Despite Clark Ashton Smith's knowledge and use of the French language in his poetry and fiction, this post is
not about him. Rather, it's about a curious book sent to me by an English-speaking reader, who thought I might find it fascinating – and he was correct!
Written by Mathilde Maraninchi and published in 1982, Donjons et Dragons is an incredible artifact from the early days of the hobby. At just under 100 pages in length, it's both an introduction to "a new type of boardgame [jeu de société]: the roleplaying game" and as a playable summary of the rules themselves. That latter part, for me, is one of the most remarkable things about this peculiar volume: it functions as a bootleg D&D rulebook released a year before the official French translation of the Moldvay Basic Set (which I owned).
There is a great deal I could say about Donjons et Dragons simply on the basis of reading it and perhaps I will in future posts. For now, though, I wanted to focus on the interior artwork by Joël Bordier, which is incredible. For example, here are the illustrations of several of the character classes:
There also some remarkable monster illustrations as well, in this case a young green dragon with red spots (
dragon vert à pois rouges junior) and a gelatinous cube of color (
cube gélatineux de couleur):
As I said, the book is probably worthy of several more posts. Before I do that, though, I'm curious to see if any of my French-speaking readers are familiar with this book and, especially, the circumstances under which it was published. It appeared before any TSR-sanctioned edition of D&D and looks to be a pretty close copy of the 1977 Holmes rulebook (though I haven't spent much time comparing them, to be honest). That makes it a unique historical document, if nothing else.
The Magicienne is gonna get chilly dans le donjon.
ReplyDeleteNah. Her chainmail bikini of warmth and protection is doing it's job.
DeleteWe are familiar with... how rare this book is: it was only available for purchase for 48 hours. TSR's lawyers sent a cease and desist and the publisher removed the book from bookshops.
ReplyDeleteBack in the 80's, how the !@#$ would TSRs lawyers know about a French publication within 48 hrs?? Is this a joke? What am I missing?
Deletethey had setup a french (or maybe swiss, but I thought the swiss handled germany not france) division, which, seems to me, was one person
DeleteGames Workshop had a UK copyright/corporate solicitor on retainer as early as 1977, I believe, and they were in partnership with TSR for D&D. In the late seventies, they were dealing and importing, in Europe, Middle Earth, Lovecraft, Arkham House and other intellectual properties.
DeleteMy guess is that they were all over the shenanigans in France. In 1981, TSR UK (in partnership with GW) was definitely able to swiftly catch wind of Cease and Desist issues across the channel. I imagine Lake Geneva relied heavily on UK legal to navigate European civil issues and publishing rights.
I wonder if the C&D took so long because the UK had to get their ducks in a row with Lake Geneva first.
Alternatively, the French distributor of D&D in 1982 was Transecom, not Solar, so it may have been as simple as their exchequers seeing something in the daily listings.
I imagine that Donjons et Dragons was the first test of TSR's claim of exclusive copyright on "game rules," decades before the OGL compromise.
In 1977 GW did not have a copyright lawyer on retainer, they were still only TWO people working out of a tiny flat in London!
DeleteThey were never in partnership with TSR(UK) as that was set up because GW refused a merger proposal by Gygax in 1981, then they lost the exclusive distribution rights for D&D in UK/Europe, so they would have had nothing to do with what was happening in France. (see Livingstone & Jackson's Dice Men)
Am not disputing there may have been a C&D from TSR, just the "48hrs" part is not physically possible in 1982! You do know there was only snail mail then, right?
What do you mean by "their exchequers seeing something in the daily listings"?
DeleteIncredible resource!
ReplyDeletehow did you get a copy of it?
ReplyDeleteA copy was shared with me by one of my ... contacts ;-)
Delete"We are familiar with... how rare this book is: it was only available for purchase for 48 hours. TSR's lawyers sent a cease and desist and the publisher removed the book from bookshops."
Delete"A copy was shared with me by one of my ... contacts ;-)"
James, this book is the gaming equivalent of the video tape in The Ring. You need to lose it, or in 24 hours, you're going to get a visit from WOTC's Dept. of Defunct Yet Still Embargoed Gaming Product (DDYSEGP). I know people who have... had dealings... with them. They don't mess around. They make possessed demonic VCR children crawling on ceilings look like and episode of the Golden Girls.
Actually, that was pretty scary too, so good luck.
I no longer feel bad about some of my emails LOL
DeleteWouldn't cube gélatineux de couleur be "colored gelatinous cube"? Why a gelatinous cube would have color is another matter, of course. And why junior rather than jeune? I read and understand but don't really speak French, so I know what I know, but don't know what I don't know, as it were.
ReplyDeleteAnd seriously, that magicienne... she's casting a spell!
I’m guessing that the colored cube is a nod to the Rubik’s cube.
DeleteI hadn't even thought of that. You're probably right.
DeleteNever heard if it. I haven't seen it pass through the game store here in Montreal.
ReplyDeleteJim Hodges---
ReplyDeleteI see in those times neon green was the new black.....