Suddenly they’re in it, and what are they going to do? So I hope no one comes across in this as a villain.”Īs for the question of who should be considered the true creator of Dungeons & Dragons, Peterson believes the game was clearly a group effort. “But I think they were trying to make the best of a situation nobody expected they’d be in. “Everyone made mistakes, and everyone had their egos and everything else,” he says.

Peterson tried hard to treat all of his characters with respect and sympathy. If you don’t get the nuances of these business and legal circumstances, there are just causes and effects that you’re not going to understand.”

“But at the same time, I think it’s necessary. “It’s not fun to write something that is, ultimately, pretty negative,” Peterson says. Peterson’s account quotes extensively from primary sources, including letters and legal documents, many of which paint Gygax and Arneson as deeply flawed people. Game Wizards may come as a shock for many D&D fans.