In memoriam: D&D mastermind Gary Gygax
Gary Gygax, co-creator of the first role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons, has died at the age of 69. Gygax, who developed the game in 1974 with Dave Arneson, had been suffering from health problems for several years. Famous for its mythical creatures and odd-shaped dice, Dungeons and Dragons was an instant success that spawned a slew of video games, books and films. Gygax was also a author who wrote numerous fantasy books, including the Greyhawk series of adventure novels. He died on Tuesday at his home in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, leaving a wife and six children. Skills and abilities Ernest Gary Gygax grew up in Chicago, moving to Lake Geneva at the age of eight. His father, a Swiss immigrant, read fantasy books that got his son hooked on the genre, according to Gygax's widow Gail. Gygax was working as an insurance underwriter in the 1960s when he began playing war-themed board games. It was these that inspired him and Arneson to develop Dungeons and Dragons, in which players c...