RIP: D&D Co creator Dave Arneson

[cbelt3]

Wired Magazine's report

I whiled away many a late night playing this uber-nerd game in high school and college. What did I get out of it ?

A more refined sense of probability and statistics.
A more refined ability to do mental math (see above).
A more refined sense of time and space (we didn't use miniatures or hex boards, it was all played in our heads).
A stronger sense of the absurd (playing with people with sick senses of humor helped).
A stronger story-writing skill set.
A fascination with swords, which led to fencing classes, which led to captaining a squad in the only NCAA championship my school has ever had, and a potential Olympic bid that was cut short by a permanent injury (alas).

It's a pity that both Gary Gygax and now Dave Arneson are gone. I hope their game lives on, improving the creativity skillset of freaks and geeks for years to come.

[Racer X]

A friend's kids were in absolute awe when I drug out all my original D&D books from the 70s.

[Acer]

You'd think after playing that long, he would have had a priest in the party high enough level to cast Resurrection.

[Racer X]

nice one.....

[jdc]

61 is too young for anyone...

[Acer]

That first campaign at the neighbor kid's house one cold January was the most fun I have ever had playing a game. I've been on a life-long search to recapture that, unsuccessfully.

[RAMd®d]

I remember when 61 is oooooooold!


You'd think after playing that long, he would have had a priest in the party high enough level to cast Resurrection.

Yes, well done!

[Paul F.]

He may yet rise as a Lich...

I played D&D FIrst Edition (not first printing...).
I played Expert Set.
AD&D, first edition.
AD&D Second Edition.
AD&D Third Edition (first revision).

Greyhawk, the Forgotten Realms, the Underdark, and on several Planes...

Heck, with a group of friends, we played a single campaign for over 10 years... we only stopped about 6 years ago, when our DM went back into the Air Force.

His work will live on.

[JoeH]

Played from the late '70's until the early '90's. By then, life got in the way of getting together on a regular basis and friends moved away to follow jobs, etc. Did get a lot of enjoyment out of Arneson and Gygax's creation. Started playing games based on the "Boxed Set of the original D&D rule books with the various supplemental books, Blackmoor, Greyhawk, Eldritch Wizardry and on. Still have those and the AD&D first edition rule books that we switched to later. We later incorporated 2nd edition rules that fit our campaign, so also may have some of those left. Or at least whatever the ex did not take with her.

[SDGuy]

I blame playing D&D thirty years ago for this sitting in my living room today: