Gary Gygax: Roleplaying loses its father

Gary Gygax - Dungeons & Dragons co-creatorConsidered by many to be the Father of role playing, Gary Gygax was known and admired worldwide for the game that sparked movies, TV series, cartoons, hundreds of knock-off type games, convention centers full of people in garb, and probably more black eyes than any other person in the history of gaming. At the age of 69, Gary died this morning at his home outside of Milwaukie.

I’m still not completely able to grok the situation, this man was a legend among the gaming community, and through his creations and ideas my imagination took me, my brother, and a great number of our friends into strange worlds of monsters and adventure where fierce battles raged (not to mention gallons of soda pop, and hundreds of slices of pizza consumed). It’s been many years since I even thought of playing the game, but every time I see the books, I stop and pick one up.

With the 4th edition of Dungeon & Dragons almost ready for release, the newest version will likely be met with a quiet excitement, tempered by the loss of the games founder. From everything that I ever heard and read, he was generous and giving; he even still hosted a weekly D&D party at his home. My brother actually wrote him a letter back in… man it had to be like ’85… about a dispute he and Dime were having about homemade weapons (probably that damned Sun Sword), and received a personal response back from him. At the time we were all totally amazed and floored – now it seems that’s just the way he was.

God speed Gary.

:: Wired article ::

:: Yahoo News ::

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