Dungeons and Dragons has only been around for 50 years, but authors Mike Rogers and Jonathan Roe have been playing for almost that long. They’ve just adapted their weekly AD&D campaign, which is still going, into a fantasy novel. Released on November 28, Lagar is the first of eight books in the pair’s planned Chronicles of Eynhallow series.
The series’ first book follows the story of Balladir, a DnD Bard who joined Roe and Rogers’ campaign in 1990. “Balladir bears responsibility for gathering and sharing tales that will enrich the cultural wealth of his people”, says the Chronicles of Eynhallow website. “This volume recounts the history of his voyage to Lagar, home of the dwarves, where he finds an island invaded by a force from the neighboring Starlands, a force which threatens not only to divide and overwhelm the dwarven people, but to herald the arrival of something far worse.”
The rest of the premise sounds very much like a DnD campaign. “Together with a handful of strangers, Balladir’s skills with magic, music and blade will be called upon to aid the dwarves”, the website continues. “But who among this small group can be trusted? And how will Balladir balance the dwarves’ needs against his own ability to survive the political and religious turmoil erupting around them? With powerful allies on one side and violent betrayals on the other, Balladir will learn that the world stretches wider and holds more secrets than the Bards before him had ever realized.”
Roe is apparently responsible for dreaming up this DnD setting, although Rogers “does most of the actual writing”. “Mike kept a record of what happened from the point he started playing in the late 1980’s”, the website says. “From those extensive notes, Mike began fleshing out the narrative”. “Mike does most of the actual writing but he runs everything past Jon for consistency and constructive criticism, and Jon adds to it with better ideas and enthusiasm!”
As this game has been active since 1980, everything is based on the rules of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (AD&D). Roe confirms this in a Reddit post from December 2. However, Roe also says that “over time, we’ve come away from the rule books slightly”. “My sons play fifth edition, and some of the things I’ve heard about that sound great. I’ve nicked a couple of small things and introduced them into our campaign.”
Replying to one commenter in this post, Roe says that “without any doubt, the greatest thing to have come from the years of playing are the friendships”. “It has definitely been the glue that has kept us together in many ways, and that’s reason enough to never stop.”
A prologue is available to read for free on the Eynhallow website. The Chronicles of Eynhallow: Lagar has been published by Pegasus, and it’s available from a variety of bookstores and retailers. However, the Eynhallow website says that the rest of the series hasn’t yet secured a publishing deal. This means the second entry, Lyra, has no confirmed release date yet. “Rest assured it’s on its way”, the website claims. “All eight books are planned in detail and much of the adventure in the second tale is already set down in print.”
If you feel like playing your own 44-year campaign, here’s everything you need to know about DnD classes and DnD races first. Or, for more recent TTRPG updates, here’s our 2024 Player’s Handbook review.