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)

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.

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.