just how old is D&D

It’s an ancient Roman Gaming Die – Historians still don’t know what game it was used for…

I’ve got a few ideas…

Hârnmaster anyone?

(The die was on sale at Christie’s)

MIT Students’ tribute to Gygax

According to MIT’s student paper, the students put the giant die up in the campus’ Killian Court as a way of paying tribute to Gary Gygax, who created the iconic game of D&D.

RIP Gary.

Gary Gygax died on Tuesday, and the world is a poorer place.

I was introduced to Advanced Dungeons and Dragons when I was 16. Some friends of mine were registered to play at a small, local games convention “Octocon” one of their team members had got sick, so I was asked to fill in at the last minute.

I had the most fun I’d ever had, I played at home, and in more conventions than I can count – and it sparked a life-long enjoyment of roleplaying, again cribbing from slashdot….

“A good D&D game combines sitting around talking with friends about movies, school, your life with
* puzzle solving
* ensemble acting
* lots of calculating
* making moral choices that give you practice for real life
* or just reveling in being bad since it doesn’t really count
* painting
* collecting
* drawing
* writing stories
* telling jokes
* a lot of laughter– sometimes so hard you can’t breathe.

Even a bad game has most of these. “

CNet have a nice tribute here.

I’m too old for Cons these days – but for those of you who aren’t…

Cons in Sydney

• Easter – EyeCon
• Labour Day Long Weekend – SydCon

Cons in Canberra

• Australia Dayish CanCon
• Queen’s Birthday Long Weekend – Phenomenon (I was one of the original organizers of this con!)

Cons in Melbourne

• Australia Dayish – Arcanacon
• Easter – Conquest

(And for a trip down memory lane – the Australian Convention Roleplaying Glossary can be found here )

So – Rest in peace in Gary – you made the world a better place for so many of us.