(Post a new comment)

	wolfsamurai 2008-03-04 06:35 pm UTC (link)
	I read about this earlier and it's too bad. Gary wasn't always a great person or a great game designer, but a lot of modern RPGs (pen and paper ~and~ console) owe him a lot. I just wonder how long it will be before one of the die-hard frothing-mouth anti-D&D people come out of the woodwork to celebrate him dying. It's bound to happen. Just a matter of when and where. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	ianthefira 2008-03-04 06:48 pm UTC (link)
	Oh yeah, definitely. I'm not a fan of his play-style or much of early D&D, but still, as much as people like to curse his name, there's so much that sprung from his stuff. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	wolfsamurai 2008-03-04 06:50 pm UTC (link)
	I'm not a fan of early D&D or pure dungeon crawling myself (I like a blend of beating things down and roleplaying), but it's hard to imagine that current RPGs would be where they are without it. Even if it's just been a strict decision of current designers ~not~ to be like old-school D&D, that's still D&D and Gygax's influence. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	ianthefira 2008-03-04 06:55 pm UTC (link)
	Word, word. It's hard to think about where we'd be without it. I mean, geez, look at Final Fantasy (particularly the first one); most of the classical monsters and so on. Like, Lich, Bahamut, Marilith (if that even exists out of D&D, let me know!), etc (Reply to this)(Parent)

	mistal 2008-03-04 07:08 pm UTC (link)
	Damn.... (Reply to this)

	darkecology 2008-03-04 07:40 pm UTC (link)
	If I were a cleric right now, Gary! God damn it, this sucks. (Reply to this)

	Confirmed: nagaina 2008-03-04 08:39 pm UTC (link)
	http://wkbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=7963395 Rest in peace, Great Old One. (Reply to this)

	kelschuu 2008-03-04 08:43 pm UTC (link)
	http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/03/report-gary-gyg.html http://games.slashdot.org/games/08/03/04/1750206.shtml Goodnight, father of modern gaming D: Your impact on geektitude will never be forgotten. (Reply to this)

	melancthe 2008-03-04 08:51 pm UTC (link)
	This was the first thing I read on my f-list after finishing up with tonight's D&D session. :( (Reply to this)

	southerngaelic 2008-03-04 08:54 pm UTC (link)
	NOOOOOOOO! D: I mean, I don't play D&D but it was still so influential and he was like Geek Master and everything and ;_; (Reply to this)

	repost for html fail pastri_archy 2008-03-04 09:31 pm UTC (link)
	Saw it here first. Had a little moment of silence. :( You have brought joy to the lives of many geeky aquaintance. Rest In Peace, dude. (Reply to this)

	soupspooks 2008-03-04 10:25 pm UTC (link)
	I am a terrible person. First thought: I guess he failed his fort save. /corner (Reply to this)(Thread)

	silrana 2008-03-04 10:38 pm UTC (link)
	I'm terrible too. My first thought was, "Countdown until people are saying he's spinning in his grave over 4th Edition in 3... 2... 1..." Joking aside, I started playing D&D when 1st Edition AD&D was shiny and new, and I still play a weekly chat room game. I owe a lot of fun hours to the man. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	tangentialone 2008-03-05 01:58 am UTC (link)
	Actually... Penny Arcade's tribute.... (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	ianthefira 2008-03-05 02:02 am UTC (link)
	That's funny and also really sweet. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	tangentialone 2008-03-05 02:03 am UTC (link)
	I thought so, too. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	silrana 2008-03-05 02:09 am UTC (link)
	chuckles I didn't expect them to take long. And I have to agree, it's a very nice comic. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	beccastareyes 2008-03-05 02:45 am UTC (link)
	Wow... That is sweet. And also the third comic tribute I've seen today for him. (Something Positive and Order of the Stick already have comics up.) I'm kind of impressed. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	tangentialone 2008-03-05 03:10 am UTC (link)
	Aw, man, the OotS one gave me serious warm fuzzies. ~<3 (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	ianthefira 2008-03-05 03:12 am UTC (link)
	Man, same. I hadn't looked at that one yet. I'm a little teary now. sniff (Reply to this)(Parent)

	southerngaelic 2008-03-05 11:02 am UTC (link)
	Me too. Then I had a bit of a sniffle.... (Reply to this)(Parent)

velvet_mace
2008-03-04 11:39 pm UTC (link)

DDDDDDDD:

I remember trying to play the first boxed set back in 78. (I'm dating myself badly here). My brother was the DM, my sister and I and one of his friends spent a couple hours figuring how to create characters. Then we started playing, and my brother thought it was boring, so he set a dragon on our level 1 characters and killed us all off. I begged him to play more, but he just gave me the game box. I didn't find a game group for another 7 years.

I think that boxed set still might be crumbling somewhere around here.

(Reply to this)

	brennalarose 2008-03-04 11:58 pm UTC (link)
	Holy cow. RIP, Gygax. Hope the angels don't munchkin too bad. (Reply to this)

	Damnit. t_boy 2008-03-05 12:18 am UTC (link)
	And I still haven't gotten used to Vonnegut being dead, either. (Reply to this)

	ecchaniz0r 2008-03-05 01:23 am UTC (link)
	There is not enough walrusface in all the world. :{ (Reply to this)

eleutheria
2008-03-05 01:51 am UTC (link)

:'(

This is the first celebrity death since Steve Irwin to really hit me hard. Started off playing Basic D&D and I have one of the really early AD&D supplements (the one that introduced the assassin class, Blackmoor I think), met my husband in college while he was DMing a 1st ed. campaign in 1989 and he and I have been playing ever since. Probably wouldn't have started writing if I hadn't spent so many years making plots and worldbuilding for D&D campaigns-- don't play that anymore, but it's just been a huge part of my life and my marriage.

He had a neat idea, too, that we have a memorial D&D night in his honor-- would be even better if that idea took off and was bigger than just us having a couple of friends over. I'm not good at planning stuff like that, but a mini GygaxCon would be pretty cool.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	ianthefira 2008-03-05 02:03 am UTC (link)
	Same, really. I was in utter shock when Steve died, too. And--a memorial D&D night would be a really fitting tribute, I think. I wish I still had a group... (Reply to this)(Parent)

	tangentialone 2008-03-05 02:00 am UTC (link)
	RIP, sir. :< (Reply to this)

komorebi
2008-03-05 02:07 am UTC (link)

I've recently joined a very fun D&D group. It's not my first campaign by any means, but it's the first I've been in that doesn't inspire me to excuse myself for a bathroom break, and then climb out the window to sweet freedom. On the heels of that, this news feels really weird.

"But -- he can't be! I was just playing his game, last week! D: D: D:"

(Not technically 'his', I suppose, since it was 3rd Edition, but even so.)

Roll in peace, man. Roll in peace.

(Reply to this)

	rosehiptea 2008-03-05 05:26 am UTC (link)
	Oh man... I remember when D & D was new, and I had hours of some of the only fun I had at that age. Not to mention all the stuff that influenced that I still play today. May his memory be for a blessing. (Reply to this)

	tangentialone 2008-03-05 06:07 am UTC (link)
	And a Full Frontal Nerdity tribute. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	tangentialone 2008-03-05 06:38 am UTC (link)
	And one from Dueling Analogs. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	tangentialone 2008-03-05 08:09 pm UTC (link)
	And Dork Tower. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	phosfate 2008-03-05 07:43 pm UTC (link)
	But...what will Al Gore's Vice Presidential Action Rangers do? (Reply to this)