R.I.P. Dave Arneson

[DBear]

Another D&D gawd has fallen...

http://www.giantitp.com/index.html

excerpt

After some confusing rumors and retractions, it has been confirmed by multiple sources that Dave Arneson passed away late on Tuesday, April 7, 2009.

Many of our younger readers may not know who Mr. Arneson was, but he was a pivotal part of the birth of the hobby we all play. By most accounts, he literally invented the very concept of role-playing games. While he would share official credit for the original Dungeons & Dragons rules with the late Mr. Gygax, Mr. Arneson was the first to take the Chainmail wargaming rules and run a game where players controlled a single character, rather than an army, and described that character's actions to a judge who would determine how the environment reacted to them. Pretty much every roleplaying game (and many computer games) can trace their lineage to this single idea. He also invented the first campaign world, Blackmoor, which is hardly surprising considering he invented the concept of campaign worlds in the first place. It is impossible for me to overstate the impact his games had on what would become our mutual hobby.

 

[fugazi]

:'(

D&D ain't in good hands no more what with WotC owning it.

 

[King of Town]

My high school had a D&D club back in the late 70's I think. I haven't heard anything about D&D in years, I figured it was gone.

 

[JonathanStrange]

I've never been part of the D&D crowd, if there is a crowd to be part of still, but I think most of gamers have or will owe the trailblazers a debt of gratitude. RIP Dave Arneson.

BTW: HAS anyone written a book on the history of RPGs, D&D, etc.

 

[Maimonides]

This is very depressing. He & Gygax went too young. They had a big impact on allot of lives.

When I was young, my Scoutmaster introduced me to a D&D campaign he ran. Soon, my friends & I were getting together on the weekends & after school to play. That ended in high school when girls, music, cars, etc. became more important. Some friends & I started up a campaign in college & it was fun, but it wasn't just wasn't the same as when we were younger.

I don't think I played anything past 2nd edition. I'm always hearing about how 4th edition & the game's current owner, Wizards of the Coast, ruined the game, but I don't know much about that. I can't overstate how much that game fired my imagination & sparked my creativity when I was a kid.