The Dungeons of the Ground Goblins
by Steve Jackson of Game Workshop
This mini-dungeon accompanied an early article titled "Dungeons & Dragons", which described the game and appeared in at least four publications. Each time the text of the article stayed the same but the artwork changed, except for the dungeon map.
1st: in GAMES & PUZZLES, No. 48, May 1976 (UK magazine)
2nd: in PEOPLE'S COMPUTERS, V5N2, September 1976 (US magazine)
The Dungeons of the Ground Goblins, from People's Computers
3rd: Games Workshop flier, ~Feb 1977, front shows OD&D booklets (see right). Here it is titled, "VISIT A WORLD OF SWORDS & SORCERY With DUNGEONS & DRAGONS" and subtitled "DUNGEONS & DRAGONS is the ORIGINAL Adventure Game in Worlds of the Strange and Fantastic"
This flier was produced for Games Day 2 (Feb 12, 1977) and is reported to have been distributed by Games Workshop with price lists or sample copies of Owl & Weasel (the precursor to White Dwarf magazine). It also turns up occasionally with OD&D boxed sets in the UK.
The cover uses images & text (except for the box at the bottom with the Games Workshop address) from an earlier TSR advertisement, shown here on the Playing at the World blog.
The interior uses TSR D&D artwork from the covers of Underworld & Wilderness Adventures and Supplement I: Greyhawk. At the time, Games Workshop was starting to publish licensed UK versions of TSR material (e.g., UK Holmes Basic set, published in 1977-78), which gives this sample dungeon quasi-official status.
D&D promotional flier by Games Workshop, ~Feb 1977 (#3 in list)
4th: Games Workshop flier, ~Dec 1977, front shows UK Basic Set (see right)
A similar flier but with different artwork. The title returns to "DUNGEONS & DRAGONS", but with the same subtitle as above.
The earliest known picture of the UK Basic rulebook is in a photo from Games Day III (17 Dec 1977) published in White Dwarf #5, so this flier probably dates from around this time.
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This dungeon influenced a sample dungeon appearing in the zine Chimaera #16, June 1976. See this blog post for more on the similarities between the two dungeons. I've also posted the image in the column to the right.
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Links:
D&D promotional flier by Games Workshop, ~Dec 1977 or later (#4 in list)
