Since it was first created in 1974, Dungeons & Dragons has become an international phenomenon. It was the first role-playing game with major commercial success, but few know it all began right here in Wisconsin.
"It starts with a guy named Gary Gygax and his friend at the time, Dave Arneson," says writer Tea Krulos, who wrote about the origin-story of Dungeons & Dragons in an article featured in Milwaukee Magazine.
He continues, "They were both very much into war-playing games and were trying to create their own games and they kinda put their ideas together and formed this game that really revolutionized the gaming industry."
The game combined Gygax's original game Chainmail, with a campaign setting for the game, created by Arneson. They played their first game in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, which later became home to the company that first published Dungeons & Dragons, TSR (Tactical Studies Rules).
The relationship between Gygax and Arneson deteriorated, and eventually, TSR fell apart. But as Krulos notes, in its heyday, the company employed more than 400 people in a town of around 5,000 people. Despite this major footprint, the City of Lake Geneva hasn't publicly recognized this history until recent years.
"There's a group called the Gygax Memorial Fund and they've slowly been getting recognition in the city ... They're building a memorial statue of Gary Gygax in the park near the [Lake Geneva] library and it's going to feature him sitting at a table —and I love this detail—his hand is outstretched and it's what's called a dice tower," says Krulos.
"So you drop dice and it'll come shooting out of his hand onto the table and people can sit there with him at this table and play Dungeons & Dragons," he continues.
Lake Geneva will hold its first Dragon Days Fantasy Festival this weekend, Sept. 28-29, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons.
