Gygax Gone

PhbI’ve just learned that Gary Gygax, one of the creators of Dungeons & Dragons and founders of its original publisher, TSR, died in his sleep Monday night. The guys at Troll Lord Games seem to have first posted about it, and I’ve verified it through my Alliterates pals.

I worked as a freelancer for Gary’s New Infinities Productions back when I was in college, and I visited their offices and his home and met his wife (Gail, his second) and kids. As a gamer still in school, it was an amazing thrill. After New Infinities went bust, though, we didn’t have much to say to each other for years, mostly over the money that the company ended up owing me and a number of my friends at the end.

When I saw Gary and Gail at one of the last Gen Cons in Milwaukee, though, I buried that hatchet and chatted with them for a while. It was wonderful. I’m lousy at holding grudges, it seems, and thankful for it.

I met Gary at my first gaming convention, the Winter Fantasy back in the winter of ’81-’82. My mother–sweet and supportive woman that she is–brought me and my friends, and while I was busy playing my first game of Boot Hill with (now fellow Alliterate) Steve Winter, she chatted with one of the people running the show, telling him how much room for improvement the convention had. To my teenaged chagrin, this turned out to be Gary.

I saw him later that spring at a small convention right here in my hometown, at Beloit College. The team I was on won the D&D tournament held there, and the prize was a free charter membership in the RPGA, the magazine of which (The Polyhedron) later printed my first published piece of game design. At that show, I met Gary again, and he signed my Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook. You can see the words he wrote in the image at the top of this post.

“Gary Gygax, Beloit, 1982.” You can pretty much chart my entire career from right there.

One of my last jobs with New Infinities was taking a crack at editing his Necropolis adventure and his book on how to run RPGs, Master of the Game. Neither saw print until years later, under different editors, but I remember the challenge of handling both Gary’s unique style and his position in the history of gaming. “He’s rejected the work of two other editors already,” Don Turnbull told me as he handed over Master of the Game. “Give it a shot?”

I hadn’t spoken with Gary in person for a few years when he died. He had a couple strokes back in 2004, and he’d not been in the best of health after that. He only lived about 45 minutes from where I am, but I never managed to get over that way. Now I’ll never have the chance.

I’d already planned to meet with the Midwestern Alliterates tonight for other reasons. We’ll be sure to raise a glass in Gary’s honor. He affected every one of our lives and careers, and it would truly have been a different world without him.

Ironically, today is GM’s Day. Do something good for your favorite Game Master in memory of the first.

Rest in peace, Gary. And thanks.

Good-Bye, Brett

My pal Rich Dansky ruined my morning by pointing me to the news that Brett Favre is retiring. As a lifelong Packer fan, I recognize this as the official end of the greatest era in the NFL since the Lombardi years.

As I told Rich, though, I think this is the right thing for Favre to do. He came back last year–after flirting with retirement for months–because he didn’t want to leave his beloved sport on a bad note. This year, he broke all sorts of records and brought the Packers back to the playoffs. He’s not likely to top that again, so now’s the time to go.

Favre might have been erratic at times, but when he was on his game he was truly great. The saying around here has long been, “As Favre goes, so go the Packers.” Here’s hoping they can find their way without him.

If you read my Blood Bowl books, you might recognize Rhett Cavre, star blitzer of the Bad Bay Hackers. He’ll still live on, I think, even after his inspiration retires. I’ll miss the original though, every damn game.

Kids and Trouble

My friend Mark Kaufman over at Days of Wonder, explained the Law of Inverse Trouble to me at a convention once. It goes like this:

The older a kid gets, the less frequently trouble happens, but the bigger the trouble is.

An infant, for example, gets into trouble all the time, but these are mostly easy things to fix. A teenager doesn’t get into trouble all that often, but the fallout from those troubles can include things like unwanted pregnancies and smashed cars or worse.

So, here’s a story about a five-year-old who gets into a trouble a little less frequently but a little more spectacularly.
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Mutant Fugee

A note on ICv2.com today tipped me off to a connection in the Mutant Chronicles cast I hadn’t picked up on before, that of Captain Michaels. It turns out he was played by Pras Michel of the Fugees, and that Pras also helped produce the film. He gave an excellent performance in the film, in a small but important role, and I’m enjoying it even more now knowing what else he’s done.

Ken’s Head

I’d planned to finish up the script for the second issue of Blood Bowl: Killer Contract this weekend, but I had to deal with something else instead. I coach indoor soccer at the local Y for my three youngest sons: Pat, Nick, and Ken. Normally, the worst trauma of the day involves kids whining about where I ask them to play. This Saturday, though, was far worse

(My apologies for writing about this here, but I need to get it down and out of my own head somehow. Skip it if you like. If it must bear upon writing or my career–which is what this site is mostly about–consider it a point about how impossible it is to plan for the way life can screw up your best-laid plans.)

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Busy Weekend

On Saturday, Marty and I caught The Spiderwick Chronicles film, based on the books by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi. Tony and Holly are both tabletop gaming refugees, and I got to meet them and sit on a panel with them at the 2006 Comic-Con.

Marty and I both enjoyed the film. I haven’t read the books yet, but we have an autographed copy of Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide, complete with a sketch from Tony. The movie only whetted my appetite for the books, which I hope to pick up soon. It had fun characters, good action, and some excellent moments of suspense, plus a cool ending.

On Sunday, I moved out of my old office and brought everything into the house. Don Perrin and Dan Schooff showed up and gave me a hand. I couldn’t have managed it without their help.

Now, of course, I’m surrounded by boxes. Eyeing all of it, it’s clear most of it can’t stay. There may be a pallet headed for eBay or Hobby Hearse in the near future. I’ll let you know when.

Champions MMO

My friends at Cryptic Studios just announced the Champions MMO, as well as the fact they’ve purchased the property and licensed it back to previous owner Hero Games so they can keep making the tabletop RPG.

Jack Emmert, who’s in charge of Cryptic, has loved superhero RPGs forever. I remember chatting with him about my Brave New World RPG before it even hit shelves, and he just glowed with the superhero love.

I’m thrilled for Steve, Darren, and Tina at Hero, especially Steve, who broke into RPG writing many years ago with Dark Champions. This should be a good shot in the arm for them, and I’m looking forward to many more great things from them.

Many years ago, the original Hero Games crew set itself off on a course to create a Champions computer game. They even asked me to write some of the adventures for it once it got off the ground. Sadly that day never came.

Ray Greer, one of those original Heroes, had vowed not to shave his beard or cut his hair until the game shipped. He looked awful shaggy for a long time. I knew for sure the project was dead when I finally saw him looking trimmed again.

Now, though, it looks like it’s going to happen and be better than ever. This is a great teaming of creators and concept, and I’ll be first in line to play.

Book = Done

Sadly, I can’t talk about it yet, but I finished writing a book late last night. It should be out later this year, and as soon as I can I’ll tell you all about it.

I hate being a tease about such things, but I’m just thrilled to have topped that particular peak and had to share.

Back to the Blood Bowl comic scripts now. Woot!