Designers & Dragons: The '80s

Designers & Dragons #2

by Shannon Appelcline

This is a book about the roleplaying industry as it existed during the boom following the James Egbert affair—and during the bust that followed the boom. It’s about hobbyist gaming in the ’80s. More specifically, it’s about 22 different companies that began publishing roleplaying games in the ’80s—from wargame leader SPI through a variety of wargame holdovers, roleplaying originals, old guard resurrections, and small press publishers.

Genres: Role Playing Games, Nonfiction, History, Gaming, Games, Ebooks, Dungeons and Dragons

390 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The '80s were the wild west of RPGs and this book is an entertaining account of role playing games during that time period. I feel I've missed out by never having played Toon, Star Fleet Battles, Paranoia, and Ars Magica. Four out of five twenty-sided dice.

[Stewart Tame · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the title would suggest, this is a history of the RPG industry from 1980 through 1989. It's volume two of a four volume series. As with the first volume, Appelcline focuses on one company per chapter and details the entire history of each, not just the 80's-specific bits. Each chapter concludes with a handy list pointing the way to further information (“To see where this game designer went after leaving Company X, check out Company Y and Company Z. To read about more games similar to Game Q, see Company G (90's). Etc.”) It's very well researched and cross referenced. As one who has spent a fair chunk of his life perusing the shelves of bookstores and hobby shops, these books bring back all sorts of memories of games played and/or pondered over the years. Whether any non-gamers would find it even remotely interesting is an open question … Can't help you there, I'm afraid, as I'm certainly biased.

Worthy of special mention is the Introduction by Mike Pondsmith of R. Talsorian Games, which does a wonderful job of capturing the camaraderie I’ve often noticed in the gaming community, and putting it into words much better than I ever could.

[Rindis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second volume of Shannon Appelcline's history of the RPG industry is every bit as large as the first. It's a much bigger subject though, since the 1980s saw a lot of activity up and down. But TSR and GDW were very prominent parts of this decade, and were already covered in the first volume. This is also the decade of most of my role-playing activity, so there's a lot of familiar names here, and many more I remember from ads, but never knew someone who actually got the products.

There's another 23 major histories here, plus six 'mini-histories', and two magazine histories (these really need to be in the table of contents). This is about twice as many entries as the previous volume, which shows that most of them aren't as long, though there's still some very substantial chapters.

The biggest omission I noted in this volume was Car Wars. Appelcline passes over it quickly as a board game that Steve Jackson Games did very well with. However, it really exists in that halfway realm of the 'proto-RPG' or 'hybrid game' that he explores a little in the first volume. While the people in Car Wars are largely not the focus, there is a skill system, and there is character advancement through those skills. Moreover, the expected mode of play was for characters to persist from session to session. Sunday Drivers (expanded and reprinted from The Space Gamer, and later retitled Crash City) was labeled as 'a role-playing supplement for Car Wars' and Convoy (reprinted from the first issue of Autoduel Quarterly) is a solo adventure (though not for one character) not unlike the ones produced for Tunnels & Trolls. Perhaps a large history of the RPG industry isn't the place to meditate on just what constitutes an RPG, but I think looking at the edge cases, especially where play styles and fan groups start bleeding over into each other, is instructive.

While there's several companies I'm very familiar with in here, they're concentrated in the early parts of the book. In the last two (of six) parts, the company I'm most familiar with (DGP) I only really knew of after the fact, and I never got anything by New Infinities and only one from R. Talsorian (Dream Park, though I certainly enjoyed playing Teenagers From Outer Space). Again, it's an extremely informative book that covers a lot of ground well.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything I said in praise of the first volume of this set (Designers & Dragons: The '70s) applies to this volume as well. Loads of information, wonderful connections made from section to section, great insight, and entertainingly written.

It is surprising to realize how little you are aware of the living history that goes on around you in your youth. I was there for this period of history, but I saw such a tiny sliver of what was happening. It's cool to have those threads you never knew about pulled together with the threads you saw to get a complete(r) picture of what was going on.

This is an excellent series.

Now, on to volume 3!

[Eddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent volume. This one is still largely in territory unknown to me, so I find it fascinating. Of course, the next volume will start to cover elements that my own career touched on, so that's mildly terrifying.

[Pedro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Que libro tan fantástico! Historias fascinantes sobre las compañías y diseñadores de juegos de rol que surgieron en los 80. La innovación, los desafíos, la visión y la lucha por sobrevivir y manterse vigentes en una industria como ninguna otra. Si algo nos enseña esta fabulosa crónica es que en la industria de los RPG/hobby nada muere realmente nunca. Las compañías se tranforman, los diseñadores resurgen, las IP se transfieren y los juegos y sistemas se actualizanñ y siempre hay oportunidad de que juegos olvidados vuelvan a surgir. Las historias de éxitos y fracasos en todo caso inspiran para volverlo a intentar, y nos enseñan que lo único permanente en la vida es el cambio. Este libro me motivó además a leer y releer muchos de los juegos clásicos de los 80 como Rift, Ars Magica, Cyberpunk, entre y otros y capaz intentar jugarlos. Designers / Dragons forma parte de una serie de libro que todo apasionado de los RPG debería leer, y aunque me faltan muchas páginas todavía ya no puedo esperar a que se escriba la crónica de la decada de los 10s.

[Michel Siskoid Albert · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 1980s volume of Designers & Dragons is where the book series really hits all the right nostalgia buttons for me. This is obviously when I started role-playing at the tender age of 14, but more importantly, the book covers the many companies that got their start in RPGs in that decade and that are most important to my collection - Steve Jackson Games, West End, R. Talsorian, Mayfair, Lion Rampant, FASA, Bard - and those I never really cared for, but that loomed large on the shelves of my favorite comics/game stores - I.C.E., Hero, Palladium... Unfortunately, there are a couple of BIG omissions for me, including BTRC (Corps, Fringeworthy, Macho Women with Guns) and Tri-Tac (Fringeworthy, Bureau 13), but on the upside, Applecline has given up the extremely annoying writer's tic that had him constantly tell is we would "soon see" whatever topic on the next page or in the next paragraph, making for a more pleasant reading experience.

[Eric Haas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shannon Appelcline continues in providing a history of roleplaying games with his focus on the 1980s. The author presents this history by examining a company at a time and focuses his efforts on detailing the development of this popular past time. Overall, the work is an easy read and provides a lot of background for a number of companies. The biggest issue with the work is the organization and confusion over who the audience the author is writing for. Specifically, is this work really for long-time gamers who already know the histories of these companies, or is this is study of the rise and fall of quick burn industries. There is definitely some interesting case studies within this work about why did some companies survive while others produced one or two revolutionary games and then disappeared.

[Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another volume in the fascinating history of the roleplaying game industry. My review of the previous book on the 70s largely applies here: I loved learning the stories of all these companies and the people involved with them, and I still wish there were more details about the games themselves for someone completely unfamiliar with them. I've come to realize that this series is a history of roleplaying game companies, not of roleplaying games. But it's a good one at that. I've learned a lot about the big and little names in the industry. This book, as well as the previous one, left me feeling a little sad because of all the companies that eventually failed. But it looks like some of the games mentioned here have found new life since the book was published, so that's encouraging.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the second volume of Designers & Dragons doesn't vary from the formula established in the first volume, it does include coverage of key companies such as Avalon Hill, Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE) and West End Games, making it an important volume all by itself.

To some degree, the stories of each individual company blend together into a repetitive narrative of under-capitalization, missed opportunities, and the ever-present lawsuits, but Shannon Appelcline's appreciation for the art of roleplaying games shines through. By capturing small details within the larger narrative, he manages to make the individual corporate histories remain interesting even when they're not so very dissimilar from each other.

[P Roberge · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's such an interesting subject matter, especially considering how much I love Role Playing Games. Although it is a bit dense and it took me a while to read, but that might be more because I'm not good at concentrating for long on stuff like that. There's a lot of dates and names being listed off.

It is pretty thorough and have already been handy more than a few times in settling arguments between my DnD friends or answering obscure questions. It also sheds some light on a lot of RPG systems that most people don't know. I also have the two last books of the series, I do plan on reading them eventually.

[Batjutsu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Continuing the numerous interesting stories about the RPG hobby and industry. Great to have old stories confirmed, clarified, or revealed to be untrue, I learned lots of new things. For those that want a detailed overview, then I recommend this. I appreciate the information being placed into specific company histories with linked recommendations at the chapter end to make for a great approach. It also makes it easier to find information later, as opposed to being like say a history put in to a story/biography style. A high rating because it delivers on its goal and what I wanted. Clear audio, good pacing, a great performance.

[Charles H Berlemann Jr · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this is the second in a 4 book series about the history of tabletop role playing games and by extension some war games since some of the tabletop role playing was born from the want to be a character in some of these war games. I have reviewed book 1 about the 1970s era companies. this is more of the same with chapters about both big and small companies that were established in the 1980s. Some of the same cons still exist and the pros of it covering some of the drama in the industry and with some of the designers/developers/publishers.

[Joe Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a tough one to give a rating. My pleasure dropped off a cliff as endless small companies I never heard of got their pages of fame. However the raw research and knowledge on display is most impressive and I say that as a writer of my own bits of random information. Just the work involved is impressive.

If you are a true fan of RPGs or remember the 80s in RPGs, then this is the book for you. If you are more interested in the big publishers and specifically the world of D&D then this might be one to skip.

[Itamar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Going on from the previous volume (70s), I keep learning new things about how the industry grew and what shaped it.
Unlike the products of the 70s, I've actually seen and played some of these, although I really started playing RPGs in the 90s, since of the import and translation gap to Israel.

[Arthur B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chronicles the fortunes of RPG companies who entered the market in the 1980s. Some interesting points made, such as how the rise of cyberpunk RPGs in the latter half of the decade ended up disrupting the SF RPG scene. Full review: https://refereeingandreflection.wordp...

[Pedro Pascoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read very piece-meal over an extended period of time.
This book covers the period of role-playing that I was introduced to, so very much a trip down memory lane for me, with info about stuff released that didn't make its way to regional Australia back in the day. God background info on the movers and shakers of the day, and lots of leads to follow up on, should I feel the urge.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish there were more books like this.

[Hans Otterson]

Good for only exactly what it is -- an overview of only a certain segment of roleplaying game commerce in the 80s. It's not bad, just myopic considering the subject.

[Arthur O'dell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine history of the golden age of roleplaying, although it needs to be read alongside the rest of the series.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second book of Appelcline's four-volume history of the role-playing game industry covers the 80s, a turbulent but exciting time in the hobby. Perhaps this books appealed to me more than the first one because it covers the time when I first became heavily involved in role-playing, and therefore gave me a great deal of insight into events I only observed at a remove, but I honestly believe that this entry into the series is substantively more interesting because of the first fumbling fits-and-starts of the nascent RPG industry, we're getting the story of a dynamic, vibrant period - perhaps the heyday of table-top role-playing. In the 80s, RPGs moved away from their wargaming roots, and many of the concepts that really distinguish modern role-playing games first took shape in the decade. That kind of stuff makes for a good read.

That said, the criticisms and plaudits I directed toward the earlier volume of this series still stand. As a history, the series suffers from a lack of adequate documentation (though I acknowledge that's a pedant's complaint). Appelcline's writing style is simple and accessible, but he has some annoying verbal tics and an occasional tin ear for usage and style (I cringe every time he describes something as "fairly unique," for instance). And I'm constantly torn on whether I think he made the right call in breaking up the story of the industry by publishing company and separating those stories into books by when the company started in the RPG business, rather than, say, when it was most relevant. This means that to get a full picture of the hobby in the 80s, the reader not only has to read this book, but also to refer to the previous book to the parts of the company histories that extend into the decade. It's an annoying choice, but I have to acknowledge that it may have been the best one.

Regardless, it's the choice Appelcline made, and he makes it work inasmuch as he shows great strength as an industry analyst. He is able to discuss with great clarity and ability the financial and logistical warp and weft of the gaming industry, shedding much-needed light on various changes in the industry. A number of otherwise odd-seeming events in the history of gaming make more sense when the curtain is pulled back on the business side of things, such as the "decision" of West End Games to stop producing the wildly successful and critically-acclaimed Star Wars RPG. I enjoyed this book a great deal, and I look forward to reading the next two.

[César Viteri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me ha gustado mucho, particularmente las historias de pilares de la afición como West End Games y R. Talsorian, aunque el de los 70 me gustó más que este.

Cosas a favor: El trabajo de documentación es impresionante y rezuma amor por el hobby por los cuatro costados. Es fascinante, al menos para mí, leer la historia de tantas empresas distintas, ver cómo nace y evoluciona una industria que ha sido importante para mí de muchas maneras, y descubrir las razones de cosas que sólo sabía de oídas. En particular, los años 70 del rol para mí eran una época legendaria de la que sabía menos de lo que deseaba, y el libro de esa década arroja mucha luz. Este, que cubre los años 80, también es muy interesante. Yo comencé a jugar en el 86, y en España muchos juegos y sucesos que cuenta el libro no nos llegaron o no se conocieron más que de tercera mano.

Cosas en contra: Si no te interesan los vaivenes empresariales y emprendedores, puede resultarte menos interesante, es una gran parte de la historia. El enfoque que utiliza de contar la historia de todas las empresas que nacen en la década que analiza de principio a fin funciona bien en el primer libro, el de los años 70, pero en el este tienes la sensación de estar leyendo sólo la mitad de la historia, y tienes que hacer memoria demasiado a menudo para entender el contexto general de la industria. Supongo que esta sensación no va a mejor en los siguientes libros. El último pero que le pongo es que el amor por la afición del autor muchas veces le domina, y atribuye a veces a juegos y empresas una calidad e importancia de la que claramente carecen. Resulta curioso cómo demuestra entender bien la lógica empresarial en términos individuales, pero cuando se refiere al conjunto del sector no deja de ser desmedidamente optimista.

Si eres un rolero de pro, no te lo puedes perder.

[David Keffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This second volume covering the 1980s is equal in quality to the first volume covering the 1970s. My review of the first volume also applies to this volume and is reproduced below.

This four volume set of books describes the history of the role-playing industry from its infancy to the present. The amount of information contained in these books is staggering. That one individual was able to bring to fruition such a monumental undertaking is beyond impressive. Even more impressive is the quality of the writing. As a player of RPG's, I imagined that I might have a modest interest in the behind-the-scenes story. Here, the books are organized very well. Each individual chapter is self-contained and told in a very interesting and readable way. The four books don't have to be read cover to cover in order. Rather, readers can peruse individual chapters on specific companies. Where references to other chapters are given, just enough information is provided to allow the reader to understand the context without being over redundant. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this and how much I learned from it. Taken together, the content, the writing, the editorial judgment in finding a balance for including the appropriate amount of detail without being bogged down in minutiae results in a really exceptional book on the subject. One imagines that this four-volume series will become the seminal reference for any study of the RPG industry from 1970-2009. For those readers who think they might have an interest in understanding the history of the RPG industry, this is clearly the definitive work.

[James Bowman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second volume in the series, this covers the golden age of the RPG industry: the 1980s. The histories of a lot of really big companies are in this volume, including Steve Jackson Games, FASA, and West End Games, plus many others of note.

A lot of the histories from this era seem to follow the same trajectory - a rise to prominence on the backs of one or more major products (with several butting heads, or worse, with TSR); a decline in the 1990s during the CCG boom; and attempts at survival or revival after the turn of the century. Of course, there are plenty of interesting specific details, but it's sad to see company after company suffering similar fates. (For bonus points, you also get to read about the decline of the wargaming industry, with histories of major players like SPI and Avalon Hill.) All in all, this volume makes you long for the days when RPGs were at their peak.

This has both the strengths and weaknesses of the '70s volume - well-researched, very strong on the industry side of things, and good at pointing out the major influential games... but weaker on major personalities and the gamer culture of the era. If you don't already care about the subject, I'm not sure this will change your mind. (Although I think it's a little better than the '70s on covering people, especially in the last few histories.) Overall, however, I enjoyed this even more than the first volume. It's a must for anyone with an interest in the industry's history.

(One minor note - I feel like the author could have been more critical of Palladium Books. But perhaps that was the price of getting Siembieda as a fact-checker...) (A)

[Monty Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 1980s were when I first got heavily into role-playing, so this book was like a trip through my misspent youth. There's Teenagers From Outer Space and Cybergeneration! Oh, and Toon! Aw, I loved Toon. It is fascinating (to me; I can't help it if you had different hobbies in the late 1980s) to learn why the Paranoia supplements devolved from brilliant to awful.

My only complaint is that sometimes I know more of the story than is conveyed in the book. And that's not really a fair complaint, because for the most part, this is an incredibly amount of information. But, for example, the story of GURPS Cyberpunk is more complicated than the standard "SJ Games hires Loyd Blankenship, then the Secret Service goes crazy" storyline. I only know this because I was active in the CompuServe RPGAMES forum at the time, but there was at least one GURPS Cyberpunk manuscript written before Loyd got the gig. It's stuff like that.

On the other hand, I couldn't believe I never knew about Lion Rampant, the company that Jonathan Tweet, Lisa Stevens, and Mark Rein*HAgen had when they merged into White Wolf. And I enjoyed just about every page enormously.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent in-depth history of RPGS and the RPG industry in the 1980s

So, it was around 1985 when I came into Our Hobby (RPGs), and I was immediately fascinated by the fact that it was a well-established subculture when I discovered it (having started in 1974, it was just about 11 years old at that point). I tried to reconstruct the history of The Hobby myself at that time, but it was very difficult (not least because there was no easy way to research it, the great search engines of the Internet being about a decade away). So this book fascinates me for covering the history of RPGs and the RPG industry immediately before I became involved and in the years immediately following. I have a very personal interest and stake in the content of this book, but it should be on the shelf of anyone with a serious interest in the history of the RPG Hobby and industry. Check it out!

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not as much added to this volume as the previous one (when compared to the original printing), but there is some new stuff as well as some general edits made to the material.

The biggest single issue of fact I had with the original printing has been partially fixed, namely the reference to Palladium's Revised Recon being based on a miniatures game has been changed to being based on a "tactical military RPG." It's still referred to as a "wargame" in the next sentence, but at least it's acknowledged that the original Recon was an RPG.

Going back and looking at my copy of the original, the combat rules did assume the use of miniatures, so I figure it's a fair evaluation. One of these days I need to get a copy of Revised Recon and see just how much it changed.

The 80s were when I got into RPGs, so this volume was well worth the re-read.

[Stan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well researched and thought out presentation. This volume has some of my favorite gaming companies like Steve Jackson games, Palladium books, and R. Talsorian games so I was excited to see what the book had to say about them. It might have been nice to have a little more detail about my favorites but I guess not every gaming company can get the kind of attention TSR got in the '70s installment of this series. Still, I would recommend this book to gamers who can remember the '80s and/or know the gaming companies who got their start in the age of Reagan.

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having spent more time in hobby/game stores than any sane person should, I really enjoyed learning about the personalities, the trials and tribulations, and the business side of RP gaming. We did not game most of these products, but it was nice to learn about the innovations and trends they brought to the industry. Kudos to Shannon Appelcline for undertaking this massive and thankless project. Now on to volume 3: the '90s.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

At almost 400 pages, this represents a fascinating and detailed look into the roleplaying industry in the 1980s. Each major player gets a 20-30 page chapter dedicated to them, however it was so enjoyable I found I could have quite happily read twice the content if it were available.

Absolutely superb and a must read for anyone who role-played in the 80s.