MILWAUKEE (AP) - The man who co-created the game Dungeons & Dragons and helped start the role-playing phenomenon is dead.
Gary Gygax (GEYE’-gaks) died this morning at his home in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, about 55 miles southwest of Milwaukee.
His wife, Gail Gygax, says he had been suffering from health problems for several years, including an abdominal aneurysm.
Gygax and co-creator Dave Arneson developed the role-playing game in 1974 and it went on to become 1 of the best-selling games ever. Dungeons & Dragons is considered the grandfather of fantasy role-playing games and has influenced video games, books, movies and inspired legions of adoring fans.
Gygax’ wife says he always enjoyed hearing from the game’s devoted fans about how the game influenced their lives.
There was a boy who sat behind me in *every* class we had together (just a fluke of seating arrangements, we didn’t choose our own seats). He tried once to explain this game to me. I totally didn’t get it.
There was a boy who sat behind me in *every* class we had together (just a fluke of seating arrangements, we didn’t choose our own seats). He tried once to explain this game to me. I totally didn’t get it.
Yeah, I’m just sort of gradually working out the rules and nature of such games myself by seeing what people here online say about them.
Be sure to read the comments, as they do give some insight into how such games often unfold, and the way some players act. You may think the personality types in the comic are exaggerated for comedic value, but they’re not far off the mark in some cases.
(Oh, and some of the folks on the forum may be a little familiar…)
I know Something Positive did a strip, too, though it’s only funny if you’re a regular reader. I would expect quite a few online strips did something either yesterday or today. Even World of Warcraft did a tribute to him, which is only fitting since WoW wouldn’t even exist without Gygax and his friends.
I can remember playing D&D;back in the late 70’s when it first appeared up here. Took a while to wrap my head around it but once we all got it we had a ball with it. Everyone wanted to be Dungeon Master cuz it seemed like a more important role.
Though I was never a fan of D&D;itself (I’m probably going to get some slaps for that…), I am a fan of a lot of other gaming materials (Warhammer Roleplay, Fighting Fantasy, Lone Wolf and a few others), so I’m sure the gaming community would not be as large as it is today had it not been for the popularity of D&D;.
The community as a whole (and not just those who play D&D;) have lost a great asset :down:
I once created a super massive dungeon, worked out on large sheets of grid-paper in great detail. One layer was entirely taken up by a massive underground lake with a few small islands (and a few large monsters), while another was completely populated by thousands of Orcs. Being their ‘home villiage’ and full of their wives and children they were none too keen to start anything and would just glare at the party and pointedly polish their weapons (or is that polish their pointy weapons?). Keep your head down and your mouth shut and don’t wander into any dead ends and you’d suffer nothing worse than a few snarled insults and a bit of jostling.
Of course, the party I DM’d through that level happened to have a CG Paladin on their team. After I pointed out that either his player makes him act to his alignment or I’ll start penalising him, things got very interesting. He’d constantly try to dash headlong into the melee with sword drawn, shouting foul oaths, and the more lawful/neutral members would repeatedly restrain him by whatever means they could. At one point this involved dragging him by his feet (his hand’s were bound) through an orc farmers’ market (plenty of cattle) with whatever bits of clothing they could spare stuffed in his gob (“John, roll a saving throw against poisoning from Lundi’s socks!”). Okay, so I added the market on the spur-of-the moment for laughs.
A game that you could make up as you went along lent itself to certain abuses, but with a bit of forethought and an eye to giving the players a good game, it was never less than fun. It might seem like a frivolous waste of time to some, but I always found that the best GMs were good player managers, they kept the team creative and heading in the right direction.
Of course, there were bad GMs too. I remember one game of Traveller were we spent a lot of time training and learning about a particular world we were going to ‘mercenary’ on, arrived there and surrendered our weapons (as we expected to), then walked out of the space-port gate straight into an ambush by goons with plasma weapons.
The GM’s answer was “Why didn’t you smuggle your guns and armour past security?” Because space-port security on a world with strict policies on use of weapons would likely be very tough and the penalties for smuggling very harsh. And how do you smuggle armour capable of withstanding sustained plasma fire through anywhere? Paint SPF 5 billion on it and claim you’re very easily sunburnt? No, we arranged for our ‘heavy art’ to come in separately (and deniably) and intended to negotiate for some illicit small arms with our on-world contact. I never saw that GM’s notes, but someone who did said that they read like a script and we were expected to try to sneak out of the spaceport, fail, and then shoot our way free. So basically Robert slagged us for thinking up our own solution instead of using his.
*blink, blink* Sorry, David, my eyes kinda glazed over there for a second. How do folks get so involved in an imaginary world? Not trying to be snarky, honest. Berlyn tells me that there are folks who pay huge amounts of cash for “kingdoms” in some game I can’t remember the name of, and take it *very* seriously. I dunno—I just don’t get it.
How do folks get so involved in an imaginary world?
Says the sci-fi/fantasy fan.
Here, I’ll give you a hint.
David B. - 06 March 2008 01:31 PM
A game that you could make up as you went along lent itself to certain abuses, but with a bit of forethought and an eye to giving the players a good game, it was never less than fun.
How do folks get so involved in an imaginary world?
Says the sci-fi/fantasy fan.
Here, I’ll give you a hint.
David B. - 06 March 2008 01:31 PM
A game that you could make up as you went along lent itself to certain abuses, but with a bit of forethought and an eye to giving the players a good game, it was never less than fun.
I love to read sci-fi/fantasy. My favorite series is The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. And I do get involved in discussions about that world, I just can’t see doing a RPG of it.
And I’ve got Dave, Berlyn, and her fiance trying to explain all this stuff to me, and I just realized that my mind just will not wrap around it. *sigh* Dave says he was a DM when he was younger. And Berlyn and her fiance enjoy playing. They’re talking about creating a game based on the David Eddings Belgariad and Mallorean. If you enjoy that stuff, cool. I just don’t think it’s for me.
Man, playing an RPG is a blast. I’ve been both a player and a DM. I guess I can see not really understanding at first but there are two main things to consider:
1. A large part of the fun is sitting around the table with your friends, laughing, having a good time and a few drinks.
2. Any time you’ve played a computer or console RPG and just really wanted to do something that the game wouldn’t allow you to do. Like punch an annoying guard or steal things.
Oh man, doing things you weren’t supposed to was what made it fun. One of the best times ever was the time we burned the inn to the ground without ever finding out what we were doing there in the first place. Warning - Sometimes cooks gained their cooking experience in the army. A level 5 cook wields a mean frying pan.
I love to read sci-fi/fantasy. My favorite series is The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. And I do get involved in discussions about that world, I just can’t see doing a RPG of it.
And I’ve got Dave, Berlyn, and her fiance trying to explain all this stuff to me, and I just realized that my mind just will not wrap around it. *sigh* Dave says he was a DM when he was younger. And Berlyn and her fiance enjoy playing. They’re talking about creating a game based on the David Eddings Belgariad and Mallorean. If you enjoy that stuff, cool. I just don’t think it’s for me.
Actually, if memory serves, there *is* a Wheel of Time RPG… Probably one for Belgariad, too. But yes, it’s not for everyone.
Reading is passive use of imagination. You sit and let the images and experiences wash over you, gallivanting happily through your brain. Roleplaying requires a much more active mindset, controlling your character in the fictional setting, like a fantasy writer writing in ‘realtime’.
I’ve often explained roleplaying (particularly LARPs) as ‘Long-form improvisational theater, with rules. You have your part, and know what the character’s abilities, limits, and motivations are. Other players have their roles. The Game Master provides everything else in the form of narration, describing nonexistant sets, elements of the plot, and dialogue for the rest of the cast.’
My advice? Give it a try at least. Go for a healer character of some sort. They usually aren’t expected to undertake the more perilous portions of the adventure, and are usually safely in the back of the party. You can always ask for advice and help with the game, as it’s always a bit overwhelming for newcomers.
What, so you read sci-fi/fantasy books because they’re like, fun? Well that just knocks my next argument into a top-hat, I was just about to explain how sci-fi/fantasy books teach important life-lessons like “Make sure you take one completely untested novice with you on every quest because they invariably turn out to have a fantastically useful undiscovered skill you will need”. [/sarcasm]
Whether it is writing fan-fiction, cos-play or just running around with a piece of of tie-in merchandising, people have always let their imaginations get more involved a favourite story or genre. What is “Cowboys and Indians” if not a LARP with a western theme? Or “Doctors and Nurses” if not pretending to be part of a medical drama?
And if enough people enjoy the same thing it can build into a milieu and create a rich (if strange) social environment for its participants. Human beings are - generally - gregarious, so for some having the same appealing elements in a social setting is greatly desired. It’s like asking why anyone goes out to a bar when they can drink at home? The answer is, of course, that they are both enjoyable activities, but you usually do each for a different reason.
