Meeting The Fathers Of The RPG As We Know It
The fact is that Gary Gygax AND Dave Arneson are the fathers of the RPG as we know it. Without BOTH of them, the hobby would be very different. Most people are more familiar with Gary. Why shouldn't they be? He is the man who guided TSR and Dungeons & Dragons for over a decade. He wrote the original book, based on Arneson's notes and his own ideas thrown in. He then authored 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and commissioned (is that the right word?) Basic D&D to be written by Dr. Holmes, then Tom Moldvay and finally Frank Mentzer. He authored numerous adventure modules, not to mention creating Grayhawk. He authored many articles for Dragon Magazine. He went to Hollywood and got the D&D Cartoon made. His leadership led to the first computer and video games with the D&D name on it.
And that's just some of what Gary did with D&D. He was the face of the company, and he seemed to love it. The fans have grown to respect him and his opinion. These days, Gary is just as busy as ever, authoring a new set of rules for his Lejendary Adventure game, published by Troll Lord Games. He also has authored several supplements for Castles & Crusades, a game that attempts to come as close as you can to 1st Edition AD&D using a D20 system. He has a new campaign setting for C&C. Oh, and there's that spot he did on Futurama a few years back.
Gary was a Guest of Honor and was available for autographs throughout the weekend. He even did seminars for 40 Years of Gencon and Religion In Gaming. Unfortunately, I missed them both. You better believe the lines outside the Troll Lord Games booth for his autograph were long, and Gary took the time to chat, pose for pictures and autograph whatever book was presented to him. I had my Mentzer Basic D&D book for him, but he also autographed the Lejendary Adventure Essentials boxed set I purchased.
It's great to see that Gary is making the effort to do something more basic for the fans like the LAE Set. He has been commenting on that at Enworld lately about the need for this. The Trolls will also be doing something like the old Basic Boxed Set soon. It seems the gaming companies are finally realizing a need for this, and I'm sure Gary's prodding of The Trolls helped speed them up. By the way, the Troll Lord Games guys were very curious and answeed any questions about C&C. They had a small white box for C&C that was in the style of the original D&D. I'm waiting for Basic C&C.
So, what do you say to Gary? Actually, it was more "fan boy" stuff from me. Thanks for the great work and I really enjoy the posts on the various forums. I'm sure Gary heard that type of stuff all weekend, and it probably gets old. But, this was a man who seemed to really enjoy interacting with the fans who have helped put him there. I'm sure The Trolls realize how lucky they are to have Gary as part of the team, or I hope they do.
Guys like Gary and Dave made it all possible. I know Gary realizes how much he's appreciated. However, I couldn't help but feel a little bad for Dave. This is just my observation, and I realize I could be off the mark with what I'm about to say. But, I'm gonna say it anyway. Dave's always been the guy in the shadows. After the Original D&D came out with his name next to Gary's, he was moved down to the Basic line. I say moved down when Basic is the game I loved, because most people who played AD&D back in the day didn't look at Basic with much respect.
There were lawsuits that Gary and Dave don't discuss to this day, and I wouldn't ever ask. Was Gary creating AD&D to leave Dave out of things, or was he doing it because the game needed defining of rules? That's a debate I'll stay away from, but you can look at AD&D and see it's a different feel from Basic. More complex and in many ways a much different game. But, as AD&D gained popularity, Gary became more popular. Dave? Not so much. Could there be hard feelings? Oh, you hear rumors, but I'm not going there.
Think about it, though. It's 1970. Dave has veered away from the war miniature game to an individual character game that takes place in the dungeons under Castle Blackmoor. Whole new terminologies have been created and new methods to resolve situations. The game is being created on the fly. Dave kept a now legendary note book to keep track of his rulings. This game was very popular in his circles in Minnesota. It wasn't just a campaign setting, it was a game. Where would D&D be if Dave didn't create Blackmoor? How many gamers know this or even care? Yet, the game existed, and people from Dave's table even admit that the main difference between Dave's Blackmoor and Gary & Dave's D&D (1974) is they now had rulebooks they could use.
It struck me as a bit sad that while they are lining up to see Gary, Dave is over at the far end in a wheel chair, talking to a few visitors as they come. If it bothered him, I heard nothing. What did bother him was being in that damn wheel chair, and I can't blame him there. When I was in Indy the week leading up to Gencon, I received word that Dave may not make it to Gencon. I can see where, health wise, he probably didn't feel up to it, but as a game designer who had done so much for the hobby, he wanted to be there and be a part of it.
I was in the hallway waiting to get in to the Exhibit Hall Thursday when Dave was wheeled past me. I was thinking, "Is that Dave?" He looked familiar from pictures, but I had never seen him before. When I got to the far end of the hall, I saw Dave at the Zeitgeist Games booth. He asked that no pictures be taken, which I respected. I thought it was cool that he gave me a card with his picture that he autographed. I'm not a player of 3.5 D&D, but I did pick up Blackmoor and The Dungeons Under Blackmoor books.
For the autograph, I pulled out a copy of Dave's First Fantasy Campaign book from 1977. He was surprised to see it and commented that it was a nicer copy than the one he had. We made idle chit chat. Dave remarked that the chair wasn't very comfortable. I commented how cool it must have been to be at the table for those early sessions when he was creating this stuff. He said that they didn't have a book and jokingly asked what book God used to create the world? I found that amusing. They really were putting something special together back then.
This is one of the things I think the Wizards have done right since unveiling D&D 3.0. They have made an effort to respect both Dave and Gary for what they did. I'm sure both would have an open door to create a module if they wanted. There's no attempt to exalt one above the other. D&D wouldn't be where it is today without both of them. Gary may have the more impressive looking resume, but without Dave, I doubt D&D would even exist.
So, I was looking forward to some old stories of Blackmoor on Friday. There may have been ten people in the room, if we were lucky. I can't believe that's all we could get to hear Dave speak of Blackmoor. Why? Was it lack of advertising? Lack of interest in gaming history? I tend to think it could have been better if it had been properly hyped. It turned out, Dave didn't show. He wasn't feeling well, or so we were told. We got Dave Kenzer instead. Not that I mind Kenzer as I am a fan, but I came for Blackmoor, of which he knew nothing.
A couple hours later, Dave was on hand for the 40 Years of Gencon seminar, so I got to hear a few old stories. It made me wonder about the no show. I don't doubt he wasn't feeling well, but the lack of signups made me wonder if he was a little disappointed in the numbers. I could be way off base here, but I'm just being honest. If you're not feeling well to begin with and maybe ten (of 100) people sign up to hear you tell a story of how it all began, what do you do? Dragon Lance and Forgotten Realms were packed for their seminars. I guess it was a bit disappointing that Dustin or somebody from Zeitgeist Games didn't come in Dave's place, but what the heck. The seminar was free anyway.
With D&D 4.0 on the way, fewer and fewer people may care about events that took place over 35 years ago. Sad, but true. I know Gary feels the love, but I'm not sure about Dave. Of course, Gary has a bigger presence in the community than Dave these days, and I'm sure that's a personal choice. It is a business, and the more you put out, the more you will get back. In the end, it was still nice to meet both of them and to thank them for their work. I doubt I would be working on my own game if not for what they did all those years before.
To be continued...
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Roaming The Exhibition Hall
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