Alright, give me just a minute here to wax poetic.

The man that came before us all goes on ahead of us.

Reports state that Gary Gygax, creator of the Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game and "grandfather" of the RPG community, passed away this morning.

Not much else has been stated at this time as his friends and family seem to be going about the business of dealing, coping, with their loss.

For all of the gamers out there who, like me, got their start with a twenty-sided die and a first edition Players Handbook, take a moment and remember what fun and joy that man brought to us. Think of the laughs, the smiles, the moments of happiness that were inspired by the vision that he had, shared with other designers, and inspired within us all.

For those Indie developers out there, I think we should remember his legacy. Truly, when you think about it, Mr. Gygax was one of the first Indie creators. Be inspired.

I know I'm gaming tonight. And I can't think of a better way to memorialize the man than that.

http://www.freeyabb.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=4373&highlight=gygax&mforum=trolllordgames

And on GM's Day.

I'm stunned. Godspeed, Gary. So long and thank you for the games.

Before our local con folded through bizarre budget concerns, we were working to arrange a game of D&D to be GM'd by Gary Gygax at our little shindig. I'm not too deeply a spiritual man, but somehow I feel like I'll still get my chance.

Until then, I'll be leaving an empty chair at the head of the table when we play on thursday. As far as I'm concerned, that's his seat.

Posted By: MPOSullivanFor those Indie developers out there, I think we should remember his legacy. Truly, when you think about it, Mr. Gygax was one of the first Indie creators. Be inspired.

"Knowledge, logic, reason, and common sense serve better than a dozen rule books."
-- E. Gary Gygax

I'm sure there will be some memorial initiatives orchestrated by gamers - letter campaigns for the family, worldwide moments of silence, etc.
I'd really like it if people announced those here or somewhere else. I'd hate to miss those opportunities to mourn.

Gygax was a fantastic creator.

Thank you Gary.

Or find someone with a Resurrection spell.

Graham

I'm not a fan of D&D...right now. But I wouldn't be doing any of the things I'm doing, playing with any of the people I'm playing with, or trying all the games I've been trying...right now...without the early efforts of Gygax and friends.

It's weird...you wouldn't the passing of someone so distant from you would evoke this much emotion, but when I read the news I felt like the floor fell out from under my feet for a minute. We've lost someone, and some part of our ties to our collective past goes with him.

Godspeed, Gary.

Posted By: ColinCI'm not a fan of D&D...right now. But I wouldn't be doing any of the things I'm doing, playing with any of the people I'm playing with, or trying all the games I've been trying...right now...without the early efforts of Gygax and friends.

It's weird...you wouldn't the passing of someone so distant from you would evoke this much emotion, but when I read the news I felt like the floor fell out from under my feet for a minute. We've lost someone, and some part of our ties to our collective past goes with him.

Godspeed, Gary.

I hear ya.

I hated Gygax's writing style, I find his games unplayably horrible, and it took me years of purging the Gygaxian "DM is God" mentality from my system before I could start enjoying D&D again... and yet, his death affected me more than anyone's has since Dr. Seuss. There's no denying that the hobby he helped create changed my life forever in a very positive way.

I met him, exchanged a few words back in like... wow, 1993 or so? 15 years ago. Solid guy, perhaps the years rubbed away at his gruffness. None of the "lash" he exhibited in his Dragon articles was about his person. Reasonable, kind guy. Sad to see him go, the father of our hobby.

-Andy

Posted By: Ryan StoughtonGary Gygax changed my life.

I think this sounds true for many of us. He started it all, and no matter where we end up, he'd still be that first step.

You know? All the contact I had with him was through the game itself and small articles (such as those old Upon a Soap Box at Dragon Magazine). Yet I feel I learned a lot about him. Call me a sentimental, but I truly feel like I missed a good friend.

That’s a shame.

I never got to meet the man but he’s given me a hobby that I love

Without Gary Gygax I’m not sure where I’d be today

Oh fuck, Andy. I just saw the new header on SG and got teary all over again.

I found this digging on the ol' interweb, and thought it especially important today:

"With all his energy and power drawn up about him, the great Mordenkainen, Archmage of the Flanaess, stepped through the portal embarking on what would surely be his greatest adventure."

Wouldn't be the gamer I am if it weren't for Gary Gygax, and I know many will say the same. Father of our hobby indeed. Hope we all see him again someday at the Great Gaming Table in the Sky.

R.I.P. Gary Gygax

When I was a teenager, he drove me crazy at times. His writing often did appalling things to the English language, and at times he seemed extraordinarily unreasonable, although I gather he was far from that in person. Yet he set events in motion that have improved my life hugely for three decades. I am crushed to hear he is gone: it feels like the end of an era. I hope his family, who loss is doubtless the greatest, will come to realize how much his memory is cherished, and by how many. What a contribution. What a crying shame.

As long as his legacy remains with us, he will be Immortal.

Got deeply freaked out when I realised if it weren't for Gary, I'd never have met my wife.

I owe the man a lot.

Posted By: Chris GardinerGot deeply freaked out when I realised if it weren't for Gary, I'd never have met my wife.

I owe the man a lot.

Me too!

Hey Phil and Chris, I think it's amazing for you guys to get to realize that you met your wives because of something Gary came up with and pushed all those years ago.

I've been pretty much having the same response -- not because I have a wife I met through gaming (no wife yet) -- but because so much of my life has been influenced because Gary and Dave built D&D and Ben Zoblocki's dad came back from Origins one year with the Basic D&D set and said, "I picked this up at the convention. You guys might like it."

And now, a few threads down a few people are posting great memories of their Torg game. And their love of the Torg cards. And I helped make that.

Because of Gyax and Arneson I ended up getting paid to learn to write sentences. I was forced to take apart different genres. I had to learn what story does -- and what isn't story. I was paid (not always well!) to write game materials. I see threads all the time about games or books I worked on that still make people happy. I got deals to write novels.

Because of roleplaying games I got my first job writing a screenplay for a studio. I was hired to work on a video game because I knew games. Last week I sold a feature pitch to a production company. Today I'm doing the re-write on a project for ABC television I'm writing and producing. It's an Internet show. And my executives love my work. And one of the reasons they love it is because I know how to make content that is designed to work on the Internet, and not just "TV shoved onto the Internet." And I know how to do that because RPGs taught me a lot about paying attention to form and content and how you can never presume that simply thinking "story" is enough. Form and content must match, and different forms require different content.

When I saw the news of Gary's death today it hit me pretty hard because I can trace a pretty solid line backward from today through years past to that moment when I opened the cover off of Basic D&D and knew that I had the equivalent of a Lego set for narrative. It would be a long haul getting to the point where I was playing and building the way I wanted. But none of it would have happened without the guys that made Dungeons & Dragons.

CK

I'm surprised at how sad this news has made me. I saw Gary Gygax sitting at a booth at GenCon '07, and true to form, I just watched him, never introduced myself. The games he helped bring about have brought me many happy times. I feel a definite loss.

I wasn't sad until I read the piece Andrew Rilstone wrote as response.

I love this:

there is a dining room table, and cups of tea and chocolate biscuits, and at lunch time there are tins of Co-Op vegetable soup and fresh rolls from the baker and exercise books and character sheets pulled sparingly off an official pad and coloured cardboard floor plans representing rooms and corridors and miniatures which were never quite painted and never quite matched the adventure and pencils and biros and rubbers and dice which had had all the good numbers rolled out of them and shouting and talking in funny voices

I was holding it together until I saw the header.

Thanks for creating the hobby I love with all my heart.

Goodbye, Gary, you'll be remembered.

I am a brand spanking new poster/lurker here, but I had to stop and pay my respects.

Thank you Gary for the wonderful hobby you and Dave have brought to the world. This gamer appreciates all you have done.

I have nothing more to contribute other than the thanks that I have for all of the countless hours of fun that he inspired. EGG will truly be missed.

It's really moving. The thread I posted to Mixi (the Japanese "Facebook/Livejournal" style community) in the huge TRPG group... It's only been a few hours, there's 50 posts and counting. A lot of folks were touched by this news. Very similar comments there that I see here. Also, a lot of people were moved to learn English and study harder because of D&D, because of GG.

-Andy

Hell, I can relate to that and I'm a native English speaker. When I discovered D&D, around the age of 11 or so, it had been years since I'd read a work of fiction that wasn't assigned to me in school. I thought of stuff targeted at my age group as "baby books" and all the "adult" fiction I'd ever seen was just boring stuff about relationships. The only stuff I read at that age was science books and the dictionary. D&D introduced me to fantasy (which, in turn, led me to science fiction) and taught me that imagination wasn't something you were supposed to grow out of.

Posted By: AndyAlso, a lot of people were moved to learn English and study harder because of D&D, because of GG.

(Definitely. And other role-playing games. I still remember trying to figure out what "Gloves of Manual Dexterity" were - from Fighting Fantasy.)

You've already said it all.

Thanks Mr Gygax. What you made is an important part of my life. Thanks, and goodbye.

Ajax

My mind boggles trying to conceive of what my life would be like without his work. I wouldn't have met my wife either, and so many other things.

I owe a debt of gratitude. Rest in peace

Funny. They make it sound like "video games... without the video part".

Posted By: Robert BohlThe NY Times obit has some interesting stuff in it that, among other things, is telling about the way non-gamers view the hobby

I was particularly amused by one of the photo captions: "Participants last summer playing Dungeons & Dragons at a game convention in Indianapolis."

It's funny to hear GenCon referred to as "a game convention in Indianapolis." :)

I know. And I still not buy it.

I'd rather explain it as "playing cops and robbers, but for grownups".

Posted By: Thunder_GodWhat about Grimoire?

Well, I don't know about the authors of that list, but in my case I believe I first encountered "grimoire" in The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper. Actually several of the words on that list are things I first learned in various fantasy novels, but then I was always a precocious reader.

I never really got to meet Gary, just saw him in passing at GenCon. So this is how I will remember him best:

Gary Gygax has a full-page obituary in the Times.

This is quite impressive.

Graham

Stephen Colbert on Gary Gygax (video): "Gary you will be missed. How much will you be missed?" Stephen rolls a d20. "20! May all your prismatic sprays bypass your targets' Reflex saving throws."

Yet another obituary that paints RPGs as dead and gone outside the computer. Sheesh!

Darren, that was brilliant.