Failed his last saving throw
Gary Gygax, the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, died this morning at age 69.
I haven’t played the game in 15 years, but it remains the single biggest influence in my career as a screenwriter. And I’m not alone: a quick poll of my writer friends revealed a huge number of teenage rangers and magic-users. That’s no coincidence. Building an adventure in D&D requires the same imagination as constructing a screenplay. Running a campaign is like running a TV show, with weekly sessions at the ping-pong table in the basement.
D&D isn’t where we learned to write, but where we learned to think epic. A game could last all night. Or all year. By the time my friends and I stopped playing, our characters had three generations of mythology behind them, with family trees that would bewilder Faulkner.
The game is also where future accountants learned to obsess over convoluted rules. Particularly in the early editions, there were more charts and figures than you’d think a seventh-grader could handle. But we ate it up. In a pre-internet age, a few hundred pages of dense data on mistletoe-gathering and the restrictions on Limited Wish spells was like info-crack. Even when you weren’t playing D&D, you were thinking about the next character you wanted to roll. The next adventure you wanted to build.
I’m sure I’ve read Gygax’s AD&D books — notably, the original Player’s Handbook and Dungeon Master’s Guide — more than any other printed matter I’ve owned, probably by a factor of 10. It’s where I learned what c.f., i.e. and e.g. meant.
I’ve moved 10 times since college, but the crate of D&D books has always come with me, unopened but somehow indispensable.
So, my sincere thanks to Mr. Gygax for what he brought into the world. We live on after death by creating things that outlast us. By that metric, Gygax is nearly immortal.
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March 4th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
John,
You just described my teen years to a tee. And how did you know about the box in my basement that my wife keeps trying to get me to throw away?!
Full of 100 lbs worth of books that I haven’t looked at in a decade, but just can’t bring myself to get rid of…
May Mr. Gygax find himself far removed from the 999 layers…
March 4th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
John, I had no idea, hadn’t heard this news yet. I played D&D as a lad, but a very long time ago, more than your 15 years in fact. I understand what you mean about learning to think epic from the game and learning how characters develope. I admit I also learned this from not only reading epic classic novels but from a childhood love of large epic films; I could sit through ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ AND ‘Gone with the Wind’ in one sitting. In fact, my brother and I sat through the Patrice Chereaux “Ring” Cycle in an entire day.
But D&D was of our generation, not the 19th century or Old Hollywood, and it was personally involving.
March 4th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
I recently saw “Mazes and Monsters,” a terrible TV movie from 1982 that starred Tom Hanks. The best description I’ve read: “Reefer Madness meets D&D.”
I’m glad that 25 years later, I’m only reading positive things about the guy. But maybe I live in non-fearmongering circles.
March 4th, 2008 at 6:51 pm
Just out of curiosity, I looked at the bookcase next to my computer. There – next to the Screenwriter’s Bible and a copy of Scenario – was my AD&D Monster Manual.
I hadn’t realized I never tossed it out, though I never look at it. Inside, was a map I drew 17 years ago.
Sniff, sniff.
March 4th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
“Running a campaign is like running a TV show” That pretty much sums it up! Although I played D&D, I also played just about every other game out there, from Car Wars to Stormbringer to Paranoia. There is a lot of really good writing hidden away in the player’s manuals and expansions of each game system. I would go so far to say that some of the base material for a lot of RPGs in the 70’s and 80’s (and early 90’s) was (and still is) better than most science fiction and fantasy released in any medium.
It really boiled down to not only the group you played with, but your DM/GM’s abilities at not only storytelling, but also the ability to improvise. The group I played with always came up with unique ways to get out of situations, so the DM/GM had to be on his toes.
March 4th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
My dad gave me the AD&D first edition books he’d used as a teenager when I was very young. It was missing the PHB, which made it sorta useless to run a game with. I got sucked in though, and when I finally got old enough to run into people who role played I was completely prepared. I actually played with the kids of my dad’s old gaming group.
I don’t think it’s a stretch to connect the dots from the kids who grew up with D&D and the like to the writers who make the relentlessly serial stories that is the hallmark of shows like Heroes. But I don’t think you need to point to the arts to validate Gygax’s work, although it may be more palatable to those who didn’t play. To my mind the joy of playing is a valuable enough contribution to the world.
March 4th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
So sad! I still play occasionally. I can’t even count the number of hours I’ve put into D&D…I hope the man is happy, wherever he is now. Have you seen the Order of the Stick tribute comic (do you know about Order of the Stick…you should)?
March 4th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Fifteen years, John? Come on– we all know you write up character sheets before you start a screenplay.
March 4th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Yep. Have my original Dungeon Masters Guide right here behind my desk… still wrapped in those school book covers they used to hand out. What a time machine. Here’s to Gygax and the forever tumblin’ 20 sided dice.
March 4th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
What’s weird is that I’ve never played Dungeons and Dragons, but I have read some of Gygax’s short stories; The Gord the Rouge ones, as a result it is a bit of a shock to read he’s past on. He was a very important figure in pop-culture through his creations.
March 4th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
D&D is likewise the biggest influence in my (entirely amateur) screenwriting.
Not only that, I’m only reading this blog because of D&D: John Rogers posts on a D&D website I frequent, and his KungFu Monkey blog led me to a whole world of screenwriters on the web.
I met my first Boyfriend at a D&D game.
I’m sorry to hear that he’s dead, but I take solace in the fact that his spirit is probably adventuring through the outer planes, kicking butt with his +1 mace.
March 5th, 2008 at 2:55 am
A Dutch/German comedian once said, he’ll live on as a rerun.
March 5th, 2008 at 4:56 am
Wow… I just finished reading “Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao” by Junot Diaz which is chock full of D&D references and have been feeling all nostaligic about those endless hours spent playing.
I’ve never thought about how D&D influenced my life — except that it made getting laid as a teenager a roll of 98 or better (yeah, ok, I had a charisma of 3 so I wasn’t getting to roll much anyway).
March 5th, 2008 at 7:00 am
I have also been a Gamemaster for years. And It was just one step for me from being a writer of shortstories to getting more and more epic and writing screenplays that i also direct.
Playing RPG’s made me think more visual, which brought me to making movies.
Gary/His work was a big step for me.
GPSchnyder
March 5th, 2008 at 9:26 am
Here’s to Gary Gygax, raises mead cup He went in alone… trapped in the Levitical Oubliette of Kerb… fighting the Balrog with a level 16 mage……. talk about class.
Every online RPG is his decendant, and soon we’ll be casting them with stars and shouting, “I wrote part three!”
At least two of my jobs were in that wake… and honestly… its not a bad place to be at all. Thanks Gary.
March 5th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
I never thought of the connection between my hours playing D&D (or Runequest, Call of Cthulhu, Champions, etc…) and screenwriting. But yeah, for me it was all about the story. I remember being amazed when I discovered there were people who played it as a numbers game–no funny accents, Tolkienesque dialog, or rash, heroic decisions that made your comrades groan–but which they all appreciated–because they were in character.
I remember as a GM, secretly tweaking saving throws because it made for a better story. “Who cares what the rules say–it’s so much better if the poison arrow misses him.”
And maybe more than anything else, I remember the joy of losing myself in the creation of an imaginary world. Reading other people’s imaginary worlds was great, but creating my own–I could pour an infinite amount of creative energy into a world, and still have acres of details to add, characters to create, entire cultures to define and describe.
No doubt there’s a direct link between making mental notes about why the ancient wars that cursed the land had occurred in the first place (when I should have been studying Algebra) and the way I suddenly sit up in bed saying, “Yes! That’s why Vikki is afraid of Narcissa!”
Creating new worlds is intoxicating, mapping out the stories that happen in them is thrilling. I probably wouldn’t have learned that if it weren’t for that skinny blue book I bought in the Summer of 1979.
March 5th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
Yes, we’ll all miss Gary ver much. He, though D&D and general role-play design influenced: Movies, TV, Video Games, Animation, books, etc. Good bye Gary, better saving throw next time.
March 6th, 2008 at 11:35 am
It’s crazy! When I saw the news of his passing, I thought of the countless hours playing the game. Constantly getting yelled out by my father to “GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY!” I think I spent an entire thanksgiving weekend playing every minute we were awake.
It made me think of great times and great friends I have lost touch with.
Now, back to writing!
March 6th, 2008 at 11:49 am
At only 69, Gary died too young. It is a sad day indeed.
Much of my earliest writing came in the form of writing adventures, and creating extensive histories for my characters, for D&D (and then AD&D, and then all manner of non-Gygax games like Twilight 2000, Traveller, GURPS, Cyberpunk, Shadowrun, Paranoia, etc.)
Gary Gygax, and the industry he helped create, really did help foster the imaginations and writing skills of generations of nerds all around the world. I believe D&D helped pave the way for the success of things like Harry Potter, World of Warcraft, and even the resurgence of The Lord Of The Rings.
He will be missed.
March 6th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
A pretty actress called me a “dungeons and dragons geek” yesterday, and she meant it as a compliment.
Filmmakers are all dungeon masters. The dungeons may be 19th century asylums, religious cults, or water tunnels under New York City, but everything I’ve been hired to write lately has been influenced by my adolescent scribbling on graph paper and rolling of multicolored dice.
March 6th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
I read about the death of Gary Gygax, and the comments above and have to agree about his influence. I played D&D at school and for a short while after. The game definitely helped me develop some fundamental imaginative and narrative tools. My folks didn’t approve, ditto some of my friends so I stopped. I’ve not thought about picking it up again, but I’m aware that every time I’m lost in writing, the ability to slip into that creative state I owe in part to D&D.
March 7th, 2008 at 3:52 am
Ahhh… I remember creating character sheets was almost just as fun as the adventure itself. Those were the times. RIP Gary. :-)
March 7th, 2008 at 7:32 am
Hmmm, I’ve never played it, but now I wish I had. I’m also not a screenwriter, so your theory holds up. Although I still love good story more than anything else a movie, video game or tv series has to offer.
March 7th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Never played it, never heard of it. And going by JA’s enthusiasm: I think we should fix that. Where should I start? Any DnD mentors here?
March 8th, 2008 at 8:53 am
Never played it. I wasn’t into cult games. Let’s hope Gary isn’t in hell for leading so many away from the light and into darkness.
March 9th, 2008 at 10:09 am
What DO c.f., i.e., and e.g. mean?
March 10th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
In my case, D&D (and its descendant games) also taught me how to write. My first paying gigs in the writing business were RPG books. I still write and design RPG products in addition to my general freelance work. Learning to craft narratives that can a) encompass several possible stories and b) survive contact with willful, self-motivated characters has been invaluable for teaching me about other forms of fiction.
What I find it hasn’t helped me with, though, is plotting. As a storyteller, I’m a great reactor, but I’m terrible at following through on detailed tellings of stories without real-time play to react to. The only solution I’ve found thus far is to do like Stephen King says: Start with the situation and follow the characters from there.
In that mode, the relationship between novelist and protagonist is not so different from the relationship between DM and player.
Anyway. D&D. Full of creative and narrative lessons, as you say.
March 11th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Though there was a lot of ignorant hysteria about the game, I’m glad that it’s (mostly) over. I dealt with that, and with guardians that thought it was a waste of time at best. That pressure drove me make a vow to earn money from the games I loved, and still love. I eventually did that as a game designer, and hopefully soon as a screenwriter.
Gary Gygax, along with co-creator Dave Arneson and the unknown people who were working on parallel concepts at the time D&D was born, have shaped my life immeasurably.
Who among us who have played will ever forget “Gygaxian” prose?
March 19th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
LOL – it’s where I learned what e.g. and i.e. meant as well!
I was a huge Dungeons and Dragons fan and your comment about games that lasted a whole year really sent me back in time. I used to love that feeling, of having experienced a long imagined journey rich with adventure. It was so much more meaningful than the 2-3 hours a week I spend now playing video games. I completely forgot about that feeling – thanks.
And I agree, it’s undoubtedly one of the main reasons why I love the craft of screenwriting and storytelling so much. I always preferred to be the Dungeon Master over actually playing. What fun was it playing when you could actually be the one in charge, the one who knew what was waiting right around that corner in the maze…
March 28th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
MIT salute to Gary