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TSR, Inc. was an American game publishing company, best known as the original publisher of ''
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 TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...
'' (''D&D''). Its earliest incarnation, Tactical Studies Rules, was founded in October 1973 by
Gary Gygax Ernest Gary Gygax ( ; July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008) was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating the pioneering role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') with Dave Arneson. In the 1960s, Gygax created an ...
and
Don Kaye Donald R. Kaye (June 27, 1938 – January 31, 1975) was the co-founder of Tactical Studies Rules (TSR), the game publishing company best known for their ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') role-playing game. He and TSR co-founder Gary Gygax had be ...
. Gygax had been unable to find a publisher for ''D&D'', a new type of game he and
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 ...
were co-developing, so founded the new company with Kaye to self-publish their products. Needing financing to bring their new game to market, Gygax and Kaye brought in
Brian Blume Brian John Blume (January 12, 1950 – March 27, 2020) was an American game designer and writer, principally known as a former business partner of Gary Gygax at TSR, Inc., original publishers of the fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragon ...
in December as an equal partner. ''Dungeons & Dragons'' is generally considered the first
tabletop role-playing game A tabletop role-playing game (typically abbreviated as TRPG or TTRPG), also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a form of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech. Participa ...
(TTRPG), and established the genre. When Kaye died suddenly in 1975, the Tactical Studies Rules partnership restructured into TSR Hobbies, Inc. and accepted investment from Blume's father Melvin. With the popular ''D&D'' as its main product, TSR Hobbies became a major force in the games industry by the late 1970s. Melvin Blume eventually transferred his shares to his other son Kevin, making the two Blume brothers the largest shareholders in TSR Hobbies. TSR Hobbies ran into financial difficulties in the spring of 1983, prompting the company to split into four independent businesses, with game publishing and development continuing as TSR, Inc. (TSR). After losing their executive positions, the Blume brothers subsequently sold their shares to TSR Vice President Lorraine Williams, who in turn engineered Gygax's ouster from the company in October 1985. TSR saw prosperity under Williams, but encountered financial trouble in the mid-1990s. While their overall sales and revenue were healthy, TSR's high costs meant the company nevertheless became unprofitable and saddled by debt. TSR was left unable to cover its publishing costs due to a variety of factors. Facing insolvency, TSR was purchased in 1997 by
Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for ga ...
(WotC). WotC initially retained use of the TSR name for ''D&D'' products, but by 2000, the TSR moniker was dropped, coinciding with the release of the 3rd edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons''. WotC allowed the TSR
trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...
to expire in the early 2000s. Two new companies have since utilized the TSR trademark commercially.


History


Tactical Studies Rules (1973–1975)

Tactical Studies Rules (TSR) was formed in 1973 as a partnership between
Gary Gygax Ernest Gary Gygax ( ; July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008) was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating the pioneering role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') with Dave Arneson. In the 1960s, Gygax created an ...
and
Don Kaye Donald R. Kaye (June 27, 1938 – January 31, 1975) was the co-founder of Tactical Studies Rules (TSR), the game publishing company best known for their ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') role-playing game. He and TSR co-founder Gary Gygax had be ...
, who collected together $2,400 for startup costs, to formally publish and sell the rules of ''Dungeons & Dragons'', the creation of Gygax and
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 ...
and the first modern role-playing game (RPG). The first TSR release, however, was ''
Cavaliers and Roundheads ''Cavaliers and Roundheads'' is a set of rules for English Civil War miniature wargaming. It was written by Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren and published by Tactical Studies Rules (later TSR, Inc.) in 1973. The unassuming booklet was the first pro ...
'', a miniature game, to start generating income for TSR. The partnership was subsequently joined by
Brian Blume Brian John Blume (January 12, 1950 – March 27, 2020) was an American game designer and writer, principally known as a former business partner of Gary Gygax at TSR, Inc., original publishers of the fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragon ...
in December 1973. Blume was admitted to the partnership to fund further publishing of ''D&D'', as ''Cavaliers and Roundheads'' was not a commercial success. In the original configuration of the partnership, Kaye served as president, Blume as vice-president, and Gygax as editor. In January 1974, TSR—with Gygax's basement as a headquarters—produced 1,000 copies of ''D&D'', selling them for $10 each (and the extra dice needed for another $3.50). This first print sold out in 10 months. In January 1975, TSR printed a second 1,000 copies of ''D&D'', which took only another five or six months to sell out. Also in 1974, TSR published '' Warriors of Mars'', a miniatures rules book set in the fantasy world of Barsoom, originally imagined by
Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, he ...
in his series of novels about
John Carter of Mars John Carter of Mars is a fictional Virginian soldier who acts as the initial protagonist of the Barsoom stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs. A veteran of the American Civil War, he is transported to the planet Mars, called Barsoom by its inhabi ...
, to which Gygax paid homage in the preface of the first edition of ''D&D''. However, Gygax and TSR published the ''Mars'' book without permission from (or payment to) the Burroughs estate, and soon after, a cease and desist order was issued, and ''Warriors'' was pulled from distribution. When Don Kaye died of a heart attack on January 31, 1975, his role was taken over by his wife Donna Kaye, who remained responsible for accounting, shipping, and the records of the partnership through the summer. By the summer of 1975, those duties became complex enough that Gygax himself became a full-time employee of the partnership in order to take them over from Donna Kaye. Arneson also entered the partnership in order to coordinate research and design with his circle in the Twin Cities.


TSR Hobbies, Inc. (1975–1983)

Brian Blume and Gary Gygax reorganized the business from a partnership to a corporation called TSR Hobbies, Inc. At first, it was a separate company to market miniatures and games from other companies, an enterprise which was also connected to the opening of the Dungeon hobby shop in Lake Geneva. TSR Hobbies then moved to buy out the old TSR partnership's assets. Brian's father, Melvin Blume, invested $20,000 in the nascent company which enabled it to buy out Donna Kaye's share of the original TSR partnership. On September 26, 1975, the assets of the former partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies. Brian Blume became the largest shareholder, Melvin Blume the second-largest, and Gary Gygax the third-largest. Gygax served as president of TSR Hobbies, and Blume as vice president and secretary. The Dungeon hobby shop would become the effective headquarters of the company, including the offices of Blume and Gygax. TSR Hobbies subcontracted the printing and assembly work in October 1975, and the third printing of 2,000 copies of ''D&D'' sold out in five months.
Tim Kask Timothy James Kask (born January 14, 1949) is an American editor and writer in the role-playing game industry. Kask became interested in board games in his childhood, and later turned to miniatures wargames. While attending university after a sti ...
was hired in the autumn of 1975 as Periodicals Editor, and the company's first full-time employee. ''
Empire of the Petal Throne ''Empire of the Petal Throne'' is a fantasy role-playing game designed by M. A. R. Barker, based on his Tékumel fictional universe. It was self-published in 1974, then published by TSR, Inc. in 1975. It was one of the first tabletop role-pl ...
'' became the first game product published by TSR Hobbies, followed by two supplements to ''D&D'', ''
Greyhawk Greyhawk, also known as the World of Greyhawk, is a fictional world designed as a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy roleplaying game. Although not the first campaign world developed for ''Dungeons & Dragons''—Dave Arneson ...
'' and ''
Blackmoor Blackmore is a village in Essex, England. Blackmore or Blackmoor may also refer to: * Blackmore (name), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Blackmoor, Hampshire, a village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England ...
''. Also released in 1975 were the board game ''
Dungeon! ''Dungeon!'' is an adventure board game designed by David R. Megarry and first released by TSR, Inc. in 1975. Additional contributions through multiple editions were made by Gary Gygax, Steve Winter, Jeff Grubb, Chris Dupuis and Michael Gray. ...
'' and the Wild West RPG ''
Boot Hill Boot Hill, or Boothill, is the given name of many cemeteries, chiefly in the Western United States. During the 19th and early 20th century it was a common name for the burial grounds of gunfighters, or those who " died with their boots on" (i.e ...
''. The company took $300,000 in revenues for the fiscal year of 1976. TSR began hosting the
Gen Con Gen Con is the largest tabletop game convention in North America by both attendance and number of events. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, live action role-playin ...
Game Fair in 1976, and featured the first ever ''D&D'' open tournament that year. ''D&D'' supplements ''
Eldritch Wizardry ''Eldritch Wizardry'' is a supplementary rulebook by Gary Gygax and Brian Blume, written for the original edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game, which included a number of significant additions to the core ga ...
'' and ''
Gods, Demi-gods & Heroes ''Gods, Demi-Gods & Heroes'' is a supplementary rulebook for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game. Its product designation is TSR 2006. Contents The work provides information on the pantheons and constructs of the Egy ...
'' were released in 1976. TSR also began to branch the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' product into two: ''Dungeons & Dragons'' as a general audience product intended for novices, and ''
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Several different editions of the '' Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game have been produced since 1974. The current publisher of ''D&D'', Wizards of the Coast, produces new materials only for the most current edition of the ...
'' (''AD&D'') for a more complicated product aimed at hardcore fans. In 1977, the ''
Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set The ''Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set'' is a set of rulebooks for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game. First published in 1977, it saw a handful of revisions and reprintings. The first edition was written by J. Eric Holm ...
'' was released for ''D&D'', and the ''
Monster Manual The ''Monster Manual'' (''MM'' is the primary bestiary sourcebook for Monsters in Dungeons & Dragons, monsters in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'' fantasy role-playing game, first published in 1977 by TSR (company), TSR. The ''Monster Manual' ...
'' was released as the initial product for ''AD&D'', the first hardbound book ever published by a game company. The next year, the ''AD&D'' ''
Players Handbook The ''Player's Handbook'' (spelled ''Players Handbook'' in first edition ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' (''AD&D'')) is a book of rules for the fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). It does not contain the complete set of ru ...
'' was published, followed by a series of six adventure modules. Due to the inclusion of the word "Advanced" in the title, TSR did not pay Dave Arneson any royalties on ''AD&D'' products, saying his co-creation rights extended to the base ''D&D'' name only. Also in 1978, TSR Hobbies moved out of Gygax's home and into downtown
Lake Geneva , image = Lake Geneva by Sentinel-2.jpg , caption = Satellite image , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Switzerland, France , coords = , lake_type = Glacial lak ...
, above the Dungeon Hobby Shop. In 1979, the ''AD&D'' ''
Dungeon Masters Guide The ''Dungeon Master's Guide'' (''DMG'' or ''DM's Guide''; in some printings, the ''Dungeon Masters Guide'' or ''Dungeon Master Guide'') is a book of rules for the fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons''. The ''Dungeon Master's Guide'' c ...
'' was published, and radio ads featuring "Morley the Wizard" were broadcast. All of these core books would go on to be major hits; the ''D&D Basic Set'' sold well in 1977 and 1978, would sell over 100,000 copies in 1979, and would continue to be updated and re-released for years. During this era, there were a number of competitors and unofficial supplements to ''D&D'' published, arguably in violation of TSR's copyright, which many ''D&D'' players used alongside the TSR books. Among these were the '' Arduin Grimoire'', the ''Manual of Aurenia'', and variants such as ''Warlock'' and ''
Tunnels & Trolls ''Tunnels & Trolls'' (abbreviated ''T&T'') is a fantasy role-playing game designed by Ken St. Andre and first published in 1975 by Flying Buffalo. The second modern role-playing game published, it was written by Ken St. Andre to be a more accessib ...
''. TSR regarded these very warily, and in cases where they felt their trademarks were being misused, they issued cease-and-desist letters. More often than not, this legal posturing resulted in only slight changes to competitors' works, but caused significant animosity in the community. In 1979, TSR signed a contract with
Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
with unusual terms. In most deals between publishers and distributors, publishers are paid directly based on books sold downstream by the distributor to bookstores. In TSR's contract, however, Random House would loan money to TSR as an advance upon shipment of product from TSR to Random House, a loan equivalent to 27.3% of the suggested retail price. The arrangement was mutually beneficial at first: TSR could acquire money up front to fund their work, and not have to worry about immediate sales. Many of TSR's products had consistent sales over time, and the loans allowed the company to recoup the investment immediately and use the funds to make more books. Returns were generally low, leading to Random House's confidence in TSR. The arrangement would cause trouble later in the 1990s, however. Gygax granted exclusive rights to
Games Workshop Games Workshop Group (often abbreviated as GW) is a British manufacturer of miniature wargames, based in Nottingham, England. Its best-known products are ''Warhammer Age of Sigmar'' and ''Warhammer 40,000''. Founded in 1975 by John Peake (gam ...
to distribute TSR products in the United Kingdom, after meeting with
Ian Livingstone Sir Ian Livingstone (born 29 December 1949) is an English fantasy author and entrepreneur. Along with Steve Jackson, he is the co-founder of a series of role-playing gamebooks, ''Fighting Fantasy'', and the author of many books within that s ...
and Steve Jackson. Games Workshop printed some original material and also printed their own versions of various ''D&D'' and ''AD&D'' titles in order to avoid high import costs. When TSR could not reach an agreement with Games Workshop regarding a possible merger, TSR created a subsidiary operation in the UK, TSR Hobbies UK Ltd, in 1980. Gygax hired Don Turnbull to head up the operation, which would expand into continental Europe during the 1980s. TSR UK published a series of modules and the original ''
Fiend Folio ''Fiend Folio'' is the name of three separate products published for successive editions of the fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). All three are collections of monsters. The bulk of the material in the first edition ca ...
''. TSR UK also produced ''
Imagine Imagine may refer to: * Imagination Music Albums * ''Imagine'' (Armin van Buuren album), 2008 * ''Imagine'' (Eva Cassidy album), 2002 * ''Imagine'' (Janice Vidal album), 2012 * ''Imagine'' (John Lennon album), 1971 ** ''Imagine: John Lennon' ...
'' magazine for 31 issues. The first published
campaign setting A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A '' campaign'' is a series of individual adventures, and a ''campaign setting'' is the world in which such adventures and c ...
for ''AD&D'', the
World of Greyhawk Greyhawk, also known as the World of Greyhawk, is a fictional world designed as a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy roleplaying game. Although not the first campaign world developed for ''Dungeons & Dragons''— Dave Arnes ...
, was introduced in 1980. The espionage role-playing game ''
Top Secret Classified information is material that a government body deems to be sensitive information that must be protected. Access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of people with the necessary security clearance and need to kn ...
'' came out in 1980; reportedly, a note written on TSR stationery about a fictitious assassination plot, part of the playtesting of the new game, brought the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
to TSR's offices. That same year, the Role Playing Game Association was formed to promote quality roleplaying and unite gamers around the country. In 1981, ''Inc.'' magazine listed TSR Hobbies as one of the hundred fastest-growing privately held companies in the US. That same year, TSR Hobbies moved its offices again, this time to a former medical supply building with an attached warehouse. In 1982, TSR Hobbies broke the 20 million mark in sales. In 1982, TSR Hobbies decided to terminate
Grenadier Miniatures Grenadier Models Inc. of Springfield, Pennsylvania produced lead miniature figures for wargames and role-playing games with fantasy, science fiction and heroic themes between 1975 and 1996. Grenadier Models Inc. is best known for their figure ...
's license and started producing its own ''AD&D'' miniatures line, followed by a line of toys. Part of the licensing of the ''AD&D'' toy line went to
LJN LJN Toys Ltd. was an American toy company and video game publisher based in New York City. Founded in 1970 by Jack Friedman, the company was acquired by MCA Inc. in 1985, sold to Acclaim Entertainment in 1990, and dissolved in 1994. The toy d ...
. Also that year, TSR introduced two new roleplaying games, ''
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'' and '' Star Frontiers''. Exclusive distribution of the ''D&D'' game was established in 22 countries, with the game being translated first into French, followed by many other languages. In 1982, an educational department was established to develop curriculum programs for reading, math, history, and problem solving, with the most successful program being the ''
Endless Quest The ''Endless Quest'' books were three series of gamebooks. The first one was released in the 1980s by TSR, while the following two were released by Wizards of the Coast. Originally, these books were the result of an Educational department establi ...
'' book series. Melvin Blume's shares were later transferred to his son Kevin Blume. After this, the leadership of TSR consisted of Kevin Blume, Brian Blume, and Gary Gygax. In contemporary articles from the early 1980s, Gygax said that the three worked as a team, and only proceeded with unanimous consent and buy-in. In interviews years later, Gygax downplayed his role, and described his position as primarily a powerless figurehead CEO, with Brian Blume as president of creative affairs and Kevin Blume as president of operations. In 1981, TSR Hobbies had revenues of $12.9 million and a payroll of 130. TSR Hobbies sought diversification, acquiring or starting several new business ventures. These included miniatures manufacturing, toy and gift ventures, and an entertainment division to pursue motion picture and television opportunities. Many parts of this expansion were later criticized as bad investments and over-extension. Greenfield Needlewomen, a needle craft business, was one particularly criticized acquisition; it was owned by a cousin of the Blumes. Sales of D&D-themed needlecraft were abysmal, and the acquisition was criticized as
nepotism Nepotism is an advantage, privilege, or position that is granted to relatives and friends in an occupation or field. These fields may include but are not limited to, business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, fitness, religion, an ...
. The company was similarly accused of favoring friends and relatives of the Blumes and Gygax in hiring. The management also used company funds to raise a shipwreck from
Geneva Lake Geneva Lake (Potawatomi language, Potawatomi: ''Kishwauketoe'' 'Clear Water') is a body of freshwater in Walworth County, Wisconsin, Walworth County in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. On its shores are the city of Lake G ...
for no clear financial benefit. The company acquired the trademarks and copyrights of SPI and ''
Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearances i ...
'' magazine, despite ''Amazing Stories'' having only ten thousand subscribers.


TSR (1983–1985)

In 1983, the company was split into four companies: TSR, Inc. (the primary successor), TSR International, TSR Ventures, and TSR Entertainment, Inc. Gygax left for Hollywood to found TSR Entertainment, Inc., later Dungeons & Dragons Entertainment Corp., which attempted to license ''D&D'' products to movie and television executives. His work would eventually lead to only a single license for what later became the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' cartoon. The series led its time slot for two years. TSR, Inc. released the ''
Dragonlance ''Dragonlance'' is a shared universe created by Laura and Tracy Hickman, and expanded by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis under the direction of TSR, Inc. into a series of fantasy novels. The Hickmans conceived ''Dragonlance'' while driving in t ...
'' saga in 1984 after two years of development, an entirely new game world. The series was both a set of modules and supplements designed for running campaigns, starting with ''
Dragons of Despair ''Dragons of Despair'' is the first in a series of 16 ''Dragonlance'' adventures published by TSR, Inc. (TSR) between 1984 and 1988. It is the start of the first major story arc in the ''Dragonlance'' series of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') ...
'', as well as a novel series. The novel series was written by
Margaret Weis Margaret Edith Weis (; born March 16, 1948) is an American fantasy and science fiction author, of dozens of novels and short stories. At TSR, Inc., she teamed with Tracy Hickman to create the ''Dragonlance'' role-playing game (RPG) world. She is ...
and
Tracy Hickman Tracy Raye Hickman (born November 26, 1955) is an American fantasy author. He wrote the ''Dragonlance'' novels with Margaret Weis. He also wrote role playing game material while working for TSR, Inc., TSR and has cowritten novels with his wife, ...
. The ''Dragonlance'' trilogy of novels was a colossal hit; ''
Dragons of Autumn Twilight ''Dragons of Autumn Twilight'' is a 1984 fantasy novel by American writers Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, based on a series of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') game modules. It was the first ''Dragonlance'' novel, and first in the Chronicle ...
'', the first novel in the series, reached the top of ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list, encouraging TSR to a launch a long series of paperback novels. TSR's Books Department would go on to launch novels on its other ''D&D'' settings as well, and be one of TSR's most profitable divisions. In 1984, TSR signed a license to publish the '' Marvel Super Heroes'', ''
Indiana Jones ''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise based on the adventures of Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., a fictional professor of archaeology, that began in 1981 with the film '' Raiders of the Lost Ark''. In 1984, a prequel, '' Th ...
'', and '' Conan'' role-playing games. In 1985, the Gen Con game convention moved out of Lake Geneva which had given it its name, and relocated to
Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...
, Wisconsin due to a need for additional space. The ''
Oriental Adventures ''Oriental Adventures'' (abbreviated OA) is the title shared by two hardback rulebooks published for different versions of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy roleplaying game. Each version of ''Oriental Adventures'' provides rules for a ...
'' hardback for ''AD&D'' was released that same year, becoming the biggest seller for 1985. TSR introduced the ''
All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 20 ...
'' game, based on the
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
daytime drama, with more than 150,000 copies sold. In 1986, TSR introduced the '' Dungeon Adventures'' magazine, a bi-monthly magazine featuring only adventure scenarios for ''D&D''.


Management turmoil

Sales of the core rule books and boxed sets crested in 1983 and fell in 1984 and 1985, largely due to
market saturation In economics, market saturation is a situation in which a product has become diffused (distributed) within a market; the actual level of saturation can depend on consumer purchasing power; as well as competition, prices, and technology. Theory ...
; customers who wanted rulebooks largely already had them. There were bright spots in 1983–1985 such as ''Dragonlance'' novel sales, ''Unearthed Arcana'', and ''Oriental Adventures'', but TSR's finances were in bad shape due to high expenses and costs that had assumed rule book sales would remain strong. The result was a cycle of layoffs and contractions in 1983–1985, as well as the Blumes negotiating a $4 million loan from
American National Bank First American National Bank was a subsidiary of First American Corporation, a financial institution based in Nashville, Tennessee, that served the states of Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia and Virginia. It was headquartered in the First American ...
. The struggle for financing led to board room shake-ups at the top level. TSR's line of credit was stopped by its bank, and the company was in debt to over . Gygax would later say that he was in the dark as to the extent of the financial difficulties due to being in Hollywood; Ben Riggs, an author who studied TSR's history, is skeptical Gygax was truly unaware, however. Gygax returned to Wisconsin from Hollywood. In the spring of 1985, Gygax exercised an option to buy seven hundred shares of TSR stock, which combined with shares given to his son Ernie gave him 51.1% of all stock, up from around 30% before. Gygax also says he had a confrontation with the board of directors, and had the Blumes removed. Gygax now controlled TSR. Financial difficulties continued, however. Within a year of the departure of the Blumes, the company posted a net loss of US$1.5 million, resulting in layoffs of approximately 75% of the staff. Some of these staff members went on to form other prominent game companies, such as
Pacesetter Ltd Pacesetter Ltd was a game company based in Delavan, Wisconsin, founded in 1984. Company founders included CEO John Rickets, and Mark Acres, Andria Hayday, Gaye Goldsberry O'Keefe, Gali Sanchez, Garry Spiegle, Carl Smith, Stephen D. Sullivan a ...
and Mayfair Games, or to work with
Coleco Coleco Industries, Inc. was an American company founded in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg as The Connecticut Leather Company. It was a successful toy company in the 1980s, mass-producing versions of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and its video game conso ...
's video game division. Gygax searched for financing.
Flint Dille Flint Dille (born November 3, 1955) is an American screenwriter, game designer and novelist. He is best known for his animated work on ''Transformers'', '' G.I. Joe'', '' An American Tail: Fievel Goes West'', and his game-writing, '' The Chronicl ...
, one of his contacts he made in his time in Hollywood, suggested his sister Lorraine Williams might be interested in investing money into TSR. Williams was given a position of general manager at TSR and attempted to fix TSR's precarious financial situation. This led to clashes between Williams and Gygax, who resisted some of Williams' suggestions. Meanwhile, the Blumes, out of power at the company and worried about its financial strength in the long-term, sought to cash-out their shares. They offered to sell their shares to Gygax, but he refused. They exercised their own options to buy seven hundred more shares, then sold their entire holdings to Lorraine Williams instead. Williams herself bought fifty shares. With these purchases, Williams became the majority shareholder of TSR, and used her voting power to depose Gygax as CEO and president on October 22, 1985. Gygax unsuccessfully challenged the sale in court; Gygax's supporters considered the Blumes' sale an act of retaliation. Gygax eventually sold his remaining stock to Williams and used the capital to form
New Infinities Productions New Infinities Productions was an American game company that produced role-playing games and game supplements. History Immediately after leaving TSR, Gary Gygax helped form New Infinities Productions, Inc. (Registration required) Wargamer and acc ...
. On TSR's side, they would pepper Gygax with legal threats long after he left in an attempt to deter him from competing with his old company in the area of role-playing games.


Lorraine Williams era (1985–1997)

Williams was a financial planner who saved TSR from financial disaster, and by extension saved ''Dungeons & Dragons''. She saw potential for rebuilding the debt-plagued company into a highly profitable one. However, she also acquired a reputation as a non-gamer who played the "villain" in retrospectives of TSR. Gary Gygax grew particularly disdainful of her; Williams' habit of threatening lawsuits and legal action against perceived foes was criticized as unwise and turning potential allies into enemies. However, her tenure has also been defended.
John D. Rateliff John D. Rateliff is an author of roleplaying games and an independent scholar. He specializes in the study of the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, particularly his Middle-earth fantasy writings. Early life and education John D. Rateliff was raised in Ma ...
said that "Every single person I talked to who worked under Gary ygaxand the Blumes and then worked under Lorraine preferred working under Lorraine... I never met a single person who was under both who didn't prefer being under her."
Jeff Grubb Jeff Grubb (born August 27, 1957) is an author who writes novels, short stories, and comics and a computer and role-playing game designer in the fantasy genre. Grubb worked on the ''Dragonlance'' campaign setting under Tracy Hickman, and the ...
said that she "pretty much saved the company," as the company was weeks away from total collapse when she took over.


Tabletop and board gaming in the Williams era

TSR released the ''
Forgotten Realms ''Forgotten Realms'' is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a ...
'' campaign setting in 1987, which would go on to become one of the most popular settings for ''D&D''. TSR's settings would generally include a
boxed set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...
with multiple paperbacks and a map as their core product, and would produce tie-in supplements such as pre-made adventures (usually called "modules"), guides to regions within the world, and novels. Also in 1987, a small team of designers began work on the second edition of the ''AD&D'' game. In 1988, TSR released a '' Bullwinkle & Rocky'' RPG, complete with a spinner and hand puppets. That same year, TSR released the wargame ''
The Hunt for Red October ''The Hunt for Red October'' is the debut novel by American author Tom Clancy, first published on October 1, 1984, by the Naval Institute Press. It depicts Soviet submarine captain Marko Ramius as he seemingly goes rogue with his country's cutt ...
'' based on Tom Clancy's novel ''
The Hunt for Red October ''The Hunt for Red October'' is the debut novel by American author Tom Clancy, first published on October 1, 1984, by the Naval Institute Press. It depicts Soviet submarine captain Marko Ramius as he seemingly goes rogue with his country's cutt ...
'', which became one of the biggest selling wargames of all time. In 1989, ''AD&D'' 2nd edition was released. The release saw a new ''Dungeon Master's Guide'', ''Player's Handbook'', and the first three volumes of the new ''Monstrous Compendium''. A new campaign setting, ''
Spelljammer ''Spelljammer'' is a campaign setting originally published for the ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' (2nd edition) role-playing game, which features a fantastic (as opposed to scientific) outer space environment. Subsequent editions have included ' ...
'', was also released in 1989, which allowed characters from one ''D&D'' world to travel to other worlds via space galleons in an
Age of Sail The Age of Sail is a period that lasted at the latest from the mid-16th (or mid- 15th) to the mid- 19th centuries, in which the dominance of sailing ships in global trade and warfare culminated, particularly marked by the introduction of naval ...
themed setting. TSR would go on to produce many expansions for 2nd edition, such as a series of class handbooks that began with '' The Complete Fighter's Handbook''. In 1990, the ''
Ravenloft Ravenloft is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' roleplaying game. It is an alternate time-space existence known as a ''Demiplane, pocket dimension'' or demiplane, called the Demiplane of Dread, which consists of a collection of la ...
'' setting was released, a horror-themed setting for ''AD&D''. ''Ravenloft'' had been introduced in an acclaimed 1983 adventure module, and was now expanded into an entire setting. In 1991, TSR released the ''
Dark Sun ''Dark Sun'' is an original ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (D&D) campaign setting set in the fictional, post-apocalyptic desert world of Athas. ''Dark Sun'' featured an innovative metaplot, influential art work, dark themes, and a genre-bending take o ...
'' campaign setting, which was more
dark fantasy Dark fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy literary, artistic, and cinematic works that incorporate disturbing and frightening themes of fantasy. It often combines fantasy with elements of horror or has a gloomy dark tone or a sense of horror and dr ...
in genre, and set on a
post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astro ...
desert world threatened by evil life-draining wizards and psionicists. In 1992, TSR released the ''
Al-Qadim Al-Qadim is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game which was developed by Jeff Grubb with Andria Hayday for TSR, Inc., and was first released in 1992. Al-Qadim uses ''One Thousand and One Nights'' as a theme and is ...
'' setting with a Middle Eastern flavor similar to a fantasy version of the '' Arabian Nights'', although its world was also connected to the Forgotten Realms. In 1993, a revised version of the ''
Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting The ''Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting'' is a role-playing game sourcebook first published by TSR in 1987 for the first edition of the fantasy role-playing game ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' that describes the campaign setting of the Forgott ...
'' for 2nd edition was released; TSR had published a sourcebook on upgrading the 1st edition material to 2nd edition in 1990 earlier. In 1993, '' DragonStrike'' was released as an introductory product aimed to recruit new players, including a 30-minute video which explained the concepts of role-playing; a similar introductory product, ''
First Quest First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
'', was released in 1994. Also in 1994, the ''
Planescape ''Planescape'' is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game, designed by Zeb Cook, and published in 1994. It crosses numerous planes of existence, encompassing an entire cosmology called the Great Wheel, as dev ...
'' campaign setting was released, featuring the city of
Sigil A sigil () is a type of symbol used in magic. The term has usually referred to a pictorial signature of a deity or spirit. In modern usage, especially in the context of chaos magic, sigil refers to a symbolic representation of the practitioner ...
as the "City of Doors" that connected to the various planes of existence in ''AD&D''. ''Spelljammer'' had not been considered a success by TSR as players perceived it as mainly a way to move characters from one world to another rather than its own setting; ''Planescape'' attempted to remedy this by focusing on Sigil as a place to set an entire campaign, rather than a place to pass through. TSR also released '' Karameikos: Kingdom of Adventure'' in 1994, which detailed one of the kingdoms in the setting of
Mystara Mystara is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role playing game. It was the default setting for the "Basic" version of the game throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Most adventures published for the "Basic" edition of ''D&D'' ...
. As an innovation, it included an audio CD with tracks of dialogue and sound effects. In 1995, TSR released ''
Birthright Birthright is the concept of things being due to a person upon or by fact of their birth, or due to the order of their birth. These may include rights of citizenship based on the place where the person was born or the citizenship of their paren ...
'', a campaign setting that mixed ''D&D'' with strategy games. The intent was for players to play noble characters empowered by divine blood which gave them the power to rule domains; players could expand their domains and divine powers with a mixture of war and diplomacy. In 1996, '' Dragonlance: Fifth Age'' was released, a "diceless" role-playing game that departed from the roots of ''Dragonlance'' in ''AD&D''.


Other products

Under Williams' direction, TSR solidified its expansion into other fields, such as magazines, paperback fiction, comic books, and collectible games. TSR's book division was a traditional powerhouse for the company, especially due to the comparatively low costs in producing novels compared to role-playing supplements which required commissioning art and play-testing. The most notably successful novel series of the era was R. A. Salvatore's Drizzt series, set in the Forgotten Realms. Starting with ''
The Crystal Shard ''The Crystal Shard'' is a 1988 fantasy novel by American writer R. A. Salvatore. The first book in The Icewind Dale Trilogy, it was his first published novel. Plot summary Even in the remote far northern region of Icewind Dale, the renegade d ...
'' in 1988, many of Salvatore's books would go on to reach the paperback bestseller lists. TSR eventually moved into publishing hardcover novels as well with Salvatore's ''
The Legacy The Legacy may refer to: * '' Le Legs'' or ''The Legacy'', a play by Pierre de Marivaux * The Legacy (professional wrestling), a former professional wrestling faction in World Wrestling Entertainment * ''The Legacy'' (album), an album by Testament ...
'', published in 1992. It made the top of the ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' bestseller list within weeks. The Dille Family Trust, of which Lorraine Williams was a part, held the rights to the
Buck Rogers Buck Rogers is a science fiction adventure hero and feature comic strip created by Philip Francis Nowlan first appearing in daily US newspapers on January 7, 1929, and subsequently appearing in Sunday newspapers, international newspapers, books ...
license. Williams personally encouraged TSR to produce Buck Rogers tie-in material. TSR would end up publishing a Buck Rogers board games, novels, a comic book, and a role-playing game based on the ''AD&D'' 2nd Edition rules. TSR's Buck Rogers projects were commercial failures. In the late 1980s, TSR opened a new West Coast division in Southern California to develop various entertainment projects, similar to how Gygax had sought deals in Hollywood in the early 1980s. However, the efforts of the division would come to "less than nothing" according to TSR historian Ben Riggs, despite initial promise. TSR had an arrangement with
DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
to produce the comics ''
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Several different editions of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game have been produced since 1974. The current publisher of ''D&D'', Wizards of the Coast, produces new materials only for the most current edition of the ga ...
'' and ''
Forgotten Realms ''Forgotten Realms'' is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a ...
'', which sold well and were profitable for both DC and TSR. Sensing an opportunity, TSR decided to produce comics themselves as a stepping stool to television and film, as comics were cheaper to produce and start with. However, they had already sold the rights to their own A-list product in ''AD&D''. TSR attempted to not enrage DC Comics by calling their new product "comics modules" and including game-related material at the end of each issue; additionally, TSR largely sold the comics modules through bookshops rather than comic shops. The compromise failed in both directions: DC, feeling betrayed that their partner was moving to become a competitor, immediately stopped production of both the ''AD&D'' and ''Forgotten Realms'' comics, and canceled an in-production ''Ravenloft'' work. However, the changes to present the product as not a comic book caused the potential audience to either not know of its existence at all, or to be confused as to its nature. TSR West eventually published four comics modules: a Buck Rogers comic, a sci-fi comic ''Intruder'', a time travel comic ''Warhawks'', and a horror comic called ''R.I.P.'' They were not commercially successful. TSR West closed around 1991, although TSR would continue to work with Flint Dille on film-adjacent products made in California such as the introductory video for ''Dragonstrike'' and a 1995 interactive video game series called ''Terror T.R.A.X.'' TSR continued to own and operate the
Gen Con Gen Con is the largest tabletop game convention in North America by both attendance and number of events. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, live action role-playin ...
role-playing game convention. Gen Con grew beyond its initial focus on ''D&D'' and wargames to role-playing fans in general. Gen Con was a growing and successful convention; in 1992, it broke all previous attendance records for any U.S gaming convention, with more than 18,000 people. In 1993,
Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for ga ...
released the game ''
Magic: The Gathering ''Magic: The Gathering'' (colloquially known as ''Magic'' or ''MTG'') is a Tabletop game, tabletop and Digital collectible card game, digital Collectible card game, collectable card game created by Richard Garfield. Released in 1993 by Wizards ...
'' at Gen Con, which was an immediate smash hit that established the
collectible card game A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategy game, strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards, introduced with ''Magic: The Gathering'' in ...
(CCG) genre. TSR's Jim Ward led a development effort to create a ''Dungeons & Dragons''-themed CCG competitor that would be a response to ''Magic''. The result would be ''
Spellfire ''Spellfire: Master the Magic'' is an out-of-print collectible card game (CCG) created by TSR, Inc. and based on their popular ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role playing game. The game appeared first in April 1994, shortly after the introduction of ...
'', released in April 1994. ''Spellfire'' was produced on a shoestring budget, and re-used art that TSR had already commissioned for other projects; Lorraine Williams was not a fan of the project. Its financial results are contested; some TSR insiders say that ''Spellfire'' sold well considering the constraints on it, while others indicate it sold poorly. ''Spellfire'' was discontinued in 1996, although one final release occurred in late 1997. Another collectible competitor to Wizards of the Coast that TSR produced was ''
Dragon Dice ''Dragon Dice'' is a collectible dice game originally made by TSR, Inc., and is produced today by SFR, Inc. It is one of only a handful of collectible dice games produced in the early 1990s. The races and monsters in ''Dragon Dice'' were creat ...
'', which was released in 1995. ''Dragon Dice'' was a collectible dice game where each player started with a random assortment of basic dice, and could improve their assortment by purchasing booster packs of more powerful dice. Sales of ''Dragon Dice'' through the games trade started strongly, so TSR quickly produced several expansion packs. In addition, TSR tried to aggressively market ''Dragon Dice'' in mass-market book stores through
Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
. However, the game did not catch on through the book trade, and sales of the expansion sets through traditional games stores were poor. In 1994, TSR signed an agreement with Sweetpea Entertainment for rights to make a ''D&D'' movie. This would eventually result in the 2000 ''Dungeons & Dragons'' movie. TSR's book division ran into troubles in the mid-1990s. TSR engaged in disputes with some of its most successful authors over terms and remuneration. Weis & Hickman had been driven off in the mid-80s; a new dispute with R. A. Salvatore happened in 1994–1995. TSR ramped up the number of novels published, but the expanded roster saw disappointing sales. TSR decided to publish twelve hardcover novels in 1996, despite a previous history of publishing only one or two hardcover novels each year, but they did not sell as well as expected.


Final years: Financial trouble and sale (1995–1997)

By 1996, TSR was experiencing numerous problems, as outlined by various historians of the company. Shannon Appelcline wrote: "Distributors were going out of business. TSR had unbalanced their ''AD&D'' game through a series of lucrative supplements that ultimately hurt the long-time viability of the game. Meanwhile, they had developed so many settings—many of them popular and well-received—that they were both cannibalizing their only sales and discouraging players from picking up settings that might be gone in a few years. They may have been cannibalizing their own sales through excessive production of books or supplements too." Ben Riggs agreed that TSR was factionalizing the AD&D audience by continually releasing competing new settings (Forgotten Realms, Al-Qadim, Dragonlance, Planescape, Dark Sun, Birthright, Karameikos, etc.), a strategy intended to lure in new customers, but that actually divided its own core customers. TSR's products essentially competed with themselves, requiring more development effort to reach the same number of total customers.
Ryan Dancey Ryan S. Dancey is a businessman who has worked primarily in the collectible card game and role-playing game industries. He was vice president in charge of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' at Wizards of the Coast. When the publisher of Dungeons & Dragon ...
and
Lisa Stevens Lisa Stevens is an American editor, Chief executive officer, CEO and founder of Paizo Publishing, and chief operating officer, COO of Goblinworks. She began her career in games in the 1980s, working with Jonathan Tweet and Mark Rein•Hagen to h ...
, who examined TSR's finances for Wizards of the Coast, found that many of the AD&D settings products were never profitable, and more worryingly never ''could'' have been profitable—the cost of production was simply too high compared to the price they sold for. David M. Ewalt writes that ''Spellfire'' and ''Dragon Dice'' "were both expensive to produce, and neither sold very well". Another factor that hobbled TSR in the long-term was a financial arrangement known as "factoring." Factoring worked like this: TSR first arranged contracts with retailers in the hobby trade (gaming stores, comics stores, and so on) to preorder their products and offered a discounted rate for contracts signed in January. TSR then took these contracts to investment banks, and was advanced money immediately by the banks, with the banks to be paid off from the eventual sales of the product. This financial innovation allowed TSR to be essentially "paid in advance", less fees from the banks and from discounts given to suppliers, which worked out to keeping about 82% of the revenue. Getting all of the money in January allowed TSR to budget with more certainty and potentially fund projects with a long lead time immediately, rather than waiting on sales. Other than the direct cost of losing 18 pennies on every dollar of revenue, factoring had the other downside of not being flexible to changing market conditions, however, as TSR was essentially locked into its budgeting from January. It was partially why ''Spellfire'' was made on a tiny budget, as TSR was attempting to take on a new initiative in the middle of the year, and led to a fiasco with its '' Advanced Dungeons & Dragons CD-ROM Core Rules'' product where a preorder arrangement with
Babbage's GameStop Corp. is an American video game, consumer electronics, and gaming merchandise retailer. The company is headquartered in Grapevine, Texas (a suburb of Dallas), and is the largest video game retailer worldwide. , the company operates 4,5 ...
was continued despite Babbage's becoming financially insolvent. TSR's old deal with Random House, which had been mutually beneficial in the 1980s, began to be used by TSR in ways that would paper over short-term financial problems. Since TSR was paid up front on the assumption that shipped goods would ultimately sell, TSR began shipping overstock to Random House to generate loans on demand. This caused people in the know at TSR to call it the "Banco de Random House". It also dulled TSR's internal sense of which products were selling, leading to overprinting of niche products. Ben Riggs cites the introductory product '' DragonStrike'' as an example, which sold well but was vastly overprinted. The extra copies were still sent to Random House to generate loans, however. The result was a steadily expanding "debt bubble" with Random House as returns of product soared. Random House eventually noticed something was amiss, and began demanding TSR shrink its debt load with them—around $11.8 million in June 1995. Random House sued TSR in April 1996 for repayment. Despite total sales of around $40 million in 1995, TSR ended 1996 with little in cash reserves, and the company was deep in debt. Random House returned an unexpectedly high percentage of unsold stock, including the year's inventory of unsold novels and sets of ''Dragon Dice'', and charged a fee of several million dollars. Random House returned around $14 million of product between 1995–1997. TSR found itself in a cash crunch. With no cash, TSR was unable to pay their printing and shipping bills. J. B. Kenehan, the logistics company that handled TSR's pre-press, printing, warehousing, and shipping, refused to do any more work. Since the logistics company had the production plates for key products such as core ''D&D'' books, there was no means of printing or shipping core products to generate income or secure short-term financing. Thirty staff members were laid off in December 1996, and other staff left over disagreements about how the crisis was handled, including James M. Ward. In large part due to the need to refund Random House, TSR entered 1997 over $30 million in debt. TSR was threatened by lawsuits due to unpaid freelancers and missing royalties, but TSR made enough money from products already on the shelves to pay remaining staff through the first half of 1997. With no viable financial plan for TSR's survival, Lorraine Williams sold the company to Wizards of the Coast in 1997 in a deal brokered by Five Rings Publishing Group (FRPG).


After acquisition (1997–2000)

Wizards of the Coast settled TSR's debts as part of the acquisition. This included unwinding TSR's deal with its printer, enabling the products TSR had worked on in the first half of 1997 to be printed and distributed, such as the space opera game ''
Alternity ''Alternity'' is a science fiction role-playing game (RPG) published by TSR in 1998. Following the acquisition of TSR by Wizards of the Coast, the game was discontinued in 2000 as part of a broader rationalisation of TSR's business holdings, b ...
''. More generally, Wizards was cash-rich, which solved some of the problems TSR had faced that had caused it to resort to the rolling loans and financial trickery that had cut into TSR's profits, such as factoring. Wizards also moved to mend relations with some of TSR's former employees and contractors who had been alienated. Notably, this included allowing artists to take back personal ownership of the original versions of art they had made for TSR. Wizards eventually closed the TSR corporate offices in Lake Geneva. Some TSR employees accepted the offer of transferring to Wizards of the Coast's offices in Washington, and a few others continued to work remotely from Wisconsin. Wizards of the Coast continued to use the TSR name for ''D&D'' products for three years. Wizards also set about the creation of the third edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons''. It was released in 2000 under the Wizards of the Coast brand only. In 1999, Wizards of the Coast was itself purchased by Hasbro, Inc. In 2002, the Gen Con convention was sold to
Peter Adkison Peter D. Adkison is an American game designer and businessman who is the founder and first CEO of Wizards of the Coast (1993–2001). During Adkison's tenure, Wizards of the Coast rose to the status of a major publisher in the hobby game indust ...
.


Business disputes

After its initial success faded, the company turned to legal defenses of what it regarded as its
intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...
. In addition, there were several legal cases brought regarding who had invented what within the company and the division of royalties, including several lawsuits against Gygax. This included the company threatening to sue individuals supplying game material on websites. In 1984, there was an incident involving
Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is a business segment of The Walt Disney Company. The studio is best known for creating and producing the ''Star Wars'' and ' ...
that led to a legend that TSR had trademarked the term "
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
". TSR published a supplement for the ''Indiana Jones'' RPG, ''
Raiders of the Lost Ark Adventure Pack ''Raiders of the Lost Ark Adventure Pack'' is an adventure published by TSR in 1984 for the action-adventure role-playing game ''The Adventures of Indiana Jones Role-Playing Game'', itself based on the '' Indiana Jones'' movie franchise. Descri ...
'', in which some figures were marked with "Nazi™". This trademark notation was because of a list of trademarked character names supplied by Lucasfilm's legal department; they had indiscriminately marked all figures with a trademark symbol, and the Nazi figures were likewise marked accidentally.


Subsequent trademark usage

In 2011, a new company taking the name TSR was founded by Jayson Elliot, who co-founded the Roll for Initiative podcast. Elliot found that the TSR trademark had expired around 2004 so he registered it himself. He then decided to launch the new company with assistance from early TSR/D&D contributors including Luke and Ernie Gygax, sons of the deceased D&D co-creator Gary Gygax, and
Tim Kask Timothy James Kask (born January 14, 1949) is an American editor and writer in the role-playing game industry. Kask became interested in board games in his childhood, and later turned to miniatures wargames. While attending university after a sti ...
, former editor of ''Dragon'' magazine. Their first product was ''Gygax Magazine'', announced along with the TSR company revival in December 2012. ''Wired'' reported that "Elliot stressed that his 'TSR is a new company'." Both Gygax brothers left the company in 2016 when the magazine ended. The company operated as TSR Games, producing the '' Top Secret: New World Order'' role-playing game. In June 2021, a new, separate TSR company was launched by a group including Ernie Gygax, Justin LaNasa and Stephen Dinehart. The company is based out of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin; they announced plans to release tabletop games and operate the Dungeon Hobby Shop Museum, which is located in the first office building of the original TSR. Elliot's TSR Games then announced on social media that while they have owned the trademark since 2011, they missed a filing date in 2020 and were considering various options. However, after Ernie Gygax's "troubling comments about race, gender identity, and gun violence, as well as his company's reaction", Elliot announced that his company would not have "any form of working relationship" with Ernie Gygax's TSR. Ultimately, Elliot's TSR Games was rebranded as Solarian Games in July 2021. Dinehart then rebranded as Wonderfilled Games. ''Dicebreaker'' reported that "TSR Games never officially announced its rebranding as Wonderfilled Games" and most of its "Twitter accounts had been locked down or nuked, and the company's old website simply redirected to a new page that – interestingly – listed Dinehart's GiantLands as an in-development title. ..How much of TSR Games exists in Wonderfilled Games isn't clear". LaNasa's TSR Games then launched a crowdfunding campaign in December 2021 to raise money to sue Wizards of the Coast for "Trademark Declaratory Judgement of Ownership"; the company then filed and voluntarily dismissed the complaint that month. Wizards of the Coast, also in December 2021, sued LaNasa's TSR for trademark fraud over the use of the TSR logo which is owned by Wizards of the Coast. In July 2022, ''TechRaptor'' reported on a leaked '' Star Frontiers: New Genesis'' (a reboot of the 1982 '' Star Frontiers'' role-playing game) playtest created by LaNasa's TSR; the content contains "blatantly racist" descriptions of character races and the race design "plays into
Nazi eugenics Nazi eugenics refers to the social policies of eugenics in Nazi Germany, composed of various pseudoscientific ideas about genetics. The racial ideology of Nazism placed the biological improvement of the German people by selective breeding of ...
". The content also contains "homophobic, transphobic, and anti-semitic content, as well as additional material of a discriminatory nature". ''
IGN Southeast Asia ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distr ...
'' highlighted that in this playtest game a black "race is classified as a 'Subrace' and having 'average' intellect with a maximum intelligence rating of 9, whereas the 'norse' race has a minimum intelligence rating of 13". In September 2022, Wizards of the Coast sued TSR Games – helmed by Ernie Gygax and LaNasa – and the Dungeon Hobby Shop Museum to enjoin these companies from publishing games under the "Star Frontiers" and "TSR" trademarks. In its motion for a
preliminary injunction An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in par ...
, Wizards of the Coast wrote that TSR's ''Star Frontiers: New Genesis'' game is "despicable" and "blatantly racist and transphobic", and that the publication of such content would inflict reputational harm on Wizards of the Coast. Charlie Hall, for ''
Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two toge ...
'', commented that "Wizards' filing also seeks to undermine LaNasa's most powerful argument — that Wizards abandoned TSR and other related trademarks, thus opening the door to his usurping of the brand and its games. ..Here's where things get complicated. Wizards admitted that it failed to file paperwork for the registration of TSR, Star Frontiers, and other related marks in a timely fashion as required under federal law. But through continued sales of related products and use of the related IP, the company claims ownership via ' common law trademark rights.' It will be up to a jury to determine if that is, in fact, the case". In December 2022, a federal magistrate judge denied the preliminary injunction Wizards of the Coast filed. The judge said that Wizards had not yet shown enough evidence to demonstrate continuous use of the TSR brand; she also noted that the defendants disclaimed the racist version of the game and had promised not to release any version of ''Star Frontiers'' at all until the court case concludes, hence there was no need for a preliminary injunction.TSR LLC, Plaintiff, v. WIZARDS OF THE COAST LLC; Case 2:21-cv-01705-SKV; Document 51 (C21-1705-SKV)


Products

TSR's main products were role-playing games, the most successful of which was ''D&D''. However, they also produced other games such as
card game A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games (such as poker). A small number of card ...
s,
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 comp ...
s, and
dice game Dice games are games that use or incorporate one or more dice as their sole or central component, usually as a random device. The following are games which largely, if not entirely, depend on dice: Collectible dice games Patterned after the su ...
s, and published both magazines and books.


Role-playing games

* ''
Alternity ''Alternity'' is a science fiction role-playing game (RPG) published by TSR in 1998. Following the acquisition of TSR by Wizards of the Coast, the game was discontinued in 2000 as part of a broader rationalisation of TSR's business holdings, b ...
'' (1998) * ''
Amazing Engine ''Amazing Engine'' was a series of tabletop role-playing game books that was published by TSR, Inc. from 1993 until 1994. It was a generic role-playing game system - each publication employed the same minimalist generic rules, as described in th ...
'' (1993) * ''
Boot Hill Boot Hill, or Boothill, is the given name of many cemeteries, chiefly in the Western United States. During the 19th and early 20th century it was a common name for the burial grounds of gunfighters, or those who " died with their boots on" (i.e ...
'' (1975) * '' Buck Rogers Adventure Game'' (1993) * ''
Buck Rogers XXVc Buck Rogers XXVC (sometimes written as Buck Rogers in the 25th Century) is a game setting created by TSR, Inc. in the late 1980s. Products based on this setting include novels, graphic novels, a role-playing game (RPG), board game, and video ...
'' (1988) * '' Bullwinkle and Rocky Role-Playing Party Game'' (1988) * '' Conan Role-Playing Game'' (1985) * '' Crimefighters'' (1981) * '' Dragonlance: Fifth Age'' (Saga System) (1996) * '' Dragonstrike'' (board game and VHS tutorial) (1993) * ''
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 TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...
'' (1974) * ''
Empire of the Petal Throne ''Empire of the Petal Throne'' is a fantasy role-playing game designed by M. A. R. Barker, based on his Tékumel fictional universe. It was self-published in 1974, then published by TSR, Inc. in 1975. It was one of the first tabletop role-pl ...
'' (1975) * ''
Gamma World ''Gamma World'' is a science fantasy role-playing game, originally designed by James M. Ward and Gary Jaquet, and first published by TSR in 1978. It borrowed heavily from Ward's earlier game, ''Metamorphosis Alpha''. Setting ''Gamma World'' ...
'' (1978) * ''
Gangbusters ''Gang Busters'' is an American dramatic radio program heralded as "the only national program that brings you authentic police case histories." It premiered on January 15, 1936, and was broadcast over 21 years through November 27, 1957. Histo ...
'' (1982) * ''
Indiana Jones ''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise based on the adventures of Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., a fictional professor of archaeology, that began in 1981 with the film '' Raiders of the Lost Ark''. In 1984, a prequel, '' Th ...
'' (1984) * '' Marvel Super Heroes'' (1984) * ''
Marvel Super Heroes Adventure Game The ''Marvel Super Heroes Adventure Game'' is a role-playing game published by TSR, Inc. that uses the '' SAGA System'' and features characters published by Marvel Comics. It should not be confused with the earlier '' Marvel Super Heroes Game'', ...
'' (Saga System) (1998) * ''
Metamorphosis Alpha ''Metamorphosis Alpha'' is a science fiction role-playing game. It was created by James M. Ward and originally produced by TSR, the publisher of ''Dungeons & Dragons''. It was the first science fiction role-playing game, published in July 1976 ...
'' (1976) * '' Star Frontiers'' (1982) * ''
Top Secret Classified information is material that a government body deems to be sensitive information that must be protected. Access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of people with the necessary security clearance and need to kn ...
'' (1980) and '' Top Secret/S.I.''


Wargames

* ''
Cavaliers and Roundheads ''Cavaliers and Roundheads'' is a set of rules for English Civil War miniature wargaming. It was written by Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren and published by Tactical Studies Rules (later TSR, Inc.) in 1973. The unassuming booklet was the first pro ...
'' (1973) * ''
Chainmail Chain mail (properly called mail or maille but usually called chain mail or chainmail) is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh. It was in common military use between the 3rd century BC and ...
'' (1975) *''
Fight in the Skies ''Fight In The Skies'', also known as ''Dawn Patrol'', is a board wargame first self-published by creator Mike Carr in 1966, then published by Guidon Games in 1972 and TSR in 1975. The game simulates World War I style air combat, and is the only ...
(1976)'' *'' Panzer Warfare'' (1975)


Other games

* ''All My Children'' (board game) * '' Attack Force'' (microgame) * '' The Awful Green Things from Outer Space'' (board game, 1979) * '' Blood Wars'' (collectible card game, 1995) * '' Buck Rogers - Battle for the 25th Century'' (board game, 1988) * ''
Chase Chase or CHASE may refer to: Businesses * Chase Bank, a national bank based in New York City, New York * Chase Aircraft (1943–1954), a defunct American aircraft manufacturing company * Chase Coaches, a defunct bus operator in England * Chase Co ...
'' (board game) * ''Crosse'' (board game) * '' Divine Right'' (board game) * ''
Dragonlance ''Dragonlance'' is a shared universe created by Laura and Tracy Hickman, and expanded by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis under the direction of TSR, Inc. into a series of fantasy novels. The Hickmans conceived ''Dragonlance'' while driving in t ...
'' (board game) * '' Dragon Strike'' (board game, 1993) * ''
Dragon Dice ''Dragon Dice'' is a collectible dice game originally made by TSR, Inc., and is produced today by SFR, Inc. It is one of only a handful of collectible dice games produced in the early 1990s. The races and monsters in ''Dragon Dice'' were creat ...
'' (collectible dice game) * ''
Dungeon! ''Dungeon!'' is an adventure board game designed by David R. Megarry and first released by TSR, Inc. in 1975. Additional contributions through multiple editions were made by Gary Gygax, Steve Winter, Jeff Grubb, Chris Dupuis and Michael Gray. ...
'' (1975) * ''Dungeon Fantasy'' (1989) * ''Elixir'' (board game) * ''
Endless Quest The ''Endless Quest'' books were three series of gamebooks. The first one was released in the 1980s by TSR, while the following two were released by Wizards of the Coast. Originally, these books were the result of an Educational department establi ...
''
gamebook A gamebook is a work of printed fiction that allows the reader to participate in the story by making choices. The narrative branches along various paths, typically through the use of numbered paragraphs or pages. Each narrative typically does not ...
s (1982) * ''
Escape From New York ''Escape from New York'' is a 1981 American science fiction action film co-written, co-scored and directed by John Carpenter. It stars Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence, Isaac Hayes, Adrienne Barbeau, and Harry Dea ...
'' (1981) (board game) * ''
Fantasy Forest Fantasy Forest is a series of ten gamebooks published by TSR, Inc. from 1983 to 1984. The books are works of children's literature; eight of them are set in the fantasy world of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game created by TSR, Inc., and ...
'' (1980) (board game) * '' 4th Dimension'' (board game) * ''
The Great Khan Game ''The Great Khan Game'' is a fantasy board game that was published by TSR, Inc in 1989. Overview ''The Great Khan Game'' is a game about acquiring countries, by gathering the various rulers and important people of the lands. This card-and-board g ...
'' (card game) * ''
HeartQuest ''HeartQuest'' was a series of six interactive novels published by TSR, Inc. for young teenagers during the 80s. The series was a spin-off from their main Endless Quest series set in the world of ''Dungeons & Dragons''. With each novel billed as a ...
'' (game book series) * ''Honeymooners Game'' (board game, 1986) * ''Icebergs'' (microgame) * ''Kage'' (board game) * ''
Knights of Camelot ''Knights of Camelot'' is a fantasy board game published in 1980 by TSR (company), TSR. Setting ''Knights of Camelot'' is a board game set during the reign of King Arthur. The players take on the roles of chivalrous new knights who go forth to ...
'' (board game) * ''Maxi Bour$e'' (board game) * ''Party Zone: Spy Ring Scenario'' (party game) * ''Perry Mason'' (board game, 1987) * ''Remember the Alamo'' * '' Revolt on Antares'' (microgame, 1980) * ''
Saga is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square (video game company), Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, ...
'' (microgame) * ''
Spellfire ''Spellfire: Master the Magic'' is an out-of-print collectible card game (CCG) created by TSR, Inc. and based on their popular ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role playing game. The game appeared first in April 1994, shortly after the introduction of ...
'' (
collectible card game A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategy game, strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards, introduced with ''Magic: The Gathering'' in ...
, 1994) * ''SnarfQuest'' (game book series) (1983) * '' Snit's Revenge'' (boardgame) (1977) * ''Steppe'' (board game) * ''Terror T.R.A.X.'' (hybrid audiobook/gamebook line) (1995) * ''
They've Invaded Pleasantville ''They've Invaded Pleasantville'' is a 1981 board game published by TSR. Gameplay ''They've Invaded Pleasantville'' is a game for two players who are townsfolk trying to alert their fellow townsmen of the invasion and avert the aliens' plans. Rec ...
'' (microgame) * '' Vampyre'' (microgame) * ''
Viking Gods ''Viking Gods'' is a 1982 board game published by TSR. Gameplay ''Viking Gods'' is a two-player game about Ragnarok, in which one player as the Gods will need to either kill Loki or defeat the army of Chaos, while the other player as Chaos will ...
'' * ''
War of Wizards ''War of Wizards'' is a board game published by TSR in 1975. It was TSR's first publication for M. A. R. Barker's world of Tékumel. Development David M. Ewalt, in his book ''Of Dice and Men'', described how University of Minnesota professor M ...
''


Magazines

* ''
Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearances i ...
'' * ''
Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
'' * ''
Dungeon A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably belongs more to the Renaissance period. An oubliette (from ...
'' * ''
Imagine Imagine may refer to: * Imagination Music Albums * ''Imagine'' (Armin van Buuren album), 2008 * ''Imagine'' (Eva Cassidy album), 2002 * ''Imagine'' (Janice Vidal album), 2012 * ''Imagine'' (John Lennon album), 1971 ** ''Imagine: John Lennon' ...
''


Fiction

In 1984, TSR started publishing novels based on their games. Most ''D&D''
campaign settings A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A ''campaign'' is a series of individual adventures, and a ''campaign setting'' is the world in which such adventures and c ...
had their own novel line, the most successful of which were the ''
Dragonlance ''Dragonlance'' is a shared universe created by Laura and Tracy Hickman, and expanded by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis under the direction of TSR, Inc. into a series of fantasy novels. The Hickmans conceived ''Dragonlance'' while driving in t ...
'' and ''
Forgotten Realms ''Forgotten Realms'' is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a ...
'' lines, with dozens of novels each. TSR also published the 1995 novel '' Buck Rogers: A Life in the Future'' by
Martin Caidin Martin Caidin (September 14, 1927 – March 24, 1997) was an American author, screenwriter, and an authority on aeronautics and aviation. Caidin began writing fiction in 1957. In his career he authored more than 50 fiction and nonfiction books ...
, a standalone re-imagining of the
Buck Rogers Buck Rogers is a science fiction adventure hero and feature comic strip created by Philip Francis Nowlan first appearing in daily US newspapers on January 7, 1929, and subsequently appearing in Sunday newspapers, international newspapers, books ...
universe and unrelated to TSR's ''
Buck Rogers XXVC Buck Rogers XXVC (sometimes written as Buck Rogers in the 25th Century) is a game setting created by TSR, Inc. in the late 1980s. Products based on this setting include novels, graphic novels, a role-playing game (RPG), board game, and video ...
'' game. TSR published a large number of fantasy and science fiction novels unconnected with their gaming products, such as L. Dean James' "Red Kings of Wynnamyr" novels, ''Sorcerer's Stone'' (1991) and ''Kingslayer'' (1992); Mary H. Herbert's five "Gabria" novels (''Valorian'', ''Dark Horse'', ''Lightning's Daughter'', ''City of the Sorcerers'', and '' Winged Magic''); and humorous fantasy fiction, including Roy V. Young's "Count Yor" novels ''Captains Outrageous'' (1994) and ''Yor's Revenge''(1995). However, such projects never represented more than a fraction of the company's fiction output, which retained a strong emphasis on game-derived works.


See also

*
Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association The Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association (LGTSA) was a prominent wargaming club active in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin during the early 1970s. History At its inception around February and March 1970, it was originally known as the Lake Geneva Tact ...


References


Bibliography

* * * *


Further reading


GameSpy interview with Gary Gygax
on the history of TSR, among other things

(GameSpy)
''The Ambush at Sheridan Springs''
a history of TSR's corporate governance and Gygax's 1985 ouster {{DEFAULTSORT:Tsr, Inc. 1973 establishments in Wisconsin 1997 disestablishments in Wisconsin Defunct companies based in Wisconsin Design companies disestablished in 1997 Design companies established in 1973 Dungeons & Dragons Publishing companies disestablished in 1997 Publishing companies established in 1973 Role-playing game publishing companies Wargame companies