Back to Earth
Well, this is odd...finally I find something worth writing about. Not really about me, but this is something I think my friends should know about. On the morning of March 4th, 2008, Gary Gygax passed away at his home in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. This man is widely regarded as one of the fathers of the role-playing game. He essentially co-created tabletop gaming, and was one of the co-authors of D&D as well as a founding member of TSR. He directly contributed to the core rulebooks of first and second edition and authored many modules, adventures and settings (most of which are based on actual campaigns he played through with his fellows.) Greyhawk, The Tomb of Horrors (yes, he's credited with the death without a save playstyle), and The Temple of Elemental Evil are just some of the more famous of his contributions, as he's made dozens of others across several genres and gaming systems. If you've ever wondered about or admired Mordenkainen, Melf, Bigby, Leomund, Tenser, or Rary...well then you've wondered about one of Gygax's PCs or NPCs in the early days before second edition.
The man has an adjective coined after him, for God's sake. "Gygaxian."
It is truly depressing that his creative contributions will no longer directly grace our gaming landscape, but also truly impressive to know that I would never know D&D or any similar RPG if not for him. We owe the current state of gaming to Gary Gygax, and I think that everyone who was affected in some way in their lives by a tabletop or computer rpg should take a moment to mourn his passing.
The man has an adjective coined after him, for God's sake. "Gygaxian."
It is truly depressing that his creative contributions will no longer directly grace our gaming landscape, but also truly impressive to know that I would never know D&D or any similar RPG if not for him. We owe the current state of gaming to Gary Gygax, and I think that everyone who was affected in some way in their lives by a tabletop or computer rpg should take a moment to mourn his passing.