Dave Arneson, the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, died on Tuesday after a long fight with cancer, according to a statement released by his family.
While Dungeons & Dragons may have garnered itself a reputation as a game for nerds and social misfits, the reality is that Arneson and co-creator Gary Gygax (who passed away in March, 2008) created a brilliant, complex and creative game that really began the subculture of gaming as we know it.
Dungeons & Dragons (originally going by the much weaker name ‘The Fantasy Game’) was the first published game in the realm of Role-Playing Games (RPGs) and opened the door for a flood of rule books, expansion packs, game-inspired miniatures, costumes, movies, and more.
Legions of fans, gamers and fantasy enthusiasts worldwide will mourn Arneson’s passing, but his contributions, creativity and enthusiasm will live on in characters and 20-sided dice everywhere.
And just for fun (I don’t understand any of what I’m copying, here), here are the Top 10 Dungeons & Dragons Monsters of someone at The Goblin’s Reach (personally, I think I’m a fan of “Rot Grub”, based on the names alone):
10. Lurker: pg 229; Part trap, part monster. All fun.
9. Lycanthrope, Werewolf: pg 240; Classic horror with all the joys of nightly surprises
8. Mimic: pg 250; Again. Part trap, part monster. All fun. I’m starting to see a little bit of a theme.
7. Beholder: pg 21; See #6
6. Deepspawn: pg 53; I used Deepspawn and Beholders in combination for a wizard’s concil magic item creation. They wizards would feed the Deepspawn Beholders and they would spawn new ones. The wizards would then cut the eyes to make magic items. Yes it took a stretching of the rules but still fun.
5. Rot Grub: pg 364
4. Zombie: pg 373; BRAINS!
3. Wight: pg 360; “…the wight is able to feed on the life essence of its foes.” Level draining. It’s mean but it will teach players to not run in with swords all the time.
2. Tarrasque: pg 339; This is my favorite one I’ve used and no character or NPC ever saw it. The fear of the devastation it left was enough.
1. Rust Monster: pg 305; This was the first monster I put at players. Watching my 10 year old best friend cry as his armor turned to rust.
