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Designers & Dragons: Origins

Created by Evil Hat

From the birth of roleplaying to the discovery of the Forgotten Realms, from the rise of Basic D&D to the fall of Mystara, historian Shannon Appelcline brings you the story of OD&D, Basic D&D, and AD&D 1e in Designers & Dragons: Origins. Estimated shipping in July 2026.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

8 hours left! The Expert Set joins the Hoard, plus, our 200k backer poll...
5 months ago – Thu, Nov 20, 2025 at 10:24:34 AM

Hey friends, it's the final 8 hours of the campaign and in the last 24 hours you've broken not one but two stretch goals.

That's at least 18 different entries we're adding to the exclusive sneak peek PDF that's only available to backers.

And there's more to come!



In this backer poll we're focusing on products written by TSR's UK branch or British designers. There's some hidden gems in here, weigh your vote carefully!

Thanks again for your support, and keep spreading the word - we're not done yet!

Forgotten Realms incoming PLUS another stretch goal poll!
5 months ago – Tue, Nov 18, 2025 at 07:32:46 PM

Hey friends, we're down to the final 47 hours of the campaign and the momentum is swelling! Almost 1200 of you are onboard for this deep delve into the lore and design behind TSR's early catalog.

Our poll for the 160k stretch just wrapped: We're adding Shannon's entry on the iconic Forgotten Realms Boxed Set to the backer-exclusive Adventurers' Hoard.

But that's not all, we've also blown through the $180k stretch! We've had some incredibly tight votes, so we thought it was only fair to let everyone take another swing at getting their fave over the finish line.



We've gathered every product that placed second (including four items that TIED for second place!) and put them all in this latest poll. Last chance to get them into the Adventurers' Hoard, they won't be in the line-up again.

There's a tight turnaround on this one, the campaign is almost over. So backers, get your votes in now!

And if you're not already a backer, now's the time to join in and help unlock even more hidden gems of TTRPG history.

Basic vs Expert vs Forgotten Realms and more! New poll - BOXED SETS.
5 months ago – Sun, Nov 16, 2025 at 05:58:42 PM

Friends, we've got just FOUR days left in this campaign.

It's time to tell your friends, tell your neighbors, and tell them what?  That you're voting on ANOTHER chapter to unlock and add to The Adventurers' Hoard!

This marks the 18th product entry available exclusively to our backers. Last Friday we added the chapter on the beloved Dungeon Master's Design Kit by Aaron Allston to the backer-exclusive PDF.

And this is poll is going to make you wish you could back the project twice.

We're offering up a selection of boxed sets published in those early days of TSR.



From the beloved blue Expert Set to the "hyperReality" of the VHS-driven DragonStrike Game, we've got a line-up of tantalizing entries exploring the origins and lore of these special releases.

But, you can only vote for one.

We're in the home stretch for this campaign and the momentum is ramping up. Keep spreading the word and thanks for your support!

Backer Poll - The Weird World of D&D Accessories!
6 months ago – Mon, Nov 10, 2025 at 04:56:49 PM

Hey friends, Over the weekend we sliced through our $140k stretch so it's time to add another chapter to our backer-exclusive PDF.

This round we're focusing on some of the accessory products TSR published for AD&D and Basic D&D starting with The Shady Dragon Inn from 1983 but including things like The Book of Lairs, 3-D Dragon Tiles and more.

Get your votes in now, this poll closes at 7pm Pacific on Wednesday, Nov 12!

Hall of the Fire Giant King
6 months ago – Fri, Nov 07, 2025 at 12:56:57 PM

Hello friends! We're at the midpoint of the campaign, there's just 13 days left! Thank you to the 800+ backers who have boosted us through four stretch goals.

That means we've added four more chapters to the backer-exclusive PDF we call The Adventurers' Hoard. That's in addition to the twelve chapters already included in this backer-only PDF.

With our most recent 120k stretch we added Shannon's entry on the initial release of G3: Hall of the Fire Giant King from 1978.

This was the first 16-page adventure TSR published. The concept was so ground-breaking, ads at the time had to explain what a pre-written adventure was.



If you want to find out more, backers can access the full entry (and the rest of the 140-page Adventurers' Hoard) using the instructions outlined in Backer Update #1.

And remember: every time we hit a stretch, backers get to vote on another piece of this seminal TTRPG history they'd like early access to.

Right now we're less than $3,000 away from our next goal.

Spread the word and help grow your share of the Adventurers' Hoard!