Chainmail and Early D&D Len Lakofka was living in Chicago during the 1960s and was an avid wargamer. He was so interested in Avalon Hill's Diplomacy that he joined the International Federation of Wargamers. In 1968 Gary Gygax had talked the IFW into organizing a one-day wargame convention at the Horticultural Hall in Lake Geneva. By then Len was President. This would be the very first Gen Con. So he traveled to Lake Geneva to set up, run events, and clean up. After the convention ended Gary introduced a new set of miniatures rules to a few people including Lakofka. This game would later be published as Chainmail. Lakofka play-tested and gave advice on balancing the rules. In 1975 he was introduced to the new game developed by Gygax and Dave Arneson called Dungeons & Dragons. As a frequent play tester for both the original version and Advanced Dungeons & Dragon, he was very involved with the creation of the three core books for AD&D. He edited the Players Handbook
TSR's Science Fantasy Role-Playing Game A retrospective by Kevin Gamma World, Gamma World, Gamma World If you say it three times while looking in the mirror, I understand you may summon a Yexil swarm! W hat's a Yexil, you say? Why, it is a fantastical beast that dwells in the radioactive ruins of a post-apocalyptic hellscape and would be the bane of Leisure Suit Larry. Who is Larry, you ask? My, my, you are full of questions, aren't you? Well, Larry is the "protagonist" of a salacious vintage computer game series of dubious moral quality. How does Larry fit into Gamma World? Well, he doesn't really except for the fact that he wears polyester leisure suits as he tries, and usually fails, to seduce nubile young ladies. And you see, Yexils survive by eating synthetic materials. Therefore, Larry would be seen as a tasty morsel. Well, at least his suit would be. He'd be discarded as offal. Gamma World is a weird and fantastic trip which is truly odd