Playing at the World, 2E, Volume 2: Three Pillars of Dungeons & Dragons

The second volume of two in a new, updated edition of the 2012 book Playing at the World, which charts the vast and complex history of role-playing games.

This new edition of Playing at the World is the second of two volumes that update the 720-page original tome of the same name from 2012. This second volume is The Three Pillars of Role-Playing Games, a deep dive into the history of the setting, system, and characters of Dungeons & Dragons—the three pillars indicated by the volume’s title. (The first volume of the new edition is The Invention of Dungeons & Dragons, which explores the publication and reception of that iconic game.)

In this second volume, Jon Peterson covers the medieval fantasy setting—the first pillar—and addresses why the first role-playing game evolved around fantasy and medieval settings as opposed to some other historical setting. In the second pillar, the author explores how the rules of wargames, from their roots in chess variants from eighteenth-century Germany, developed into those of role-playing games. Finally, the third pillar focuses on character, perhaps the most elusive of the three pillars, and investigates how precedents governed the introduction of characters to games more so than the original D&D rule books.

Filled with unparalleled archival research (from obscure fanzines to letters, drafts, and other ephemera), this new edition of Playing at the World is the ultimate geek’s guide to the original RPG. As such, it is an indispensable resource for academics and game fans exploring the origins of the hobby.

Jon Peterson is a New York Times–bestselling author and Hugo Award finalist. He is the author of The Elusive Shift and Game Wizards and the coauthor of Dungeons & Dragons: Art & Arcana, Lore & Legends, and Heroes’ Feast: The Official Dungeons & Dragons Cookbook, as well as its sequel Flavors of the Multiverse.