WWTBAM Bored

Gary Gygax, the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, died this morning at the age of 69.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g8Xy ... AD8V6PL180

Gads, was it really that long ago when D&D started? I shall hoist a flagon of mead and cast a few spells in his memory tonight.

Sounds like he rolled a 1 in his last battle.

As one of the geeks who was there early in the growth and development of D&D (I began playing the original game in 1977) it is a bit of a sad passing. I probably still have my game manuals and dice in a box somewhere and still remember fondly some of my first game characters, Damien the quixotic magical dwarf (that 'll throw D&D traditionalists for a loop...) and Kasserine the stoic ranger for example, even though I haven't played in nearly 25 years.

We are getting old. Well, I am anyway.

I rarely respond to such death notices on the bored, but this one actually hits close to home.

I had uncounted hours of entertainment based on Mr. Gygax's work, from junior high all the way through college.

He also wrote a fascinating alternate history novellette ("Victorious German Arms") about how Germany triumphed in WWII. Basically, Hitler was successful at Stalingrad and broke through to the oil fields near the Caspian Sea and beyond. A truce was made on the Western Front, and then the US and Germany allied together against the Russian communist menace (starting the Cold War early, and with much less "cold").

jsuchard wrote:I rarely respond to such death notices on the bored, but this one actually hits close to home.

I rarely post such notices, but I had the same reaction. The core of my D&D group, that got together in 1980, still does so every Saturday. Although it's more of an excuse to consume mass quantities, for some of us...

I was never much of a D&D player, but I feel an urge to commemorate his passing in some long-forgotten utility tunnel beneath the campus of an unknown university.

MarleysGh0st wrote:Gary Gygax, the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, died this morning at the age of 69.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g8Xy ... AD8V6PL180

Alas, alas. Gord the Rogue has pulled his last caper.

I started playing D&D in 1977 and am still involved, 31 years later. I saw Gary at GenCon last August and he did not look well at all - he was in a powered chair and had difficulty breathing. There's a picture of him at GenCon Indy 2007 on his Wikipedia page (which has been updated to indicate his death).

I played a half-elf ranger named Boojum in the late 80s. It was very weird when the character was killed. I lay on the floor for the rest of that night's session, and didn't participate in any of the conversation. I rolled a new half-elf ranger named Snark, but it wasn't the same. It was like trying to replace a cat too soon. I should have gone Paladin.

Maybe Stephen Lynch can ease that pain:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RePL0iLe9I

I played a lot of D&D as a youngun and owe Gary a lot- I was the first and only girl Dungeon Master in my circle of friends. Gary's work gave us hours and hours of entertainment and likely kept us out of a lot of trouble.

How sad. I still have my original set of dice, including the clear 20 sided die with the pink glitter. Maybe I'll have to dust them off and run a tribute game soon.

silvercamaro wrote:I was never much of a D&D player, but I feel an urge to commemorate his passing in some long-forgotten utility tunnel beneath the campus of an unknown university.

I did that a few times in the tunnels beneath UCLA.

I had no idea -- played D&D only once with a dungeon master who dint know what she was doing.

I rolled low for intelligence to start off with, then as high as possible for charisma. All the trolls and other bad guys shoulda just fallen into line when I was recruiting my strike force into the borderlands despite my dumbness, but she couldn't see it and wouldn't listen to me state my case because I was so dumb.

I never played D&D, but when I had my business we all had alter egos for the POS, mine was Elvis and one of the others guys was Gary Gygax. We also had Kiko, Plastic Pepper & Cru Jones. To this day, when I run into some of my ex-customers they still call me Elvis.

Ritterskoop wrote:I played a half-elf ranger named Boojum in the late 80s. It was very weird when the character was killed. I lay on the floor for the rest of that night's session, and didn't participate in any of the conversation. I rolled a new half-elf ranger named Snark, but it wasn't the same. It was like trying to replace a cat too soon. I should have gone Paladin.

I miss my sixth level fighter, K.O. Pectate. --Bob

Bob78164 wrote:

Ritterskoop wrote:I played a half-elf ranger named Boojum in the late 80s. It was very weird when the character was killed. I lay on the floor for the rest of that night's session, and didn't participate in any of the conversation. I rolled a new half-elf ranger named Snark, but it wasn't the same. It was like trying to replace a cat too soon. I should have gone Paladin.

I miss my sixth level fighter, K.O. Pectate. --Bob

I always thought that would be a good name for a boxer, 6th level or not....

lb13

So much jargon I don't understand.

I am sorry you have lost someone who has meant so much to you in your life.