The progenitor of Dungeons & Dragons. Ostensibly a straight-wargaming
rulebook for miniatures, its "Fantasy Supplement" sparked a phenomenon.
Chainmail (Guidon Games) by Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren
Chainmail (TSR) by Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren
Originally published in rough form in an article entitled "Geneva Medieval Miniatures", which appeared in the April 1970 issue of Panzerfaust. Three months later, an edited version of this "rough draft" appeared in Domesday Book issue #5 (July 1970). The following month, the exact same version would be published in the Spartan International Monthly of August 1970, as it was bumped from the July issue for space reasons. (Thanks to Jon Peterson for this info).
The first two stand-alone editions were published by Guidon Games with a yellow cover.
Soon thereafter, Gygax and Kaye formed Tactical Studies Rules, and future
printings of Chainmail fell under that auspice.
Whether the "Fantasy Supplement" to Chainmail formed the basis
of D&D is a matter of some disagreement between D&D's co-creators, Dave
Arneson and Gary Gygax.
Arneson claims in Heroic Worlds that the influence of Chainmail
in the development of the Original D&D
rules was in the Combat Matrix only (i.e., giving RPG characters
and monsters "hard statistics"). According to Arneson, Chainmail
bears little resemblance to D&D whatsoever; "not a hit point, character
class, level, or armor class" anywhere. Furthermore, Arneson states
that a series of naval combat scenarios, "The Braunsteins", were the critical
foundation of his Blackmoor campaign,
and later, D&D.
Gygax disagrees. In
Best
of Dragon Volume 1, he notes: "...when the whole appeared in
Chainmail, Dave (Arneson) began using the fantasy rules for his campaign
and he reported a number of these actions to the C&C Society by way of articles.
I thought that this usage was quite interesting and a few months later when
Dave came to visit me we played a game of his amended Chainmail fantasy
campaign. A few weeks after his visit, I received 18 or so handwritten
pages of rules and notes pertaining to his campaign and I immediately began
work on a brand new manuscript. About three weeks later, I had some
100 typewritten pages, and we began serious play testing... Dungeons & Dragons
had been born." Gygax quickly goes on to say that Arneson was only
given co-authorship of D&D for his "valuable idea kernels", and that D&D
bears little resemblance to the Blackmoor campaign.
Further, as contributor Bruce Robertson notes, "I don't see how you can
argue that D&D doesn't draw heavily on Chainmail... 'fireball', 'lightning
bolt', 'conjure elemental', 'phantasmal force', and all the core monsters
are in the 1971 edition -- along with an armor sequence that exactly matches
the one in D&D."
The argument between Gygax and Arneson, we believe, stems from a lawsuit
Arneson brought against TSR in 1979, demanding royalties from the AD&D line
of products. Arneson was listed as the co-author of the
Original D&D rules, and as such, he believed
he was owed a portion of the proceeds from all things derived from that
work. It was certainly not advantageous for Arneson to claim inspiration
from Chainmail, a product authored by Gygax! The outcome of
that lawsuit was never made public, but rumor has it that Arneson received
a lump sum in exchange for ceasing legal action.
Regardless to the degree Chainmail guided Arneson in his campaign,
the influence of this little yellow booklet on the eventual development
of D&D is undeniable.
1st Edition
- First (1971)
- Published by Guidon Games -- no company address listed
- 62 total pages (47 numbered pages)
- Binding is stapled
- Cover is yellow-orange
- Contrary to rumor, the 15-page Fantasy Supplement is indeed
present
- While this version has 12 more pages than later prints, this
is almost entirely due to the font size and formatting used.
In fact, this version contains only six spells, which were expanded
to 20 in later prints
- Thanks to Bruce Robertson for this info, and to William Meinhardt for the scan
2nd Edition
- First (1972)
- Published by Guidon Games -- address of the company is Evansville,
Indiana (on the copyright page)
- 48 total pages (35 numbered pages); font size is now smaller
and easier to read
- Binding is stapled
- Cover is yellow-orange, but compared to the Second print of
the 2nd Edition, is a heavier, parchment-like stock
- Inside cover is white
- Incorporated rule changes first published in the
Domesday
newsletter #13
- Second (1972?)
- Published by Guidon Games -- address of the company is Belfast,
Maine (on the copyright page)
- 48 total pages (35 numbered pages)
- Binding is stapled
- Cover is yellow-orange, but compared to the First print of the
2nd Edition, is rather flimsy
- Inside cover is the same color as the exterior (yellow-orange)
3rd Edition
- First
- Published by Tactical Studies Rules
- 44 total pages
- Binding is stapled
- Cover is now light silver
- Cover has the GK (Gygax/Kaye) logo
- Cover states 3rd Edition, and says "Tactical Studies Rules"
- Cover lists the price ($5.00)
- No Product Code on the front cover bottom left
- Inside does not indicate any printing number
- Contains references to Hobbits and Ents (quick check: table
on bottom of page 28)
- Thanks to
T.S. McDuffie
for help with this info
- Second (Jul 1975)
- Published by TSR
- 44 total pages
- Binding is black-plastic spiraling
- Cover is light silver
- Cover has the GK (Gygax/Kaye) logo
- Cover states 3rd Edition, and says "Tactical Studies Rules"
- Cover lists the price ($5.00)
- No Product Code on the front cover bottom left
- Inside now indicates Second printing
- Contains references to Hobbits and Ents (quick check: table
on bottom of page 28)
- Thanks to
T.S. McDuffie
for help with this info
- Third (Jun 1976)
- Published by TSR
- 44 total pages
- Binding is black-plastic spiraling
- Cover is light silver
- Cover has the Lizard logo
- Cover states 3rd Edition, and says "TSR Rules"
- Cover lists the price ($5.00)
- No Product Code on the front cover bottom left
- Inside indicates Third printing
- Contains references to Hobbits and Ents (quick check: table
on bottom of page 28)
- Thanks to Kent Kelly for help with this info
- Fourth (Mar 1977)
- Published by TSR
- 44 total pages
- Binding is black-plastic spiraling
- Cover is light silver
- Cover has the Lizard logo
- Cover states 3rd Edition, and says "TSR Rules"
- Cover lists the price ($5.00)
- No Product Code on the front cover bottom left
- Inside indicates Fourth printing
- Contains references to Hobbits and Ents (quick check: table
on bottom of page 28)
- Thanks to Hussain Zaman for help with this info
- Fifth (Jan 1978)
- Published by TSR
- 44 total pages
- Binding is black-plastic spiraling
- Cover is light silver
- Cover has the Lizard logo
- Cover states 3rd Edition, and says "TSR Rules"
- Cover lists the price ($5.00)
- Product Code (6002) on the front cover bottom left
- Inside indicates Fifth printing
- References to Hobbits and Ents have now been changed to Halflings
and Treants (quick check: table on bottom of page 28)
- Thanks to Richard Humm and Ben Polson for help with this info
- Sixth (Aug 1978)
- Published by TSR
- 44 total pages
- Binding is black-plastic spiraling
- Cover is light silver
- Cover has the Lizard logo
- Cover states 3rd Edition, and says "TSR Rules"
- Cover lists the price ($5.00)
- Product Code (6002) on the front cover bottom left
- Inside indicates Sixth printing
- Contains references to Halflings and Treants (quick check: table
on bottom of page 28)
- Thanks to Jason Lotito for help with this info
- Seventh (Apr 1979)
- Published by TSR
- 44 total pages
- Binding is black-plastic spiraling
- Cover is now a noticeably darker silver
- Cover has the Wizard logo
- Cover states 3rd Edition, and says "TSR Rules"
- Cover lists price ($5.00), although identical copies have been
spotted with no price
- Product Code (6002) on the front cover bottom left
- Inside indicates Seventh printing
- Contains references to Halflings and Treants (quick check: table
on bottom of page 28)
- This printing (and later printings) were originally shrinkwrapped;
unknown if earlier ones were
- Thanks to Carlson Davis,
Adrian Newman
and Alan Popow for help with this info, and to Carlson Davis for
the scan
- Eighth (Nov 1979)
- Published by TSR
- 44 total pages
- Binding is black-plastic spiraling
- Cover is dark silver
- Cover has the Wizard logo
- Cover states 3rd Edition, and says "TSR Rules"
- Cover lists no price
- Product Code (6002) on the front cover bottom left
- Inside still indicates "Seventh Printing, April 1979" (though
this is incorrect)
- Contains references to Halflings and Treants (quick check: table
on bottom of page 28)
- Originally shrinkwrapped
- Printings after Eighth are identical to Eighth in all respects,
but have a white, photocopied-look cover (they're essentially photocopies).
1st and 2nd Edition copies of Chainmail are extremely rare.
The value of 3rd Edition copies is heavily weighted towards the front end,
with First and Second prints often commanding much higher prices than later
prints.