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http://www.gamespot.com/news/6187142.ht ... ws;title;0

Gary Gygax, one of the creators of Dungeons and Draogns and one of the fathers of RPGs in general, passed away today due to heart problems. If you ever have played an RPG of any type, read any fantasy work in the last 20 years or even some sci-fi, you probably ahve come indirectly in touch with this man's influence. He allowed us to create whole worlds and spawned a thousand heros, epic stories and sparked the imagination of millions in one form or another.

Rest in Peace and see you at the gaming table in the sky someday.

May your soul rest in peace.

I thank you for bringing us the fantastic D & D franchise and inspiring many people into expanding the fantasy universe of Dungeons & Dragons. Nerds and gamers will always look upon on you. Your RPGs are the best!

Your creations have changed most of the world. Your games entertained many and will always be. The fans, the people, and the gaming industry will miss you.

You will not be forgotten, oh master of the die and point sheet.

Should we roll to see who gets his stuff?

*kidding guys. KIDDING!*

Dungeons & Dragons has been a very influential cultural phenomenon. Contrary to its reputation as a "geek's past-tme," it's been an enormous generator of social groups and friendships. It's inspired countless unwritten and written stories. Not unexpectedly for something so far-reaching, it's had it's fair share of controversy. It was falsely accused of being Satanic long before Pokemon, Teletubbies, or Harry Potter ever existed. And, it took the venue of table-top gaming and transformed it into something far more evolved and far-reaching. Though D&D itself was by the 1990s accused of being stagnant and backwards compared to more story-driven games like Vampire: the Masquerade or spin-off phenomena like Magic: the Gathering and the collectable trading card game phenomenon, they all owe their origins and success to Dungeons & Dragons, and thus Gygax has left us a wonderous legacy.

My first experiences with role-playing gaming involved the "Choose Your Own Adventure" book series, marketed to children in the mid-eighties. Then, one day my sister and I at a rummage sale each bought a strategy game. I bought a space fleet strategy simulator game that was missing a few of its hundreds of tokens, and it sat in my room unplayed for a number of years before I ultimately gave it away. My sister bought the second edition printing of Dungeons & Dragons.

We had followed the cartoon series beforehand, but this was totally different. I still remember my first characters--Paldren Starbrow, an elf (all were fighter/mages in that early edition), Zandor (a human fighter), and a thief character who didn't live very long. We played a loose campaign off and on for awhile, and then I ran into a guy named Thomas Weigel.

Twenty plus years later, Thomas Weigel is one of my longest-running friends, and he has been a major influence in my writing, co-developing two of my major storyline settings. He in turn through role-playing gaming introduced me to other friends who helped me develop nearly all of my other major story settings.

But, the influence of Dungeons & Dragons does not stop there. Though most of Thomas' games were not D&D but other game systems descended from it, I played Spiritwalker Dreamsail in a Ravenloft campaign in 1991 that defined the early 90s for me and my coming of age.

I am grateful for Gygax and his legacy, for catalyzing so much creative spirit.

Still, it's hard for me not to think of how easy it is in games to bring back dead characters. Dead at 69 of a heart attack? Come on, shouldn't he get a saving throw?

R.I.P.

Man pretty much invented RPGs with D&D. Cool dude.

Can't really think of much to say - everyone already did it for me, haha.

Scott Gardener wrote:Still, it's hard for me not to think of how easy it is in games to bring back dead characters. Dead at 69 of a heart attack? Come on, shouldn't he get a saving throw?

He failed his saving throw, obviously.

I liked Stephen Colbert's short respect for him. It involved asking how much we were going to miss him and rolling a 20. Funny AND tasteful.

I'm not much of a D&D player, but I do enjoy playing video game RPGs, and D&D was basically the precursor to those.

Thesaving throw jokes and rolling a die for how much he will be missed is pretty much everywhere. Order of the Stick and Penny Arcade are two notable online comics that did tributes to him.

ING's tribute: http://vault.ign.com/static.php?page=RIP_Gary_Gygax
OOTS's tribute: http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0536.html
Penny Arcade's Tribute: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/03/04
Wil Wheaton's: http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbacku ... e-sea.html

RPG.net probably has the most fitting tribute underway. They are building the Tomb of Gygax, A epic dungeon crawl.

Penny-Arcade's tribute is great because it is both a nice tribute and a harsh (and deserved) iceburn.

Here's Stephen Colbert's tribute.