I was incredibly saddened to read news of the death of Gary Gygax - creator of Dungeons & Dragons, and the ‘father’ of role playing games. He was 69.
I was lucky enough to meet Gary a couple of years ago at a Comicon in Toronto, and get him to sign an early edition of the core D&D rules. Fortunately, I was able to tell him what an impact he’d made on my life, and how much I’d appreciated his work. Was he ever cool.. he was happy to chat, and invited us to come down and game with him in Lake Geneva.
There are few people whose creative visions had such a tremendous impact on my life. I spent countless hours playing not just D&D, but a few dozen other Role Playing Games, that were all spawned from my love of Dungeons & Dragons. Many of the closest friends in my life were met through mutual love of role-playing games.
I’ll never forget playing a host of characters through the original Basic and Expert editions with my buddy Brad - I still have all those old characters. I’ll never forget the YEARS of DAILY gaming sessions I played with Grant, Neil, Q-Tip, Paul, Chris, and a ton of other guys. There are memories of a million great games, tons of memorable characters, hilarious situations, and triumphant moments.
For the last 2 or 3 years, I basically didn’t play any RPG’s. But 3 or 4 months ago, I got invited to play again, and I decided to make time for it. I suddenly feel really good that I spent last Sunday playing D&D… it’s sort of my little tribute to a man who dedicated his life to the pursuit of fun, gaming, and using our minds to make our lives more enjoyable!
R.I.P. Gary!