04-02-2014, 05:44 AM
Obituary
David Arneson
Co-creator of the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons
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Michael A Stackpole
The Guardian, Friday 24 April 2009
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Dave Arneson, who has died aged 61, was the American co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) and the father of role-playing games. He was a fixture in the gaming industry even before it was an industry, his work having driven that transition, as well as spawning books, movies and computer games - and creator of a pop-culture phenomenon that brought joy to millions.
Born in Hennepin County, Minnesota, Dave started playing Gettysburg, the board game that re-enacts the American civil war battle of the same name, in the 1960s. While studying history at the University of Minnesota, he moved into playing military miniatures games, with ranks of toy soldiers. In 1969, while refereeing a Romans v Gauls contest, Dave allowed a player who had painted up a Gaul shaman to call upon the gods to destroy a Roman elephant. As the Roman player laughed, Dave described a lightning bolt destroying the elephant. In that instant, role-playing was born.
The same year, Dave met Gary Gygax at the gaming convention Gen Con at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, thus beginning the collaboration that would lead to the creation of D&D. The two first worked together on Don't Give up the Ship, a set of naval miniatures rules eventually published in 1971. In 1970, Dave began working on Blackmoor - the first role-playing game. As is common practice among game designers, he incorporated bits of other rules into Blackmoor, including parts of Gygax's medieval rules Chainmail.
By 1974 they had produced D&D. None of the existing game companies wanted to produce it and its creators lacked the funds to do so themselves. Dave was then a security guard. In the end, a friend came up with the money, and Gygax formed his own company, Tactical Studies Rules (later TSR) to produce the new fantasy role-playing game. The first 500 copies sold out within a year. D&D introduced dragons, wizards, trolls, dwarves, goblins and elves to quests in search of treasure or to defeat the forces of evil. Without a board, all this was achieved with just graph paper, pencils, the polygonal dice and a set of complex rules.
Dave's focus rescued role-playing from miniatures rules long on tables, tape-measures and army units. He brought the game down to single characters, drawing inspiration from the fantasy works of authors such as JRR Tolkien and Jack Vance. Individual players assumed their roles and sought to complete quests organised by the gamemaster in sessions that could last for hours, and in campaigns that could carry on for months and years.
For Dave, the fun was in the by-play between characters and the application of cleverness when it came to problem-solving. Role-playing at its best is cooperative storytelling and his strength was in creating settings and rules that encouraged this.
Dave and Gygax went their separate ways in the late 1970s, and in 1979 Dave filed the first of five lawsuits to recover his royalties. One part of the agreement was that TSR was obliged to refer to Dave as the co-creator of D&D. The settlements also paid him a significant sum, with which he founded Adventure Games and 4D Interactive Systems, Inc - one of the first computer game companies. He generously used the settlement to help numerous small game companies through the 1980s, despite knowing he would see little, if any, of that money back. He was loved by game designers, and in 1984 was elected to the Academy of Gaming Arts and Design hall of fame. (Gygax died last year.)
In the late 1980s, Dave shut down Adventure Games and moved to California. He worked with Sleuth Publications for a time and did a great deal of freelance work. He also worked with special needs students. He was a great advocate of the educational use of games and role-playing.
In his later years, he moved to Florida to teach game design at Full Sail University, work he greatly enjoyed, especially when he could take students on a "field trip" - to a convention. His affable demeanour made it easy to forget how insightful he was. Often enough his eyes would narrow and a discussion would turn serious. He would solve a problem, smile and make a joke.
Personable and possessed of a wry sense of humour, Dave was very approachable, and kind to the awestruck. In 1980, as a new employee of the games company Flying Buffalo, I met him at a convention. We ended up in a coffee shop, had lunch together, and struck up a close friendship.
Even when he was diagnosed with cancer, he remained positive. Last August, he attended Gen Con once again, where 39 years previously he had begun his career. As his daughter said, he just wanted everyone to have fun and be happy. And there, surrounded by throngs of gamers, he was at his happiest.
In 1984, Dave married Frankie Morneau; they later divorced. He is survived by his daughter, Malia, her husband, Luke Weinhagen, and his grandchildren, Shelby and Duncan.
• David Lance (Dave) Arneson, game designer, born 1 October 1947; died 7 April 2009
******
Source:
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2 ... ns-creator
-Havard
David Arneson
Co-creator of the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons
-------
Michael A Stackpole
The Guardian, Friday 24 April 2009
-------
Dave Arneson, who has died aged 61, was the American co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) and the father of role-playing games. He was a fixture in the gaming industry even before it was an industry, his work having driven that transition, as well as spawning books, movies and computer games - and creator of a pop-culture phenomenon that brought joy to millions.
Born in Hennepin County, Minnesota, Dave started playing Gettysburg, the board game that re-enacts the American civil war battle of the same name, in the 1960s. While studying history at the University of Minnesota, he moved into playing military miniatures games, with ranks of toy soldiers. In 1969, while refereeing a Romans v Gauls contest, Dave allowed a player who had painted up a Gaul shaman to call upon the gods to destroy a Roman elephant. As the Roman player laughed, Dave described a lightning bolt destroying the elephant. In that instant, role-playing was born.
The same year, Dave met Gary Gygax at the gaming convention Gen Con at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, thus beginning the collaboration that would lead to the creation of D&D. The two first worked together on Don't Give up the Ship, a set of naval miniatures rules eventually published in 1971. In 1970, Dave began working on Blackmoor - the first role-playing game. As is common practice among game designers, he incorporated bits of other rules into Blackmoor, including parts of Gygax's medieval rules Chainmail.
By 1974 they had produced D&D. None of the existing game companies wanted to produce it and its creators lacked the funds to do so themselves. Dave was then a security guard. In the end, a friend came up with the money, and Gygax formed his own company, Tactical Studies Rules (later TSR) to produce the new fantasy role-playing game. The first 500 copies sold out within a year. D&D introduced dragons, wizards, trolls, dwarves, goblins and elves to quests in search of treasure or to defeat the forces of evil. Without a board, all this was achieved with just graph paper, pencils, the polygonal dice and a set of complex rules.
Dave's focus rescued role-playing from miniatures rules long on tables, tape-measures and army units. He brought the game down to single characters, drawing inspiration from the fantasy works of authors such as JRR Tolkien and Jack Vance. Individual players assumed their roles and sought to complete quests organised by the gamemaster in sessions that could last for hours, and in campaigns that could carry on for months and years.
For Dave, the fun was in the by-play between characters and the application of cleverness when it came to problem-solving. Role-playing at its best is cooperative storytelling and his strength was in creating settings and rules that encouraged this.
Dave and Gygax went their separate ways in the late 1970s, and in 1979 Dave filed the first of five lawsuits to recover his royalties. One part of the agreement was that TSR was obliged to refer to Dave as the co-creator of D&D. The settlements also paid him a significant sum, with which he founded Adventure Games and 4D Interactive Systems, Inc - one of the first computer game companies. He generously used the settlement to help numerous small game companies through the 1980s, despite knowing he would see little, if any, of that money back. He was loved by game designers, and in 1984 was elected to the Academy of Gaming Arts and Design hall of fame. (Gygax died last year.)
In the late 1980s, Dave shut down Adventure Games and moved to California. He worked with Sleuth Publications for a time and did a great deal of freelance work. He also worked with special needs students. He was a great advocate of the educational use of games and role-playing.
In his later years, he moved to Florida to teach game design at Full Sail University, work he greatly enjoyed, especially when he could take students on a "field trip" - to a convention. His affable demeanour made it easy to forget how insightful he was. Often enough his eyes would narrow and a discussion would turn serious. He would solve a problem, smile and make a joke.
Personable and possessed of a wry sense of humour, Dave was very approachable, and kind to the awestruck. In 1980, as a new employee of the games company Flying Buffalo, I met him at a convention. We ended up in a coffee shop, had lunch together, and struck up a close friendship.
Even when he was diagnosed with cancer, he remained positive. Last August, he attended Gen Con once again, where 39 years previously he had begun his career. As his daughter said, he just wanted everyone to have fun and be happy. And there, surrounded by throngs of gamers, he was at his happiest.
In 1984, Dave married Frankie Morneau; they later divorced. He is survived by his daughter, Malia, her husband, Luke Weinhagen, and his grandchildren, Shelby and Duncan.
• David Lance (Dave) Arneson, game designer, born 1 October 1947; died 7 April 2009
******
Source:
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2 ... ns-creator
-Havard
Currently Running: The Blackmoor Vales Saga
Currently Playing: Daniel S. Debelfry in the Throne of Star's Campaign
Currently Playing: Daniel S. Debelfry in the Throne of Star's Campaign