E. Gary Gygax, R.I.P.

Yesterday E. Gary Gygax passed away. Initially, I was sad, but not particularly moved - I haven’t played D&D in decades (yes I’m that old, sigh). But as it settled in I realized, strangely, what an impact he’s had on my life. More than almost anyone who isn’t my family, he’s had a huge effect on me and I mourn his loss and his families’.

I can remember being maybe all of 5 years old when I started “playing” D&D. My brother and older cousins would play and they’d let me and my younger cousin play along - the thing is we weren’t typically allowed in their room, so they compromised and let us in but we had to stay in the 2 foot wide gap between their beds. It didn’t matter, I loved it. I loved the storytelling and the imagination and from that moment on I was hooked.

I played it for years, although I know that by sixth grade I had already moved on to different role playing games - like Top Secret or Gamma World. All games from the house that Gary built. I’d scoff at the youngsters playing the classic.

Along with my early playing of D&D came a love of reading - I was a voracious reader of fantasy and scifi - voracious, I’d often read a book a night, I’ve read most of what had been my sizable library at least 2 or 3 times. All my video game playing tendencies leaned toward the role playing side, I could play Wizardry or Bard’s Tale forever. All these came directly from playing Gary’s original D&D.

Throughout pretty much all my pre-college years I was an avid gamer - playing a variety of games with a set of friends who have lasted these passing decades long since we had stopped playing. We’d play forever - it was the perfect escape from suburban boredom. What could be better than a case of coke, a bag of chips-a-hoy or two and a whole bunch of hours with the best friends a guy could possibly want? In high school we even tried our hand at game design (and I’d say we were pretty successful!) and played our home forged game for the last couple years at home. (Judd Apatow captures the spirit of this camaraderie remarkably well in the finale of Freaks and Geeks, a series well worth watching in general.)

I don’t know what would have happened had I never played D&D, but as I look over things, D&D led to a love of fantasy and science fiction - and it doesn’t seem a stretch that my decision to get into computers professionally was in no small part affected by my love of those genres. I suspect that it’s no coincidence either that the people writing the personal things about this sad event come from geekcentric Slate and Salon, where the NYTimes publishes an AP story and a pretty dry obit. Sigh. I have no few great memories playing games that he designed or ones that existed only because he took those first steps at rule writing. Rest in Peace, Gary.

An outpouring on the net show a lot of people were similarly affected by the man. Try here. Or here. Or here. Here too. And a comic here. One more. WOTC’s page (god, I loved that old school cover). Please post links to any other personal stories you find, I love reading them.

Mar 5th, 2008 · Comments RSS · · · · · Tags: gaming