I, too, was saddened to hear of Gary Gygax’s passing.
Of all the innovations he is said to have brought to gaming, either in reality or apocryphally, like polyhedral dice and stat-based character generation, I think his biggest contribution was in empowering game players to adjust rules to keep the game interesting. He notes in the introduction to the original Dungeon Masters Guide, “The final word, then, is the game. Read how and why the system is as it is, follow the parameters, and then cut portions as needed to maintain excitement.”
Sage advice, as true in 1979 as today. Thanks for the gaming, Gary.
Chris Baer said,
March 7, 2008 at 11:13 am
I, too, was saddened to hear of Gary Gygax’s passing.
Of all the innovations he is said to have brought to gaming, either in reality or apocryphally, like polyhedral dice and stat-based character generation, I think his biggest contribution was in empowering game players to adjust rules to keep the game interesting. He notes in the introduction to the original Dungeon Masters Guide, “The final word, then, is the game. Read how and why the system is as it is, follow the parameters, and then cut portions as needed to maintain excitement.”
Sage advice, as true in 1979 as today. Thanks for the gaming, Gary.