Gary Gygax, Passing of an Icon.

Deathstalker · #1 March 5th, 2008, 09:49 AM

"Gary Gygax, the man who co-invented a seminal role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, died Tuesday in Wisconsin. He was 69.

Gygax and Dave Arneson developed Dungeons & Dragons in 1974. The game started a culture of gamers, who now feed a sophisticated multi-billion dollar video and online game industry.

"His innovation created an entirely new type of hobby that now attracts millions of players worldwide," the black-shrouded D&D website said Tuesday.

"He inspired generations of designers, players and authors and he will be sorely missed by legions of fans."

He had been suffering from health problems, but hosted weekly games of Dungeons & Dragons even in January, said his wife, Gail Gygax.

He was creating new material into late 2007. His game Teeth of the Barkash Nour, for example, was published by Troll Lord Games last fall.

The multiplayer online game World of Warcraft owes much of its popularity to Dungeons & Dragons, which itself owes a great debt to J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.

David Sutherland, the artist whose work appeared in many Dungeons & Dragons publications, died in 2005."

Damn I'm getting old. Too many childhood heroes passing away. May he rest in peace.

Steve (Deathstalker)

rstaats10 · #2 March 5th, 2008, 10:26 AM

D & D was the first RPG I played when I was a kid. Sorry to hear about his death. RIP.

capnq · #3 March 5th, 2008, 10:35 AM

Some links:
AP news report on CNN
The Order of the Stick tribute

I particularly recommend the OotS tribute.

Xrati · #4 March 5th, 2008, 01:47 PM

I used to game with Gary back in the early 80's. He WILL be missed!

AstralWanderer · #5 March 5th, 2008, 02:20 PM

A sad day indeed. Not only did EGG have a huge initial influence on fantasy RPG but many related hobbies (LRPG, PBM, CRPG) would likely have gone in different ways without his (and Dave Arneson's) work.

There must be few others would can claim to have (positively) influenced so many people.

gregebowman · #6 March 6th, 2008, 02:20 PM

I also was saddened when I heard the news. I didn't really get the chance to play D&D until I went to college. then I met some people in my military days who played. Those were some good times, even if we weren't playing AD&D. I sure miss playing now; I'm tired of playing solo on my computer. I miss the camaderie of a bunch of people sitting down together, even if one of them was the token a$$hole who had to know everything without opening the book. Maybe when my son is older he'll get involved and invite the old man to play. One can only hope.