A star went out this morning. Gary Gygax is gone. He didn’t simply help create Dungeons & Dragons. He created a whole paradigm. An entire industry exists because of him. His creation has impacted just about every arena I care about.

My present course was set by Gygax when I was but a child. He, along with Will Crowther and Don Woods, set my mind alight with the possibilities of a collaborative narrative, a story that could live and grow. I became a gamer and role-player at a very young age, but, more importantly, I became a storyteller and world-builder.

Thank you, Gary. You changed my life. One day you and Dave decided it would be cool to add storytelling to wargames and make people roll funny-looking dice. And it has meant everything to me.

Thank you.

This has been a hard day for me. This is the first time I have experienced the loss of someone who was so influential in my life, someone whose contribution helped direct the course of who I would become.

For the record, if Will Crowther, Don Woods, or Roberta Williams die, don’t ask for much of me that day. If it is George Lucas, Neil Gaiman or Stephen King, I’m not even getting out of bed.