Posted on 04/09/2009 12:21:32 AM PDT by naturalman1975
Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Dave Arneson lost a long battle against cancer last night.
The Escapist expresses its sincere condolences to the friends and family of Dave Arneson.
In his youth, Arneson was fond of wargaming, specifically naval wargames. As a student of history, Arenson combined his passion for gaming with historical events, frequently running "what-if" scenarios for famous battles of ages past. His love for tabletop gaming led him to a fateful meeting at Gen Con in August 1969, where he met a young man named Gary Gygax.
Together with Gygax, Arneson was responsible for co-creating the influential tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, with the first edition published in 1974. While Gygax and Arenson would eventually part ways, their work would pave the way for hundreds of tabletop RPGs - and did more to popularize and define the modern High Fantasy setting than virtually anyone since J.R.R. Tolkien.
(Excerpt) Read more at escapistmagazine.com ...
Yup...still got all the books and around 500 painted figures...have a crap load of StarFleet Battles stuff and currently play online wargaming with trek universe starships....
I also race slotcars...
I’m a total geek...
RIP dave...thanks for the memories...
Gary Gygax in March of 2008, followed by Bob Bledsaw (founder of Judges Guild) shortly after. Now Dave. It’s been a sad last few years with so many who built up the hobby passing away. Prayers for him and the family.
I think a fantastic 'what if' scenario wargame could be built off of Desert Storm One because Hussein blew it at several junctures.
Right there with you. My D&D group still meets weekly and we started in the mid 80’s. I wish more people were aware of how much Arneson did for the hobby. I always resented Gygax a bit for that.
Been done several times as computer games. The more accessible ones are scenarios for Norm Koger’s “The Operational Art of War” aka TOAW. Some are extremely detailed.
Most designers have it as a total blowout, as it was.
God bless, Mr Arneson.
>>Most designers have it as a total blowout, as it was
Where are they starting the scenario from, at the initial invasion of Kuwait or later on in the conflict.
Tog Of Greystone - Fighter/Mage
Both raise up their swords in salute.. and bow in reverence.
The wake with full barrels of Ale will occur in 30 minutes.. or 12 turns. which ever comes first.
Oh wowowow!!
Just talking about Nimoy and Dragon Con on another thread.
I imagine they’ll offer a huge memorial to him this year, as they should.
Drawf Orn, signing out.
We have a local con starting tomorrow. There will hopefully be something done there.
Brannon of Evenroste Forest sends his sympathy.
With orcs! Big brigades of ORCS!
ORCS? Whats that?
Seriously, if anyone cares, there was a Christian medeival RPG called Dragonraid that was sadly unpopular a few decades ago...a few of us still play. Same thing really, but instead of gold and power, you work to raise your ratings in the Fruits of the Spirit. Talk about a niche market!
It seems like the whole hobby is graying because a lot of the kids who once would have sat around a table playing Dungeons and Dragons now sit in front of a computer screen and play games like World of Warcraft.
ping
RIP.
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