Ernest Gary Gygax was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
writerA writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and game designer best known for co-creating the pioneering
role-playing gameA role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
Dungeons & DragonsDungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
(D&D) with
Dave ArnesonDavid Lance "Dave" Arneson was an American game designer best known for co-developing the first published role-playing game , Dungeons & Dragons, with Gary Gygax, in the early 1970s...
. Gygax is generally acknowledged as the father of role-playing games.
In the 1960s, Gygax created an organization of wargaming clubs and founded the
Gen ConGen Con is one of the largest and most prominent annual gaming conventions in North America. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card-style games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, board games, live action role-playing games, collectible card games, non-collectible...
gaming conventionA gaming convention is a gathering that centered on role-playing games, collectible card games, miniatures wargames, board games, video games, or other types of games. These conventions are typically two or three days long, and often held at either a university or in a convention center hotel...
. In 1971, he helped develop
ChainmailChainmail is a medieval miniatures wargame created by Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren. Gygax developed the game with fellow Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association member Perren, a hobby-shop owner with whom he had become friendly, and the game was first published in 1971...
, a miniatures wargame based on medieval warfare. He co-founded the company Tactical Studies Rules (TSR, Inc.) with childhood friend
Don KayeDonald R. Kaye , co-founder of TSR, Inc., was the childhood friend of Gary Gygax, and shared an interest in war games and tabletop miniatures with him during their youth...
in 1973. The following year, he and Dave Arneson created Dungeons & Dragons, which expanded on his work on Chainmail and included elements of the fantasy stories he loved as a child. In the same year, he founded
The DragonDragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
, a magazine based around the new game. In 1977, Gygax began work on a more comprehensive version of the game, called Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Gygax designed numerous manuals for the game system, as well as several pre-packaged
adventuresIn the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, an adventure or module is a pre-packaged book or box set that helps the Dungeon Master manage the plot or story of a game...
called "modules" that gave a person running a D&D game (the "
Dungeon MasterIn the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, the Dungeon Master is the game organizer and participant in charge of creating the details and challenges of a given adventure, while maintaining a realistic continuity of events...
") a rough script and ideas on how to run a particular gaming scenario. In 1983, he worked to license the D&D product line into the successful
Dungeons & Dragons cartoon seriesDungeons & Dragons is an American fantasy animated television series based on TSR's Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. A co-production of Marvel Productions and TSR, the show originally ran from 1985 through 1987 for three seasons on CBS for a total of twenty seven episodes.The show focused on a...
.
After leaving TSR in 1985 over issues with its new majority owner, Gygax continued to create role-playing game titles independently, beginning with the multi-genre
Dangerous JourneysDangerous Journeys is a roleplaying game created by Gary Gygax, the co-creator of the original Dungeons & Dragons system. The game was originally announced as Dangerous Dimensions but was changed to Dangerous Journeys in response to a threat of a lawsuit from TSR, Inc., the publishers of Dungeons...
in 1992. He designed another gaming system called
Lejendary AdventureLejendary Adventure is a role-playing game created by Gary Gygax, the co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons, and creator of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons...
, released in 1999. In 2005, Gygax was involved in the
Castles & CrusadesCastles & Crusades is a role-playing game published by Troll Lord Games in 2004. It was conceived as a reimagining of classic Dungeons & Dragons using streamlined mechanics from third edition Dungeons & Dragons. The game uses many of the d20 System mechanics, but eliminates skills and feats and...
role-playing game, which was conceived as a hybrid between D&D's third edition and the original version of the game conceived by Gygax.
Gygax was married twice and had six children. In 2004, he suffered two strokes, narrowly avoided a subsequent heart attack, and was then diagnosed with an
abdominal aortic aneurysmAbdominal aortic aneurysm is a localized dilatation of the abdominal aorta exceeding the normal diameter by more than 50 percent, and is the most common form of aortic aneurysm...
, from which he died in March 2008.
Early life and inspiration
Gary Gygax was born in
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
within a few blocks of
Wrigley FieldWrigley Field is a baseball stadium in Chicago, Illinois, United States that has served as the home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales...
on July 27, 1938. He was the son of
SwissSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
immigrant and
Chicago Symphony OrchestraThe Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
violinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist Ernst Gygax. Gygax spent his early childhood in Chicago, but in 1946 (after he was involved in a brawl with a large group of boys), his father decided to move the family to
Lake Geneva, WisconsinLake Geneva is a city in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 7,148 at the 2000 census. A resort city located on Geneva Lake, it is southwest of Milwaukee and popular with tourists from metropolitan Chicago and Milwaukee.-History:...
, where Gary's mother's family had settled in the early 19th century.
During his childhood and teen years, he developed a love of games and an appreciation for fantasy and science fiction literature. When he was five, he played card games such as
pinochlePinochle or Binocle is a trick-taking game typically for two to four players and played with a 48 card deck. Derived from the card game bezique, players score points by trick-taking and also by forming combinations of cards into melds. It is thus considered part of a "trick-and-meld" category...
and then
chessChess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
. At the age of ten, he and his friends played the sort of games that eventually came to be called "
live action role-playing gameA live action role-playing game is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically act out their characters' actions. The players pursue goals within a fictional setting represented by the real world, while interacting with each other in character. The outcome of player actions may...
s" with one of them acting as a referee. His father introduced him to science fiction and fantasy through
pulp novelPulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
s. His interest in games, combined with an appreciation of history, eventually led Gygax to begin playing
miniature war gamesMiniature wargaming is a form of wargaming that incorporates miniature figures, miniature armor and modeled terrain as the main components of play...
in 1953 with his best friend
Don KayeDonald R. Kaye , co-founder of TSR, Inc., was the childhood friend of Gary Gygax, and shared an interest in war games and tabletop miniatures with him during their youth...
. As teenagers Gygax and Kaye designed their own miniatures rules for toy soldiers with a large collection of and figures, and they used "ladyfingers" (small firecrackers) to simulate explosions.
Gygax dropped out of high school in his junior year and worked at odd jobs for a while, but he moved back to Chicago at age 19 to attend night classes in junior college. He also took
anthropologyAnthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
classes at
University of ChicagoThe University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
. The following year he married Mary Jo Powell. Their marriage would produce five children: Ernest ("Ernie"), Lucion ("Luke"), Heidi, Cindy, and Elise. Gygax continued his night-school classes and made the college Dean's List. At the urging of his professors, he applied to the
University of ChicagoThe University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
and was admitted. However, because he was married, he decided to take a full-time job in insurance instead.
By December 1958, the game
GettysburgGettysburg is a board wargame produced by Avalon Hill which re-enacts the American Civil War battle of Gettysburg. It was originally published in 1958, and was the first board wargame based on a historical battle....
from the
Avalon HillAvalon Hill was a game company that specialized in wargames and strategic board games. Its logo contained its initials "AH", and it was often referred to by this abbreviation. It also published the occasional miniature wargaming rules, role-playing game, and had a popular line of sports simulations...
company had particularly captured Gygax's attention. It was also from Avalon Hill that he ordered the first blank hexagon mapping sheets that were available, which he then employed to design his own games. Gygax became active in fandom and became involved in play-by-mail
DiplomacyDiplomacy is a strategic board game created by Allan B. Calhamer in 1954 and released commercially in 1959. Its main distinctions from most board wargames are its negotiation phases and the absence of dice or other game elements that produce random effects...
games, for which he designed his own variants. Gygax learned about
H. G. WellsHerbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
'
Little WarsLittle Wars is a set of rules for playing with toy soldiers, written by H. G. Wells in 1913. Its full title is Little Wars: a game for boys from twelve years of age to one hundred and fifty and for that more intelligent sort of girl who likes boys' games and books.Little Wars is considered by some...
book for play of military miniatures wargames and
Fletcher PrattMurray Fletcher Pratt was an American writer of science fiction, fantasy and history, particularly noted for his works on naval history and on the American Civil War.- Life and work :...
's Naval Wargame book. By 1965 he was active in the wargame hobby and was writing many magazine articles on the subject. Then Gygax looked for innovative ways to generate random numbers, and he used not only common, six-sided
diceA die is a small throwable object with multiple resting positions, used for generating random numbers...
, but dice of all five
platonic solidIn geometry, a Platonic solid is a convex polyhedron that is regular, in the sense of a regular polygon. Specifically, the faces of a Platonic solid are congruent regular polygons, with the same number of faces meeting at each vertex; thus, all its edges are congruent, as are its vertices and...
shapes, which he discovered in a school supply catalog.
In 1967, he and his family moved back to Lake Geneva. Except for a few months he would spend in
Clinton, WisconsinClinton is a village in Rock County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 2,162 at the 2000 census . The village is located within the town of Clinton...
, following his divorce, and his time in Hollywood while he was the head of TSR's entertainment division, Lake Geneva would be his home for the rest of his life.
Wargames
During the 1960s, Gygax worked as an insurance
underwriterUnderwriting refers to the process that a large financial service provider uses to assess the eligibility of a customer to receive their products . The name derives from the Lloyd's of London insurance market...
for the Firemen's Fund in Lake Geneva. In 1966, Gygax co-founded the
International Federation of WargamersThe International Federation of Wargaming was founded by Gary Gygax, Bill Speer, and Scott Duncan in 1966. Originally named the United States Continental Army Command, the organization served as an umbrella for local wargaming clubs such as the Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association and the...
(IFW) with Bill Speer and Scott Duncan. The IFW, which was created by combining several pre-existing wargaming clubs, aimed to promote interest in wargames (especially those set in the medieval period) and provided a forum for international wargamers. In 1967, Gygax organized a 20-person gaming meet in the basement of his home; this event would go on to be called "Gen Con 0". In 1968, Gygax rented Lake Geneva's vine-covered
Horticultural HallHorticultural Hall is a conference center in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it was built in 1911 as a location for the professional gardeners working on nearby estates to meet and discuss their work....
for to hold the first Lake Geneva Convention, also known as the
Gen ConGen Con is one of the largest and most prominent annual gaming conventions in North America. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card-style games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, board games, live action role-playing games, collectible card games, non-collectible...
gaming conventionA gaming convention is a gathering that centered on role-playing games, collectible card games, miniatures wargames, board games, video games, or other types of games. These conventions are typically two or three days long, and often held at either a university or in a convention center hotel...
for short. Gen Con is now one of
North AmericaNorth America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
's largest annual hobby-game gatherings. Gygax met
Dave ArnesonDavid Lance "Dave" Arneson was an American game designer best known for co-developing the first published role-playing game , Dungeons & Dragons, with Gary Gygax, in the early 1970s...
, the future co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, at the second Gen Con in August 1969.
Together with Don Kaye, Mike Reese, and Leon Tucker, Gygax created a military miniatures society called
Lake Geneva Tactical Studies AssociationThe Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association was a prominent wargaming club active in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin during the 1960s and 1970s. Its membership included Gary Gygax, Terry and Rob Kuntz, Jeff Perren, Mike Reese, Leon Tucker, and Don Kaye. The organization usually met weekly in Gygax's...
(LGTSA) in 1965, with its first headquarters in Gygax's basement. In 1969, Gygax founded the
Castle & Crusade SocietyFormed by Gary Gygax in 1968, the Castle & Crusade Society was a chapter of the International Federation of Wargaming dedicated to medieval miniature wargaming.Its membership included Gary Gygax, Rob Kuntz and Dave Arneson....
chapter of the IFW. Gary left the insurance business and became a shoe repairman to make more time for pursuing his interest in game development. In 1970, he began working as editor-in-chief at
Guidon GamesGuidon Games produced board games and rulebooks for wargaming with miniatures, and in doing so influenced Tactical Studies Rules , the publisher of Dungeons & Dragons. The Guidon Games publishing imprint was the property of Lowry's Hobbies , a mail-order business owned by Don and Julie Lowry...
, a publisher of
wargamesA wargame is a strategy game that deals with military operations of various types, real or fictional. Wargaming is the hobby dedicated to the play of such games, which can also be called conflict simulations, or consims for short. When used professionally to study warfare, it is generally known as...
, for which he produced the board games
Alexander the GreatAlexander the Great is a board wargame first published in 1971 by Guidon Games.Printed when board wargaming was relatively new, this game was designed by Gary Gygax...
and
DunkirkDunkirk: The Battle of France is an out of print World War II board wargame simulating Operation Dynamo. It was designed by Gary Gygax and published by Guidon Games in 1971...
in 1971. In 1968, Gygax and hobby-shop owner Jeff Perren wrote
ChainmailChainmail is a medieval miniatures wargame created by Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren. Gygax developed the game with fellow Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association member Perren, a hobby-shop owner with whom he had become friendly, and the game was first published in 1971...
, a
miniatures wargameMiniature wargaming is a form of wargaming that incorporates miniature figures, miniature armor and modeled terrain as the main components of play...
that simulated medieval-era tactical combat, and it was published in 1971. Gygax also collaborated with Dave Arneson on the naval wargame
Don't Give Up the Ship!Don't Give Up the Ship! is a set of rules for conducting Napoleonic era naval wargames. The game was published by Guidon Games in 1972 and republished by TSR, Inc. in 1975. It was the first collaboration between Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax, the co-creators of Dungeons & Dragons...
For the second edition of Chainmail, published in 1972, Gygax added a fantasy supplement to the rules. These included warriors who were monsters of non-human races drawn from the works of Tolkien and other sources. He also included rules for individual heroic characters, including wizards. For the last he included sixteen spells that could be used to affect a battle, plus two "missiles" (fire ball and lightning bolt). Dave Arneson adopted the modified rules for his fantasy
BlackmoorBlackmoor is a fantasy role-playing game campaign setting generally associated with the game Dungeons & Dragons. It originally evolved in the early 1970s as the personal setting of Dave Arneson, the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, first as a setting for Arneson's miniature wargames, then as an...
campaign. While visiting Lake Geneva in 1972, Arneson ran his fantasy game using the new rules, and Gygax immediately saw the potential of role-playing games.
Basing their work on Arneson's modified version of Chainmail for his Blackmoor campaign, Gygax and Arneson collaborated on The Fantasy Game, the role-playing game that later became Dungeons & Dragons. The rules for simulating magic were inspired by the works of fantasy author
Jack VanceJohn Holbrook Vance is an American mystery, fantasy and science fiction author. Most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance. Vance has published 11 mysteries as John Holbrook Vance and 3 as Ellery Queen...
, and the system as a whole drew upon the work of authors such as
Robert E. HowardRobert Ervin Howard was an American author who wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. Best known for his character Conan the Barbarian, he is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre....
,
L. Sprague de CampLyon Sprague de Camp was an American author of science fiction and fantasy books, non-fiction and biography. In a writing career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and notable works of non-fiction, including biographies of other important fantasy authors...
, and
Fritz LeiberFritz Reuter Leiber, Jr. was an American writer of fantasy, horror and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theatre and films, playwright, expert chess player and a champion fencer. Possibly his greatest chess accomplishment was winning clear first in the 1958 Santa Monica Open.. With...
. In 1973, Gygax quit his day job and attempted to publish the game through Avalon Hill, who turned down his offer.
TSR
Gygax left Guidon Games in 1973 and, with Don Kaye as a partner, founded the publishing company
Tactical Studies RulesBlume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc....
(later known as TSR, Inc.) in October. The two men each invested in the venture—Kaye had borrowed on a life insurance policy—in order to finance the start-up of TSR. However, this did not give them enough capital to publish the rules for Dungeons & Dragons and, worried that other companies would be able to publish similar projects first, the two convinced acquaintance
Brian BlumeBrian J. Blume is noted for being a business partner of Gary Gygax in TSR, Inc., producers of the fantasy role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons.-Biography:...
to join TSR in 1974 as an equal one-third partner. This brought the financing that enabled them to publish Dungeons & Dragons. Gygax worked on rules for more miniatures and tabletop battle games, including
Cavaliers and RoundheadsCavaliers and Roundheads is a set of rules for English Civil War miniature wargaming. It was written by Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren and published by Tactical Studies Rules in 1973. The unassuming booklet was the first product released by the company better known for Dungeons and Dragons...
(English Civil War, with Jeff Perren), Classic Warfare (Ancient Period: 1500 BC to 500 AD),
TracticsTractics is a set of rules for conducting World War II style combat with 1:285 scale micro armour miniatures. It was originally written to use 1/87 scale miniatures which were easily available at the time of its writing. Written by Mike Reese and Leon Tucker with contributions by Gary Gygax, the...
(WWII to c. 1965, with Mike Reese & Leon Tucker), and
Warriors of MarsWarriors of Mars is a miniatures wargame written by Gary Gygax and Brian Blume in 1974, designed for simulating skirmishes on Barsoom, the world of John Carter as originally imagined by Edgar Rice Burroughs....
.
Dungeons & Dragons was first released by TSR in January 1974 as a
boxed setThe original Dungeons & Dragons boxed set by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson was published by TSR, Inc. in 1974. It initially included the original edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game...
. A hand-assembled print run of 1,000 copies, put together by hand in Gygax's home, sold out in less than a year. In the same year, Gygax created the magazine The Strategic Review with himself as editor, and then he hired
Tim KaskTimothy James Kask is an American editor and writer in the role-playing game industry. Kask became interested in board games in his childhood, and later turned to miniatures wargames...
to assist in the transition of this magazine into the fantasy periodical
The DragonDragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
, with Gygax as writer, columnist, and publisher (from 1978 to 1981). The Dragon debuted in June 1976, and Gygax commented on its success years later: "When I decided that The Strategic Review was not the right vehicle, hired Tim Kask as a magazine editor for Tactical Studies Rules, and named the new publication he was to produce The Dragon, I thought we would eventually have a great periodical to serve gaming enthusiasts worldwide... At no time did I ever contemplate so great a success or so long a lifespan." Gygax wrote the supplements
GreyhawkGreyhawk is a supplementary rulebook written by Gary Gygax and Robert J. Kuntz for the original edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game...
,
Eldritch WizardryEldritch Wizardry is a supplementary rulebook by Gary Gygax and Brian Blume, written for the original edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, which included a number of significant additions to the core game.-Contents:...
, and
Swords & SpellsSwords & Spells is a supplementary rulebook by Gary Gygax for the original edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Contents:Swords & Spells was a supplement of miniature rules, for use with the original D&D set....
for the original D&D game. With Brian Blume he also designed the
wild westThe Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
-oriented role-playing game
Boot HillBoot Hill is a western role-playing game designed by Brian Blume and Gary Gygax. First published in 1975, Boot Hill was TSR's third role-playing game, not long after Dungeons and Dragons and Empire of the Petal Throne.-System:...
in 1975. The
Dungeons & Dragons Basic SetThe original Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set boxed set was first published by TSR, Inc. in 1977, and comprised a separate edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, distinct from the first edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game, which was initially published in the same...
, a variation of the original D&D geared towards younger players and edited by
J. Eric HolmesJohn Eric Holmes, M.D. , was a former associate professor of neurology at the University of Southern California School of Medicine, an author and promoter of fantasy role-playing games, a noted fan and enthusiast of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and an American writer of non-fiction, fantasy and science...
, was released in 1977.
In 1975, Gygax and Kaye were only 36 years old, and Kaye had not made any specific provision in his will regarding his one-third share of the company. When he unexpectedly died of a heart attack in January 1975, his share of TSR passed to his wife, a woman whom Gygax characterized as "less than personable... After Don died she dumped all the Tactical Studies Rules materials off on my front porch. It would have been impossible to manage a business with her involved as a partner." Neither Gygax nor Blume had the money to buy the shares owned by Kaye's wife, and Blume persuaded Gygax to allow his father, Melvin Blume, to buy the shares and take Kaye's place as an equal partner. Later, Brian Blume persuaded Gygax to allow his brother, Kevin Blume, to purchase the shares from Melvin. This gave the Blume brothers a controlling interest at TSR, Inc.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
In 1977, a new version of D&D, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D), was first published. The
Monster ManualThe Monster Manual is the primary bestiary sourcebook for monsters in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It includes monsters derived from mythology, and folklore, as well as creatures created for D&D specifically...
, released later that year, became the first supplemental rule book of the new system, and many more followed. The AD&D rules were not compatible with those of D&D, and as a result, D&D and AD&D became distinct product lines.
Gygax wrote the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons hardcovers Players Handbook, Dungeon Masters Guide, Monster Manual, Monster Manual II,
Unearthed ArcanaUnearthed Arcana is the title shared by two hardback books published for different editions of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game...
, and
Oriental AdventuresOriental Adventures is the title shared by two hardback rulebooks published for different versions of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game...
. Gygax also wrote or co-wrote numerous AD&D and basic D&D
adventure modulesIn the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, an adventure or module is a pre-packaged book or box set that helps the Dungeon Master manage the plot or story of a game...
, including
The Keep on the BorderlandsThe Keep on the Borderlands is a Dungeons & Dragons module by Gary Gygax, first printed in December 1979. In it, player characters are based at a keep and investigate a nearby series of caves that are filled with a variety of monsters. Designed to be used with the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set, it...
,
Tomb of HorrorsTomb of Horrors is an adventure module written by Gary Gygax for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. It was originally written for and used at the 1975 Origins 1 convention...
,
Expedition to the Barrier PeaksExpedition to the Barrier Peaks is a 1980 adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game written by Gary Gygax. While Dungeons & Dragons is typically a fantasy game, the adventure includes elements of science fiction, and thus belongs to the science fantasy genre...
,
The Temple of Elemental EvilThe Temple of Elemental Evil is an adventure module for the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, set in the game's World of Greyhawk campaign setting. The module was published by TSR, Inc. in 1985 for the first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules...
,
Forgotten Temple of TharizdunThe Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun is an adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, for use in the World of Greyhawk campaign setting. The module was published by TSR, Inc. in 1982 for the first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules.-Plot summary:The Forgotten Temple of...
,
Mordenkainen's Fantastic AdventureMordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure by Robert J. Kuntz and Gary Gygax is an adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, published by TSR, Inc. in 1984. It originally bore the code "WG5" and was intended for use with the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition rules...
,
Isle of the ApeIn the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game World of Greyhawk campaign setting, the Isle of the Ape is a magical demiplane created by the mad archmage Zagyg Yragerne.-Plot overview:...
, and all seven of the modules later combined into
Queen of the SpidersQueen of the Spiders is an adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It was published by TSR, Inc. in 1986 and is a compilation of seven previous related modules, often referred to as a "supermodule." Together, the seven adventures form an integrated campaign that...
. In 1980, Gygax's long-time campaign setting of
GreyhawkGreyhawk, also known as the World of Greyhawk, is a fictional world designed as a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game...
was published in the form of the World of Greyhawk Fantasy World Setting folio, which was expanded in 1983 into the
World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game SettingThe World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting and the World of Greyhawk Fantasy World Setting are two closely related publications from TSR, Inc. that detail the fictional World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game...
boxed set. Sales of the Dungeons & Dragons game reached in 1980. Gygax also provided assistance on the
Gamma WorldGamma World is a science fantasy role-playing game, originally designed by James M. Ward and Gary Jaquet, and first published by TSR in 1978. It borrowed heavily from James M. Ward's earlier product, Metamorphosis Alpha.-Setting:...
science fantasy role-playing game in 1981 and co-authored the Gamma World adventure Legion of Gold.
In 1979, a
Michigan State UniversityMichigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
student, James Dallas Egbert III, allegedly disappeared into the school's steam tunnels while playing a live-action version of D&D. As a result, negative mainstream media attention focused on Dungeons & Dragons as the cause. In 1982,
Patricia PullingPatricia A. Pulling was an anti-occult campaigner from Richmond, Virginia, and the founder of Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons , an advocacy group that was dedicated to the regulation of the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons and other such games.-Biography:Pulling formed the organization...
's son killed himself. Blaming Dungeons & Dragons for his suicide, Pulling formed an organization named B.A.D.D. (Bothered About Dungeons & Dragons) to attack the game and the company that produced it. Gygax defended the game on a segment of
60 Minutes60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
, which aired in 1985. When death threats started arriving at the TSR office, Gygax hired a bodyguard. In 1982, however, TSR's annual D&D sales increased to , and in January 1983,
The New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
speculated that Dungeons & Dragons might become "the great game of the 1980s" in the same manner that
MonopolyA monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
was emblematic of the
Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
.
In the early 1980s, Gygax and Mary Jo divorced, and he moved to
Clinton, IllinoisClinton is the largest city in DeWitt County, Illinois, United States. The population was 7,225 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of DeWitt County.The city and the county are named for DeWitt Clinton, governor of New York, 1817-1823...
, for a short time.
After TSR was split into TSR, Inc., and TSR Entertainment, Inc., in 1983, Gygax became the President and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of TSR, Inc., and the President of TSR Entertainment, Inc. As part of TSR Entertainment, Inc., which was later known as Dungeons & Dragons Entertainment Corp., Gygax went to Hollywood, where he became co-producer of the licensed
Dungeons & Dragons cartoon seriesDungeons & Dragons is an American fantasy animated television series based on TSR's Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. A co-production of Marvel Productions and TSR, the show originally ran from 1985 through 1987 for three seasons on CBS for a total of twenty seven episodes.The show focused on a...
for
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
. The series led its time slot for two years.
One of Gygax's creations during this time was Dragonchess, a three-dimensional fantasy
chess variantA chess variant is a game related to, derived from or inspired by chess. The difference from chess might include one or more of the following:...
, published in
DragonDragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#100 (August 1985). It is played on three 8x12 boards stacked on top of each other - the top board represents the sky, the middle is the ground, and the bottom is the
underworldThe Underworld is a region which is thought to be under the surface of the earth in some religions and in mythologies. It could be a place where the souls of the recently departed go, and in some traditions it is identified with Hell or the realm of death...
. The pieces are characters and monsters inspired by the Dungeons & Dragons setting: King, Mage, Paladin, Cleric, Dragon, Griffin, Oliphant, Hero, Thief, Elemental, Basilisk, Unicorn, Dwarf, Sylph, and Warrior.
Leaving TSR
During his time in Hollywood, Gygax left the day-to-day operations of TSR to his fellow board members, Kevin and Brian Blume. In 1984, he discovered that TSR had run into serious financial difficulties. By the time he came back to Wisconsin in 1984, the company was in debt. At this point, he hired
Lorraine WilliamsLorraine Dille Williams is an American businesswoman who was in charge of the gaming company TSR, Inc. from 1986 to 1997. Williams was hired as TSR's manager by company co-founder Gary Gygax in 1984. She gained control of TSR the following year when the Blume brothers sold her their controlling...
to manage the company. He engineered the removal of Kevin Blume as CEO in 1984, but the Blume brothers subsequently sold their majority shares in the company to Lorraine Williams. By this time, it was evident that Gygax and Williams had differing visions of the future of TSR, and Gygax took TSR to court in a bid to block the Blumes' sale of their shares to Williams, but he lost. In October 1985, TSR's Board of Directors removed Gygax as the company's President and Chairman of the Board. He remained on the board as a Director and made no further contributions to the company's creative efforts. Sales of Dungeons & Dragons reached by 1985, but Gygax, seeing his future at TSR as untenable, left the company on December 31, 1985.
Before leaving TSR, Gygax had authored two novels for TSR's
GreyhawkGreyhawk, also known as the World of Greyhawk, is a fictional world designed as a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game...
Adventures series featuring
Gord the RogueGord the Rogue is the protagonist in a series of fantasy novels and short stories written by Gary Gygax. Gygax originally wrote the novels and short stories to promote his World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. After he left TSR, Gygax continued to write...
: Saga of Old City (the first Greyhawk novel) and Artifact of Evil. By the terms of his settlement with TSR, Gygax kept the rights to Gord the Rogue as well as all D&D characters whose names were anagrams or plays on his own name (for example, Yrag and Zagyg). However, he lost the rights to all his other work, including the
World of GreyhawkGreyhawk, also known as the World of Greyhawk, is a fictional world designed as a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game...
and the names of all the characters he had ever used in TSR material, such as
MordenkainenMordenkainen is a fictional wizard from the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. He was created by Gary Gygax as a player character and is one of the oldest characters in roleplaying fiction...
,
RobilarIn the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Robilar is a powerful warrior who serves as commander of Rary's forces in the Empire of the Bright Lands...
, and
TenserIn the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, Tenser is an archmage who actively seeks to rid the Flanaess of evil...
. In October 1986, Gygax resigned all positions with TSR, Inc., and he settled his disputes with TSR in December 1986.
After TSR
Immediately after leaving TSR, Gygax helped form the company New Infinities Productions, Inc., and became the chair of its board and head of the company's creative committee in October 1986.
Frank MentzerJacob Franklin "Frank" Mentzer III , is an American fantasy author and game designer best known for his work on early materials for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. He was a performing folk musician from 1968 to 1975, and played one concert at the White House during the...
and
Kim MohanKim Mohan is an American author and editor.-Biography:Kim Mohan was born in Chicago, Illinois, and moved to Williams Bay, Wisconsin when he was five. He became an avid science-fiction and fantasy reader and occasional wargamer, and graduated third in his high school class...
were design executives and with Gygax formed the creative committee.
Gygax's first role-playing game work for New Infinities (with Mohan and Mentzer) was the
science fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
-themed
Cyborg CommandoCyborg Commando is a science fiction role-playing game published by New Infinities Productions, Inc in 1987 and designed by Kim Mohan and Frank Mentzer based on an outline by Gary Gygax, the creator of the original Dungeons & Dragons system....
, which was published in 1987. Gygax's next project was a new fantasy role-playing game spanning multiple genres called
Dangerous JourneysDangerous Journeys is a roleplaying game created by Gary Gygax, the co-creator of the original Dungeons & Dragons system. The game was originally announced as Dangerous Dimensions but was changed to Dangerous Journeys in response to a threat of a lawsuit from TSR, Inc., the publishers of Dungeons...
. (It was originally to have been called Dangerous Dimensions, but the name was changed to Dangerous Journeys in response to a threat of a lawsuit from
TSR, Inc.Blume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc....
, that the "DD" abbreviation would be too similar to "D&D".) Gygax authored all of the products for Dangerous Journeys, including Mythus, Mythus Magick, and Mythus Bestiary. When the product was released by
Game Designers' WorkshopGame Designers' Workshop was a wargame and role-playing game publisher from 1973 to 1996. Many of their games are now carried by other publishers.-History:Game Designers' Workshop was originally established June 22, 1973...
, TSR immediately sued for copyright infringement. The suit was eventually settled out of court, with TSR buying the complete rights to the Dangerous Journeys system from New Infinities and then permanently shelving the entire project.
In August 1986, Gygax's sixth child, Alexander, was born to Gail Carpenter. They were married a year later. From 1986 to 1988, Gygax continued to write a few more Gord the Rogue novels, which were published by New Infinities Productions: Sea of Death (1987), City of Hawks (1987), and Come Endless Darkness (1988). However, by 1988, Gygax was not happy with the new direction in which TSR was taking "his" world of Greyhawk. In a literary declaration that his old world was dead, and wanting to make a clean break with all things Greyhawk, Gygax destroyed his version of
OerthIn the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, Oerth, pronounced as "Orth" or "oyth", is the name of the fictional planet on which one of the earliest campaign settings, the World of Greyhawk, is located...
in the final Gord the Rogue novel, Dance of Demons. During this time, Gygax also worked with
Flint DilleFlint Dille is a screenwriter, game designer, and novelist. He is best known for his animated work on Transformers, G.I...
on the Sagard the Barbarian Books, as well as Role-Playing Mastery and its sequel, Master of the Game. Gygax also wrote a number of published short stories. In the 1990s, Gygax wrote three more novels, released under publisher
Penguin/RocPenguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
and later reprinted by
Paizo PublishingPaizo Publishing is an American publishing company in Redmond, Washington that specializes in game aids and adventures for "the world's oldest fantasy roleplaying game" and its flagship spin-off game and setting, Pathfinder...
: The Anubis Murders, The Samarkand Solution, and Death in Delhi. Paizo Publishing also printed Infernal Sorceress, Gygax's "lost" novel. During 1994, he was the primary author for six issues of the entire 64-page Mythic Masters (Trigee) magazine. In 1995, he began work on a new computer game, but by 1999 it had morphed into book form and was published as a new role-playing system,
Lejendary AdventureLejendary Adventure is a role-playing game created by Gary Gygax, the co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons, and creator of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons...
. He also contributed the preface to the 1998 adventure
Return to the Tomb of HorrorsReturn to the Tomb of Horrors is a boxed set adventure module for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game released in 1998 by TSR, Inc.. It is set in the World of Greyhawk campaign setting and is a sequel to Gary Gygax's 1978 module Tomb of Horrors...
. Gygax also worked on a number of releases with the
d20 SystemThe d20 System is a role-playing game system published in 2000 by Wizards of the Coast originally developed for the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons...
under the Open Game License. These included the generic adventure module A Challenge of Arms; The Weyland Smith & Company Giant Fun Catalog, a book of "joke" magic items; and The Slayer's Guide to Dragons sourcebooks. From 2002 to 2006, Gygax worked on the Gygaxian Fantasy Worlds series from
Troll Lord GamesTroll Lord Games is an American publisher of role-playing games , The Crusader magazine and other board/dice/card games....
as the principal author of volumes I–III and as the editor of volumes IV–VII.
Gygax lent his voice to cartoons and video games in his later life, including providing the voice for his cartoon self in the episode "
Anthology of Interest I"Anthology of Interest I" is episode sixteen in season two of Futurama. It originally aired in North America on May 21, 2000. This episode, as well as the later "Anthology of Interest II", serves to showcase three "imaginary" stories, in a manner similar to the "Treehouse of Horror" episodes of...
" of the TV show
FuturamaFuturama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...
which aired in 2000. Gygax also performed
voiceover narrationVoice acting is the art of providing voices for animated characters and radio and audio dramas and comedy, as well as doing voice-overs in radio and television commercials, audio dramas, dubbed foreign language films, video games, puppet shows, and amusement rides.Performers are called...
as a guest Dungeon Master in the Delera's Tomb quest series of the
massively multiplayer online role-playing gameMassively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
Dungeons & Dragons Online: StormreachDungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Turbine, Inc. for Microsoft Windows, and originally marketed as Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach...
.
In 2003, Gygax announced that he was working with
Rob KuntzRobert J. Kuntz is a game designer and author of role-playing game publications. He is most famous for his contributions to various Dungeons & Dragons-related materials.-Works:...
to publish the original and previously unpublished details of
Castle GreyhawkCastle Greyhawk is one of the central dungeon settings in the fictional World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. The Castle was originally developed by Gary Gygax for his own campaign and later detailed for publication...
and
the city of GreyhawkGreyhawk, also known as the World of Greyhawk, is a fictional world designed as a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game...
in 6 volumes, although the project would use the rules for Castles and Crusades rather than D&D. Since
Wizards of the CoastWizards of the Coast is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games...
, which had bought TSR in 1997, still owned the rights to the name "Greyhawk", Gygax changed the name of Castle Greyhawk to "Castle Zagyg", a reverse homophone of his own name. Gygax also changed the name of the nearby city to "Yggsburgh", a play on his initials "E.G.G."
This project proved to be much more work than Gygax and Kuntz had envisioned. By the time Gygax and Kuntz had stopped working on their original home campaign, the castle dungeons had encompassed 50 levels of cunningly complex passages and thousands of rooms and traps. This, plus plans for the city of Yggsburgh and encounter areas outside the castle and city, would clearly be too much to fit into the proposed 6 volumes. Gygax decided he would compress the castle dungeons into 13 levels, the size of his original Castle Greyhawk in 1973 by amalgamating the best of what could be gleaned from binders and boxes of old notes. However, neither Gygax nor Kuntz had kept careful or comprehensive plans. Because they had often made up details of play sessions on the spot, they usually just scribbled a quick map as they played, with cursory notes about monsters, treasures, and traps. These sketchy maps contained just enough detail that the two could ensure their independent work would dovetail. All of these old notes had to be deciphered, 25-year-old memories dredged up as to what had happened in each room, and a decision made whether to keep or discard each new piece. Recreating the city too would be a challenge. Although Gygax still had his old maps of the original city, all of his previously published work on the city was owned by WotC, so he would have to create most of the city from scratch while still maintaining the "look and feel" of his original.
Even this slow and laborious process came to a complete halt in April 2004 when Gygax suffered a serious
strokeA stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
. Although he returned to his keyboard after a seven-month convalescence, his output was reduced from 14-hour work days to only one or two hours per day. Kuntz had to withdraw due to other projects, but he continued to work on an adventure module that would be published at the same time as the first book. Under these circumstances, work on the Castle Zagyg project continued even more slowly, even though Jeffrey Talanian stepped in to help Gygax. Finally in 2005,
Troll Lord GamesTroll Lord Games is an American publisher of role-playing games , The Crusader magazine and other board/dice/card games....
published Volume I, Castle Zagyg: Yggsburgh. This 256-page hardcover book contained details of Gygax's original city, its personalities and politics, and over 30 encounters outside the city. Later that year, Troll Lord Games also published Castle Zagyg: Dark Chateau, the adventure module written for the Yggsburgh setting by Rob Kuntz.
Book catalogs published in 2005 indicated several more volumes in the series would follow shortly, but it wasn't until 2008 that the second volume, Castle Zagyg: The Upper Works, appeared. The Upper Works described details of the castle above ground, acting as a teaser for the volumes concerning the actual dungeons that would follow. However, Gygax died in March 2008 before any further books were published. After his death, Gygax Games (under the control of Gary's widow Gail) took over the project, but to date no more volumes of the Castle Zagyg project have been published.
Personal life
From an early age, Gygax hunted and was a target-shooter with both bow and gun. He was also an avid gun collector, and at various times owned a variety of rifles, shotguns, and handguns.
Gygax married his first wife, Mary Jo Gygax, in 1958. By 1961 they had two children who would later assist with play-testing Dungeons & Dragons. Three more children were to follow before the marriage ended in divorce in the early 1980s. On August 15, 1987, the same day as his parents' 50th wedding anniversary, he married his second wife, Gail Carpenter, and together they had his sixth and last child. By 2005, Gygax had seven grandchildren.
Gygax went into semi-retirement after suffering strokes on April 1 and May 4, 2004, and almost suffered a
heart attackMyocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
after receiving incorrect medication to prevent further strokes. He had been a lifelong cigarette smoker but switched to cigars after his strokes. In late 2005, he was diagnosed with an inoperable
abdominal aortic aneurysmAbdominal aortic aneurysm is a localized dilatation of the abdominal aorta exceeding the normal diameter by more than 50 percent, and is the most common form of aortic aneurysm...
. Despite his reduced workload, Gygax continued to be active in the gaming community and regularly contributed to discussion forums on gaming websites such as Dragonsfoot and
EN WorldEN World is a role-playing game news and reviews website, which has grown from the earlier "Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News" site .- Description :...
.
Gygax died the morning of March 4, 2008, at his home in Lake Geneva at age 69.
Awards and honors
As the "father of role-playing games", Gygax received many awards, honors, and tributes related to gaming:
- He was inducted into the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design Origins Award
The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 Origins.The Origins Award is commonly...
Hall of Fame in 1980.
- Sync magazine named Gygax number one on the list of "The 50 Biggest Nerds of All Time".
- SFX magazine listed him as number 37 on the list of the "50 Greatest SF
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
Pioneers".
- In 1999 Pyramid
Pyramid is a gaming magazine, publishing articles primarily on role-playing games, but including board games, card games, and other sorts of games. It began life in 1993 as a print publication of Steve Jackson Games for its first 30 issues, though it has been published on the Internet since March...
magazine named Gygax as one of "The Millennium's Most Influential Persons" "in the realm of adventure gaming."
- Gygax was tied with J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
for number 18 on GameSpy's "30 Most Influential People in Gaming".
- Numerous names in Dungeons & Dragons, such as Zagyg
In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, Zagyg is the god of Humor, Eccentricity, Occult Lore, and Unpredictability...
, Ring of Gaxx, and Gryrax, are anagrams or alterations of Gygax's name.
- A strain of bacteria was named in honor of Gygax, "Arthronema gygaxiana sp nov UTCC393".
- Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher founded on February 8, 1991 under the name Silicon & Synapse by three graduates of UCLA, Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham and Frank Pearce and currently owned by French company Activision Blizzard...
dedicated the 2.4.0 patch of World of WarcraftWorld of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994...
, "Fury of the Sunwell", to Gygax.
- Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
dedicated Publish 51 in Ultima OnlineUltima Online is a graphical massively multiplayer online role-playing game , released on September 24, 1997, by Origin Systems. It was instrumental to the development of the genre, and is still running today...
to Gygax. This included a new room in the dungeon Doom containing a special encounter and unique decorations.
- Turbine, Inc.
Turbine, Inc. is an American computer game developer that pioneers 3D massively multiplayer online role-playing games . Turbine was founded by Johnny Monsarrat, Jeremy Gaffney, Kevin Langevin, and Timothy Miller, changing their company name in 2005 to Turbine, Inc...
, included two tributes in the Dungeons & Dragons Online: StormreachDungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Turbine, Inc. for Microsoft Windows, and originally marketed as Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach...
Module 7, released June 3, 2008.
- A new area in the Dungeons & Dragons Online region "Delera's Graveyard", which contains a memorial marker and a new unique item (Voice of the Master, which improves the wearer's experience awards).
- Stephen Colbert
Stephen Tyrone Colbert is an American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor. He is the host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a satirical news show in which Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits.Colbert originally studied to be an...
, an avid D&D gamer in his youth, dedicated the last part of the March 5, 2008, episode of The Colbert Report to Gygax.
- Gygax was commemorated in a number of webcomics, including xkcd
xkcd is a webcomic created by Randall Munroe. The comic's tagline describes it as "a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language." It has been recognized in such mainstream media as The Guardian and The New York Times....
s comic #393 "Ultimate Game", Penny Arcade'sPenny Arcade is a webcomic focused on video games and video game culture, written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik. The comic debuted in 1998 on the website loonygames.com. Since then, Holkins and Krahulik have established their own site, which is typically updated with a new comic...
"Bordering On The Semi-Tasteful", Dork TowerDork Tower is an online comic created, written and drawn by John Kovalic. It chronicles the lives of a group of geeks living in the fictional town of Mud Bay, Wisconsin. Mud Bay's design is strongly influenced by the author's home town of Madison, Wisconsin. Topics have included role-playing...
s "Thanks for the Worldbuilding Rules", Order of the Stick #536 "A Brief Tribute", UserFriendly's cartoon for March 9, 2008, GU ComicsGU Comics is a single panel webcomic written, drawn, and colored by William "Woody" Hearn. Established July 10, 2000 and launched August 15, 2000, GU is published, free, five times a week on its own web site...
' "The Journey's End", and the Unspeakable Vault (of Doom)The Unspeakable Vault is a webcomic by François Launet, which chronicles the "daily" lives of the Great Old Ones, including Cthulhu, Nyarlathotep, and Yog-Sothoth, among others. It takes a lighthearted view of H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos to inspire laughter rather than the more usual...
.
- The 2008 film Futurama: Bender's Game
Futurama: Bender's Game is the third of the four direct-to-DVD Futurama films that make up the show's fifth season. It was released on November 4, 2008 on DVD and Blu-ray....
contained a post-closing-credits title card paying tribute to Gygax and a clip of him from the episode "Anthology of Interest" saying, "Anyone want to play Dungeons and Dragons for the next quadrillion years?" Many people involved in the show, including David X. CohenDavid Samuel Cohen , primarily known as David X. Cohen, is an American television writer. He has written for The Simpsons and he is the head writer and executive producer of Futurama.-Early life:...
, were D&D fans and played the game during production of the show.
- Gygax's voice appears as his 8-bit self on Code Monkeys
Code Monkeys is an American animated television program created by Adam de la Peña. Set in the early 1980s, it follows the adventures of fictional video game company GameaVision....
.
- All three Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition core rulebooks are also "dedicated to the memory of E. Gary Gygax."
- Gygax and his love of gaming are celebrated at GaryCon, a Lake Geneva
Lake Geneva is a city in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 7,148 at the 2000 census. A resort city located on Geneva Lake, it is southwest of Milwaukee and popular with tourists from metropolitan Chicago and Milwaukee.-History:...
gaming convention hosted annually by family members and fans as a tribute.
- Members of Gygax's family have been raising funds to construct a memorial in his honor. As of January 2010, plans are to secure a location in Library Park on the lakefront in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. As of January 5, 2011 the memorial has been approved and will include "a castle turret with a bust on top and possibly have a dragon wrapped around the turret."
External links