RIP Gary Gygax

Gary Gygax, one of the co-creators of Dungeons & Dragons, died on Tuesday, March 4. He, along with Dave Arneson, is considered one of the fathers of role playing. And between tabletop RPGs, video games, card games, MMORPGs, etc etc etc... that's one hell of a legacy. Slashdot has a post about him, as does Wired, and a quick google search will pull up hundreds more.

I like Wired's post: "Gary Gygax, co-creator of the incredibly influential Dungeons & Dragons role-playing games, died yesterday at his home in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin at age 69.

Almost everyone who's ever played an RPG, be it with dice, a mouse, or a controller, owes a debt of gratitude to Gygax, who helped create many of the conventions we now take for granted, such as leveling up, stat-boosting gear, and, of course, the Dungeon Master.

Gygax created the original D&D in 1974 with Dave Arneson as a product of Tactical Studies Rules, which later became TSR. The popularity of the pen-and-paper version of D&D has waxed and waned over the years, but its status as a pillar of the gaming community has never wavered.

Honor Gygax's memory however you feel is appropriate. Roll for initiative. Attack the darkness. As for me, I'll be watching some episodes of the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon series. Yes, of course it's crap, but I love it, just the same. I never could decide which I wanted more, though, Sheila's cloak or Hank's bow."

I'm also a big fan of the cartoon at the top, which was posted on Penny Arcade. I can't find a permalink to it, but for now it can be found on Penny Arcade's front page.