THE DALLUHN MANUSCRIPT: A PRE-PUBLICATION EDITION OF DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Jon Peterson (
[email protected]) [Draft—Updated 12/28/2015] 1. SUMMARY The Dalluhn Manuscript is a document with no clear title or attribution which contains gaming rules with a clear relationship to the original edition of Dungeons & Dragons (OD&D). It was found in a long- forgotten box in the collection of an early Twin Cities gamer nearly fifteen years ago, but prior attempts to ascertain the identity of its author(s) or the nature of its relationship to OD&D have proven inconclusive. This analysis reexamines the Dalluhn Manuscript through comparison to other recently rediscovered early documents, through detailed textual criticism and through forensic examinations. One crucial piece of evidence is the Mornard Fragments, a set of 24 pages of draft Dungeons & Dragons text known to have been generated and distributed by Gary Gygax in 1973. This analysis establishes that the text of the Dalluhn Manuscript preserves a transitional system produced during the ongoing development of OD&D. This system was probably circulated in the spring of 1973 for playtesting, and may reflect a format that authors intended for publication at the time. It contains a combination of elements contributed by Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax, including many discarded concepts that can be proven to have been in use at the time Dungeons & Dragons was written. The Dalluhn Manuscript preserves the earliest known near-complete version of the game of Dungeons & Dragons. 2. STRUCTURE OF THE MANUSCRIPT The Dalluhn Manuscript, so called for its discoverer Keith Dalluhn, comprises two booklets designated here by Roman numerals I and II.