I just found out that Gary Gygax died. He was only 69.
I failed my save vs. stunning blow, so forgive me if this isn’t the most polished thing in the world.
For most geeks, RPGs are a huge part of who we are, and many of the games I’ve loved — and continue to love — probably wouldn’t exist as they do without Gary Gygax. The news reports are calling him "the father of D&D," but he was really the father of all role playing games, whether they were played with dice and paper, a deck of cards, or on a computer. Yeah, wargames existed before D&D, and fantasy existed before D&D, but D&D is the game that introduced fantasy gaming to my generation.
I didn’t know him, and never met him, but his impact upon my life can’t be overstated.
To honor his passing, I’d like to share an excerpt from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Geek, from Happiest Days of Our Lives:
December, 1983
I sat on the floor in Aunt Val’s house and opened up her Christmas present to me. It was a red box with a really cool-looking dragon on the front of it. Inside, there were a few books, some dice, a map, and a crayon to color in the dice.
“That’s a game that I hear lots of kids like to play, Willow,” she said. “It’s dragons and wizards and those things you liked from The Hobbit. The back says you use your imagination, and I know what a great imagination you have.” My brother played with Legos and my cousins played with handheld electronic games. I felt a little gypped.
“Wow,” I said, masking my disappointment. “Thanks, Aunt Val!”
Later, while the other kids played with Simon and Mattel Electronic Football, I sat near the fireplace and examined my gift. It said that I could be a wizard or a fighter, but there weren’t any pieces that looked like that. There were a lot of weird dice, but I had to color in the numbers. That seemed silly, but at least it was something to do, so I grabbed the black crayon and rubbed it over the pale blue dice, just like the instructions said.
Aunt Val (who was my favorite relative in the world throughout my entire childhood and right up until she died a few years ago) walked into the living room. “What do you think, Willow?”
“I colored the dice,” I said, and showed her the result. “But I haven’t read the book yet.”
She patted my leg. “Well, I hope you like it.” She moved to the other side of the room, where my cousin Jack poked at a Nintendo Game and Watch.
I opened the Player’s Guide and began to read.
February, 1984
It was afternoon PE in fifth grade, and I was terrified. I ran and jumped and ducked, surrounded by a jeering crowd of my classmates. The PE teacher did nothing to stop the attack – and, in fact, encouraged it.
“Get him!” someone yelled as I fell to the asphalt, small rocks digging into my palms. I breathed hard. Through my adrenaline-fueled flight-or-fight response, the world slowed, the jeering faded, and I wondered to myself why our playground was just a parking lot and why we had to wear corduroy pants in the middle of a Southern California heat wave. Before I could offer any answers, a clear and loud voice spoke from within my head. “Hey,” it said. “You’d better get up and move, or you’re dead.”
I nodded my head and looked up in time to see the red playground ball, spinning in slow motion, as the word “Voit” rotated into view. Pain exploded across my face and a mighty cheer erupted from the crowd. The PE teacher blew her whistle.
I don’t know how I managed to be the last kid standing on our team. I usually ran right to the front of the court so I could get knocked out quickly and (hopefully) painlessly before the good players got worked up by the furor of battle and started taking head shots, but I’d been stricken by a bout of temporary insanity – possibly caused by the heat – on this February day, and I’d actually played to win the game, using a very simple strategy: run like hell and hope to get lucky.
I blinked back tears as I looked up at Jimmie Just, who had delivered the fatal blow. Jimmie was the playground bully. He spent as much time in the principal’s office as he did in our classroom, and he was the most feared dodgeball player at the Lutheran School of the Foothills.
He laughed at me, his long hair stuck to his face in sweaty mats, and sneered. “Nice try, Wil the Pill.”
I picked myself up off the ground, determined not to cry. I sucked in deep breaths of air through my nose.
Mrs. Cooper, the PE teacher, walked over to me. “Are you okay, Wil?” she asked.
“Uh-huh,” I lied. Anything more than that and I risked breaking down into humiliating sobs that would follow me around the rest of the school year, and probably on into sixth grade.
“Why don’t you go wash off your face,” she said, not unkindly, “and sit down for a minute.”
“Okay,” I said. I walked slowly across the blacktop to the drinking fountains. Maybe if I really took my time, I could run out the clock and I wouldn’t have to play another stupid dodgeball game.
January, 1984
Papers scattered across my bed appeared to be homework to the casual observer, but to me they were people. A thief, a couple of wizards, some fighters: a party of adventurers who desperately wanted to storm The Keep on the Borderlands. But without anyone to guide them, they sat alone, trapped in the purgatory of my bedroom, straining behind college-ruled blue lines to come to life.
I tried to recruit my younger brother to play with me, but he was 7, and more interested in Monchichi. The kids in my neighborhood were more interested in football and riding bikes, so I was left to read through module B2 by myself, wandering the Caves of Chaos and dodging Lizard Men alone.
February, 1984
I washed my face and drank deeply from the drinking fountain. By the time I made it back to the benches along the playground’s southern edge, I’d lost the urge to cry, but my face radiated enough heat to compete with the blistering La Crescenta sun.
I sat down near Simon Teele, who, thanks to the wonders of alphabetization, ended up with me and Harry Yan (the school’s lone Asian kid) on field trips, on fire drills, and in chapel. Simon was taller than all of us, wore his hair down into his face, and really kept to himself. He was reading an oversized book that sort of looked like a textbook, filled with charts and tables.
We weren’t officially friends, but I knew him well enough to make polite conversation.
“Hey,” I said. “Why don’t you have to play dodgeball?”
“Asthma,” he said.
“Lucky,” I said. “I hate dodgeball.”
“Everyone hates dodgeball,” he said, “except Jimmie Just.”
“Yeah,” I said, relieved to hear someone else say out loud what I’d been thinking since fourth grade.
“Hey,” I said. “What are you reading?”
He held up the book and I saw its cover: a giant statue, illuminated by torches, sat behind an archway. Two guys were on its head, prying loose one of its jeweled eyes, as a group of people stood at the base. One was clearly a wizard; another was obviously a knight.
“Player’s Handbook,” he said. “Do you play D&D?”
I gasped. According to our ultra-religious school, D&D was Satanic. I looked up for teachers, but none were nearby. A hundred feet away on the playground, another game of dodgeball was underway. I involuntarily flinched when I heard the hollow pang! of the ball as it skipped off the ground.
“You’re going to get in trouble if you get caught with that,” I said.
“No, I won’t,” he said. “If I just keep it turned upside down, they’ll never see it. So do you play or not?”
“I have the red box set,” I said, “and a bunch of characters, but I don’t have anyone to play with.”
“That’s Basic,” he said. “This is Advanced.”
“Oh.”
“But if you want, you could come over to my house this weekend and we could play.”
I couldn’t believe my good luck. With a dodgeball to the face, Fate put me on the bench next to the kid who, over the next few months, helped me take my first tentative steps down the path to geekdom. He had a ton of AD&D books: the Dungeon Master’s Guide, which had a truly terrifying demon on the cover, and would result in certain expulsion if seen at school; the Monster Manual, which was filled with dragons; and the Fiend Folio, which not only had demons and devils, but a harpy and a nymph, accompanied by a drawing of a naked woman! with boobs!!
Simon’s parents were divorced, and he lived with his mom in a huge house in La Canada. His room was filled with evidence of a custody Cold War. Too many toys to count littered the floor and spilled out of the closet, but even though we were surrounded by Atari and Intellivision, GI Joe and Transformers, we had D&D fever, and the only prescription was more polyhedral dice.
Of all the things I do that make me a geek, nothing brings me as much
joy as gaming. It all started with the D&D Basic Set, and today it takes an entire room in my house to contain all of my books, boxes, and dice.
Thank you for giving us endless worlds to explore, Gary Gygax. Rest in peace.
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I first starting playing D&D in 1982, when I was 13. I have been semi retired from it since 2000.
In 1985 I went to my first Gen Con and went to a talk by Gary Gygax. I took a back hall to get there and lo behold in that same back hall was Gary Gygax, walking along side a man who turned to be Famous Amos himself.
In that hall was just me and a couple of buddies, along with Gygax and Famous Amos. I was severely fan boy stricken by the sight of The Man but he was very nice and pleasant, and radiated a fatherly warmth. We talked as we walked but I don’t remember what he talked about. I do remember just before the stage door to the conference hall he turned to me and handed me an open package of cookies and said, “Here, try my friend’s cookies.” and he said goodbye.
A good soul has passed on and the world is a little poorer from for his absence. Gary Gygax was amazing writer and creative mind, the father of D&D and roleplaying games.
His First Edition Dungeon Master’s guide stands as a classic roleplaying reference, an epic work of game genius.
Good bye, Gary Gygax.
For all the pluses and minuses he brought to the company side of things, he did help change it all.
Along with Dave Arneson. – http://www.jovianclouds.com/blackmoor/bio.html
I think part of the fun was always modifying the “rules” and making things work the way you wanted them to, for fairness or fun or whatever. And now, of course, with few notable exceptions, geeks run much of the world. We learned how to make sense of the world and apply our morals, good or bad, to life through role playing. Most of us found that the good morals always outweigh the bad for the benefit of all. And we learned this by seeing the results of those morals demonstrated right in front of us in role playing.
Mr. Gygax opened that up that possibility for us though I doubt he thought of that at the time but rather just how he could make some money.
I haven’t role played in years and wish I still did. I think beer and movies with friends sorta takes place of that. Beer and role playing would actually be more fun. 🙂 Both end about 2AM when I can no longer think rationally because I’m falling asleep.
Well, here’s to ya! Sling back a grog and cheer!
Apparently, Gary finally succumbed to a critical hit. Gah… that was terrible. But I couldn’t resist.
In any case, much love to the man that brought so many memories to so many of us.
RIP, good knight.
Oh man!! That sucks…
That’s two big icons that have died in one week.
1) Jeff Healey – Blues Man
2) Gary Gygax – D&D creator
It’s a sad week indeed.
My first experience with D&D was in 1979 or 1980, right around high school graduation.
In a small town in western Canada in the late 70’s, somehow I stumbled across the original “blue box” and without really understanding what I was getting into, bought it.
Later that weekend, two of my geeky friends came over, and I breathlessly told them about the stuff I’d been reading all afternoon. Since I bought the game, I was elected DM, I walked them through rolling up characters, and started the adventure in a bar in a small village on the edge of a swamp. Turns out that cattle had been going missing from the farms in the outlying area, and the farmers had collected a bit of money and food together to hire someone to check into the weird lights sometimes seen dancing through the swamps in the night. Would you two be interested?
It seems very “Seven Samurai” now that I look back at it, but of course, in those days I had no idea who Kurosawa was. (And these days, no idea whether I’m spelling it correctly)
We were hooked.
The best “in game” early memory:
The party of two (along with a NPC or two they’d picked up since two-man parties investigating the castle in the swamp had developed a habit of dying fairly quickly since the players hadn’t developed the skill of knowing when to withdraw, and the DM hadn’t invented the skill of knowing when to let up to give them a chance to withdraw) were quietly moving up the overgrown road to the castle when they heard an orc patrol coming towards them.
Knowing they would deplete valuable resources fighting the orcs and get little treasure (and possibly get killed), they resolved to move off into the swamp itself and let the orcs pass by.
Me: “Your mule refuses to wade into the swamp water”
Big gronky fighter: “I’ll yard on the reins and pull it in, I’ve got like a 18/32 strenth”
Me: “It sets its feet in, and refuses all the harder. The sound of the orcs approaching gets louder.”
Fighter: “Fine. I pick it up and wrestle it into the swamp”
Man, that visual had us laughing the rest of the night, and came up in game session after game session for years. It was passed down to several other groups and through several different game systems and rules, and long outlived the character involved.
So much of what I do for entertainment is based on what he started. The mans work and work that was built upon his work has given me so many things over the last 25 or so years. Because of him I have friends I probably would not have had if not for him. He gave me a place to escape to when life was unbearable. To this day what he started still entertains me. This has hit me a lot harder than I would have guessed. When people whos work I admire pass I always feel a little sadness and a little regret that they have gone. When I heard Mr. Gygax died I felt like I owed him something. Like I still owe him something. My life was made better by what he started. Rolling for initiative wont feel quite the same any more.
I was just listening to that song and thinking about what Gary’s creations meant for the arc of my life before reading this.
Thanks, Gary Gygax. You gave me and my nerd buddies structure for the place we needed build to help us figure out who we were and what others meant for us.
Incidentally, I reread this long article on Gygax and the history of D&D last night after reading that the man had died: http://www.believermag.com/issues/200609/?read=article_lafarge
Yup. Just rolled a natural trying to save against the Somber Meditation on Mortality cast by the Gelatinous Nostalgia Cube… Damn.
My favorite D&D nerd moment was in high school, I was at the movie with friends and the preview for Speed came on. The trailer said “Pop quiz, You have a hair trigger aimed at your head. What do you do?”
My buddy yells out “Roll Initiative”. We were proud to be dorks even back then.
If you’ll indulge me for a moment, my tribute to Gygax is here: http://ficlets.com/stories/23405
D&D was so inextricably a part of my teenage years that it is difficult to gauge the impact it had on my life.
At my high school, there was a motley crew of geeks, dorks, and band members–and one basketball jock–who played D&D big time in the Chem Lab every day at lunch. High black marble tables and Bunsen burners. I never would have had so many friends with D&D.
My best friend at the time was a member of the group, oddly enough, the basketball jock. We’d play D&D at his house. I was a bit of a late bloomer and when the hormones rushed in we found ourselves to be playing for different teams. Things were sort of strained after that (this was in the late 70s). (He never knew he was on the receiving end of a very heavy crush).
The one member of the group with a girlfriend (as far as we knew), took me aside one day and propositioned me. It was hysterical. I hadn’t a clue as to what she was actually suggesting–something along the lines of “I’d like you do the same things to me that my boyfriend does”–and immune to her feminine wiles (see above).
I remember getting grounded because while it had appeared to many that I was working on my homework, I had been playing D&D and my grades had fallen (grounding never really worked because I never left me room–I had been born premature and didn’t grow into my body until I was well into my 30s)
At my first job, a print shop, I photocopied the entire Monsters Manual (sorry, Gary…I was poor). The owner was not amused but at least I didn’t get fired.
Buddha, I loved graph and hex paper. The amazing things that arose from those ordered arrangements of simple geometric shapes.
These days I play D&D’s distant (bastard*) son, WoW. Funny how some things stay the same…I’m late with a research paper because I keep trying to level my Tauren Druid.
RIP, Gary. You will be missed.
This was a blog I posted on MySpace:
It was a sad and nostalgic day yesterday (March 4th) for me as I am sure for many of my close friends who I have known since my teenage years.
A wonderful, imaginative, creative and kind man by the name of Gary Gygax passed away. He was 69 years old.
Mr. Gygax was the co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons, the original version being released back in 1974.
Now I know most are quick to think “nerds, dorks, geeks, losers, etc” but if you are a person with any appreciation of anything imaginative, or you have in your lifetime watched one cartoon or movie or read one book that was fantasy based and was made and/or released after the 70’s…you can give some credit to this man for that. All your computer games based in fantasy worlds, Ever Quest, World of Warcraft, etc. etc….the list goes on; I will bet my last dollar the people involved with creating those games played Dungeons and Dragons at some point in their lives.
Now of course there were fantasy books, ancient texts obviously, etc. written well before he was even born. But Mr. Gygax brought them out of the pages and silver screen to a more tangible form in which people could take part. And that was in the innovative form of the RPG (Role Playing Game).
I cannot express in words the wonders it did for my imagination. The wonders it did for me to explore ancient history and see where all these amazing legends got their start. The endless nights and endless summer days of being around good friends, having clean fun. Using our brains and reasoning to play a game that took place mostly in one’s mind rather than on some limiting board.
It was a better time. A time when life still held magic. A time when we would gather to play and our thoughts of the mundane world were abandoned. And our lives for a few hours shifted to worlds of adventures, of men and women who still believed in honor, of perfect justice and of terrible chaos. It was truly Magical.
Thank you Mr. Gygax, thank you for giving us something that made the earlier and even the ‘now’ years better! May you be at peace and finally be able to live in the fantastical worlds you help create.
Ave atque Salve!
Gary Gygax July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008
First played D&D when my nerdy friend Ankur handed me a character sheet at his birthday party and told me I was now a four-armed bug who could beat things up with a big stick. Second Edition Dark Sun was my first introduction to AD&D, and I’ve been playing ever since.
Wrote this after I heard the news.
Suddenly, things didn’t hurt so much. The pain was gone, and the darkness as well. The touch of his loved ones’ hands faded away, as did the pain.
He was free.
He wasn’t sure when it happened, just that it did. There was a burst of light, and a feeling of utter calmness, and then a moment of understanding.
He looked back only once, but already, what had been was fading away. A part of him longed to return, but a voice whispered to him that his time there was over. Something new lay ahead.
But first, there was something he wanted to do.
They were already waiting for him, smiling, just like he remembered. Sheets of paper with arcane symbols and numbers lay in front of them next to glasses of drink and small, polyhedral shapes that glowed in brilliant colors that no human eye could have seen. Faces long since missed. Friends and loved ones that he’d wished he could have seen one more time, and now he could.
There was one empty seat waiting for him at the head of the table.
He took his seat and cleared his throat. Reaching out a hand, he adjusted the shimmering cardboard screen and glanced over his notes.
“All right, guys. Roll for initiative,” he said.
RIP, Dungeon Master, you’ll be critically missed.
I stumbled upon D&D in a very round-about, accidental, and strange way. I seem to have jumbled up the order that most gamers followed.
My claim to geekdom was, and always will be at the heart, band. I loved being in band. I remember being in Kindergarten and listening to the bank play and KNOWING that I had to join the minute I was allowed to, which was in 4th grade. I never realized how lucky I was that SoCal had the option of being in band as young as 4th grade, I know now that most people can’t pick up a musical instrument at school until 7th grade. But I digress. I wanted to be in band from the moment I started school, and I joined in 4th grade. In middle school we were introduced to parade marching, and in high school I got to join the most awesome marching band in the entire state of California. My Freshman year was life changing, I had never had any social experience like being in band was. Our field show was Sweeney Todd, which was awesome, and second semester the drumline did a Vampire show. Now, I was not in drumline, but I followed their progress and was friends with some of the Pit people. It was totally cool.
Fast forward a year or 2 (it’s fuzzy). Inspired by the love of the Vampire genre that was introduced in to us that year, some people found out about a game where you can act out stories about Vampires and be a part of their complicated and very political world in a LARP. “what’s a LARP?” I had no idea…all I knew is that the cool Pit folks were doing it along with some of my other friends, and I was invited to a game! Oh boy, it was so confusing. But it opened up a new social activity for me a close group of friends that followed me into college. We would run small Vampire LARPs when we were all home during summer, or winter breaks. By my sophomore year of college I was introduced to D&D and played a very squeaky gnome that was discovered in a garbage can by a group of wandering heroes, and it was awesome! The rules were overwhelming, but the interactive story telling was incredible.
Fast forward another year. I was in my dorm and I saw a flier that had artwork on it that looked very similar to the Vampire Minds Eye Theater artwork. I got way excited, as I didn’t know that there were other people, in different states no less, who also played these kind of games! (yes I lived under a rock, a big granite rock). It turned out that it wasn’t a Vampire LARP, but a Changeling LARP. I e-mailed the STs and made sure I was at the next game, even though I knew nothing about the setting. That group of people became some of the best friends I’ve ever had, and the reason why I have made many of the choices that have shaped my life. After a couple years of playing in this LARP I started to become more interested in tabletop games. I’ve played GURPs, Star Wars, D&D, Mummy, Heroes, and some smaller games like Redline. I wrote a paper my senior year on Role Playing Games and the Cultural Frame of Reference, and have a few friends who have turned role playing games into academic studies.
So maybe I came to the world of D&D in a non-conventional way, and many people wouldn’t consider me a “true” gamer since I haven’t been at it since I was in middle school. But the bottom line is these games and these people have impacted my life more that I can even comprehend. I am who I am today because of these experiences, and for giving me, and all other gamers, the opportunity for that, I thank you Gary.
Wil,
I swear to GOD you’re experience is almost verbatim to mine, except my Catholic school was in Pomona. Oh, and I was the kid living through the divorce. The led figures, the crayon dice, the basic D&D set with Elf as a class and race all in one…I had them all ina ddition to the bully; Michael Payne (how appropriate). Brian Alexander introduced me to the wonderful interactive part of AD&D and I lived for Saturdays so I could watch the Dungeons&Dragons cartoon. Days spend combing Waldenbooks for modules or led figure sets I had not acquired yet. Outrage at the parents and zealots who decried my game, my peers as demonic, satanic, and deviant – as if the kids running through town beating the hell out of each other were the perfect images of the all-American boys (even if they did play football all the time). I felt this wonderful gratitude towards the librarian at the public library in Temple City who encouraged us to play because it seemed to help our vocabulary, math, and interest in books. To this day, I still have a copy of Chateu d’Amberville and Temple of Elemental Evil. Through my military experience, the nights of those six, long years were filled with AD&D – especially when Pool of Radiance came out for the Commodore 64. I had roommates move out and roommates move in specifically because I played so often, and for so long. AD&D has been the catalyst for many friendships throughout my life and none of it would have been possible except for E. Gary Gygax. For that, I will forever be grateful to him. And for that, I will miss him as if he were a favorite uncle who indulged a geeky kid to imagine the possibilities. Because of him, I became interested in languages and history. Because of him, I learned that I was not alone, that I was not the minority, that I was a geek but that’s not a bad thing to be. Thank you Mr. Gygax, for everything. And thank you, Wil for giving us the forum to thank him.
Helllooo!!!!…Favorite Story EVER!!!
Thanks Wil
It was 1979 and my first year in college. I’d been a Tolkien & Fantasy fan since middle school. A friend of mine from high school I hadn’t seen in a year or so was there in Walla Walla WA. He said to me, “There’s this game you’re going to love,” and pulled out the AD&D Players Handbook. Gary Gygax author. It’s been almost 30 years since then and a few things have changed. Our playing group’s DM, Peter Adkison, went on to found a small company called Wizards of the Coast. (I suggested that name since we were in Seattle – close enough to a coast. My hat is tipped to Butch VanDyke – WotC was the name of a powerful wizards guild in his D&D campaign.) After some success with a game called Magic and Pokemon, Peter made the improbable happen – Wizards bought TSR – and D&D. We spent a LOT of time playing D&D in college and after, much to our parents and professor’s chagrin (“your wasting your time with that game….”) I owe the best of friendships, the best of memories, and a lot of general successes in my life to events surrounding the playing of D&D. Thank you Gary – you will be missed and never forgotten.
– Cheldric Moneypenny
This post is the reason I read your blog, Wil. It is touching and filled with understanding of the exquisite pain that only geeks and nerds feel when something happens to a favorite game, movie, character, writer, creator of cherished worlds. I came VERY late to D&D – I didn’t start playing until after college, but it was something I had always wanted to do. When I saw Elliot’s big brother playing D&D with his friends on the big screen during E.T. when I was 9, I was so fascinated! But in my small town in 1982 those doors were closed to me – I didn’t know the right kids. Any boys I did know certainly would never have shared knowledge of such things with a girl. But at the age of 24, the world of D&D quickened my stunted adult imagination, and gave me pure joy (not to mention yet another geeky addiction!). Thanks for this post. I wasn’t aware he had died until I checked in on you today. My friends and I will surely meet at the tavern and raise a few mugs of mead in his honor! For Gygax!
My uncle-in-law went to college with Gary… and I love when he tells the story of how D&D was created. It totally sounds like something me and my university buddies would have done, had it not already been done before I was born. 🙂
My husband had the pleasure of playing D&D with Gary. I myself never got the chance to meet him. But i have been playing D&D since the Christmas my brother got a boxed set a long long time ago. It most likely was the same set you got Will lol, i remember coloring the dice with the white crayon that came with it. My brother wasn’t interested in the game so gave it to me.
I truly believe that many of the RP games we know and love never would have came about had D&D never been created.
Gary I am sure is in Heaven rolling a whole new set of stats. He will be missed.
It’s posts like this which make me glad that I watch your blog, Wil.
I’m a first time poster – so I’ll get the “Thank you for Wesley (seriously)” out of my system and get down to business…
My school experiences nearly mirror what you wrote – but unfortunately I never had a person like Simon to take me under his wing and teach AD&D to. Interestingly enough, it was while watching an episode of ST:TNG waiting for my DM in college that I met my wife – go figure.
Beyond that – you might get a kick out of the latest post on “Order of the Stick”, one of the many online comics that I read.
I hope everyone here enjoys it – http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0536.html
Again, thank you for your writing – it’s always entertaining!
–rogue
I remember finding my older brother at his friends house and before I could ask him what he was doing he thrust the monsters manual into my hands. I asked him what I was supposed to do with it and he said “draw a dungeon with rooms and hallways like this one and fill it with monsters from the book, then we will come fight them.” Easy enough right, so I created my first dungeon. My brother had a thing for kicking down doors so he insisted on kicking down all the doors in the dungeon. The second door he kicked in had some pretty tough critters in there and they were worried that I might kill them but they made it through. The third door that was kicked in put the party face to face with a red dragon. I remember the wide eyed look my brother gave me and said “I close the door.” I quickly reminded him that he bashed it in and closing it would prove difficult. As you can tell they never told me about hit dice and character level lol.
My brother and I played until I was in high school. My freshman year I met 4 guys that played as well. This was 1990 and thanks to DnD they are still my best friends our children refer to them/me as uncle.
When I left home to join the military the friends that I made were again from starting up a game of DnD. Every adult social outlet that provided me the opportunity to make life long friends DnD was always the one that not only provided me with new friends but friends that have lasted years later.
Gary gave me two great things in my life, the game and the spoils of the game, great friends!!
My husband sez:::
“AD&D consumed most of my teen years, and after I read about Gary’s death I remembered a conversation with a friend of mine that only true gamers would understand.
That being the difference between being referred to as a mere ‘gamemaster’ or the truly honorable title of ‘dungeonmaster’.
I think that there are a lot of us who mark the passage of an era with Gary’s death.”
I started in 1979 with the blue book basic set. With “chits” since they couldn’t get dice made fast enough.
I never met him, but I owe a lot to Gary’s legacy.
Oh, Wil, what with one thing and another (how life interferes with one’s plans, hopes, and aspirations), I have not yet bought _The Happiest Days of Our Lives_, but it is seriously on my List of Things to Do. You are such a gifted storyteller. And–forgive the presumption–you inspire me to become the same. Gods love you.
Gygax was a gawd for my friend and I in the late 70’s and early 80’s . we would adventure at our school and out in the forest ( I guess pre larping). you story was very moving, I wish some one would of done that for me. Your gift, I mean.
We , my gaming companions all miss him, and who knows maybe we’ll game on the other side with the Big”G”. R.I.P. Mr. Gygax ( what a cool name)
“I didn’t know him, and never met him, but his impact upon my life can’t be overstated.”
Thank you, Wil (you don’t know me from Adam, but I hope you don’t mind if I use your first name here) for posting the *exact* words I thought when I heard the sad news. I’ve tried feebly to explain this to my fiance, but I’m certain she can’t grasp it. When I start pulling at the threads of my life, I’m utterly amazed at how many lead back (directly or indirectly) to Gary Gygax. As I’ve said elsewhere, I doubt if anyone will ever be able to measure the full impact of the man’s life – not just on the gaming community, but on our modern society in general.
Cheers!
Tribute!
Ok. Granted I am 40 years old – however, I still have my dice bag and a few figures from ‘the goold old D&D days.
I truly enjoyed hanging out with my friends getting prepared for a ‘true marathon session’ for the night. These were the ‘best social hour(s)’ you could ever be a part of.
Thank you Gary. I never met you, but you sure made an impact on my life.
I think I will roll a few dice tonight have a Leinie (beer) on your behalf.
-Leinie
I have to admit, I was completely stunned as well. After I heard the news from my bf, I had to do some searching of the web because I didn’t believe it. For the next several days, I had been seeing lots of tribute videos and such about Gary, and I must say, every one of them brought me to tears.
I never had a chance to meet Gary, and I never knew that he lived only an hour away from me. I was unable to make his funeral, but I did make it to “GaryCon” in Lake Geneva to pay my respects and share some D&D with his friends and others.
RIP Gary, you will be missed.