Items21The creator’s order
  1. 1Dungeons & Dragons (1974)Dungeons & Dragons (1974)The 1974 woodgrain boxed set, first printing This is where the hobby begins: three small booklets, Men & Magic, Monsters & Treasure and Underworld & Wilderness Adventures, in a woodgrain-patterned box. The first run of about 1,000 hand-assembled sets had sold out by the end of 1974, which is why a…0
  2. 2Greyhawk (supplement)Greyhawk (supplement)Supplement I: Greyhawk, Gary Gygax and Rob Kuntz's 1975 booklet for the original game The first supplement to the white box, and the one that turned a slim set of rules into something much closer to the D&D people know. Its 68 pages add the thief and paladin classes, the half-elf, exceptional…0
  3. 3Dungeons & Dragons Basic SetDungeons & Dragons Basic SetThe Holmes Basic Set, edited by Eric Holmes, first printed in 1977 The first Basic boxed set, with a 48-page rulebook and a dragon on the lid in one of the few cover paintings by TSR's Dave Sutherland. Contents shifted between printings, which is the fun of collecting it: early boxes came with…0
  4. 4Monster ManualMonster ManualThe 1977 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual, first printing The book that led off the Advanced line, prepared before AD&D even had its rules: a 112-page hardcover bestiary with a cover by David C. Sutherland III, TSR's first staff artist. Because it came before the Player's Handbook, a…0
  5. 5Player's HandbookPlayer's HandbookThe 1978 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook, first printing Dave Trampier's cover, adventurers looting a towering idol, is often called the most homaged cover in roleplaying, and it is the main reason this book is so prized. Inside are the first edition AD&D classes, spells and rules…0
  6. 6Tomb of HorrorsTomb of HorrorsS1 Tomb of Horrors, the 1978 TSR module Gary Gygax's notorious killer dungeon began as the official D&D tournament at Origins I and was published by TSR in 1978. It is the adventure people mean when they talk about traps that punish carelessness, and it still divides tables between those who love…0
  7. 7Against the GiantsAgainst the GiantsG1 Steading of the Hill Giant Chief, the 1978 first printing The first module released under the AD&D banner, and the opening of Gygax's Against the Giants series that leads on to the frost giants and the fire giant king. It is a slim 8-page booklet in a fold-out cover, so its importance far…0
  8. 8Dungeon Master's GuideDungeon Master's GuideThe 1979 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Masters Guide, first printing The last of the three core AD&D 1e rulebooks and the densest, packed with Gygax's tables, magic items and advice, under Sutherland's City of Brass cover. Together with the Monster Manual and Player's Handbook it completes…0
  9. 9The Keep on the BorderlandsThe Keep on the BorderlandsB2 The Keep on the Borderlands, Gary Gygax's starter module Here is the honest exception: this is probably the most common module of all, with a total print run well over a million and a half copies, because it shipped inside both the Holmes and the Moldvay Basic sets. It earns its place because…0
  10. 10Deities & DemigodsDeities & DemigodsThe 1980 Deities & Demigods with the Cthulhu and Melnibonéan mythoi The famous version of this AD&D hardcover is the 144-page original, which includes gods from H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos and Michael Moorcock's Melnibonéan stories. Those sections were dropped from the third and later…0