An homage to the man behind 'Dungeons & Dragons'

Gary Gygax helped keep me out of trouble when I was in junior high school.

I was saddened earlier Tuesday to hear that Gygax, the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons and the father of modern role-playing games, has died. He was 69 years old. My CNET Reviews colleague Will Greenwald has already written about Gygax's role in the gaming community.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)

For many of us who grew up before PCs became ubiquitous and long before it was cool to be a geek, Gygax's creation meant Friday nights spent playing games with your friends, not wishing you were someone else. Instead of finding creative ways to break the law, we were busy rolling 20-sided dice and doing battle with Orcs and other evil beasts.

It was a fantastical world for adolescents. Gygax managed to mix The Lord of the Rings and mythology with comic book adventures. Naturally, there were absurd D&D-related scares in the early-1980s regarding kids delving into Satanism and disastrous episodes of real-life sword fighting. (I always thought if kids were dumb enough to fight with real swords, they had bigger issues than the influence of a role-playing game).

My own memories: Before moving on to the decidedly autocratic role of Dungeon Master, my favorite D&D role was a long-sword-wielding ranger named Toranaga (I think the miniseries Shogun was big at the time and that's where I got the Japanese name). He had a magic girdle of strength and ran a speakeasy on the side. For the record, Toranaga was Chaotic Good, had a 17 strength (that's non-magic girdle-enhanced), had a sturdy constitution of 14, but was a bit clumsy due to his 9 dexterity. For those of you who never played the game, well, sorry, this probably doesn't mean much to you. Let's just say 17 is good (18 is the highest you can get); 9--not so good.

I also seem to recall my ranger/barkeep met his untimely demise at the hands of an Ochre Jelly monster that made a home in his bar. It was an ignominious death for a guy named after a mighty Japanese warrior.

Times have changed, of course. Like most kids, I moved on from D&D and hadn't even looked at a D&D book in decades, until a former colleague of mine brought into the office. While we may have been oddball hobbyists 25 years ago, role-playing games are now mainstream, thanks to gaming consoles and the Internet. World of Warcraft is a billion-dollar enterprise, and D&D lives on in various forms. But without D&D paving the way, it's hard to imagine WoW would even exist.

So let's pay our respects: You have to wonder how many of today's writers, computer programmers, video game creators, and other creative sorts wiled away their winter nights playing D&D. Thanks, Mr. Gygax. You allowed us to use our brains.

[jakers1138]

All Hail the original GM

When I met Gary Gygax at GenCon a few years back, he surprised me. As the publisher of "Masters of Role Playing", the idea of meeting the man behind the industry was very intimidating. However, I found him to not only be polite and tolerant of a young upstart independent publisher, but also supportive of my ideas and ambitions. Of all the people we met at that Con, and we met many, he's one of the few I still remember warmly. He set a standard that the rest of us could only aspire to. We will miss him.

[Paul Yih]

gary had no false ego to speak of

Gary as a personal friend for over thirty years and became also a partner in one of the possible ventures on "The Gem Hunter" --- In all these years in knowing Gary and his family, having witnessed his life 's up and downs. He has always been kind and gentle with all players, admirers and gamers .

You are correct -- Gary is (was) a king man, I still can't put Gary in the past context . Thank you

[QASIMARA]

He created a way to fantasize with others.

He created a way to fantasize with others. His game served to help people mold their personalities through interactive play and it inspired much art and innovation. Indeed, it was his game that gave birth to a freedom that is valued by many today: the freedom to imagine without the worry of consequence. This sort of collective sharing of non-realities apart from the "real world," I believe, actually served as the precursor to today's "real world" way of life, which is augmented by new media on Web 2.0 and in reality TV shows.

Good bye, Gary.

[Fortunato5678]

I guess he didn't roll high enough on his saving throw

Just kidding. I owe this man a great deal of respect. As a lover of RPGs, he will be missed.

[danopticon]

Dude!

Dude, that's dreadful! I just spat up my Dew!

I never got to play much in Venezuela, but as I got older some of
my best friends were gamers. Funnest people in the world.

:-)

[tindalos]

All I have to say is.......

Thanks and you will be missed!

[kdbaumann]

So long and thanks for all the fun...

I met Gary at a GenCon WAY back when. I think in fact it was like GenCon 3 or 4 or something like that. A few friends and myself had written a dungeon that we were presenting and running people through at the conference. Lo and behold the man himself sat through one of our runs. We all had fun and I have to tell you it was VERY intimidating to be DMing a game with Gary in it. But he made me feel right at home and even made some great comments about what he liked and didn't like.

You will be missed. I have to admit that I would have had a very different life had it not been for DnD back during College. :-) Better or worse it made a change for me.

[Penguinisto]

Rock On...

I lost track of how many hours I used to play D&D as a kid... but yes, exactly - Gygax' baby taught a lot of kids that the mind was one hell of a vehicle all by itself.

I almost feel sorry for the kids today, as they wander over to the console and follow the ruts that a game developer plowed in advance for them...

Gygax will be missed.

/P

[Farthing Haypenny]

I agree

I started playing D&D in 1975 as a freshman in high school. Not only did you have to create all of your own content, you had to create your own rules and rule systems as well. That first edition was more of an idea for a game than a game. But it opened up the floodgates, and within a couple of years there were numerous p&p RPGs.

Now we have computer games, which supply the content (usually un-modable), the rules (almost always un-modable), and they even do the math for you. The difference is like that between reading a book and watching a movie, or in the case of the Game Master between writing a book and watching a movie. Don't get me wrong, CPRGs are great just as movies are. But there is nothing quite like reading a book to stimulate and develop the imagination and to give an idea some real depth.

Thank you Gary Gygax for coming along at the right time for me to enjoy both creating and consuming these games.

[kuroyama--2008]

D&D

Being a guy that played D&D said something about you. Like being a Star Wars, or Star Trek fan, it meant that you were (generally) of a slightly more open mind than most. It meant that for the most part...it would be easy enough to call you "friend".

Quite simply, I cannot recall ever having met a person who games, that I cannot get along with on some level.

What does that say about gamers?

How do we apply that to the rest of the world?

[drsly]

roleplaying is healthy

I salute the late Gygax, I have played D&D for decades, and I
swear, it probably kept me and tons of other teens from doing
silyl, stupid, or even horrible things.

D&D inspired, enlightened, stimulated imagination, shaped
curious minds.

I am nostalgic, yet happy and proud, to have been a D&D gamer.
I am sure it shaped my upbringing into what I have become, a
successful, level-headed individual with a thirst for creativity.

All hail Gary Gygax!

Dr Sly

[SenorFrog]

Thanks

for many hours of fun while I was in high school. You will live on in our memories.

[snakeeye]

D&D

Goodbye to a great man. He was a visionary before his time. He will be missed.

[senorpedro55]

brilliant contributor will be missed

Think I started AD&D around 6 years old and stopped around 15... what an experience.

AD&D inspired incredible interest in learning miles about the religions/mythos of the world ... Roman, Sumerian, Greek, Egyptian, Celtic, Norse, etc. I was fascinated by the congruity of the stories and characters...as well as the evolution of one's own characters. I cannot imagine how much time and care Gary spent on his constructions.

Truly miss the creative capacity exploration that this game inspired... perhaps it should be revived.


Thx Gary.

[wildchild_plasma_gyro]

Everything is Dovely

They Hid from the eye in the Amazon and are most lightly now in the silidified bed of the Ocean somewhere.
It is indivisable.
I'm going Backthis isreal and beccoming more african to have my fantasy moment againg ect

[Seolan]

Thank You

What a fitting eulogy to an iconic man. My user name hales from a party long lost in the distant mists of memory. Seolan, the Druid - ever present in all of my logins, but not heard from for some 20 odd years. He even made it through the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth . . . Thank You. I wouldn't be the geek I am today without Gary. (btw, not a satan worshiper)

[bshaheen]

A Mentor has passed

Thank you Mr. Gygax, for the sleepless nights and companionships that were formed around my moms table. Some of those guys are still my friends today. I've been playing still to this day, and now my 14yr. old son has join the group.
once again fare well, and thans

[wildchild_plasma_gyro]

Wedensday Work day

The sub routien is now at the start burner.
Until they admit they're opression.

Enjoy the star burst.

[ddanckaert]

Goodbye

Thanks, Gary.

[Paul Yih]

Gary gygax

I like to thank the many of your in paying your tribute to Gary . I am a personal friend and as ethnic Chinese where Gary had always showed his appreciation of the various games of Asian origin. We have shared also many interesting events in the development of both the books, movies and game called The Gem Hunter , based on my travel in and around the world and the many ventures. Gary was a fascinating man where D&D from my ex-university counsenlor role --- It had helped many many adolescent where their curiosity, their learning of the rich vocabulary in the games and their roles are of great value. Unfortunately often his work has been taken out of context ---

Gary deserves the kind of respect and kind words from all of us --- He and his work indeed had given many youngsters their imaginations and game playing and Gary as always been a very generous man and a giving man. He will be missed.

[udo-dutch-vandemoor]

this one hurts

i was raised roman catholic and the death of pope john paul II meant nearly zip to me (even though we're from the same hometown). but gary's death hits home. started playing thirty years ago - i was ten. i've been a regular player, designer, and contributor to the gaming world for twenty years - and to this day i am (for the most part) more fascinated with the world to which gary gave birth than the one that collects my taxes. thank you, gary. thank you for everything.

[umbrae]

May he always roll 20's

From age 6 on, this man has brought me unending hours of entertainment. Name a single product that people play and love for almost 30 years.

Truly a sad day for RPGs.

[Dr_Zinj]

Gary Gygax, Father of Fanstasy Roleplaying Games

The absolutely brilliant concept of applying sets of rules to provide a framework for roleplaying was nothing more than creation of algorithms that could be directly translated into computer code.

Loot tables, damage rolls, saving throws, to hit chances all reduced to understandable sets of variables, static values and multi-branching decisions trees. Tear apart any computer gaming program and you'll find Gygax concepts at their very root.

Gary Gygax was to Fantasy Roleplaying Games as Grace Hopper was to COBOL.

[gigantor22]

CRITICAL HIT!!

All I can say is that of all the hobbies I've had over the 30+ years this one in particular has enabled me and others to make a lot of friends.

The game also brought tons of laughs and many sleepless nights that were all about fun and learning.

We will miss Mr. Gygax, I never knew the man but he brought all of us geeks together as friends in one fashion or another.

-Eric

[The_happy_switcher]

Never has one man been more

responsible for so many male teenagers not getting laid.

[sthamner]

Thanks for Sundays

For the past 13 years I've played in a weekly D&D group that meets Sunday nights. Those are nights filled with creativity, laughter, and adventure. Thanks Gary. Thanks for 13 years of great Sundays and many more to come.