeons around her Area of Influence. With the Gnomes no longer there to cull the Undead Classification dungeon near their destroyed village, Sandra scrambles to get ahead of its rapid expansion - and potential threat to the Dwarves to the north. But even if she manages to destroy the Undead Classification Core, should she stop there? Now that is quite the dilemma... This Dungeon Core story contains LitRPG/GameLit elements such as statistics and leveling and a heavy crafting emphasis. No profanity and no harems.

Discover everything there is to know about dragons—the most iconic of D&D monsters—in this quintessential reference guide. Meet Fizban the Fabulous: doddering archmage, unlikely war hero, divine avatar of a dragon-god—and your guide to the mysteries of dragonkind. What is the difference between a red dragon and a gold dragon? What is dragonsight? How does a dragon’s magic impact the world around them? This comprehensive guide provides Dungeon Masters with a rich hoard of tools and information for designing dragon-themed encounters, adventures, and campaigns. Dragonslayers and dragon scholars alike will also appreciate its insight into harnessing the power of dragon magic and options for players to create unique, memorable draconic characters. Introduces gem dragons to fifth edition! Provides Dungeon Masters with tools to craft adventures inspired by dragons, including dragon lair maps and detailed information about 20 different types of dragons Adds player character options, including dragon-themed subclasses for monks and rangers, unique draconic ancestries for dragonborn, additional spell options, and a feat Presents a complete dragon bestiary and introduces a variety of dragons and dragon-related creatures—including aspects of the dragon gods, dragon minions, and more Reveals the story of the First World and the role the dragon gods Bahamut and Tiamat played in its creation and destruction

Milton Frederick was arguably the best player of Crowned Lieges of Destiny in the entire world. As the strategy coordinator for one of the top guilds, he was beginning to actually make a living from it. That was, until he was abducted by aliens.Instead of your stereotypical grey aliens with big black eyes who like to perform anal probes upon unsuspecting victims for unknown reasons, The Collective had a more altruistic purpose. Sure, kidnapping 100 humans from Earth, ripping them away from their lives and families, and erasing their memories doesn't sound great - but the way they saw it, the benefits would far outweigh these side-effects. Seriously, who wouldn't want their consciousness trapped in a Station Core, subjected to the whims of a collection of alien races, and then ordered to defend against other hostile aliens for all eternity? They'd be immortal - so...bonus!Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), the Station Core now known as Milton never arrived at his destination. Severely damaged and confused about what happened to him, he woke up to find himself trapped inside a massive chicken egg on a strange, primitive world filled with curious - and deadly - creatures.Now, in order to survive the harsh environment, Milton has to rely on a snarky, foul-mouthed AI guide to show him what it means to be a Station Core. With her help, he might just live long enough to figure out a way to get off the planet - if only he wasn't so afraid of squirrels...Contains LitRPG/GameLit elements such as level progression and experience, optional tables, no harems, and a heavy Dungeon Core emphasis.Updated 4/26/19: New cover, additional editing, less foul language

Fill your Dungeons & Dragons games with deadly monsters from the Monster Manual. The Monster Manual teaches you how to how to fill your Dungeons & Dragons games with monsters—how to populate the game with pesky goblins and mighty dragons for players to battle or beguile, outwit or outrun. Inside the Monster Manual you’ll find more than 150 classic D&D creatures, with vivid illustrations and rich descriptions to help breathe life into your zombies and liches. “…What if I told you about the best book of monsters ever? The 5E Monster Manual just might be the one...”—Ed Grabianowski, io9.Gizmodo.com “D&D acolytes are everywhere...Tech workers from Silicon Valley to Brooklyn have long-running campaigns, and the showrunners and the novelist behind ‘Game of Thrones’ have all been Dungeon Masters.”—Neima Jahromi, The New Yorker • The Monster Manual is one of the three main Dungeons & Dragons books, along with the Player’s Handbook and the Dungeon Master’s Guide. It’s an essential resource for Dungeon Masters to use in populating any type of challenge they might contrive for their players. • From an angel’s wingspan to the vacant eyes of a zombie beholder, the Monster Manual includes more than 150 creatures illustrated in vivid color, with more than 400 quick reference tables to help you bring them to life with ease. • Rich descriptions of each monster help trigger your imagination. From the familiar (“vampires hate sunlight”) to the arcane (“what color is the vapor from a gorgon’s nose?”), the Monster Manual helps inspire your decisions and keep the game flowing smoothly. • In Dungeons & Dragons, you and your friends coauthor your own legend. Guided by a Dungeon Master, you create characters and play their roles in a story, rolling dice and navigating maps as you unfold a tale as limitless as your imagination. • Dungeons & Dragons is the world’s greatest roleplaying game. Created in 1974, D&D transformed gaming culture by blending traditional fantasy with miniatures and wargaming.

Earth is under siege. For decades, the governments of our world have been fighting a desperate and secret battle to keep hordes of alien invaders away from our planet. When the guardian of the United States falls, a new champion must be chosen. Sadly, the choice of a champion isn't ours to make, and the Galactic Conflict Authority selects a human, seemingly at random, to lead the United States of America's efforts at holding back the tide. Hugh Logan is in the middle of teaching a class when he is taken against his will and informed that he is now the newest member of Earth's defense against alien invasion. He must give up everything to become our champion. He must give up everything to prevent our destruction. He must become... a War Core. War Core is a Dungeon Core series with LitRPG and RTS elements.

Explore the fantasy world of D&D and delve into dungeons, slay monsters, and gain treasure! If you've been thinking of playing D&D or you've played before and you want to get up to speed on the all-new 4th Edition, this is the book for you. Here's what you need to know to join the fantasy fun. D&D terminology — understand what ability check, modifier, saving throw, AC, gp, hp, and XP mean Roll the dice — add modifiers and see if you rolled the d20 high enough to beat the challenge Minding your manners — know D&D etiquette so you'll be welcome in any adventure Character building — select your character's race and class, and choose the best powers, skills, feats, and gear Roleplaying — give your character a background and personality quirks Combat — use combat rules, a battle grid, and miniatures to play out furious battles Open the book and find: Everything a new player needs to get started playing D&D Details on four fantasy races and four iconic classes Explanations of every number and statistic on the character sheet The best magic items and equipment for characters of all classes Advice on roleplaying and teamwork A ready-to-use adventure to get you started as a Dungeon Master A ready-to-use battle grid with character and monster markers