Gygax, Gary 1938–2008

(Ernest Gary Gyax, E. Gary Gygax)

PERSONAL:

Born July 27, 1938, in Chicago, IL; died March 4, 2008, in Lake Geneva, WI; married (divorced); married second wife, Gail Carpenter, August 15, 1987; children: (first marriage) two sons, three daughters; (second marriage) one son. Education: Attended junior college.

CAREER:

Game designer and writer. Founder of GenCon (international annual gaming convention), 1968; Tactical Studies Rules (TSR, Inc.), Lake Geneva, WI, cofounder and game designer, 1972-85. Also worked as an insurance underwriter and shoe repair person.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Hall of Fame, CSR Awards, 1980; four-time Best Game Inventor, Games Day (United Kingdom).

WRITINGS:

(With Frank Mentzer) The Temple of Elemental Evil, (novel), TSR, Inc. (Lake Geneva, WI), 1985.

(With David Cook and Francois Marcela-Froideval) Oriental Adventures, TSR, Inc. (Lake Geneva, WI), 1985.

Saga of Old City ("Greyhawk Adventures" novel series), TSR, Inc. (Lake Geneva, WI), 1985.

Artifact of Evil ("Greyhawk Adventures" novel series), TSR, Inc. (Lake Geneva, WI), 1986.

Role-playing Mastery, Perigee Books (New York, NY), 1987.

Master of the Game, Perigee Books (New York, NY), 1989.

"SAGARD THE BARBARIAN" NOVEL SERIES; WITH FLINT DILLE

The Ice Dragon, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1985.

The Green Hydra, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1985.

The Crimson Sea, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1985.

The Fire Demon, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1986.

"GORD THE ROGUE" SERIES

Sea of Death, New Infinities (Lake Geneva, WI), 1987.

City of Hawks, New Infinities (Lake Geneva, WI), 1987.

Night Arrant: A Collection of Short Stories Featuring Gord, His Friends, and His Foes, illustrated by Jerry Tiritilli, edited by Pamela O'Neill, New Infinities (Lake Geneva, WI), 1987.

Come Endless Darkness, New Infinities (Delevan, WI), 1988.

Dance of Demons, New Infinities (Delevan, WI), 1988.

"DANGEROUS JOURNEYS" NOVEL SERIES

The Anubis Murders, Roc (New York, NY), 1992.

Dangerous Journeys: Necropolis, Game Designers' Workshop, 1992.

Dangerous Journeys: Mythus, Game Designers' Workshop, 1992.

Dangerous Journeys: Mythus Magick, Game Designers' Workshop, 1992.

The Samarkand Solution, Roc (New York, NY), 1993.

Death in Delhi, Roc (New York, NY), 1993.

GAMING MANUALS

(With Jeff Perren) Chainmail, Guidon Games, 1971.

(With David L. Arneson) Dungeons & Dragons, TSR, Inc. (Lake Geneva, WI), 1974.

Greyhawk, TSR, Inc. (Lake Geneva, WI), 1976.

Eldritch Wizardry, TSR, Inc. (Lake Geneva, WI), 1976.

Monster Manual, TSR, Inc. (Lake Geneva, WI), 1977.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Monster Manual: Special Reference Work, illustrated by David C. Sutherland III, D.A. Trampier, and Tom Wham, TSR Hobbies, Inc. (Lake Geneva, WI), 1977.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Players Handbook: Special Reference Work: A Compiled Volume of Information for Players of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Including Character Races, Classes, and Level Abilities; Spell Tables and Descriptions; Equipment Costs; Weapons Data; and Information on Adventuring, illustrated by David C. Sutherland III and D.A. Trampier, TSR Hobbies, Inc. (Lake Geneva, WI), 1978, revised edition published as Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Dungeon Masters Guide: Special Reference Work: A Compiled Volume of Information Primarily Used by Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Game Referees, Including Combat Tables, Monster Lists and Encounters, Treasure and Magic Tables and Descriptions, Random Dungeon Generation, Random Wilderness Terrain Generation, Suggestions on Gamemastering, and More, illustrated by David C. Sutherland III and others, 1979, 4th edition published as Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Monster Manual: Special Reference Work: An Alphabetical Compendium of All of the Monsters Found in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Including Attacks, Damage, Special Abilities, and Descriptions, illustrated by David C. Sutherland III and D.A. Trampier, 1979.

Tomb of Horrors, TSR, Inc. (Lake Geneva, WI), 1978.

The Steading of the Hill Giant Chief, TSR, Inc. (Lake Geneva, WI), 1978.

Shrine of the Kuo-Toa, TSR, Inc. (Lake Geneva, WI), 1978.

Hall of the Fire Giant Chief, TSR, Inc. (Lake Geneva, WI), 1978.

Descent into the Depths of the Earth, TSR, Inc. (Lake Geneva, WI), 1978.

The World of Greyhawk, TSR, Inc. (Lake Geneva, WI), 1980.

Legion of Gold, TSR, Inc. (Lake Geneva, WI), 1980.

The Keep on the Borderlands, TSR, Inc. (Lake Geneva, WI), 1981.

The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, TSR, Inc. (Lake Geneva, WI), 1982.

Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure, TSR, Inc. (Lake Geneva, WI), 1984.

The Temple of Elemental Evil, TSR, Inc. (Lake Geneva, WI), 1984.

Unearthed Arcana: A Compendium of New Ideas and New Discoveries for AD & D Game Campaigns …, TSR, Inc. (Lake Geneva, WI), 1985.

The Lejendary Rules for All Players, Hekaforge (Lake Villa, IL), 1999.

Lejendary Adventure: Beasts of Lejend, Hekaforge (Lake Villa, IL), 2000.

The Slayer's Guide to Undead, Mongoose (Swindon, England), 2002.

The Slayer's Guide to Dragons, Mongoose (Swindon, England), 2002.

Gary Gygax's Necropolis, Necromancer Games, 2002.

Gary Gygax's The Canting Crew, Troll Lord Games (Little Rock, AR), 2003.

Gary Gygax's World Builder, Troll Lord Games (Little Rock, AR), 2003.

Gary Gygax's Living Fantasy, Troll Lord Games (Little Rock, AR), 2004.

Lejendary Adventure Essentials: Fantasy Role Playing Game, Hekaforge (Lake Villa, IL), 2004.

Contributor to magazines, including Gaming Trade, Gaming Frontiers, and Dungeon. Also writer and producer for Dungeons & Dragons television series, 1983.

SIDELIGHTS:

Gary Gygax, the cocreator of the seminal Dungeons & Dragons game that first became popular in the 1970s, is considered by many to be the father of role-playing games. "Until publication of this game in 1974, gaming was confined to a limited number of war-games specialists and fantasy fans; Gygax and his company, TSR, brought gaming into the mainstream," wrote a contributor to Authors and Artists for Young Adults. In a New York Times obituary for Gygax, who died in 2008, Adam Rogers noted: "Dungeons & Dragons was a brilliant pastiche, mashing together tabletop war games, the Conan-the-Barbarian tales of Robert E. Howard and a magic trick from the fantasy writer Jack Vance with a dash of Bulfinch's mythology, a bit of the Bible and a heaping helping of J.R.R. Tolkien." Rogers added: "Mr. Gygax's genius was to give players a way to inhabit the characters inside their games, rather than to merely command faceless hordes, as you did in, say, the board game Risk. Roll the dice and you generated a character who was quantified by personal attributes like strength or intelligence."

In addition to founding GenCon, the world's largest annual gaming convention, Gygax wrote numerous gaming manuals and guides for his Dungeons & Dragons game and for other games he helped create. "Gary Gygax was perfectly equipped to bring this fantastic world to basements and dining-room tables all over the world," wrote a contributor to the Economist. "As a boy he was fascinated by games of all sorts, from pinochle to chess. His father, a violinist, read him countless pulp novels featuring dragons, wizards and elves. Even the family name, he once said, had fantastic origins, proving that the Gygaxes were descended from Goliath."

Gygax also turned his interest in science fiction and fantasy to writing fantasy novels beginning in the mid-1980s. These novels are largely based on the worlds within Dungeon & Dragons and other games developed by the author. The author's first series, "Sagard the Barbarian," was written with Flint Dille and includes the books The Ice Dragon, The Green Hydra, The Crimson Sea, and The Fire Demon. A contributor to the St. James Guide to Fantasy noted that the books are "pleasing to role-playing gamers."

The author contributed the first two novels to the "Greyhawk" series—Saga of Old City and Artifact of Evil. Other authors have continued the series. His "Gord the Rogue" series stars Gord, an orphan beggar who has numerous adventures and performs heroic deeds. "In each title, Gord sets out on a quest with mentors such as Gellor and Curley Greenleaf," wrote a contributor to Authors and Artists for Young Adults. In Sea of Death, for example, Gord is looking for a lost city, while in Dance of Demons, Gord and Gellor go on their final quest into the abyss. Other books in the series include City of Hawks, and Come Endless Darkness. Gygax also authored Night Arrant: A Collection of Short Stories Featuring Gord, His Friends, and His Foes.

The Anubis Murders is Gygax's first title in his "Dangerous Journeys" series. The action takes place in an Egypt-like fantasy world with pyramids and pharaohs, as well as court intrigue, magic, and struggles for power. The first novel in the series introduces readers to Magister Setne Inhetep, a renowned wizard and priest. When Setne hears of a series of murders involving the privileged in Avillonia, he eventually discovers that the murders are committed by magic and are linked to a statue of the ancient god Anubis. Setne finds that he and Rachelle, his comely bodyguard, are being set up for the murders. Due to the killings, the people of Avillonia riot against Setne and the pharaoh he serves.

The second book in the series, The Samarkand Solution, features Setne investigating the moves of an assassin and delving into the life of Prince Ram-f-amsu, who dies horrifically and, as Setne suspects, with the help of magic. Using his magical powers to follow the assassin to the city of On, Setne is too late to stop the murder of Prince Ram-f-amsu but is able to rescue a beautiful slave girl the Prince kept imprisoned in his villa. "As Setne gets closer to solving the mysteries … more and more people die, each mysterious death part of The Samarkand Solution," wrote a contributor to the St. James Guide to Fantasy Writers.

Death in Delhi, the last book in the trilogy, finds both Setne and Rachelle dealing with a plague sweeping lower Egypt as Setne looks for the plague's evil origins. "These three fantasies are also detective stories which follow in the footsteps of Conan Doyle," wrote a contributor to the St. James Guide to Fantasy Writers. Noting that "there is always some less-well-informed person to whom Setne Inhetep explains the situation," the St. James Guide to Fantasy Writers contributor added: "The novels also borrow from Agatha Christie: the last chapter inevitably has Setne sitting down and explaining to a third party what the entire story has been and how he came to his clever and lucid conclusion."

Gygax was best known for his gaming work and prodigious imagination. "He never got the credit he deserved," wrote Peter Hartlaub in an obituary for the San Francisco Chronicle. "As Dungeons & Dragons gained popularity, the game was often treated viciously by the mainstream media, linked with occultism and the same violence controversies that video games receive today. The Rona Jaffe book Mazes and Monsters—later a movie starring a young Tom Hanks—showed the D & D [Dungeons & Dragons] player as psychotic, unable to separate the game from reality. It was the Reefer Madness of the Reagan era." Hartlaub added: "As for the fantasy worlds he created, they have expanded, flourished and become a part of everyday life."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

St. James Guide to Fantasy Writers, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1996.

PERIODICALS

Current Biography, March 1, 2007, Matt Broadus, "Gygax, Gary," p. 35.

Forbes, September 15, 1980, Geoffrey Smith, "Dungeons and Dollars," p. 137.

Game Developer, November 1, 2002, Harvey Smith, "Gary Gygax P & P, RPGs, and MMOGs," p. 14.

Inc., February, 1982, Steward Alsop, II, "TSR Hobbies Mixes Fact and Fantasy," p. 68; December, 1984, Susan Buchsbaum, "TSR," p. 73.

New West, August 25, 1980, Moira Johnston, "It's Only a Game—Or Is It?," p. 32.

People, January 14, 1980, Barbara Kleban Mills, "If Students' Tails Are Dragon and Their Minds in the Dungeon Lately, Blame Gamesman Gary Gygax," p. 64.

Publishers Weekly, July 8, 1983, Jerod L. Kellman, "Games to Magazines to Children's Books Is the Multimillion-dollar Wisconsin Saga of TSR," p. 34; October 11, 1985, review of The Ice Dragon, p. 68.

Voice of Youth Advocates, August, 1986, reviews of Artifact of Evil and The Crimson Sea, p. 169; August, 1988, review of City of Hawks, p. 142.

Wall Street Journal Western Edition, January 7, 1983, Paul B. Carroll, "Dungeons and Dragons Game Propels Firm to Success, but Growing Pains Lie Ahead," p. 19; November 25, 1983, Heywood Klein, "After Success of Dungeons & Dragons, TSR Fights Poor Management, Uneven Growth," p. 15.

ONLINE

GameSpy, http://pc.gamespy.com/ (August 15, 2004), "Gary Gygax Interview—Part I"; (August 16, 2004), "Gary Gygax Interview—Part II."

Internet Movie Database,http://www.imdb.com/ (June 13, 2008), information on author's film work.

Wired Online,http://www.wired.com/ (March 10, 2008), David Kushner, "Dungeon Master: The Life and Legacy of Gary Gygax."

OBITUARIES:

PERIODICALS

Dallas Morning News, March 8, 2008.

Economist, March 15, 2008, p. 102.

Hollywood Reporter, March 5, 2008, p. 12.

Los Angeles Times, March 4, 2008; March 5, 2008, p. 1.

Newsweek, March 17, 2008, p. 10.

New York Times, March 5, 2008, Seth Schiesel, "Gary Gygax, 69, Game Pioneer, Dies," p. B7; March 8, 2008, Seth Schiesel, "Herald of a Global Imagination Revolution" p. B7; March 9, 2008, Adam Rogers, "Geek Love," p. 14.

San Francisco Chronicle, March 6, 2008, Peter Hartlaub.

Time, March 17, 2008, Harriet Barovick, Gilbert Cruz, Elisabeth Salemme, Carolyn Sayre, Tiffany Sharples, Alexandra Silver, Kate Stinchfield, p. 23.

Wall Street Journal Eastern Edition, March 8, 2008, Stephen Miller, p. A7.

ONLINE

ExtremeTech.com,http://www.extremetech.com/ (March 4, 2008), "Gary Gygax: The Seminal Geek."

OTHER

All Things Considered (National Public Radio [NPR] broadcast transcript), March 4, 2008, "Gygax, ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ Co-creator, Dies."

Morning Edition (NPR broadcast transcript), March 5, 2008, "‘Dungeons and Dragons’ Creator Gygax Dies."

Talk of the Nation (NPR broadcast transcript), March 10, 2008, "Geeks Mourn the Loss of D & D Creator Gary Gygax."

Weekend Edition Sunday (NPR broadcast transcript), March 16, 2008.