Ernest Gary Gygax , co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons (D&D), passed away last March 4, 2008 at his home in Wisconsin.
I never really got to play the old vanilla D&D that was published under Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. or TSR (the religious zealots insited TSR was an acronym for “To Satan’s Realm”). I did get to play some of the near kin, specifically a “Choose Your Own Adventure” style book and three 1 on 1 PvP style variants (two of which were Marvel licensed). Of course there was the Saturday morning cartoon (did they ever get to go back home?). In later years, the nearest I got to D&D was with the Icewind Dale PC game.
Most of the games that I play and love, however, are decendants of D&D. All Role-Playing Games (RPGs) ever made (pen-and-paper, electronic, or any other format) inherited one thing or another. Any game that has spells, multiple character classes, leveling up, stats like HP STR DEF DEX etc, random number checks that influence a hit/miss, even the concept of critical hits and backstabs, inherited from D&D.
Reading through the hundres of messages from people expressing their grief and appreciation, I personally think the comment by someone named ‘Mo Khan’ at Wired.com describes best how much he meant to so many people.
Rest well Gary, and thank you. You’ve touched more lives than you know and your work will continue to influence generations to come.
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