Dave Arneson - RIP
Dave Arneson passed away on 7Apr09 (or at least that's the dates I got), due to cancer.
If you don't know who he was....
One of two things applies:
1. You don't play role-playing games (Dungeons & Dragons, for particular instance)
or
2. You're not aware of the early history of role-playing games....
While much of the world was aware of E. Gary Gygax and his contributions to the hobby, including being one of the *co-creators* of the original Dungeons & Dragons game (the first role-playing game in existence, at least in the western world in the 20th century and after), a lot of people appear to have been unaware of Dave Arneson's contributions: he was the other *co-creator* of the original Dungeons & Dragons game. Furthermore, while much of the game mechanics of D&D were derived from the tabletop wargame 'Chainmail' (created by Gary Gygax et al)--
*Dave Arneson* was the first one to come up with the idea of each person playing a single character, and more to the point, playing a *character*-- personality, motives, and all, with personal goals to achieve in game, and with the potential (if multiple sessions were played) of the character growing and learning, and becoming more powerful from game to game...
While Arneson's first attempts at running such games (at Wargaming Conventions and such) were the prototypical original 'dungeon crawl' adventures-- nonetheless he was the one who came up with the core idea of roleplaying games in the first place (at the very least, the first person known to have done so AND who spread the idea to others). While Gygax's contributions were very significant-- really, I don't know if Arneson's idea would have taken shape in the form of D&D and been unleashed upon the world without his collaboration with Gygax-- IMO, the Roleplaying Game hobby owes at least as much if not more to Arneson as it does to Gygax.
They should both be remembered, and their contributions honored.
By all accounts, Mr Arneson had a good life... if I've got the information correct, he passed away at the age of 61-- not as many years as some get, many more years than others have had-- but his work has affected a lot of people, and the games descended from his original idea (in oh so many varieties of roleplaying games out there by now) live on.
Rest in peace, Dave-- and thank you for what you gave to all of us who play RPGs.
If you don't know who he was....
One of two things applies:
1. You don't play role-playing games (Dungeons & Dragons, for particular instance)
or
2. You're not aware of the early history of role-playing games....
While much of the world was aware of E. Gary Gygax and his contributions to the hobby, including being one of the *co-creators* of the original Dungeons & Dragons game (the first role-playing game in existence, at least in the western world in the 20th century and after), a lot of people appear to have been unaware of Dave Arneson's contributions: he was the other *co-creator* of the original Dungeons & Dragons game. Furthermore, while much of the game mechanics of D&D were derived from the tabletop wargame 'Chainmail' (created by Gary Gygax et al)--
*Dave Arneson* was the first one to come up with the idea of each person playing a single character, and more to the point, playing a *character*-- personality, motives, and all, with personal goals to achieve in game, and with the potential (if multiple sessions were played) of the character growing and learning, and becoming more powerful from game to game...
While Arneson's first attempts at running such games (at Wargaming Conventions and such) were the prototypical original 'dungeon crawl' adventures-- nonetheless he was the one who came up with the core idea of roleplaying games in the first place (at the very least, the first person known to have done so AND who spread the idea to others). While Gygax's contributions were very significant-- really, I don't know if Arneson's idea would have taken shape in the form of D&D and been unleashed upon the world without his collaboration with Gygax-- IMO, the Roleplaying Game hobby owes at least as much if not more to Arneson as it does to Gygax.
They should both be remembered, and their contributions honored.
By all accounts, Mr Arneson had a good life... if I've got the information correct, he passed away at the age of 61-- not as many years as some get, many more years than others have had-- but his work has affected a lot of people, and the games descended from his original idea (in oh so many varieties of roleplaying games out there by now) live on.
Rest in peace, Dave-- and thank you for what you gave to all of us who play RPGs.