I’ve just found out that Gary Gygax died on Tuesday.
I bought the Red Box Basic rules in 1983 with pocket money that I’d save for weeks and the Blue Box Expert rules a month or two later. We used to play after school at a friend’s house. I attribute my interest in reading both fiction and history to the playing of this game as a child. I also attribute my learning mathematics to this game and the countless hours of adding up dice and calculating THAC0s, Saving Throws and ACs on the fly.
The man was also a prolific writer and imaginative world builder who took a game and built an industry on what he enjoyed doing. An inspiration to many people, he will be missed.
I wonder what he’ll roll up for his next character?
/
beachhutman said,
6 March 2008 at 4:45 pm
I say Hover, it’s a bastard getting here from China, as wordpiss is blocked, so I need to use a cunning plan, but good to see you keeping the faith blogwise. Drop in some time, and if I can’t reciprocate, blame the Great Firewall!
Mas said,
6 March 2008 at 5:50 pm
you beat me to writing the post (too much work to blame) – I saw it yesterday (on “Icanhazcheezeburger” of all places”) – I was late getting into roleplay (not until my student years) but, having gone back and found the old D&D and AD&D stuff that he was responsible could see that the industry owed him quite the debt. He wasn’t all that old either; do role players die younger?
Now as to his next character … he didn’t strike me as a powergamer, so it would probably be something rich and fully fledged, with an interesting and colourful back-story over and above the basic stats.
A great inspiration; he’ll be missed.
M
1godsgal said,
7 March 2008 at 4:17 am
What I want to know is how many dragons were slain on your getaway???? Any hobbits or fairies? Then is the bunny going to blog again???
snarlz said,
7 March 2008 at 4:29 pm
hows that?
ohhhhhhh…..
he was the D&D gur. that makes sense….