Dungeons and Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax dies

RIP

Rest In Peace Gary. You will be missed. Your game has brought joy and happiness to untold numbers and your addictive and entertaining ideas have passed days beyond measure.

Dungeon Master

"Gygax also published dozens of fantasy books and short stories, including the Greyhawk series and Gord the Rogue adventures."

Unfortunately this is true. It's a shame really, because his original ideas for D&D and AD&D were not only great for the pen and paper version of the game, but lent themselves perfectly to computer role playing games.

The Greyhawk series of scenarios for AD&D where particular favourites of mine - especially the City of Greyhawk set. Which is why I find it so unfortunate that he decided to tarnish this series with what I shall generously call books.

Never mind, the original work was superb, and in honour of his memory I shall do my best to blot out the decision to pick up one of his books and actually read it. Sort of like a terrible road accident, you know it's going to be bad but sometimes you just can't help but look.

rip

Thais one saveing throw we're all going to fail one day... RIP.

Walk softly and carry a +6/+6 Two Handed Sword

May he rest in peace proudly as one of the very few people whose creations will outlive them.

You encounter: Clogged Artery!

Clogged Artery casts Restrict Bloodflow VIII!

You pass your Fort save!

You cast Exercise and Healthy Diet on Clogged Artery!

Clogged Artery suffers 83 damage!

Surgeon casts Coronary Angioplasty on Clogged Artery!

Surgeon could not overcome Clogged Artery Spell Resistance!

Clogged Artery casts Restrict Bloodflow IX!

You failed your Fort save!

You suffer 239 damage!

You are dead.

you open the door and see, just beyond... two small lizard-like folk weeping

I -I'm ... wait .... yes, I'm readying my wand ... and...

[stop it, George, or we'll all be killed!!]

Wha..? Well, why should I..err.. RagNar the mystical ... stop what he's doing?

[ Scott's right, George. The last time you pulled that thing out, we nearly all burned to death in a bugbear den. Put it away, huh? ]

Hey now, I don't see any of you doing anything positive! Scott's just flicking cheetos across the room at you...

[DM: HEY! watch the couch... damn screen I can't see a damned thing!]

...while you try to stare at his Mom's gobblers while she's hangin' the laundry. We're going to be eaten by those lizard folk, I know it. I ready my wand.

[DM: Larry! quit having a look at my mom, pervert. George, you're dead. Wand misfires and you go up in flames. Your horrible screams alert the kobold sentries. Larry and Scott, roll for initiative.]

Wha-what just happened! I readied my wand this time!!

[DM: Yeeeah... but, see, I just don't like you. Sorry. Go roll another character, though. After all, the party needs another level one wizard. And grab me a drink while your up, if you want to make level 2 this time.]

*** ahhh ... I still miss those days... RIP Gary Gygax. Or don't , and go on some kick-ass hell raids against Slaads and tiefling wizard overlords! Just don't forget your dice, brother! ***

At Last

At least people might be able to forget the awful Dungeons and Dragons film now.

Thank you Gary

Gary,

It was a chance meeting that gave us friendship. It was you who inspired so much and made us Champions. As one of the 4 Steve's I post this to remind us all how much of a friend, creator, mentor and general DM you were. You leave us, but I'll role my constitution and stand for another day. May the lights guide your path and may your family relish the man you were for the time you spent to give so many a childhood that never ended.

So with my +2/+2 Black hat

and this Coffin of Everfrost plus my stunning good looks and natural ability of Communication this will be the best funeral ever.

P.S Kudos to whoever gets that reference

/Paris because she fails ALL of her Fort saves

Thanks Gary

Thank you Gary for countless hours of fun over the years and the priceless gift of keeping in touch with my inner child.

Another great man leaves our shores...

...is it me or are we slowly but surely loosing all really creative and inventive people?

In any case...RIP Gary!

Raise a glass.

As a lifelong gaming geek it's sad to see ya go fella.

RIP you imaginative fekker.

And in related news....

All nerd-dependent industries (IT, science, electrical engineering) shut down today in a sign of respect.

RIP Gary.

4d6, pick the best three.

I owe a lot to Gygax, in a way. I worked for GW in the 80s and Nightfall and WotC in the 90s. Many of us geeks owe our careers and social skills to Gygax and Arneson's work. Our computer games wouldn't be the same and the cultural influences are wider than you'd at first imagine.

Amazingly, D&D survived MADD, Pardue, teleporting Unicorns and Jeremy Irons. With this much thrown at it, we should be impressed by Gygax's work's longevity.

I'll hoist a pint in a tavern tonight and see if there are any fellow adventurers looking for a new party.

1d4 + 1 minutes of silence

Thanks for helping me to free my imagination... RIP, amen.

Like many others here

I played a lot of D&D in my youth with my mates and had a great laugh doing it. RIP Gary, thanks for a great game.

To Gygax

I will turn my luck D20 on my desk from a 20 to a 1 out of respect for the passing of a man who has brough so much to my life.

RIP Gary Gygax.

Its a real shame,

I cant help wondering if he will take the undead template.

Mines the +5 coat of protection.

Thanks and RIP

I feel genuinely sad at his passing. I think his influence is still understated. It feels like some part of my childhood died. I doubt I'd be working where I am now if not for his influence on things.

Hours of fun

Thank you Gary for hours of fun!

RIP

Them were the days

I think a random number generator was the first thing any coder tries to do for just one reason.

To work out character stats, I know my entire A level group did back in the day.

I spent many a saturday night in my teens off the streets in a darkened dungeon or cellar or temple or old castle being hunted by something rather unpleasant because of this man. Kept me sane and off gangs, alcohol, drugs and doing bad things in a hoodie. Or all of the above.

misspent youth

I really enjoyed my misspent youth (and not-so-youth) thanks to E. Gary Gygax's legacy, and still play MMORPGs now, though they don't lived up to their tabletop antecedents (but more on that another time...).

It is a sad day.

Efros the twice cursed

RIP Gygax, gave me many late nights toiling with all sorts of unspeakable creations. I still have the paperback rule books along with Greyhawk and Blackmoor kicking about somewhere. My nick is the name of my highest character, a level 12 Evil High Priest with one hand and a nasty disposition. I wonder if I invented Ballmer before Ballmer did?

Efros

Mine's the plate armour with fish mail...

A shame.

Sad to see such an icon pass.

I wouldn't be surprised if the horror of reading a preview of 4th Ed finished the job.

"I owe a lot to Gygax, in a way. I worked for GW in the 80s and Nightfall and WotC in the 90s."

Long time, no see, Jared :)

Mike F.

Basic, Expert, and AD&D

And as a young kid on Christmas, I ran my Vic-20 out of memory entering attack tables... I scampered out the next day and bought an 8KB memory expander for $85.

All the sleepless weekends, writing epic campaigns, modules, collecting dice, eating pizza, drinking two liters of coke and throwing candy, snarky comments, passing notes to the DM to make the other players paranoid. Learning that being greedy gets you killed. The tension of saving throws. Rolling to get hold of the pretty red rock just for a little private glance, then rolling to put it back...sometimes forgetting. Nomad's Best Treesap Ale with whole bits of barley still in it. Collecting and painting lead figures. Getting killed because you were annoying the DM. The DM ignoring the fact that you forgot to put the very important piece of rolled up paper with strange scribbles back when it came time for the mage to cast the mega importante spell...since it would have ruined the entire ending...and everyone would have died...and I would have gotten my ass kicked in real life for my impish ways.

Another world, and it did not need a monitor.

Thanks Gary! Sad day.

Cheers Gary

"Don't flame the dwarf, he's not worth it!"

For many of us, D&D was our Breakfast Club.

So long Gary - HP:0.

Roll for surprise!

Thirty years ago EGG sold me the tools that helped me to where I am today...sitting in a 10'x10' room with some troglodytes trying to get them to understand the problems they face and work out a solution.

The debt that the world owes him is vast, his legacy is all around us and will continue long after he is forgotten.

Black Box Time

Another hero progressed beyond the realms of the Black Box rules.

A sad day for geekdom in general,.

Very sad

The text adventure that descended directly from D&D was what got me into computers many years ago so I add my voice to the lamenting collected of geekdom.

R.I.P. Gary

Tangine Dream: The Bootleg Box Vol. One

"Despite his ill health, Gygax had still hosted weekly D&D games at his home until this January."

Part of me wonders about the "despite his ill health" bit, because D&D isn't the most physically taxing pastime. But then again, given the amount of stress involved, and the shouting, and the nature of his illness, perhaps it's entirely appropriate.

Sad to see him go ....

His work has touched 20 million people, who else can say that ?

Ashamed

I was ashamed to be a geek until I found that other people in my school also liked D&D. Wasted a lot of my youth playing and have not stopped even with time passing.

I thinnk with this event it is time that THEREGISTER create a Geek Hall of Fame. And in here put the people who helped twist reality to allow geeks to prosper.

I.T angle?

Nah just kidding.

R.I.P