A Day Of Mourning

[Dubh Aingeal]

Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax dies at 69

Associated Press - March 4, 2008 1:15 PM ET

MILWAUKEE (AP) - The man who co-created the game Dungeons & Dragons and helped start the role-playing phenomenon is dead.

Gary Gygax died Tuesday morning at his home in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, about 55 miles southwest of Milwaukee.

His wife, Gail Gygax, says he had been suffering from health problems for several years, including an abdominal aneurysm.

Gygax and co-creator Dave Arneson developed the role-playing game in 1974 and it went on to become 1 of the best-selling games ever. Dungeons & Dragons is considered the grandfather of fantasy role-playing games and has influenced video games, books, movies and inspired legions of adoring fans.

Gygax' wife says he always enjoyed hearing from the game's devoted fans about how the game influenced their lives.

[freydis]

oh, man.... :(

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

CRAP!!!!!!!

[TomCat]

R.I.P Gary.

I loved playing with my friends in the 80s.

[Azeuron]

i dotn knwo bout you all but this game in its various forms really influenced a lot of my growing up from the actual game to the videogames and books based on it.... truly a sad sad day for all who were touched by this simple game that took the world by storm...

[phee]

Are you sure he didn't just see that movie that was made and die of pure sadness?

(seriously though... that sucks... he had quite an effect on culture)

[pharoh]

Are you sure he didn't just see that movie that was made and die of pure sadness?

(seriously though... that sucks... he had quite an effect on culture)

Which one? They one with the wayan brother in it?

Did you ever see the one with Tom Hanks in it and he lost his mind?

Sorry thread jacking lol

I am bronzing my 12 and 20 sided dice in his honor.

[Shade Everdark]

Wait, is he dead, or just bleeding out?

Somebody cast 'Resurrect,' quick.

Needless to say, a sad, sad occasion.

[TomCat]

Shit...I mean, who's going to autograph my Monster Manuals now??

[Burrich1]

Did you ever see the one with Tom Hanks in it and he lost his mind?

That one was called Mazes and Monsters. I swear parents treated that movie like an after school special public service announcement. I think it just scared the crap out of a lot of them, and they cut their kids off from a lot of role-playing. Or at least forced us to be sneaky about it. Stupid Tom Hanks.

Sucks about Gary though. I hope he was set for life from developing it, because he really was a genius

[n0Mad]

Wait, is he dead, or just bleeding out?

Somebody cast 'Resurrect,' quick.

Needless to say, a sad, sad occasion.

I think I have a potion of lichdom around here somewhere.

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

Did he have a prepared phylactery? Not sure that's spelled correctly.

My friends and I had a few beers with him at Gen-Con... thinking it was 88 or 89.

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

That one was called Mazes and Monsters. I swear parents treated that movie like an after school special public service announcement. I think it just scared the crap out of a lot of them, and they cut their kids off from a lot of role-playing. Or at least forced us to be sneaky about it. Stupid Tom Hanks.

Sucks about Gary though. I hope he was set for life from developing it, because he really was a genius

Um, that movie was basically an after school special. It's a true story that took place in Ann Arbor or East lansing. I don't remember if they were at UofM or State.

[Nienna]

Wow... RIP to the man who had a big hand in my current creativity.

[Burrich1]

Um, that movie was basically an after school special. It's a true story that took place in Ann Arbor or East Lansing. I don't remember if they were at UofM or State.

Actually, as much as I hate to do it, I can't find the old news paper stories, so I'm quoting wikipedia.

The film was adapted from a novel of the same name by Rona Jaffe. Jaffe had based her 1981 novel on inaccurate newspaper stories about the disappearance of James Dallas Egbert III from Michigan State University in 1979. Media accounts differed substantially from Egbert's actual story. William Dear, the private investigator on the case, explained actual events and the reasons behind the media myth in his 1984 book The Dungeon Master. Jaffe wrote her novel at a breakneck pace in a matter of days because of a fear that another author might also be fictionalizing the Egbert investigation.

The religious right just wanted you to believe it was a true story so our parents would force us to stop worshiping the devil by rolling 20 sided dice in our buddy’s basement.

OK, terribly sorry for the threadjack. Won't happen again.

[n0Mad]

They haven't set a time for the funeral yet. They do know, though, it will be at 12:00 + 3d6 hours.

[jadnifer]

Even though I never played the game, I had friends that did and they were addicted to it.

It's sad to hear of a man passing on that had an affect on so many people.

[n0Mad]

Even though I never played the game, I had friends that did and they were addicted to it.

Well we'll just have to remedy that then. What evenings work best for you? =)

[Troy Spiral (13)]

That one was called Mazes and Monsters. I swear parents treated that movie like an after school special public service announcement. I think it just scared the crap out of a lot of them, and they cut their kids off from a lot of role-playing. Or at least forced us to be sneaky about it. Stupid Tom Hanks.

Yeah that was during the D&D is Satan craze that forced me to go into hiding or sneak out to a friends house to play D&D as having a D&D book in my parents house was pretty much the same as summoning the actual devil to come live with you.

Being an D&D player since the ancient times starting with the Basic game sets and then AD&D, this is especially of note. (although i've not actually played a true game of D&D for like 5 years) I remember being locked in The Temple Of Elemental Evil for like 6 months due to a particularly sadistic DM. Good times.

He also was still involved in D&D refining the modern D20 system so we lost an active developer besides just one of the founding fathers of the tabletop game of which even games like Magic The Gathering owe much of their existence too.

[Head Wreck]