D&D's Creator Passes On

Left: Image by Tribs, at B3ta.

Wow, Dungeons & Dragons dates from as late as 1974? I remember my group of high school friends playing it by 1975 (although by that time I was exasperated with board games and miniature golf, and the like, and wanted to hang out with chicks, and stuff, instead). One friend became a first-class Dungeon Master and hopscotched around the country running games in the 80's before getting religion, becoming a pharmacist, and consigning D&D to Satan's warehouse of sinful, youthful pasttimes:

Gary Gygax, who co-created the fantasy game Dungeons & Dragons and helped start the role-playing phenomenon, died Tuesday morning at his home in Lake Geneva. He was 69.

...Gygax and Dave Arneson developed Dungeons & Dragons in 1974 using medieval characters and mythical creatures. The game known for its oddly shaped dice became a hit, particularly among teenage boys, and eventually was turned into video games, books and movies.

..."It really meant a lot to him to hear from people from over the years about how he helped them become a doctor, a lawyer, a policeman, what he gave them," Gail Gygax said. "He really enjoyed that."

Dungeons & Dragons players create fictional characters and carry out their adventures with the help of complicated rules. The quintessential geek pastime, it spawned a wealth of copycat games and later inspired a whole genre of computer games that's still growing in popularity.

...Gygax also was a prolific writer and wrote dozens of fantasy books, including the Greyhawk series of adventure novels.