Foreign Editions — Master List

Module code and title reflects the US version of the particular item, for ease of reference.  The actual codes / titles printed on the items are listed on the individual Foreign Editions pages; follow the links to them.

   United Kingdom

Games Workshop was the early printer / distributor of early TSR material (pre-1980); their material bears a Games Workshop logo on the cover and/or the copyright page.  TSR eventually established a "TSR UK" division, which was responsible for not only printing and distributing TSR material in the UK (albeit without a separately identifiable logo), but also with creating modules to be distributed worldwide (B10, UK1 - UK7, etc, all of which bear a small Union Jack flag next to the module code) -- as well as one module never distributed outside of the UK, ST1 Up the Garden Path.

   Australia

Jedko Games has the exclusive right to publish TSR material in Australia.  Besides "translations" of several U.S. versions, they also released an item exclusive to Australia: the Dungeon Module Pack.

   Brazil

Grow was the distributor of the single D&D product known from Brazil (though they also released two D&D tabletop boardgames).  More information needed!

   Denmark

Fafner Spil translated a few items into Danish, and were the exclusive distributor of early Dungeons & Dragons material in Denmark.

   Finland

Protocol Productions was the publisher of all of the Finnish xD&D translations, releasing a flurry of items all in 1988. Thanks to Urpo Lankinen for this info.

   France

In late 1982, TSR published the D&D Basic Set in French, followed shortly thereafter by modules B3 and B4.  From 1985 to 1989, the French company Transecom released many of the French D&D translations (the remainder being released by TSR).  Transecom employed, as a consultant, Francois Marcela-Froideval, the co-writer of Oriental Adventures and creator (in 1980) of a wargame / RPG hybrid entitled "Le Chateau des Sortilèges", which many consider the introduction of the RPG concept to the French market. Transecom has since gone out of business; French D&D items released after 1989 were printed by a combination of TSR UK, Hexagonal (a French company), Jeux Descartes (a French company) and a Spanish printer. Thanks to Fabrice Sarelli and Slaheddine Kefi for this info.

   Germany

Fantasy Spiele Verlags-GmbH (more commonly known as FSV, and a subsidiary of ASS AG, a major German games manufacturer) was established in 1983 for the express purpose of publishing TSR products.  They published all German TSR gaming products until 1988, when FSV ceased to exist.  From 1989 until the crash of TSR, TSR UK published German products as well.  After Wizards of the Coast bought TSR, Amigo Spiele, already the distributor of the Magic CCG in Germany, produced German D&D 3rd Edition material from 1998 until 2003/2004.  From 2004-2008, Feder & Schwert, a well-established German RPG publisher who translated and published White Wolf's World of Darkness since the early-to-mid 1990's, published German D&D 3rd Edition products and the three core 4th Edition rulebooks.  Since then up until today, there has been no German license.  The earliest german D&D products, probably from late 1983, can be identified by FSV using street address "Fasanenweg 3-5".  In 1984, the address changes to "Fasanenweg 3", and in 1985, to "Fasanenweg 5", used until 1988.  Also from 1985 onward, they used a logo showing the FSV acronym in a large typeface with a dragon to the right.  Prior to that, they used no special logo, only the company address. Thanks to Stefan Beate for this info.

   Hong Kong

   Israel

Mitzuv International, an Israeli company that went bankrupt in the mid-90s, published Hebrew D&D and AD&D translations between 1989 and 1993, including two modules (HCM1 and HCM2) published nowhere else!  Additionally, BUG, an Israeli computer-store chain, is reputed to have translated and published several additional titles between 1990 and 1994. Thanks to Shay Caesary and Jonathan Silver for this info, and to Or Lev and Orsquall Perel for these titles.

   Italy

Editrice Giochi published all of the Italian 1st Edition xD&D translations.  In 1986, Editrice Giochi released the first Italian edition of the Basic Set.  Although D&D was never a big hit for the company (which is a large gaming conglomerate, similar to Hasbro), vocal Italian fans served to keep the D&D line alive, bombarding EG with a volume of requests previously unheard of in the Italian gaming industry.  In 1989, the Italian edition of the Companion Set was released and, in contrast to the US edition, it contained the AC7 accessory as a special bonus.  Eager fans started clamoring for support modules and the Master Set.  Modules CM1, CM2, and CM3 soon appeared, but the Master Set remained elusive.  At the time, TSR was launching 2nd Edition AD&D and had killed off the original D&D line.  Editrice Giochi was requested to publish AD&D at once, eliminating D&D.  The Italian publisher disagreed, stating that the Italian market was too young and needed further development.  AD&D would remain out of the Italian market for a few more years, when another publisher purchased the rights and released the three core AD&D 2nd Edition rulebooks.  D&D briefly resurfaced in 1990, when TSR released the Classic D&D Game to serve as an introduction to RPGs.  The box was published in Italian (discontinuing the old Basic Set), and in what some called a "payoff", the Master Set was published too.  The introductory box was never embraced by fans, garnering unfavorable reviews because it was deemed too complex for beginners and its system of sheets for 'quick' learning was, according to many, a real mess.  Every publisher in the field toyed with the possibility of publishing in Italian the D&D titles never released into Italian.  Unfortunately, TSR before, and Wizards of the Coast after, denied these requests. Thanks to Claudio Gennari for this info.

   Japan

Shinwa was the publisher of most of the Japanese xD&D translations, with the exception of B10, B11, B12, the D&D Rules Cyclopedia three-volume set, and the Second-print AC7 Masters Screen, which were published by Media Works (and not including the unofficial translations).  English-language D&D products were first introduced to Japan in the mid '80s (when AD&D was at its peak) and within a few years translated rulebooks, modules and miniatures appeared.  Japanese versions of D&D products always enjoyed a much wider following than their AD&D counterparts.  The AD&D rules were too convoluted and the translations were too confusing for Japanese gamers' tastes, and as a result, no Japanese AD&D products were ever produced.  Eventually, due to the overall poor quality of TSR products and because several Japanese RPG's sprang up to steal away Japanese gamers, interest in D&D faded.  Finally, video games -- and later, CCG's -- killed off RPG's in Japan by the early '90s.  Most distributors and game stores either threw out or sold off all their inventory to make room for new merchandise -- not uncommon since shelf and stock space are expensive in Japan.

Shinwa was quite fastidious about listing printing numbers.  Unfortunately, they also left the "First Printing" line on there as well... in English.  The actual printing number is listed in Japanese, or absent in the case of genuine 1st prints.  This results in many well-intentioned non-Japanese sellers listing later prints as 1st prints based on the English line. Thanks to Ed Courtroul and Adrian Newman for this info.

   Netherlands

Selecta is the publisher of all Dutch xD&D translations.

   Norway

AEH Hobby released the Basic Rulebook, Expert Rulebook, and module X1 in 1989. Thanks to Brett Easterbrook and Barry Johnston for this info.

   Poland

Aside from these two REF accessories, the only other D&D items translated into Polish were the three D&D 2nd Edition core rulebooks. Thanks to Adrian Newman for this info.

   Portugal

Sociedade Tipográfica S.A. is the publisher of both these items.  An advertisement inside Set 1: Basic Rules announces three modules (B3, B5, and B6), though only B5 is confirmed to have been produced. Thanks to Ronaldo Fernandes, Nicolas Delzenne, and Melvin Hagerman for this info.

   South Korea

The existence of South Korean D&D material was only recently discovered, and we don't know much about it.  As contributor Adrian Newman writes, a combination Basic and Expert boxed set was first released, and then a few years later, the information was combined into a hardback manual.  Sometime after that, an "Advanced" D&D boxed set was released, featuring a mashup of the Companion and Masters rule books, as well as campaign-world rulebooks for "Crystania", a homegrown Korean mileau based on a fantasy anime movie from 1995.  At this time, further official D&D releases are not suspected, though there may be some unofficial ones.

   Spain

Dalmau Carles published all the Spanish D&D translations (Set 1: Basic Rules and B-series modules).  The AD&D translations were published by Ediciones Martinez Roca.  AD&D was not popular in Spain until the very late 1980's, so therefore, the only AD&D items released were for 2nd Edition AD&D and later. Thanks to Francisco Aritio and Andrés Otero for this info.  The exception of this is Leaves From the Inn of the Last Home, published as a novel-appendix by Timun Mas.

   Sweden

Titan Games published all of the Swedish xD&D translations.  Apparently, the company had planned to release a complete translation of 2nd Edition AD&D (the Players Handbook was already translated), when they were forced to close down due to heavy competition.  Most of this was from the Swedish fantasy RPG "Drakar och Demoner" (Dragons and Demons), which despite the name was NOT a D&D clone. Thanks to Andreas Landt for this info.  Mikael Borjesson of Titan Games adds: "We never actually published anything for Forgotten Realms.  On the drawing board when we closed down in January 1990 was AD&D 2nd Edition, modules X4 and X5, and Set 4: Master Rules (to include the remaining Companion Rules).  Regarding the module contents, aside from the format change to European standard A4, I don't think we changed anything.  It's worth noting that the Basic Rules are printed in US letter size even though it was printed in Germany (and specifically ordered as A4)."

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