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Another book about D&D, "Of Dice and Men"
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Post Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 11:21 am 
 

Discovered yesterday, to be released in august: Of Dice And Men | The story of Dungeons & Dragons and the people who play it

  

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Post Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 12:27 pm 
 

Clever title :)  Surprising no one's used that before..?


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Post Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 1:07 pm 
 

I predict that this will be very well-done.
Hope I'm right. ;>

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Post Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 4:19 am 
 

I have already preordered it  8)

  


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Post Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 1:14 pm 
 

Cool.  I encourage all historical research into D&D, and have pre-ordered.  Thanks for the tip!  8)

  


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Post Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 10:24 pm 
 

Thunderdave wrote in Another book about D&D, "Of Dice and Men":Clever title :)  Surprising no one's used that before..?


It was probably inevitable. Either that, or "Of Mice & Minotaurs."

  

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Post Posted: Sat Jun 15, 2013 3:14 am 
 

I had heard of this before awhile ago...after meeting increment at GaryCon I figured this poor guy just wanted to commit ritual suicide after Jon's book was released. Man, I loved that book and promptly forgot the other one was going to come out.

However browsing through the pre-release blurbs at the link above I was underwhelmed. The first name on the list is what seems to be the now obligatory Felicia Day plug. I loved the guild but this woman is everywhere geek except NTRPG Con. So I figured they were smart about blurbs but I wasn't convinced.

Then, a few quotes later bam....I saw this...

"The best book I've read since the Monster Manual."

From the Futurama guy who will always have my undying fan loyalty for having EGG on the show. I then read he was an editor at Forbes and is rediscovering RPGs.

I hit the pre-order because one can never have too many D&D books or books about D&D books. So I will give it a fair read and I am starting to look forward to it.

But I still wish I could have seen his reaction the first time he saw a paper copy of Jon's Magnum Opus.

Z.



  


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Post Posted: Sat Jun 15, 2013 7:36 am 
 

Nogrod wrote in Another book about D&D, "Of Dice and Men": after Jon's book was released.


There's still a lot of ground to cover. PatW is pretty analytical; someone could describe RPGs from a pop-culture perspective & find more to include. For instance, nowhere in Jon's book does it discuss the cover of Her Satanic Majesty's Request.

  

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Post Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2013 3:37 pm 
 

sauromatian wrote in Another book about D&D, "Of Dice and Men":
Nogrod wrote in Another book about D&D, "Of Dice and Men": after Jon's book was released.


There's still a lot of ground to cover. PatW is pretty analytical; someone could describe RPGs from a pop-culture perspective & find more to include. For instance, nowhere in Jon's book does it discuss the cover of Her Satanic Majesty's Request.


Agreed. PatW runs out of steam in 1978, really, though it glances at the early 1980s through a powerful telescope. So there are plenty of post-1980 events to cover. PatW also is not a mass-market book written for a general audience, it's a scholarly book written for people who want to understand the intellectual history and evolution of simulations through direct access to the primary sources. There's plenty of room for other takes on this, other methods than my archive-based one, and so on.

I'm sure Ewalt's book will be a valuable addition to this emerging cultural history and will cover lots of things PatW doesn't. I certainly never imaged PatW would obviate the need for future books.

I met Ewalt last year at GenCon briefly, and I did have an opportunity to give him a copy of my PatW. I'm pretty sure that was the first time he saw a paper copy of it, but I don't think he immediately viewed it as a competing work. I did offer him the opportunity to share notes, as well as access to sources I had, but he never expressed any interest. I do hope that in so far as his book covers the history, it covers it carefully.

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Post Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 10:05 pm 
 

I guess this is as good a time as any to end my tenure as a lurker on this forum.

I'm very gratified to see interest in my book from the gaming community, and particularly the vote of confidence from Frank, which means a great deal to a kid that grew up playing his rules. It's important to me that you all enjoy the book, and I want to do right by the RPG world.

But Jon has it right. I see our books as related, but essentially different. Playing At The World is a stupendous piece of scholarship, and I say as much in my book. But it's not what I set out to write. If anything, the goal of Of Dice and Men is to reach a mainstream audience, to explain D&D to people who have never played the game, or to share the basic history to casual players who like the hobby, but really know nothing about it.

Now, with all that said, I did a lot of reporting and research, and I am confident that there's something of interest in the text for even the most informed and devoted RPG fan. Just don't expect a deep and detailed history along the lines of PatW.

David Ewalt



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Post Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 11:14 pm 
 

No relation to the CA theatrical work of 2011?

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Post Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 11:56 pm 
 

No relation to the CA theatrical work of 2011?


I've met Cameron McNary, author of the play called "Of Dice and Men," and we both hit upon the title independently --and as it happens, we both started our respective projects around the same time. It's a fairly obvious joke; there was also an animated film that used it back in 1988. I think mine is the first book with the name, though.



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Post Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 1:43 am 
 

Good to see you here, Mr. Ewalt. Definitely looking forward to checking out the book. I've found it a pretty amazing experience to have written about this community, and I'm sure you're in for an even warmer reception.

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Post Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 4:06 pm 
 

David, I haven't read the book yet but I was looking at the preview on Amazon - which I found to be well-written - and noted one very minor factual error for the errata file.

On page 134, you refer to the original Basic Set as containing "two staple bound booklets - a rulebook and a compilation of lists of monster and treasure", but as far as I know the original Monster & Treasure Assortments, including Set 1 in the Basic Set, were never sold as a stapled booklets. Instead they were always a collection of loose cardstock sheets, the same format as the Geomorphs. The ones in the Holmes Basic Set were not even shrinkwrapped together. The M&TA sets were not stapled until several years later they were revised for B/X D&D and compiled together into one booklet.


Zenopus Archives website & blog: Exploring the Underworld of Holmes Basic D&D. Holmes Ref: Reference Sheets for Holmes Basic Referees, also compatible with OD&D plus the Greyhawk supplement

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Post Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 4:30 pm 
 

I just finished reading Of Dice and Men, and found it quite enjoyable. There was plenty I was already familiar with (I'm 46 and have been playing since the 6th grade), but also enough tidbits I hadn't read before to make it more than worthwhile. David's use of personal narratives was a nice touch and the book would have been a bit lacking if not included, at least in my opinion.

The only detail I noted that was not correct would be that "tieflings became a playable character race in 4E" when in fact they became a playable character race in 3E, at least in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting.

Very happy with my purchase, and if my wife decides to read it, that's icing on the cake.

Congrats David on a job well done!


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Post Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 9:03 pm 
 

TollHouseGolem wrote in Another book about D&D, "Of Dice and Men":I just finished reading Of Dice and Men, and found it quite enjoyable. There was plenty I was already familiar with (I'm 46 and have been playing since the 6th grade), but also enough tidbits I hadn't read before to make it more than worthwhile. David's use of personal narratives was a nice touch and the book would have been a bit lacking if not included, at least in my opinion.

The only detail I noted that was not correct would be that "tieflings became a playable character race in 4E" when in fact they became a playable character race in 3E, at least in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting.

Very happy with my purchase, and if my wife decides to read it, that's icing on the cake.

Congrats David on a job well done!


I kind of cheated when it came to the wife reading it part.  I read it to her this past week while she was making dinner and working on various projects in the kitchen.  I might have overheard some of her friends mumbling something about cruel and unusual punishment but I clearly heard her say, "that she knew she was marrying a gamer and enjoyed hearing the history without a lot of technical details."  The only thing a got a hard time about was getting the song "Johnny B. Goode" stuck in her head (you will have to read the book to understand).  

Thank you for your contribution to the hobby, David.  It is greatly appreciated!

Chris

  


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Post Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 11:59 am 
 

I'm so pleased to hear from you guys, and glad you liked the book -- the reaction from my fellow gamers has been my favorite part of this whole process.

And TollHouseGolem & Zenopus -- thanks for the fact checking! I'm definitely adding these to the errata file and will make changes as necessary before the paperback version.



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Post Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 1:08 pm 
 

Hey, I just want to add my $0.02...I pre-ordered the book after you revealed yourself as a lurker on this forum- which is the sine qua non of RPG destinations. :)

I was not disappointed. I found it lively and a quick read. So much so that, like others, I am trying to get my wife and parents to read it. None of them understand the first thing about RPGs and I think it makes a wonderful introduction. Maybe if you renamed it 50 Shades of Gray elves it would help. :D

On a my personal note I must say it was gratifying to see another professional my age return to the hobby after toiling away for years at real life. My background is in politics (the non-elected kind). Once I finely took a look at life outside my job and found that the vibrant community for older RPGs not only existed, but was starting to flourish (in its way) I jumped in all the way and haven't been this content since I was 17. The intelligence and decency of the vast majority of the community I have encountered has been a key reason for my kick@$/ mid-life crisis.

Thanks for being a contributor to the hobby and thanks for the wonderful book.

Zach Glazar



  
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