In the early days of Dungeons & Dragons, before TSR fully grasped the potential of published adventures, an ambitious little company called Wee Warriors stepped into the fray. Founded in the mid 1970s by Pete and Judy Kerestan, this scrappy independent publisher was one of the first third party companies to support the growing table top role playing game phenomenon. At a time when most DMs crafted their dungeons from scratch, Wee Warriors had the radical idea of selling pre made adventure modules an idea so ahead of its time that even TSR wasn’t doing it yet!
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The First Published Adventure: Palace of the Vampire Queen
Their most famous (and historically significant) product was Palace of the Vampire Queen (1976), widely recognized as the first-ever published adventure module for Dungeons & Dragons. While today’s players take pre written adventures for granted, this was ground breaking. TSR had given the world the rules of D&D, but they expected DMs to invent their own worlds and quests. Wee Warriors stepped in with a ready made dungeon crawl, complete with a sinister vampire queen, maps, and a structured adventure for players to sink their fangs into.
It’s worth noting that Palace of the Vampire Queen wasn’t an official D&D book. TSR hadn’t yet figured out how to handle third party publishing, so the module was simply “suitable for use with Dungeons & Dragons” rather than explicitly licensed. Yet, it didn’t take long for TSR to recognize the potential of adventure modules and soon after, they released their own, starting with G1: Steading of the Hill Giant Chief (1978). But Wee Warriors had beaten them to it!
More Than Just Adventures
Wee Warriors wasn’t just about dungeons and monsters. They also pioneered early gaming accessories that made tabletop RPGs more immersive and user friendly. Consider The Character Archaic, one of the first professionally printed character sheets. These days, players have digital apps, fillable PDFs, and laminated sheets, but back then, having a dedicated, structured character sheet was a huge convenience compared to scribbling stats on loose leaf paper.
They also released Dungeon Mapping Sheets, providing grids and layouts to help DMs bring their worlds to life. In the primitive age of RPGs, when graph paper was king, this was a boon to dungeon designers. They even produced The Village (an early town building aid) and Dwarven Glory (another early module), further proving that Wee Warriors was ahead of the curve when it came to RPG supplements.
The TSR Connection and Fading into Obscurity
Wee Warriors’ innovation didn’t go unnoticed. TSR, still in its early years, took an interest in their products and eventually distributed some under its own brand. Yet, despite their early success, Wee Warriors slowly faded by the early 1980s. The company simply couldn’t compete with TSR’s growing dominance, and as official adventure modules became the norm, independent publishers struggled to keep up.
Still, their legacy remains intact. Every time a DM cracks open a published adventure or a player fills out a character sheet, they’re benefiting from ideas that Wee Warriors helped popularize.
A Lasting Legacy
Wee Warriors may not be a household name today, but their impact on RPG history is undeniable. They were the indie pioneers of the table top gaming world, bold, innovative, and unafraid to push the boundaries of what a role playing game could be. Without them, who knows how long it would have taken for the RPG industry to embrace adventure modules?
So here’s to Wee Warriors, the little company that dared to dream big in a world of dice, dungeons, and independent publishing. They may have been small, but their influence was anything but!
