Gary Gygax died this morning.

[Midgardsormr]

I recently had the opportunity to get to know Gary a little bit on another web forum. I was always impressed that although he had plenty of opportunities to complain about a variety of things (his health not least), he never did. He never had a bad word to say to or about anyone, yet he always expressed his opinions firmly.

Even had he never picked up a set of funny-looking dice, I think he still would have been a great man. I am very glad that I got the little bit of exposure to him that I did and saddened that I will have to wait for the next life to meet him in person.

Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.

[Robbie]

Truly an incredible loss to the whole gaming community. His contribution to this hobby from creation is immeasurable.

I also have met him, but I think I may have the extreme honor of claiming the "My character died at the hands of Gary Gygax" title. He ran a couple of short dungeon crawls at Imagine-Con in Norfolk a long while back and I signed up and luckily got selected to play. He's an amazing Dungeon Master and it was truly an honor to have been inspired yet killed with a roll of his die.

[Badger]

'Tis sad indeed. I feel as if an old friend has passed on to a better place. Maybe HeavenCon. RIP EGG, you will be sorely missed and your legacy will live on through the millions of gamers whose lives you've touched in some form or fashion. Thank you for all that you have given me, 27 years of happiness.

[Beowulf]

Gary never really let on about his health. He'd been ill for years, and I recall a bad spell a year or two back when it didn't look like he'd pull thru. But he beat the odds and had a couple more years. Geeky though it seems, I'm still a bit numb over his death. No, I never had the honor of meeting him; my only interaction was over the net. But even there his wit and humanity shone thru.

His impact on our hobby cannot be overstated, and it's very likely that no matter what game you play, you probably wouldn't be playing it or making maps for it not for EGG.

Godspeed, Gary. You may be gone but you'll be forever in the hearts of those who play the game you gave us.

[terrainmonkey]

you know, i've been playing this game since 1979, with the white box set, and chits. imagine a 12 year old kid, with no freinds, surrounded by bullies at school, with nothing but a box of rule books that showed him another world.

through this game i learned about art, history, literature, math, acting, and a great way to meet freinds. the game brought me out of my shell, gave me dreams, inspiration, and the ability to create worlds i could never have imagined. and though i only got to talk to Gary on the net, i feel impacted by his inspiration in ways i never could have forseen 28 years ago. Thanks my freind. that's all i can say.

this week, i called all of my gamer freinds, both old and new, and we've got 8 coming tonight to stay the weekend and play through the "tomb of horrors" with me. before we begin, we'll toast to Gary, relive memories of some of the great dungeon crawls of the past, and truly enjoy the game we all know and love because of him. his contribution to the fabric of society is immesurable.

and playing this weekend will be our way of saying "Thanks."

BTW, tuesday night, after i hear the news, i had to go play a game of poker with a group of freinds from my work. I took a D20, called it Gary, and put it on the top of my chips. every time i thought about folding, i would roll it, and it would come up that i should stay in the hand. i always won the hands, and I won the game that night, for the first time in quite a while. now, nobody wants me to bring the dice to the game, as they are afraid of what might happen.

i say good. thanks for helping me win, big guy.

[Badger]

Tomb of Horrors was the first game that popped into my head, followed by the ever famous Temple of Elemental Evil... If I could make that game, I would... good luck on making it thru bro... you will need it

[jaerdaph]

RIP, Gary, and thank you for everything.

The NY Times has a great Op-Ed piece on Gary today by one of the editors of Wired Magazine:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/op...in&oref=slogin

[Redrobes]

It transpires that Arthur C Clarke has joined Gary today too...

[GlennZilla]

I can only imagine the game of Traveller they might enjoy.

Now I want to re-read Rendevous with Rama.

[Midgardsormr]

Wow. The last few months have certainly been hard on the sci-fi/fantasy world: Jordan, Gygax, Clarke, L'Engle. And Pratchett's announcement that he has Alzheimer's. A lot of great writers and pioneers of the genres gone.