David Wesely (born 1945) is a wargamer,

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a co ...

designer, and

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

developer. Wesely's developments, inspired by ''

Kriegsspiel ''Kriegsspiel'' is a genre of wargaming developed by the Prussian Army in the 19th century to teach battlefield tactics to officers. The word ''Kriegsspiel'' literally means "wargame" in German, but in the context of the English language it ref ...

wargame A wargame is a strategy game in which two or more players command opposing armed forces in a realistic simulation of an armed conflict. Wargaming may be played for recreation, to train military officers in the art of strategic thinking, or to s ...

s, were important and influential in the early history of role-playing games.

Early life and education

Dave Wesely was born in 1945. Wesely studied

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

Hamline University Hamline University is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1854, Hamline is known for its emphasis on experiential learning, service, and social justice. The university is named after Bishop Leonidas Lent Hamline ...

, in

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

''Strategos''

In 1967, Wesely rediscovered the 19th-century

professional wargame A wargame, generally, is a type of strategy game which realistically simulates warfare. A professional wargame, specifically, is a wargame that is used by military organizations to train officers in tactical and strategic decision-making, to test ...

'' Strategos'', by Charles A. L. Totten, at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

library. An avid hobby wargamer and reader of wargaming literature, Wesely seized upon these rules and incorporated their principles into the

miniature wargame Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming in which military units are represented by miniature physical models on a model battlefield. The use of physical models to represent military units is in contrast to other tabletop wargames that use ...

s played by the

Midwest Military Simulation Association The Midwest Military Simulation Association (MMSA) is a group of wargamers and military figurine collectors active during the late 1960s and 1970s. History When wargaming was in its heyday and role-playing games were first developed, the group live ...

(MMSA). These included the role of the referee, and the principle of free ''kriegsspiel'' that players could attempt anything, although not always successfully, and that the referee should be able to make judgements to cover anything not ordinarily covered by the rules. Totten's ''Strategos'' became the cornerstone text for the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in sta ...

gamers.

''Strategos N''

The incorporation of Totten's ''Strategos'' into MMSA wargaming culminated with the 1968 development of ''Strategos N'', a compact set of

Napoleonic Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

wargaming rules devised by Wesely and other MMSA members. Dave Wesely developed ''Strategos N'' as the first MMSA ''Strategos'' variant for the first time in 1968. It was later self-published in 1970, and again in 1984.

''Strategos C''

Dave Wesely developed ''Strategos C'' for wargames set during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, and it circulated in draft form in 1969, acting as a precursor to ''Valley Forge'' (1976).

Role-playing games

The concept of the referee in Totten's ''Strategos'' led to Dave Wesely expanding upon these ideas to create the '' Braunstein'' games, which were influential in the early history of role-playing games. This development of the role of the referee became a catalyst for the evolution of role-playing games. In a 1981 interview published in '' Pegasus'' magazine,

Dave Arneson David Lance Arneson (; October 1, 1947Minnesota Department of Health. ''Minnesota Birth Index, 1935–2002'' atabase on-line Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004. – April 7, 2009) was an American game designer best known ...

described Wesely's ''Braunstein'' as a game in which each player had a "role" that they were playing. He also described his ''Blackmoor'' game as a variation of Dave Wesely's earlier ''Braunstein'', based on Wesely's ideas about role-playing, but set in a

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

world. Peterson cites Arneson's ''Blackmoor'' as being the most significant precursor to ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TS ...

''.

''Valley Forge''

Wesely created the wargame ''Valley Forge'', which was published by TSR Hobbies in 1976. Dave Arneson wrote an introduction for the game. Peterson describes ''Valley Forge'' as an adaptation of ''Strategos N'' to the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

Video games

Wesely designed video games for

Discovery Games Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discover ...

, including ''

Winged Samurai ''Winged Samurai'' is a 1980 video game designed by David Wesely and published by Discovery Games for the Apple II, Commodore PET, TRS-80, and Atari 8-bit family. Gameplay ''Winged Samurai'' is a game in which the player is in command of 16 ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wesely, David 1945 births Living people Board game designers American video game designers Role-playing game designers