RIP: Gary Gygax

[autoload]

I'm glad I didn't go hog wild and buy all the 3rd and 3 and a half edition books. I might peruse the 4th edition and consider if it's worth getting back into.

[greenoaks]

i will be doing the same but seeing if my 7 yo takes an interest in it.

is it nerdy to admit i met my wife playing D&D ?

[Nickbaldwin]

I am writing down all your names should you ever venture into FW with a D&D flame... AD, that's you too.

Considering your clanmate uses them....

[Suntzu]

there is a dark cloud over my house now.i went to a d&d site to buy some books,,,,i am a collector,there was a post about e.gary gygax s death.i have played for many years.from the ninth grade until now.so the news hit me VERY,VERY hard.i have had so much fun playing the game through the years,i have made many true friends.playing the game has kept me out of trouble in my teen years and now in my late years is a fun, safe bi-weekly hobby.i have been happily married for 14 years to a great girl dixie.we have 3 wonderful deans list healthy kids.dungeon&dragons is a great game.Gary Gygax will be sorely missed at my house. Suntzu

[DaGip]

D&D 4th edition will be in stores soon

I wonder how much input Gary had on the upcoming edition? Do we really need a Fourth Edition? I never even got into the Third Edition. I started with the Basic boxed set, went to Advanced, then really got into 2nd Edition. I scanned through 3rd Edition in the stores, and thought it wasn't really worth my time purchasing. Most rules and stuff the DM makes up on the fly anyway, right? I was always a fairly lenient DM myself, as I considered it much more important that the players enjoyed the game.

Anybody can create new races and stuff, do I really need to buy a new edition for this? I mean what is really the big dif between these systems, they all fall back on To Hit rolls and stuff, right?

And what is up with this new race The WarForged? Isn't that like playing a robot/cyborg/Full Metal Alchemist? Why do I need to buy a special book on this stupid race? I could easily come up with something as dumb as that.

When it comes to races, as a DM, I allowed my players to choose or make up whatever they wanted, but they had to tell me precisely how they were meaning to play the thing.

I can see playing a half-human/half-undead type of character, but I would never allow a full blown undead type of character to be played.

The point is that Gygax laid the groundwork for all these editions, rules, classes, races, and so on. I couldn't see myself buying a Fourth Edition any time soon.

[CrazyAnglican]

I roll a natural 20, do I kill the dragon?

Natural 20 severs a limb if you have a Vorpal Blade.

Does it go 'snicker snack'?

or does it just snicker?

[DaGip]

I roll a natural 20, do I kill the dragon?

Natural 20 severs a limb if you have a Vorpal Blade.

Does it go 'snicker snack'?

or does it just snicker?

It snickers at first and then it snacks and then it kerplunks.

[Mjolnirs]

A good tribute cartoon.
http://www.xkcd.com/393/

[DaGip]

A good tribute cartoon.
http://www.xkcd.com/393/

"Oh, Jesus! He's getting out another rule book!"

[Fireside Poet]

Funeral services will be held in his parents' basement.

Laugh!

I was reading every post respectfully because I too spent many an hour playing D&D (or "D" as we used to call it in our code so our parents wouldn't know) until I came across this gem by the Poet.

Nicely done!

Thank you, sir. I thought it a little kinder then "His hit points went to 0."

[greenoaks]

Funeral services will be held in his parents' basement.

Laugh!

I was reading every post respectfully because I too spent many an hour playing D&D (or "D" as we used to call it in our code so our parents wouldn't know) until I came across this gem by the Poet.

Nicely done!

Thank you, sir. I thought it a little kinder then "His hit points went to 0."

it is often acceptable to revive someone who's hit points reach 0. it is reaching -10 hit points that is the killer.

[DaGip]

Funeral services will be held in his parents' basement.

Laugh!

I was reading every post respectfully because I too spent many an hour playing D&D (or "D" as we used to call it in our code so our parents wouldn't know) until I came across this gem by the Poet.

Nicely done!

Thank you, sir. I thought it a little kinder then "His hit points went to 0."

it is often acceptable to revive someone who's hit points reach 0. it is reaching -10 hit points that is the killer.

Yeah, 0 HP isn't the end of the road, it just means you need some attention soon by a medic! -10 HP is the rule of thumb in which you have approx. 10 rounds to help someone who is down and out (losing one point of HP per round do to bleeding or whatever). My personal view on this is that this should be based on your Constitution score, so somebody that has a 16 Constitution would need medic help within 16 rounds, while an Elf with a 5 Constitution would need medic help within 5 rounds or be a gonner!

[greenoaks]

Funeral services will be held in his parents' basement.

Laugh!

I was reading every post respectfully because I too spent many an hour playing D&D (or "D" as we used to call it in our code so our parents wouldn't know) until I came across this gem by the Poet.

Nicely done!

Thank you, sir. I thought it a little kinder then "His hit points went to 0."

it is often acceptable to revive someone who's hit points reach 0. it is reaching -10 hit points that is the killer.

Yeah, 0 HP isn't the end of the road, it just means you need some attention soon by a medic! -10 HP is the rule of thumb in which you have approx. 10 rounds to help someone who is down and out (losing one point of HP per round do to bleeding or whatever). My personal view on this is that this should be based on your Constitution score, so somebody that has a 16 Constitution would need medic help within 16 rounds, while an Elf with a 5 Constitution would need medic help within 5 rounds or be a gonner!

i see where you are coming from but constitution is already a factor by providing a bonus of 3 hp per level for a 16 con and a minus 3 per level for a con of 5. (although the character always get 1 hp for a level increase regardless of the size of the negative)

[DaGip]

Funeral services will be held in his parents' basement.

Laugh!

I was reading every post respectfully because I too spent many an hour playing D&D (or "D" as we used to call it in our code so our parents wouldn't know) until I came across this gem by the Poet.

Nicely done!

Thank you, sir. I thought it a little kinder then "His hit points went to 0."

it is often acceptable to revive someone who's hit points reach 0. it is reaching -10 hit points that is the killer.

Yeah, 0 HP isn't the end of the road, it just means you need some attention soon by a medic! -10 HP is the rule of thumb in which you have approx. 10 rounds to help someone who is down and out (losing one point of HP per round do to bleeding or whatever). My personal view on this is that this should be based on your Constitution score, so somebody that has a 16 Constitution would need medic help within 16 rounds, while an Elf with a 5 Constitution would need medic help within 5 rounds or be a gonner!

i see where you are coming from but constitution is already a factor by providing a bonus of 3 hp per level for a 16 con and a minus 3 per level for a con of 5. (although the character always get 1 hp for a level increase regardless of the size of the negative)

So what do you suppose Gary's Constitution score would have been, since he died at 69?

I would say he had average constitution, something like an 8 maybe.

Gary Gygax's Attribute Scores

STR-5
DEX-5
CON-8
INT-15
WIS-12
CHR-14

Gary most definitely would have been a Wizard class character. Just my opinion. I imagine his Charisma would have been fairly high, and his wisdom as well. No way he would have been a Warrior or a Theif. Do you think people are playing D&D as Gary right now? In honor and tribute?

[Colossus]

I, too, must offer my respect and thanks to Gary for adding so much to the world of gaming and entertainment. Talk about a million dollar idea...what a genius!

A Gary Gygax musical tribute, courtesy of Weezer:

I've got a Dungeon Master's Guide
I've got a 12-sided die
I've got Kitty Pryde
And Nightcrawler too
Waiting there for me
Yes I do, I do

I've got posters on the wall
My favorite rock group KISS
I've got Ace Frehley
I've got Peter Criss
Waiting there for me
Yes I do, I do

I've got an electric guitar
I play my stupid songs
I write these stupid words
And I love every one
Waiting there for me
Yes I do, I do

In the garage
I feel safe
No one cares about my ways
In the garage
Where I belong
No one hears me sing this song
In the garage
In the garage

In the garage
I feel safe
No one cares about my ways
In the garage
Where I belong
No one hears me sing this song
In the garage
I feel safe
No one laughs about my ways
In the garage
Where I belong
No one hears me
No one hears me
No one hears me
No one hears me
No one hears me sing this song

[DaGip]

I remember that song.

[autoload]

So what do you suppose Gary's Constitution score would have been, since he died at 69?

I would say he had average constitution, something like an 8 maybe.

Gary Gygax's Attribute Scores

STR-5
DEX-5
CON-8
INT-15
WIS-12
CHR-14

Gary most definitely would have been a Wizard class character. Just my opinion. I imagine his Charisma would have been fairly high, and his wisdom as well. No way he would have been a Warrior or a Theif. Do you think people are playing D&D as Gary right now? In honor and tribute?

My predictions:

Gary Gygax's Attribute Scores

STR-6
DEX-6
CON-6
INT-14
WIS-14
CHR-15

[Iliad]

Laugh!

I was reading every post respectfully because I too spent many an hour playing D&D (or "D" as we used to call it in our code so our parents wouldn't know) until I came across this gem by the Poet.

Nicely done!

Thank you, sir. I thought it a little kinder then "His hit points went to 0."

it is often acceptable to revive someone who's hit points reach 0. it is reaching -10 hit points that is the killer.

Yeah, 0 HP isn't the end of the road, it just means you need some attention soon by a medic! -10 HP is the rule of thumb in which you have approx. 10 rounds to help someone who is down and out (losing one point of HP per round do to bleeding or whatever). My personal view on this is that this should be based on your Constitution score, so somebody that has a 16 Constitution would need medic help within 16 rounds, while an Elf with a 5 Constitution would need medic help within 5 rounds or be a gonner!

i see where you are coming from but constitution is already a factor by providing a bonus of 3 hp per level for a 16 con and a minus 3 per level for a con of 5. (although the character always get 1 hp for a level increase regardless of the size of the negative)

So what do you suppose Gary's Constitution score would have been, since he died at 69?

I would say he had average constitution, something like an 8 maybe.

Gary Gygax's Attribute Scores

STR-5
DEX-5
CON-8
INT-15
WIS-12
CHR-14

Gary most definitely would have been a Wizard class character. Just my opinion. I imagine his Charisma would have been fairly high, and his wisdom as well. No way he would have been a Warrior or a Theif. Do you think people are playing D&D as Gary right now? In honor and tribute?

we're probably talking different editions but average consitution is 10 or 11.

[DaGip]

Thank you, sir. I thought it a little kinder then "His hit points went to 0."

it is often acceptable to revive someone who's hit points reach 0. it is reaching -10 hit points that is the killer.

Yeah, 0 HP isn't the end of the road, it just means you need some attention soon by a medic! -10 HP is the rule of thumb in which you have approx. 10 rounds to help someone who is down and out (losing one point of HP per round do to bleeding or whatever). My personal view on this is that this should be based on your Constitution score, so somebody that has a 16 Constitution would need medic help within 16 rounds, while an Elf with a 5 Constitution would need medic help within 5 rounds or be a gonner!

i see where you are coming from but constitution is already a factor by providing a bonus of 3 hp per level for a 16 con and a minus 3 per level for a con of 5. (although the character always get 1 hp for a level increase regardless of the size of the negative)

So what do you suppose Gary's Constitution score would have been, since he died at 69?

I would say he had average constitution, something like an 8 maybe.

Gary Gygax's Attribute Scores

STR-5
DEX-5
CON-8
INT-15
WIS-12
CHR-14

Gary most definitely would have been a Wizard class character. Just my opinion. I imagine his Charisma would have been fairly high, and his wisdom as well. No way he would have been a Warrior or a Theif. Do you think people are playing D&D as Gary right now? In honor and tribute?

we're probably talking different editions but average consitution is 10 or 11.

Then I would say Gygax had just below average constitution. If he had average constitution, he would have hung on for a few more years. I was thinking average would be like an 8 or a 9 as anything higher than that would qualify you for a specific class of character. But a 10 could be considered just above average ability, so I don't see Gary as having that much constitution.

I am basing this on the 18 max score that you receive as a PC. And if you consider the median to be average, then 9 would be average.

Now a 10 strength would be average for a warrior, but it would be just above average for a peasant or some type of everyday NPC.

[CrazyAnglican]

Intelligence 16 or 17 (He developed the game system that launched the
RPG genre and made tons of money on it. He also
sold the company rather than trying to
micromanage the empire.)

I'd say Charisma 16 (I mean, really, we don't know each other or him
and we're sitting here talking about him
several days after he died.)

Wisdom 12 (Didn't really parley his notoriety into anything did
he? Wrote some books that was it.)

Dex. 6 (I have no independent knowledge here, but hey he
was almost seventy)

Str. 7 (see Dex.)

Con. 8 (died at 69 instead of 76)

[PhatJoey]

Wow! People debating what Gary's attribute scores would have been!

There can be no greater tribute to his life's work than that.

We will miss you Gary. But when my time approaches . . . start warmin' up your dice, there must be one more Drow city to plunder!

[autoload]

I agree PhatJoey.

[CrazyAnglican]

We will miss you Gary. But when my time approaches . . . start warmin' up your dice, there must be one more Drow city to plunder!

QFT