Basements & Lizards

Taken from "Diepedia"

"Basements & Lizards was created in 1972 by the twin brothers Ralph and Earl Peedersen. The brothers were already famous for playing Chess backwards on the Tonight Show. The genesis for B&L came from US Army survival guides and pulp fantasy stories. The first edition of the game was published by Endless Sand Diversions, who up until that time sold plans on making European style sand tables for military gaming enthusiasts. (ESD eventually filed chapter 11 when the movie documentary Square Masters exposed a group of Napoleonic cross-dressers). By this time B & L was an underground hit. Copies were in high demand, some estimates claim as many as 9 copies a day were being sold. B & L was then purchased by Amy Hale, who owned a Bauxite mining facility in Australia, several pet pharmaceutical companies and the IP rights to Gilligan’s Island. Ralph and Earl were directed to create an RPG based on this franchise, eventually this effort would drive both out of hobby gaming, forever. Once again, in 1986 B & L was sold to the Fundimensions Group, then again in 1989 to Simkin Corp. Several Kid's shows and a toy line were produced in the 90's. B & L is now undergoing its 12^th revision. The 11^th edition spawned many criticisms, especially its use of proprietary non-Euclidean polyhedrals to drive game play (The Infamous d19 System or TIdS)."