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Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana: A Visual History?
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Not sure who did the art—not at home now, but if you like dnd art check out this book on Amazon. Basically covers the history of the game from when Gygax and co. were doing medieval battle rules to the 5.0. For an old dude it sure brought back a bunch of memories. https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Art-Arcana-History/dp/0399580948/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=Art+of+dungeons+and+dragons&qid=1613000248&sr=8-2
This is a cool book that came out a few years ago. It’s about the history and art of dnd. It’s got a lot of full color art and is kind of a coffee table book. It’s pretty cheap on Amazon right now and there’s also a slipcased special edition available if you want to get fancy. I’ve given it to a few gamers as gifts and they’ve all really loved it.
If you haven't already, grab the Art & Arcana book. It's fucking amazing and so beautiful.
May I also suggest this book I co-authored on the visual history of Dungeons & Dragons. Something in it for fans of all generations! Happy Holidays!
You should pick up Art & Arcana, a new book of historical D&D art. It’s full of great works like this.
Dungeons and Dragons Art and Arcana is down to $22.92 right now on Amazon. Use the code novbook18 to get another $5 off.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0399580948/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1
Not a rulebook, but Art & Arcana
https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Art-Arcana-History/dp/0399580948
I highly recommend this book. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dungeons-Dragons-Art-Arcana-History/dp/0399580948?ref_=d6k_applink_bb_marketplace
I thought the first 20 sided dies had 1-10 twice, and owners had to shade 1/2 of the triangles to indicate 11-20? (source: Dungeons & Dragons: Art and Arcana)
Ah! That's Art & Arcana. I thought it fit the theme. :)
https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Art-Arcana-History/dp/0399580948
Depending on the $$ limit for your secret santa exchange (if you indeed have one) these might be out of your range, but are good ideas: https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Art-Arcana-History/dp/0399580948
https://www.amazon.com/Original-Adventures-Reincarnated-Into-Borderlands/dp/1946231355
I always recommend these because they are a little "out of the box" but they are always things that I think any D&D DM or fan will like as they engage with the history of the game. They are also just slightly more expensive than an impulse buy type item so most people tend to not buy this for themselves or think "I'll pick it up eventually" without actually ever getting around to it.
If you have like a $20 limit or something, I would suggest any number of the cool D&D journals that pop up on Amazon or whatever. I don't personally use any of these but maybe someone else would!
> original rulebooks
The best source to read to get a strong idea of how classic D&D was played is the 1983 Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set by Frank Mentzer.
Its Player's Manual features very concise and well-explained representations of mechanics, as well as a GM-less example of play. Its Dungeon Master's Rulebook nicely articulates the mechanics and procedures of dungeon delving. You don't realise until you look back that none of those very helpful procedures have been taught in twenty years. These are the procedures that Castle Ravenloft were designed to be used with.
Then the next box - the Mentzer's Expert Set - covers wilderness sandbox play via the Hex Crawl, among other things.
Gygax's AD&D is a very interesting read, but if you don't already have a grasp of the core game it's near-unintelligible in places. The layout of the core AD&D 1e books is legendarily atrocious, so it reads very scatterbrained. The DMG, however, is still one of the most broadly-covering Game Master help books there is.
I also wrote a comment on here just the other day about 5e DMG variant rules which recreate the original Ravenloft AD&D feel. I did my best to explain why those alterations work - although I wasn't presenting anything in a historical context.
> books you mentioned
For an overview, Art & Arcana: A Visual History is actually very good. Plus you get an awesome fantasy artbook and great coffee table piece.
For something more in-depth, there's Of Dice and Men.
In addition, there's a fantastic Q&A on YouTube from Tim Kask. Tim was Gary Gygax's right-hand man at TSR. He's most known for the creation of the Bullette, and as creator of Dragon Magazine.
Could probably use this bad boy for source information. https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Art-Arcana-History/dp/0399580948/ref=nodl_. This is one of many books about dnds history and inception. Rise of the Dungeon Master: Gary Gygax and the Creation of D&D https://www.amazon.com/dp/1568585594/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_AkaXCb9VYQ812. Or this.
I know, I genuinely gasped at this too. It makes me very sad. My childhood was all writing campaigns, drawing maps, making 100's of characters up for no reason other than the joy of rolling the dice :-(
Makes me even sadder as i have just finished reading this (which i highly recommend):
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dungeons-Dragons-Art-Arcana-History/dp/0399580948
This one was pretty interesting. https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Art-Arcana-History/dp/0399580948
For a really fun history of the different iterations of D&D, check out the book “Art and Arcana”. It’s chock full of great information.
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