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Gary Gygax Dies

RIP Mr. Gygax. Your games probably insured I wouldn't have a normal social life until my early 20s, but, damn, did I have fun!! You will be missed.
 
Just saw thin on Fark. A sad for geeks everywhere. One step closer to the impending death of Shatner and Nimoy, the days in which the world will stop.

TEG
 
TEG said:
One step closer to the impending death of Shatner and Nimoy, the days in which the world will stop.
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<Spengler>Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light.</Spengler>

I had a 12th level thief/mage once - she even made it through the entire Q1 series when a bunch of us played "Advanced" D&D long before the Second (and subsequent) Editions and rule sets.

Gygax really did revolutionize the role playing genre, though. It's a shame there isn't a high-level cleric around when you really need one to cast Ressurect.
 
Wow. That's a name I haven't heard for over 20 years :eek:

RIP Gary. You made us create and imagine, what better gift could you have given?
 
As Gary was not due to turn 70 until July, he had not yet hit Venerable, and so his Maximum Age has not yet been rolled. Therefore I rule that his death was not due to old age. Can anyone cast 5th level cleric spells?
 
Bummer.

I spent a lot of time playing AD&D, it motivated me to learn to write so I could make good stories for quests. It was fun while it lasted.

You will be missed.
 
This is very sad news:

"Dungeons & Dragons Co-Creator Dies at 69"

First of all, I wasn't even aware you could do that in D&D. Perhaps he just let his guard down momentarily and was seduced by an evil Sorceress.
 
Alas, many people are sadden by this news. Many people play D&D (or did play even if they wouldn't admit it today). He revolutionized game play. Just imagine a time where people actually got together and had to think about the game instead of pushing buttons. What a concept.;)

Oh..and FYI....Drego - 14th level Thief

RIP Gary
 
Revolutionize or Invent RPG

FoxyKaye said:
Gygax really did revolutionize the role playing genre, though.
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Revolutionize? As memory serves, and mine goes back farther than I care to admit, there were really no RPGs before D&D. The closest I recall was a set of rules for medieval miniatures combat that included fantasy characters like dragons, elves, magic, etc. This was called Chainmail, by TSR.

The first D&D games I'd ever played was using the original set of 3 small books, long before AD&D. I remember saving my money up to buy the supplements that followed like Eldrich Wizardry and Grayhawk, I think it was called.

After D&D came the flood of low-budget, but cool and creative titles like Tunnels and Trolls, Metamorphosis Alpha (a favorite of min and precursor to Gamma World), Bunnies and Burrows (A one-of-a-kind game that I still have packed away somewhere), Swords and Sorcerers, Runequest (the monochrome color cover version), Bushido, Top Secret... Wow, all the memories!

Oh, and the first time I'd seen a d4, d8, d20...

Gary Gygax, you will be remembered.
 
Wow, I almost forgot...

I guess I should also be grateful to Gary Gygax for having inspired me to do more creative writing, which led me to actually get into the game development world.

I actually managed to make a little extra money working on gaming supplements, but only much later after sci-fi role playing games had been well developed.

So, thank you Gary for inspiring me to work on BattleTech, Star Trek:TRPG, 2300AD!
 
RIP Gary Gygax

May you rest in peace Gary Gygax. D&D has been an important part of my life. Thank you for this great game.
 
CHess said:
Revolutionize? As memory serves, and mine goes back farther than I care to admit, there were really no RPGs before D&D. The closest I recall was a set of rules for medieval miniatures combat that included fantasy characters like dragons, elves, magic, etc. This was called Chainmail, by TSR.
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Chainmail was a Gary Gygax creation (as was TSR). Chainmail was the precursor to D&D, and evolved out of other miniature-based wargames. D&D really was the first real RPG.

Boingboing has a mini biography and an interview up.

http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/03/04/dungeons-dragons-cre.html
 
I too would like to add my thanks to EGG for the wondrous game which began to channel my interests and creativity, from the first day I opened the Basic D&D boxed set.

I started playing D&D back in 1979, the same year our family got our first computer; an Apple II+. My high school computer class (AppleSoft BASIC) final project was a battle simulation that used AD&D rules to create two armies, which then battled to the death. I got an "A" for that one.

AD&D 2nd Edition came out, while I was in college. I thought the rules had been "dummied down", so I skipped that edition for the most part.

I started DMing games online in 1995, the same year I became a TSR Online rep (i.e. chat host) for their AOL forum. When 3e came out in 2000, I liked what I saw and switched over to the newer rules.

Now 4e is on the way, with an ETA of June. The game will have an online element, the D&D Insider, which is not Mac compatible, of course.

Out of curiosity, for those of you who used to play D&D but have indicated you do so no longer, why did you quit?
 
Aeolius said:
Out of curiosity, for those of you who used to play D&D but have indicated you do so no longer, why did you quit?
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No-one had the time... not even for one-offs or simple crawls, let alone campaigns. DMs stopped preparing, players stopped caring. Somehow adulthood just got in the way and people moved into new places where no-one had a big table. ;)

Some DMs got too obsessive over the minutiae and models; some went the other way and concentrated too much on the narrative, ignoring the rules. Some got suckered in by the pre-packaged linear boxed sets that left little room for character and true interaction, Dragonlance being one series I particularly detested.

Shame, really. Some of the best friends I've ever had — female and male — came from playing D&D many years ago; friends I still have to this day. I've still got a lot of AD&D stuff packed away, including some Gary Gygax modules. Some of it's in new condition, but I'm not sure what to do with it all.

One very memorable game due to excellent and hilarious DMing: Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh and the ensuing series. Thanks Dave. :)
 
Blue Velvet said:
No-one had the time... not even for one-offs or simple crawls, let alone campaigns. DMs stopped preparing, players stopped caring. Somehow adulthood just got in the way and people moved into new places where no-one had a big table. ;)
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That just about sums it up for me.
 
Fair enough.

When I mentioned that I started running games online in 1995, it was only because my last IRL D&D game was in 1994. I've been making due with play-by-post games and chat-based games ever since.

Sunday nights are my game nights. At 9pm, when my three youngest are in bed and my three oldest are winding down, I run a chat-based game on an IRC channel.
 
Over time, many of us also started yearning for the simplicity and speed of D&D just for its entertainment value, instead of getting bogged down in hardcover books discussing just exactly what a volley of magic missiles could do... and whether invisible people breathed. :rolleyes:

More people wanted to play but those games got too cumbersome to manage, with NPCs thrown in as well. It now seems an activity for devotees or people who have the time to do it justice.
 
gkarris said:
Back in high school sitting around a big table munching on White Castles and slaying dragons... :p
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Amen.

Once the game moved to you have to buy 14 volumes, and we've got more rules than anyone could possibly read, much less understand, it got a little much. But boy was it ever fun - especially when Elric of Melnibone was in Dieties and Demigods... :)

I will miss you Gary Gygax - even if I actually liked RuneQuest better. :p

---

The real question is how many of you actually computerized any of the scorekeeping / character sheets, etc. Some of the first programs I ever wrote were on an IBM PC and were for DMs to track experience points assigned to players, etc. Born out of necessity, I suppose, but some of the stuff I wrote (this is back in the early 80's) was pretty complex for a High School kid (at least at the time). I actually learned a lot doing that.
 
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