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TSR, Inc. was a game publishing company most famous for publishing the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. Image File history File links TSR_logo,_1998_BG1. ...
Dungeons & Dragons (abbreviated as D&D, DnD, or AD&D for the advanced edition) is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) published by Wizards of the Coast. ...
A role-playing game (RPG) is a type of game in which players assume the roles of characters and collaboratively create narratives. ...
History
The company was formed as Tactical Studies Rules in 1972 by Gary Gygax and Don Kaye (and others later) to publish the rule set for Dungeons & Dragons. When Don Kaye died of a stroke in 1975, Brian Blume and Gary Gygax, the remaining owners, formed a new company, TSR Hobbies, Inc. The assets of the original company were transferred to the new one, and Tactical Studies Rules was dissolved. In 1983, the word "Hobbies" was dropped from the name to form just TSR, Inc. 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ...
Ernest Gary Gygax, 2004 Ernest Gary Gygax (born July 27, 1938 in Chicago, Illinois, son of a Swiss immigrant father and an American mother whose family came to North America circa 1642) is best known as the author of the well known fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons (D&D...
Dungeons & Dragons (abbreviated as D&D, DnD, or AD&D for the advanced edition) is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) published by Wizards of the Coast. ...
Ernest Gary Gygax, 2004 Ernest Gary Gygax (born July 27, 1938 in Chicago, Illinois, son of a Swiss immigrant father and an American mother whose family came to North America circa 1642) is best known as the author of the well known fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons (D&D...
After several missteps, the company became debt-laden and Gygax lost control. However the new management failed to reverse the situation and the company's debt continued to increase. When combined with other problems such as poor sales in new lines and lax stock control the company came to the brink of insolvency.
Wizards of the Coast purchased the remainder of the company and its intellectual properties, including the Dungeons & Dragons game and its various campaign settings, in 1997. Shortly thereafter, the former TSR staff was integrated into the Wizards of the Coast offices, and TSR ceased to exist as a separate entity. The TSR name survived for several years as a brand name, then was retired. The TSR trademarks have since been allowed to expire. In 1999, Wizards of the Coast was itself purchased by Hasbro, Inc. Wizards of the Coast (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is a publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes. ...
A campaign setting is a fictional fantasy world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame. ...
1997 (MCMXCVII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...
The Hasbro logo uses a smile to indicate the carefree nature of its products. ...
Products TSR's main products were role-playing games, the most successful of which was Dungeons & Dragons. However, they also produced other games like card, board and dice games, and published both magazines and books. A card game is any game using playing cards, either traditional or game-specific. ...
A board game is any game played on a board (that is, a premarked surface) with counters or pieces that are moved across the board. ...
Dice games are quite universal. ...
Role-playing games Alternity was a science fiction role-playing game (RPG) published by TSR in 1998. ...
Amazing Engine was a series of role-playing game books that were published by TSR, Inc. ...
Boot Hill is a western role-playing game designed by Brian Blume and Gary Gygax. ...
Buck Rogers XXVC is a game setting created by TSR, Inc. ...
Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet. ...
Dungeons & Dragons (abbreviated as D&D, DnD, or AD&D for the advanced edition) is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) published by Wizards of the Coast. ...
Gamma World is a science fiction role-playing game produced by TSR, the makers of Dungeons & Dragons. ...
The Marvel Super Heroes (MSH) RPG is a role playing game set in the Marvel Universe, that was first published by TSR under license from Marvel Comics in 1985 and early 1990s. ...
Top Secret was an espionage role-playing game first published in 1980 by TSR, the company best known for making the Dungeons & Dragons game. ...
The Empire of The Petal Throne is a role-playing game system created by Professor M. A. R. Barker. ...
Star Frontiers is a science fiction role-playing game produced by TSR during the 1980s. ...
Other games Spellfire is a collectible card game created by TSR and based on their popular Dungeons & Dragons role playing game. ...
Collectible card games (CCGs), also called customizable card games or trading card games, are played using specially designed sets of cards. ...
Some Dragon Dice Dragon Dice is a competitive collectible dice game made by TSR, Inc. ...
Endless Quest is two series of gamebooks released by TSR. The first series of 36 books was released from 1982 to 1987, the second series of 13 from 1994 to 1996. ...
A gamebook is a book with a branching storyline that serves as a medium for gameplay. ...
Divine Right is a war game designed by Glenn A. Rahman. ...
Sniper! (properly spelled with an exclamation mark at the end) was a board game originally released in 1973. ...
Wargaming can be one of number of ways of exploring the effects of warfare without actual combat. ...
Magazines Amazing Stories magazine, sometimes retitled Amazing Science Fiction, began in April 1926, becoming the first science fiction magazine and one of the pioneers of science fiction in the United States. ...
Dragon, first issue 1976, is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. ...
Dungeon Adventures, commonly called simply Dungeon, is a magazine targeting people who play role playing games, particularly Dungeons & Dragons. ...
Fiction In 1984, TSR started publishing novels based on their games. Most D&D campaign settings had their own novel line, the most successful of which were the Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms lines with dozens of novels released in each. 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
DeFoes Robinson Crusoe, Newspaper edition published in 1719 A novel (from French nouvelle, new) is an extended fictional narrative in prose. ...
A campaign setting is a fictional fantasy world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame, such as Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer and various d20 System games. ...
Dragonlance Logo Dragonlance is a large series of fantasy books, and a Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting. ...
The Forgotten Realms Second Edition logo. ...
Criticism After initial success faded, the company would often turn to legal defenses of what it regarded as its intellectual property. In addition to this there were several legal cases brought regarding who had invented what within the company and the division of royalties. These actions reached their nadir when the company threatened to sue individuals supplying game material on Internet sites (illegitimately, as US copyright law holds that guidelines and rules may not be copyrighted). In the mid-1990s, this lead to frequent use of the nickname "T$R" in discussions on RPG-related Internet mailing lists and Usenet, as the company was widely perceived to be attacking its own customers. Increasing product proliferation in TSR's line didn't help matters: many of the product lines overlapped in interest and were separated by what seemed like minor points (even the classic troika of Greyhawk, the Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance suffered in this regard). Intellectual property, or IP, refers to a legal entitlement which sometimes attaches to the expressed form of an idea, or to some other intangible subject matter. ...
A mailing list is a collection of names and addresses used by an individual or an organization to send material to multiple recipients. ...
Usenet is a distributed Internet discussion system that evolved from a general purpose UUCP network of the same name. ...
The cover of the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, published in 2000 by Wizards of the Coast. ...
The Forgotten Realms Second Edition logo. ...
Dragonlance Logo Dragonlance is a large series of fantasy books, and a Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting. ...
Trivia The company was the subject of an urban myth stating that it tried to trademark the term "Nazi". This was based on a supplement for the Indiana Jones RPG in which some figures were marked with "NAZI(tm)". Presumably, this was a typographical error due to the abundance of trademarked names of Lucasfilm characters used on the same sheet. Later references to the error would forget its origin and slowly morph into stories of TSR's trying to register such a trademark. Urban Legend is also the name of a 1998 movie. ...
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Nazism. ...
Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones Indiana Jones is a fictional bullwhip-toting, fedora-wearing archaeologist with an overdeveloped ophidiophobia (fear of snakes). ...
Lucasfilm Logo Lucasfilm Ltd. ...
See also TSR, Inc. ...
External links - TSR history to 1999
- Gamespy interview with Gary Gygax on the history of TSR (among other things)
- Wizards of the Coast to acquire TSR, Ken Tidwell April 10, 1997
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