This has nothing to do with script writing whatsoever, but I think it deserves mentioning. Gary Gygax, creative mind behind the popular Dungeons and Dragons games, died on March 4th, 2008. I know many of you are going "so what?", but those who have been into Dungeons and Dragons for a while (pre-WoC takeover D&D) should feel like I do: shocked, hurt, and very sad.

This man breathed life into a genre known as fantasy and made it accessible to everyday people in a way no other had yet: he allowed people, normal schmucks like you and me, to be what they'd only read and (perhaps) dreamed about: a knight slaying the dragon; an elf traversing the woodlands like a ship through calm seas; a wizard able to cast spells of unbelievable power; or perhaps even be one of the dwarves that accompanies Bilbo on his own amazing quest. Today, especially with the advent of FPS and MMPORPG video games, this seems commonplace, but when it was created it was the work of true genius, despite all the detractors and negative images it got from the press. It still thrives today, both in video games and in tabletop players like me.

I met him once, at a little con in VA Beach called Imaginecon. I was very shy of him, but he was friendly towards me...took my books and signed them, then chatted with me and my husband...then boyfriend...for about an hour. It was a touching experience, and I will never forget it.

Gary, I hope wherever you are, you are enjoying the life that you imagined and brough to to life for millions of others. Rest in peace.

He'll be greatly missed. May his heavenly dice always roll nat20s...

It's interesting when you realize that fantasy maybe wouldn't be so popular without his brain-child, and that a number of games probably never would have made it to market without D&D as their backbones, or distant inspiration.

I think that there are few people that can boast as much influence as Gary Gygax can, and that the world will miss him a great deal. We're the richer for his influence, after all.

May he rest in peace, and always get good rolls in his afterlife-y games. *toasts with tea*
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NaNo'04: Fail.
NaNo'06: Fail.
NaNo'07: Win. :D
Screnzy!08: We'll see...

Can't get enough NaNoWriMo? Try To Boldly NaNo!

All three vats still contain, apparently,
murky water. Only probing into the water reveals, what,
if anything, the water hides.
The westernmost vat actually does hold dirty water,
and nothing else.
The middle vat contains a weak acid that causes a
burning itch to affected flesh and deals 1d4+1 points of
damage the round after contact. One half of a golden
key is at the bottom of this vat.
The easternmost vat contains the other half of the
golden key from the middle vat—but it also holds a
murky gelatinous cube! Any character that sticks his
hand into the water is considered grappled by the cube
and is immediately pulled into the vat. Roll initiative.

~Gary Gygax, Tomb of Horrors

There was an excellent tribute article on him in today's New York Times. It should still be available online (since, because I wasn't paying attention this morning, I no longer have the link). Basically, the author gave Gygax credit for inspiring quite a few innovations, gaming and otherwise, that we tend to take for granted.

I wasn't part of the D&D crowd (I wasn't a social geek back in the day), but reading that article made me want to learn how to play.
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montes parturient, nascetur ridiculus mus.

I played back in the early 1980s, until my mother banned me and my brother from the game. (Our family has a largely New Age tradition, and we were in a spiritualist church at the time...) In the '90s I preferred GURPS (I planned Spanner as a GURPS Cyberpunk campaign in manga form; go figure) until I switched back to d20. My brother remains the hardcore gamer, though he prefers Warhammer these days.

I was surprised when I read the news. Gary Gygax, another of the renowned unknowns, far more influential than most people know. Without him, there would probably not be a roleplaying culture at all.

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Two-Time Consecutive Come-From-Behind NaNoWriMo Winner
2006: Black Science/The Jennifer Theory
2007: Bad Company

SF 2008: Spanner

When we learned the news, my D&D group met in the park and co-dungeoneered a campaign in honor of him. It was very weird and unconventional; we were improvising the plot as we went and (probably because we'd had too much sugar that day) were being very silly and actually acted it out.
Yeah, in the public park.

Jimmy: "Oh look! A twig!" -bends over to pick it up-
Anne: "NOOO you need to do a Spot Check to figure out if you even notice the twig!"
Jimmy: -rolls dice; gets a 1-

Ah, Gary, without ye life wouldn't be nearly as much fun. You will be missed.

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ScriptFrenzy '08: Highway Infinity