The Arduin Grimoire, Vols I-III

Richmond, California: David A. Hargrave, 1978. First Edition Later Printing . Soft cover. Very Good. Schenk, Brad; Espinoza, Greg; Otus, Erol. Incredibly scarce, these are the 3 original self-published guides to one of the earliest fantasy role-playing games, Arduin, created by David A. Hargrave in the 1970s. Per Wikipedia, it was "the first published "cross-genre" fantasy RPG, with everything from interstellar wars to horror and historical drama, although it was based primarily in the medieval fantasy genre." One of the earliest challengers to TSR's Dungeons & Dragons, these three manuals were created as D&D supplements, but were later prohibited legally from mentioning D&D. Vol. I (1977) is apparently a 3rd printing (per Wiki, though it fails to note the change in artist), with cover art by Greg Espinoza (following original artist Erol Otus) & the bare-breasted woman on the back cover (she would later be given a top). Vol.II, "Welcome to Skull Tower'' from 1978, has cover art by Brad Schenk, & Vol.III (also 1978), "The Runes of Doom,'' returns to the art of Espinoza. Each softcover 8vo volume is just shy of 100 pages, in tan wrappers with a stapled binding, staples showing slight rust. Condition overall is VG: beyond some surface soiling & smudging, & some very mild dogearing to a few pages, they are all completely clean & unmarked save for former owner's name & address in pen on first page of 2 books. Pages creamy white with mild tanning. Minor edgewear, Vol. I with mild creasing to lower-outer front cover & a tiny pin-prick hole here, same area. An early & collectible piece of the RPG world in the pre-computer age! No listings in OCLC & scarce as a set in the trade. Our photos depict the Exact book you will receive, never "stock" images of books we don't actually have! Same Day Shipping on all orders received by 2 pm Weekdays (Pacific); later orders, Weekends & holidays ship very next business day.