Wednesday, March 5, 2008

RIP Gary Gygax

The creator of Dungeons & Dragons died yesterday. I couldn't believe it. Surely he was about 35, and always had been and always would be, right? He couldn't have died.

I learned to play D&D way back in the mists of time, so far back that I actually don't remember when I learned. I know I was already familiar with the game when I joined the D&D club at Robertsville Junior High. That's where I first felt comfortable in my teen years, among people who were smart like me and a little reclusive like me and who all read the same books as me. I had a crush on a boy named Chris and was good friends with a girl named Paige, although I don't remember the other members. I learned that there were D&D-like games that weren't D&D, like the post-apocalyptic one Chris liked. I can't remember what it was called, but he invited me into his particular gaming group to play it and let me have one of his old characters, a mutated lion. I carried that folded-up character sheet in my jeans pocket until it literally fell apart.

I still have my dice bag. Every single person I know who's ever played D&D, even if they haven't played for decades, still has some of the dice. I bet Gary Gygax had an awesome dice collection. I hope they bury it with him, like treasure.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Unique blog you have here; an interesting read.

seaslug_of_doom said...

I may still have my dice buried somewhere. A paltry collection at best.

K.C. Shaw said...

I never had many dice myself, really. I know some people who had, like, thousands, but I've only got about 30 max. I just like knowing I could sit down and play D&D if I wanted to. Because I've got my dice!