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Possibly the most significant RPG kickstarter project ever is going on now: Shannon Appelcline's Designers and Dragons
Applecline published a book just a couple of years ago covering the history of role playing games. It's about impossible to buy.
It is being updated in a MASSIVE four volume version covering the seventies, eighties, nineties and two thousands.
As usual with kickstarter, there are different funding levels with different rewards. I signed up for $15, which gets me pdfs of all four volumes.
Even though the KS has almost a month remaining, I've already received the pdfs for the seventies and eighties. Each is about 400 pages long!
I've read the seventies and it was really something. Of course, the origins of D&D is extensively covered, but you can read about Traveller, Judges Guild and Dave Hargrave's Arduin and much more.
He traces relevant issues through the decades, so the seventies book covers some matters into almost today.
Lisa Stevens wrote the intro to the nineties and I'm sure Paizo features prominently.
If you are at all interested in old school gaming or the development of RPGing, you will absolutely get your money's worth.
Lisa Stevens wrote the intro to the nineties and I'm sure Paizo features prominently.
Lisa and Paizo are actually in the '00s. Though you can actually find Lisa's origins in the industry threaded through Lion Rampant (in the '80s), then White Wolf and Wizards of the Coast (in the '90s).
And Lisa was actually instrumental in getting me thinking about writing a whole book in the first place! Or four books, as it turned out.
I jumped on this one as soon as I saw it. I believe knowing the history is a sfun as knowing the games. :-)
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Doing a bit of thread necromancy here:)
I've been reading these books and they are really fantastic! I can't reccomend them highly enough! Even in you didn't take part in the Kickstarter (I didn't) you can still buy them directly from Evil Hat.
If you are at all interested in learning more about the people, companies and games that make up the history of the RPG industry, pick up these books!