If Gary Gygax was the voice booming from behind the Dungeon Master’s screen, Kim Mohan was the steady hand flipping through the rulebooks, red pen in hand, making sure it all made sense.
When we talk about the legendary figures behind Dungeons & Dragons, the names that spring to mind are often Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson, and Ed Greenwood towering figures whose influence shaped fantasy gaming as we know it. But behind every dragon slaying rule system and every magic missile spell, there were editors unsung heroes who turned scattered ideas into cohesive adventures. One of the greatest of these was Kim Mohan.
Mohan wasn’t just a footnote in TSR history; he was a linchpin, a writer and editor who helped shepherd Dungeons & Dragons through some of its most iconic transitions. From the pages of Dragon Magazine to the meticulous halls of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rulebooks, Kim Mohan’s influence was quiet but profound.
Let’s roll initiative and dive into the life, work, and legacy of this underappreciated titan of tabletop gaming.
Table of Contents
From Newsrooms to Dungeons: Mohan’s Unlikely Origin Story
Kim Mohan didn’t start life as a wizard of game mechanics or a bard chronicling the tales of fantasy realms. He started, of all things, in journalism. Born in 1949 in Chicago, Mohan was classically trained in the school of Associated Press deadlines and Oxford commas. Before he ever laid hands on a polyhedral die, he was busy chasing stories and editing copy.
By the late 1970s, Mohan had transitioned from traditional journalism to the slightly more esoteric world of gaming magazines. In 1979, he joined TSR, the then burgeoning company behind Dungeons & Dragons, as a staff writer and quickly made an impression with his clear writing style and editorial acumen.
Little did TSR know they had just hired the man who would soon become the editorial voice of Dragon Magazine, one of the most influential publications in tabletop gaming history.
The Reign at Dragon Magazine
Kim Mohan became the editor of Dragon Magazine in 1981 and held the post for most of the 1980s, a period that many fans fondly recall as the magazine’s “golden age.”
If you weren’t around for Dragon in the 1980s, imagine this: It was the internet before the internet. A place where DMs gathered monthly wisdom, debated monster stats, and argued over the ethics of paladin behaviour with as much passion as real world philosophers debated moral relativism. And Kim Mohan was the editor in chief of this wild, chaotic, brilliant cauldron of content.
He had a knack for balancing the heady technical details with engaging prose. Under his leadership, Dragon became more than just a magazine it was a community hub. Mohan understood that readers didn’t just want tables and rules; they wanted to feel like part of something bigger. Each issue reflected that sensibility.
He also contributed his own articles, occasionally under the pseudonym “Archmage Imrahil” (yes, he had a flair for the dramatic). His writing was smart, witty, and always grounded in a deep understanding of what made D&D tick.
The AD&D 2nd Edition Era: Kim the Crafter
Editing a magazine is one thing. Editing the Player’s Handbook is quite another.
In the late 1980s, TSR undertook a monumental task: revising Advanced Dungeons & Dragons into a more streamlined, accessible system. This would become AD&D 2nd Edition, released in 1989. The game needed an editor who could wrangle mountains of rules, conflicting design goals, and the raw chaos of multiple designers working in parallel.
Guess who got the job?
As lead editor for AD&D 2nd Edition, Mohan had his hands all over one of the most ambitious rulebook revisions in tabletop history. His role was critical he was the voice of clarity amidst the noise, the guy who could take a contradictory set of spellcasting rules and make them sing.
While David “Zeb” Cook served as the principal designer of 2nd Edition, Mohan’s fingerprints are everywhere in the finished product. From smoothing the prose to ensuring consistency across the core rulebooks, Mohan was the final gatekeeper between a designer’s dream and a player’s table.
And he wasn’t afraid to push back when something didn’t work. His editorial instincts helped shape a system that, while not without its quirks, remains beloved by many old school players to this day.
Mohan the Writer: Pen of Many Talents
While Mohan’s editorial work was substantial, he wasn’t just a red pen wielding grammar wizard he could write, and write well.
He penned numerous articles for Dragon, often focused on rules analysis, game philosophy, and world-building. His style was approachable without sacrificing depth, and he had a way of explaining complex mechanics that made even THAC0 seem (almost) reasonable.
But perhaps his most prominent writing credit came in the form of co authoring the Wilderness Survival Guide (1986) alongside David Cook. This supplement expanded outdoor adventuring in AD&D, covering everything from weather hazards to foraging. Mohan’s knack for realism and clarity shone through if you ever had a ranger character who took pride in identifying edible berries, you probably owe Kim a thank-you.
He also edited or contributed to books like the Manual of the Planes, Greyhawk Adventures, and Unearthed Arcana. His touch ensured that these books were more than just rule dumps; they were fun, functional, and full of flavor.
A TSR Survivor in the WotC Era
By the mid 1990s, TSR was floundering under poor financial management and bloated product lines. Mohan weathered the storm with the same quiet resolve he brought to his editorial work. When Wizards of the Coast (WotC) bought TSR in 1997, Mohan was one of the lucky few brought onboard.
He was part of the transition team that helped carry Dungeons & Dragons into the third edition era. Though 3E had a new design crew Monte Cook, Jonathan Tweet, and Skip Williams Mohan remained an editorial consultant and continued to provide his insights, albeit from more of a background position.
Eventually, he stepped away from the front lines of D&D, but not before contributing decades of labour to the most important fantasy game of all time.
Mohan the Man: Behind the Dice
Kim Mohan wasn’t flashy. He wasn’t the kind of guy to slap his name on a boxed set or design a campaign world with his initials embedded in every dungeon. He was the guy behind the curtain, making sure the curtain didn’t fall off the rod.
By all accounts, he was humble, smart, and committed to making games better for players. In interviews, he came off as thoughtful and pragmatic traits that likely served him well in the ever shifting sands of TSR’s internal politics.
He also had a sharp sense of humour. One of his Dragon editorials poked fun at reader letters with tongue in cheek replies that walked the line between sarcastic and diplomatic. (“Yes, Tim from Michigan, your monk’s pet squirrel can dual wield daggers if you want to roll up squirrel specific attack tables, be my guest.”)
Mohan was also a musician and a sci-fi fan, the kind of person who probably could discuss Tolkien, Heinlein, and Hendrix in the same breath. He lived a life deeply enmeshed in the creative arts and brought that passion to his editorial work.
The Final Chapter: Saying Goodbye to a Legend
Kim Mohan passed away in December 2022 at the age of 73. Though his name might not be as loudly remembered as Gygax or Greenwood, his legacy within the Dungeons & Dragons community is just as vital.
His passing sparked an outpouring of remembrance from fans and colleagues alike. Designers who worked with him praised his clarity, kindness, and tireless work ethic. Long time Dragon readers recalled how his editorials felt like letters from a friend.
And those of us who poured over the pages of 2nd Edition, who survived wilderness hazards thanks to Wilderness Survival Guide, or who found inspiration in the old Dragon columns we owe him more than we probably realize.
Legacy: The Red Pen That Built a Universe
Kim Mohan’s legacy isn’t in flashy spell effects or named artifacts it’s in every sentence that made sense, every rule that was readable, and every player who opened a book and didn’t feel overwhelmed. That’s a legacy of clarity, of accessibility, and of care.
In many ways, Mohan was the connective tissue between D&D’s chaotic brilliance and its lasting playability. Without someone like him organizing, clarifying, and questioning, many of the game’s most beloved features might have drowned in their own ambition.
So the next time you’re leafing through an old AD&D rulebook and marveling at how clean it all feels, spare a thought for the man who probably spent weeks making it so.
Final Thoughts: A Hero Without Hit Points
Kim Mohan may never have had a monster named after him, but in the pantheon of D&D’s true heroes, he’s got a seat at the table. Probably one with a stack of red marked manuscripts and a lukewarm cup of editorial coffee.
He was a dungeon master’s dungeon master helping us all play better games, even if we never knew his name.
Rest easy, Kim. Your saving throw against obscurity has succeeded.
