Gary Gygax (Father of Dungeons & Dragons) passes away

[SirFozzie]

http://www.freeyabb.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=4373&mforum=trolllordgames

Damn. TSR ripped the guy off. Hopefully on the other side, there's one hell of a game going on.

[Mustang]

Gary failed his saving throw.

[Crim]

I had a pastor when I was young who postulated that Gary Gygax might be the antichrist. Guess we're safe now.

[Mustang]

I had a pastor when I was young who postulated that Gary Gygax might be the antichrist. Guess we're safe now.

I forget sometimes how much anti-D&D sentiment was out there when I was growing up. We were forbidden from drawing anything 'Fantasy' related in my 7th grade Art class after someone drew a carrion crawler.

[Honolulu_Blue]

That's sad.

[Atocep]

That's sad.

Indeed. :(

[Subby]

I spent a lot of my 4th-6th grade playing his game. For nostalgia's sake, I bought some his old D&D books off of eBay a few years ago and was still amazed that someone could create a game that complex and imaginative.

Godspeed.

[cthomer5000]

In some weird connection, I happened to wear my "This Is How I Roll" (with picture of 20-sided die) t-shirt to work today...

this ones for you Gary, Grand-Pimp of all nerds.

[wade moore]

While D&D time is far past for me - it certainly filled up a fair chunk of my childhood. Sad to see him go.

[Fidatelo]

My friends and I have just recently gotten back into D&D, after a 5 year hiatus or so. What a great game, kudos to Mr. Gygax.

[rkmsuf]

My friends and I have just recently gotten back into D&D, after a 5 year hiatus or so. What a great game, kudos to Mr. Gygax.

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[Fidatelo]

Ha, ping pong balls for lightning, those guys are losers! We use weighted wiffle balls painted yellow with streamers, it looks way better.

[sachmo71]

Ha, ping pong balls for lightning, those guys are losers! We use weighted wiffle balls painted yellow with streamers, it looks way better.

Plus he tried to cast sleep on a tree. Good luck with that, Frodo.

nerd.

[sabotai]

I had a pastor when I was young who postulated that Gary Gygax might be the antichrist. Guess we're safe now.

Not completely safe...

http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0046/0046_01.asp

[RendeR]

R.I.P.


The world is a lesser place.

[Thomkal]

Dungeons and Dragons was one of two things (Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern being the other) that sparked my lifelong interest in reading and most things fantasy/sci-fi. Pretty devastating that the creator of one of those sparks has now gone out.

RIP Gary.

[Crim]

Not completely safe...

http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0046/0046_01.asp

That was hella awesome!!!!!

[JediKooter]

Pizza and Jolt will be served at the reception after the funeral.

[Marc Vaughan]

D&D definitely helped me make many friends both at high school and university - but it also helped me in enhancing maths and language skills .... and also served as a basis for many of the game design skills I use in my job today.

Sad to hear of his passing, he left a positive impact on the world and that imho is all we can aspire towards.

[CamEdwards]

My favorite D&D memory is playing a game with my older brother and his friends back when we lived in New Jersey. Wish I could remember the name of the module we were playing, but that's really unimportant. What IS important is that I said something dorkily funny (or funnily dorky) and made hot chocolate come out of Robert Sean Leonard's nose.

My biggest brush with celebrity and I didn't realize it until years later. At the time he was just a chubby juvenile delinquent with a near monobrow.

Anyway, thanks for the memories Gary.

[Honolulu_Blue]

What IS important is that I said something dorkily funny (or funnily dorky) and made hot chocolate come out of Robert Sean Leonard's nose.

That's pretty sweet.

[Honolulu_Blue]

It's weird to try to think how different my life would have been without D&D. I started playing it when I was 6 years old. I played it, or other various RPGs, pretty consistently from then until I graduated from college. I still dabbled a bit here and there in law school. Nowadays, all my role-playing is confined to 2-3 long weekends a year when I get back together with my old crew.

Almost all the friends I made growing up all the way through college I made through RPGs in one way or another.

[Eaglesfan27]

I had a pastor when I was young who postulated that Gary Gygax might be the antichrist. Guess we're safe now.

Yep. I had to convince my mom that it was ok and I was still a good Catholic boy in order to have my friends over to play any D&D. It took a lot of persuasion and she wouldn't let me play until I was 13.

[CamEdwards]

It's weird to try to think how different my life would have been without D&D. I started playing it when I was 6 years old. I played it, or other various RPGs, pretty consistently from then until I graduated from college. I still dabbled a bit here and there in law school. Nowadays, all my role-playing is confined to 2-3 long weekends a year when I get back together with my old crew.

Almost all the friends I made growing up all the way through college I made through RPGs in one way or another.

That's cool that you still get to play though. I'd say 2-3 times a year would be enough for me, but I can't find anyone that would play.

[Bonegavel]

Gygax was a bit of a douche but he and Arneson (who, IMHO, was the more creative force) developed a game that is with me today almost 30 years after I was smitten by my first dungeon crawl.

Also, Gygax is an awesome name.

[RendeR]

That's cool that you still get to play though. I'd say 2-3 times a year would be enough for me, but I can't find anyone that would play.


I have the very same problem. We have the interest but of all our friends only one couple realy has the same interest and we never have time to actually play the game.

it sucks.

We're relating on a very scary level lately Cam....Are you my daddy?

[Honolulu_Blue]

That's cool that you still get to play though. I'd say 2-3 times a year would be enough for me, but I can't find anyone that would play.

It works out pretty well. I am not sure if I could do it too much more than that. It's really just a great excuse to get together, have some beers, and do what we've always enjoyed doing. Making it somewhat consistent, has allowed us to play a connected series of one-shots. Same characters, same world, but each "adventure" is contained within the alotted time instead of carrying over week to week like the olden days.

[Grammaticus]

It's a shame, I'm sad to hear this. The guy was still churning out creative content over the past few years.

I read some of the links on the whole TSR thing. Boy that was a total mess. It has got to suck ending up on the losing end of that.

[CamEdwards]

I have the very same problem. We have the interest but of all our friends only one couple realy has the same interest and we never have time to actually play the game.

it sucks.

We're relating on a very scary level lately Cam....Are you my daddy?

I have no idea. Your mom... well, let's say she believed in open relationships as well. :p

That and I'm sure I'm younger than you.

[Zelig]

We need a 7th level cleric - STAT!

[AENeuman]

Thought the posts would be more sarcastic. So I went to sfgate for comments.
Here are some good ones:

He had a wife?

No doubt killed by an Ogre with a high skill rating. Well, you roll your 12-sided dice and you take your chances.

Will the casket be 12-sided???!?!

[Bonegavel]

0 Charisma

[sterlingice]

Pizza and Jolt will be served at the reception after the funeral.

Or Mountain Dew

SI

[Groundhog]

Gary failed his saving throw.

I liked this one.

[SirFozzie]

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/8894/ootstributelk6.th.jpg (http://img81.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ootstributelk6.jpg)

Nice tribute strip from the D&D Webcomic "The Order Of The Stick"

[BYU 14]

It's really amazing when you think of how many games we probably would not have without Dungeons and Dragons. Ultima, Bards Tale, Wizardry, Might and Magic, Everquest, Baldurs Gate, WOW, Oblivion.....

Gygax and Arneson really were behind a lot of enjoyment for many people over the years.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Sad news :(

[damnMikeBrown]

Thank you

[Honolulu_Blue]

Thought the posts would be more sarcastic. So I went to sfgate for comments.
Here are some good ones:

He had a wife?

No doubt killed by an Ogre with a high skill rating. Well, you roll your 12-sided dice and you take your chances.

Will the casket be 12-sided???!?!

Wow. I'm not sure what "sfgate" is, but if these are "some good ones", I'd hate to see the bad ones.

[kurtism]

A really nice and balanced retrospective on Gygax and his impact:


http://www.websnark.com/archives/2008/03/lower_the_flags.html

[terpkristin]

As a dork, I mourn the passing of another dork. :(

But I guess it's finally time to admit that I never played D&D, despite actually wanting to. I guess I don't hang out with (and didn't hang out with in high school) dorky enough people... :-\ Maybe some day I'll get a chance...

/tk

[StLee]

I've never been much of a Dungeons and Dragons player, but I have a friend who is big into the game and helped to host a gamers conference. Gary Gygax was the premier guest of the conference, and I had the opportunity to eat dinner with him at a Red Lobster with my friend. He was a nice man and seemed more interested in asking about our lives than parlaying the same old story about his life.

RIP

[Sgran]

RIP.

I just started playing again in the fall after a 20 year hiatus. It's still fun. We still play first edition AD&D. I was amazed to go on line and find out how it has progressed (fourth edition is coming out soon). I don't even understand what they're talking about anymore.

I'm indeed sad, but at least I got a great new signature.

[Sgran]

Not completely safe...

http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0046/0046_01.asp

I can't believe that's sincere. I kept waiting for it to go over the top, and then it did, and then it wasn't a joke. Unreal.

[Vince]

Sigh. :( Godspeed.

[Esquared1]

I knew (mostly know of) his son in college. For a while, his son lived above me in a college apartment.

A couple thoughts about this:

1. His son was part of the Psychology program at our school. We'd have these program functions every now and again. At one of these, we played this game where the leader would read off a "life event", and then we'd vote on who would be most likely to have done it. The leader read off "slept overnight in a coffin". One of the preppy types singled out GG's son, stating "You just seem like one of those freaky people who would do something like that."

2. GG's son ran with a group that played D&D. I played a bit in college too, but I never wanted to play with him, simply because when we would have the invetible rules dispute, he might say something like "you know, my dad's idea behind that was. . . ", or "you know, let me call my dad and see what he thinks".

3. In reality, GG's son is a nice guy, and though I never really got to know him personally, I pass on my condolences to him and his family. It seemed like he came from a good family.

[SirFozzie]

I can't believe that's sincere. I kept waiting for it to go over the top, and then it did, and then it wasn't a joke. Unreal.

Welcome to the wonderful World of Chick Tracts

[Sgran]

Welcome to the wonderful World of Chick Tracts

"Now, the question becomes—if a person "innocently" works an authentic ritual that conjures up a demon, or curses someone; thinking that they are only playing a game-might not the ritual still have efficacy? I think we know the answer to that question. If you play at shooting your friend in the head with what you think is an unloaded pistol and don't know a shell is in the chamber, is your friend any less dead because you were playing?"

- In the bar you see an elf.
- I wanna cast magic missle...

[Ksyrup]

This short discussion on another board is pretty funny:

E. Gary Gygax, Designer of Dungeons & Dragons.
Hit Points = 0
i wish i knew the game so i could make jokes like that. http://soundopinions.org/forum/style_emoticons/default/dry.gif


Joke is incorrect. Anybody who's actually played D&D knows you die at -10 HP. 0 through -9 is unconscious.

my god. as if i needed to become even less sexually attracted to you.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Dave Arneson, the co-creator of D&D passed away yesterday.

Thanks for everything, Dave.

The Escapist : News : R.I.P., Dave Arneson [UPDATE] (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/90765-R-I-P-Dave-Arneson)

UPDATE: Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Dave Arneson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Arneson) lost a long battle against cancer last night.

The Escapist expresses its sincere condolences to the friends and family of Dave Arneson.

In his youth, Arneson was fond of wargaming, specifically naval wargames. As a student of history, Arenson combined his passion for gaming with historical events, frequently running "what-if" scenarios for famous battles of ages past. His love for tabletop gaming led him to a fateful meeting at Gen Con in August 1969, where he met a young man named Gary Gygax.

Together with Gygax, Arneson was responsible for co-creating the influential tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, with the first edition published in 1974. While Gygax and Arenson would eventually part ways, their work would pave the way for hundreds of tabletop RPGs - and did more to popularize and define the modern High Fantasy setting than virtually anyone since J.R.R. Tolkien.

Arneson would go on to focus development on his own Blackmoor tabletop campaign, and later became a teacher of a game design course at Full Sail (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_Sail_Real_World_Education) until he retired last year.

Since suffering a stroke in 2002, Arneson's health declined, and he struggled with cancer - a condition which suddenly worsened late last week (http://odd74.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=blackmoor&action=display&thread=2020), when he checked into a hospital with a "poor" prognosis. After some confusion with conflicting (http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2009/04/rip-david-l-arneson-1947-2009.html) reports (http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2009/04/dave-arneson-is-still-with-us.html) on the 7th, Arneson lost his fight against cancer last night with family at his side. Gygax himself passed away (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/81988-Gary-Gygax-Dies) last March.

Sources close to the man have confirmed the sad news. "Dave Arneson, who I had the pleasure to finally meet in 2004, was a titan of creativity. His contribution to the creation of role-playing games, and through them the entire ecosystem of CRPGs, MUDs, and MMOs that grew from them, was immeasurable. The game industry would not be the same today without his work," said Alexander Macris, publisher of The Escapist.

[Thomkal]

:( Sorry to hear that.

[Khorium]

Did he drop any good loot?

[JediKooter]

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[Marc Vaughan]

I'm really sad to hear of their passing ..

I played a LOT of RPG's and D&D in particular during my childhood - I had a huge amount of fun, made a lot of friends and they taught me a lot about game design and undoubtably influenced my career (indeed the CM3 match engine was basically a football RPG beneath the surface, I tested it on the table top during its early evolution and many of the variable ranges utilised in it are very influenced by what ranges were used in RPG's I played).

[Travis]

Order of the Stick with another good tribute strip

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0644.html