Comments on: Failed his last saving throw

By: Hugo Fuchs

Hugo Fuchs — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 02:49:32 +0000

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 20:07:47 +0000

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...

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 05:33:15 +0000

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?

By: Will

Will — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 03:43:56 +0000

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.

By: Danny

Danny — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 18:09:32 +0000

What DO c.f., i.e., and e.g. mean?

By: Nick

Nick — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 16:53:55 +0000

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.

By: Sid

Sid — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 22:57:43 +0000

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?

By: Gerry

Gerry — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 15:32:26 +0000

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.

By: Massimo

Massimo — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 11:52:18 +0000

Ahhh… I remember creating character sheets was almost just as fun as the adventure itself. Those were the times. RIP Gary. :-)

By: Matthew

Matthew — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 23:14:28 +0000

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.

By: Sean Hood

Sean Hood — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 21:01:29 +0000

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.