In Memoriam: E. Gary Gygax, 1938-2008

I don't know if I met Gary Gygax, but I owe him big.

For those of you who don't know, Gygax essentially created roleplaying gaming. A miniatures gamer from Wisconsin, Gygax and his friends were enthusiastic about tabletop minature wargaming-- but then took it a step further. Individual lead figures were given identities, attributes, characteristics... and then set loose to adventure their way through scenarios devised by a 'Dungeon Master.' They wrote up the rules in a booklet called Chainmail, which was the precursor to

Dungeons & Dragons.

Gygax and his friends formed Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (better known as TSR), then created a gaming empire through the late '70s and early '80s. He left TSR in 1985, after a change in management, but remained active in roleplaying publishing over the past 23 years. He also founded GenCon, the world's largest gaming convention, which began as a gaming party at his home.

How did he affect me? Well, when I was 13, I bonded with two good friends over D&D. We made more friends who were gamers from junior high into high school, playing on Friday nights, then after college I joined a gaming club that met on Fridays. When my dad passed away in 1988, they were all there for me-- they were all fantastic friends.

We playtested games together and had a terrific social group.

I'm also proud that my game writing credits include an adventure module for AD&D, the "advanced" descendant of Gygax's brainchild.

He was perhaps the single most important figure in roleplaying games; without him, all the other creators who have made such great contributions would have done other things, or at least the world of gaming would look very different. Everyone who ever rolled a 20-sided die owes him a debt of thanks.

RIP, Mr. Gygax, and thank you.

Associated Press article.

New Wild Cards Site Live!

This just in-- Tor has launched its official Wild Cards site! The home page includes an introduction from George R.R. Martin, with pages for the new characters, the writers (and links to their websites), Q&A, and a whole lot more. If you're a long time fan or a newcomer to the series, this site has LOADS of stuff you'll want to see. (And if, like me, you subscribe, you can open the link to GRRM's description of how Wild Cards came to be... which is a great story.)

Check it out!