Who created the Greyhawk supplement for Dungeons & Dragons?
Gary Gygax and Robert J. Kuntz created the Greyhawk supplement for Dungeons & Dragons. They produced a 68-page booklet that fundamentally altered the trajectory of tabletop gaming history.
Common questions about Greyhawk (supplement)
Short answers, pulled from the story.
When was the Greyhawk supplement published?
The Greyhawk supplement was published in early March 1975 as Supplement I with the product code TSR 2003. It arrived just weeks after the death of TSR co-founder Don Kaye in January of that year.
What new character classes did the Greyhawk supplement introduce?
The Greyhawk supplement introduced character classes and monsters that remain staples of the fantasy genre to this day, including the thief, the paladin, and the terrifying beholder. Before Greyhawk, the game offered a very narrow selection of options, but this 1975 release expanded the possibilities significantly.
Why did Gary Gygax avoid publishing the specifics of his campaign world in Greyhawk?
Gary Gygax deliberately avoided publishing the specifics of his own campaign world because he believed new players should construct their own realities rather than inheriting someone else's finished product. He famously stated that he wanted to provide substance without window dressing, leaving the creation of the campaign world to the game masters who would use his work.
Who provided the illustrations for the Greyhawk supplement?
Greg Bell provided the illustrations for the Greyhawk supplement, often working under tight deadlines and resorting to copying figures from comic books to meet the publisher's demands. The cover illustration of a sword-wielding warrior is actually a direct copy of a character named Dax the Damned from a 1974 issue of Eerie magazine by artist Esteban Maroto.
How was the Greyhawk supplement revised for the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set?
The material from Greyhawk, along with the Blackmoor and Eldritch Wizardry supplements, was revised by J. Eric Holmes for the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set in 1977. This revision ensured that the core mechanics developed by Gygax and Kuntz reached a wider audience.