Word on the net is Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, has passed away at age 69. It is a sad day for gamers around the world. D&D and Gygax's other works have been a huge influence on the pen and paper hobby and beyond, including video games and MMORGs. 

Today also is GM (GameMaster) Appreciation Day, where players take a minute or two to recognize all the hard work and effort that goes into running a good game. As Fred Hicks points out on his blog, the best way to honor Gygax memory is to get out and play.

Godspeed GG.

ME

I was sad to see this post on Wizards of the Coast's Web site. Game designer and writer Tom Moldvay recently passed away. For those unfamiliar with Moldvay's work, he was responsible for some of Dungeons & Dragons earlier modules, including one of my all-time favorite adventures, "The Isle of Dread."

This module, set on a tropical island filled with monsters and new creatures/races, came with every blue-box expert set, and was one of the first modules I ever played or ran. One of the things I remember most about the setting was the freeform nature of the game. You had this huge island to explore, and it was dangerous to set off without a goal in mind. Many players visited just a small portion of the coastline of  the Isle of Dread, never realizing the crazy things that waited further inland. An entire race of monkey-like creatures that could glide like flying squirrels, massive tar pits, giant spiders and fearsome dinosaur-like creatures were just a few of the hazards that could be encountered.

Speaking of tar pits, the Isle of Dread taught me the valuable practice of map making. A party I controlled once wandered into a huge tar pit, and my inability to tell direction (north, south, east, west) from my brother's description led to the entire group drowning because they continued to venture further and further into the tar rather than trying to escape. 

I also remember some of my terror at having to sail to the island. My brother made it a difficult trek, and a huge monster (possibly a Dragon Turtle; my memory fails me) took a good portion of our ship before we made landfall, stranding some of my favorite characters on the isle.

It was a massive, dangerous and fascinating place, all contained within a relatively small adventure module. And I loved it.
Moldvay also was credited with contributing to the Fiend Folio, one of the most fearsome gatherings of monsters in the D&D game, and designing or co-designing several other modules that filled my early D&D days, including "The Lost City,"  "Palace of the Silver Princess" (which introduced my first recurring villain) and "Castle Amber" (again, one of my all-time favorites). Only a few years ago I picked up Moldvay's sequel to Castle Amber, "Mark of Amber," which was part of the then-TSR's audio-enhanced series. I still listen to the CD in my car when I travel.

A lot of these old modules set the tone and feel of D&D, and even roleplaying in general, for a lot of us gamers who grew up in the 1980s. Moldvay's writing especially became the template I used in creating my own adventures, and moments playing through his modules are still among my most treasured gaming memories.

ME