Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Failed His Final Saving Throw

Gary Gygax, Dungeons & Dragons creator, dies
Gary Gygax, who co-created the fantasy game Dungeons & Dragons and helped start the role-playing phenomenon, died Tuesday morning at his home in Lake Geneva. He was 69.
This is too bad. Thanks, Gary, for creating the game that gave me (and my wife) many, many hours of enjoyment while we were in college. I'll always have many great memories of the great adventures my friends and I embarked upon.

**Warning: Extremely Geeky D&D Talk Ahead**

I had never played D&D until I was at UT and in the marching band. Several of my friends played, so I joined them in rolling up a character or two in the basement of Andy Holt Apartments. My first and overall main character was a fellow named Joshua, a Ranger who eventually made it to about 12th level. The first module I ever played was called "Ravenloft", which I'm sure many D&D alum will recognize as one of the best ever written. My novice, low-level character was the one to deliver the killing blow with a special artifact the Dungeon Master provided himself.

My enjoyment of D&D and eventually doing some Dungeon Mastering myself came from a strong storytelling place inside me that is still there today - it manifests itself in my love for theatre and dramatics, and for that I'm grateful. Even the Dragonlance world this site, "The Inn of the Last Home" is based on is a D&D creation.

So thanks again, Gary, and may you find the Happy Hunting Grounds...


UPDATE (03/05): I think this photo sums it up:

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