Gary Gygax Slays His Last Dragon

Somewhere in the multiverse, the polyhedral dice rolled for Gary Gygax.  The man whose Dungeons & Dragons was the progenitor of an entire genre of role-playing games has died at 69.

I grew up with Dungeons & Dragons.  Back in the analog 1970's, all that virtual reality required were some odd-shaped dice, pencils, graph paper, and above all a passion for all things swords and sorcery and someone to share it with.  While the power of persistent digital worlds has supplanted the bibliocentric medium that Gygax created, it owes a tremendous debt to D&D (as D&D, it must be said, owes another to Tolkien).

The ability to imagine oneself as someone else in another time and place where other rules apply and the only limits are your creativity and that of your companions and the Dungeon Master who spins the tale held great appeal.  Game speed was never the same as real time, for it took longer to compute the results of medieval combat than the actual melee.  It was a game that rewarded preparation and often ran late at night.  The best part was the unpredictable element of how players might tackle a challenge or outwit the creator of the adventure (who was very often me, as I loved being the Dungeon Master). 

It mostly happens in MMORPG's, now, and as one who still hefts a virtual axe now and then and stomps off on quests in such places, there is much that technology adds to the experience.  But role-playing itself has taken a back seat to gaining reputation and advancing in power, and no one responds to my dwarf Sterkfontein in character.  No self-respecting D&D dwarf would say "Woot!"

Gygax gave lovers of swords and sorcery the keys to our imaginations and pointed us toward the open road.

(Tip o' the chainmail coif to Tigerhawk, who knew his way around the Monster Manual back in the day.)   

Comments

[Thomas MacEntee]

Sorry for the snark but I wasn't a fan while my brother was - I just didn't get it. To me the game was always by guys who ended up living in their mother's basement for the next 20 years.

[GreenmanTim]

That's o.k., Thomas. Snark have low hit dice.

Some of us got out of the basement and went off to Renaissance Faires. The attractions of knights in tights and flowing flagons certainly improved our social lives.

[frumiousb]

oh, sad.

[tyree]

Sad to see such an innovative thinker pass. I spent the last President's Day weekend at the OrcCon Convention in Los Angeles with my sons and three of their friends. An architect, two police officers and four college students who write, play ice hockey and practice martial arts. One of the dungeon masters paid us what is the greatest compliment to a D&D player, "You guys work together real well".

Thomas, you can be excused for your misconception, as like some stereotypes, there is an element of truth to it. Just don't let mass media shape your view of the real world like that.

[Bill West]

Tim,
Another icon passes. I was already out of college when D&D became popular and so never had the
chance to play it(although I bought all the manuals out at the time. Still have them someplace
around here). I did, however stumble into the world of online rp on mIRC twelve years ago
and I'm still in the same channel years later.

I've been reading sf and fantasy for wow..nearly 53 years now but the rp helped me
exercise my imagination enough to start writing. So like many others I owe Gary Gygax
a debt for all the hours of enjoyment the invention of D&D brought me even if I've
never actually played that original game.

[Christopher Conner]

It is because of Mr. Gygax that I started doing RPGs. I had to do a research paper in middle school and Dungeons and Dragons was the topic I chose! I learned alot. Unfortunately, I never could get into D&D when I was in school, but I tried to make up for it later in life.

Gary Gygax will be sorely missed! There is no other like him!

[Egy Azziera]

Last night I played my first ever game of Dungeons & Dragons. I was a Dragonborn Paladin, which is bit like a monk-dragon-warrior thing, but noble. A bit like John The Baptist with scales.