This story came of the RPG.net forums, and is on the unofficial Original D&D Forums. Dave Arneson – co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons with E. Gary Gygax, is currently in the hospital due to his cancer worsening, and his outlook is poor. I currently don’t have any additional information from that. Arneson’s family has requested that they not be contacted over this – no cards or anything. So, all we can do right now is keep him in our thoughts/prayers/send vibes/etc.
Gary Gygax passed away just over a year ago.
I have not played OD&D yet – I did pick up a copy of Basic D&D (the Rules Cyclopedia) which uses a watered down version of the D&D rules, and I liked it – but, again, I haven’t tried the original game yet. But, ultimately, Dave’s impact on gaming, on science-fiction & fantasy, video games, and popular culture through the game that he created is enormous.
Dave – the impact that, through the game that you helped to create, through it’s many evolutions helped shape the person I am today – and I might not even be writing for this site if it wasn’t for you & Gary.
Thank you.
Please note that Aaron Allston is also in the hospital, having very recently had a very quickly scheduled quadruple bypass operation. Allston contributed a lot to the roleplaying hobby: he was a key contributor to the “Mystara” world used with the Dungeons & Dragons game that Arneson and Gygax created. Allston also was a key contributor to the HERO System games (including Champions, and Fantasy Hero, and Justice Inc.).
He also wrote some of the X-Wing series of Licensed novels. I’ll see if I can find an address to send cards too (if he wants cards), and I’ll get an article up on that. Thank you!