Share your stories - What did you do the night Gary left?

[DestroyYouAlot]

The night Gary Gygax died, I sat down at the table with two of my current gaming group - one a long-time gamer I only just met last year, another a friend from high school who just started gaming - and one of my earliest friends and gaming buddies, who hadn't rolled dice in anger in over a decade, and we played some good old-fashioned Basic Set D&D. (Moldvay rules, if you're curious.)

It was a continuation of a campaign in its very infancy. We sat down, rolled up a PC for the new guy, and dived right in with a minimum of ceremony. Before the first in-game die was rolled, or the first door opened, we toasted to Gary. And then we played. And had a blast. By the time the night was over, I had just about forgotten about Gary's passing - the game he left us with is that powerful. In a welcome turn of events, my old friend (one of the first people I ever gamed with, the first person I ever played music with, and one of the only reasons I survived high school) discovered he'd really missed the game, and might come out and join us on future game nights.

And then everyone was gone, and the table was silent. All the chairs were empty. And I sat back and thought about what Gary gave us. I looked around at how we'd left the table - character sheets and dice laying where they'd been dropped, minis frozen in combat - and grabbed the camera. I took a whole series of still shots of the table, the way we left it. Sort of a study of how we play, and how we played that night. And most of all, a recognition that there was another empty chair that night. The biggest chair of all, the Big Poppa's throne, from which many a PC death was meted out, and many a legend birthed whole into the world. (I hope to have the shots sorted out and uploaded somewhere for people to check out, if they're interested - hopefully by tonight.)


So, what did you do the night the Dungeon Master embarked on his final adventure? If you didn't get to play last night, share your experience of the next time you roll dice. I, for one, would love to hear some stories.

DYA

[La Maupin]

At our next session I plan to observe a moment of silence for Gary, and pour a drink for the departed.

Whether that drink is wine or Mountain Dew, I'm not certain yet.

[Arist]

I didn't do much last night other than browse the regular gaming websites and remark at all of the memorials. Then I wrote a journal post about how Dungeons and Dragons, and Gary through them, touched my younger life.

We're in the planning stages now of getting together an online 2nd Edition game (as that's the edition I came in on) in Gary's honor. Someone suggested Keep, and I think that's a fine idea, but I might also run a Spelljammer tribute to him as well.

[Wood]

When we found out last night, we were playing in my house. We had a brief moment of silence, and then everyone rolled a D20.

Which is odd, since we were playing Dark Heresy. True.

[BluSponge]

It was primary day here in Texas, so my roommate and I headed out to our perspective precincts to vote, then later caucus. I met up with my fiance and a friend from out of town later for beers and wings where we raised a toast in the man's memory. Then home to watch the primary results come in. Given that Gary was a man who liked a good brew and loved to discuss politics, I think he would have smiled.

Oh, and I get word from an old college buddy today that he and his wife welcomed their first child into the world yesterday! Talk about a silver lining to an otherwise sad day.

My group meets Friday for our game night. I'm half tempted to chuck what I have and break out the old red box in tribute.

Tom

[Reverend Keith]

Originally Posted by DestroyYouAlot

So, what did you do the night the Dungeon Master embarked on his final adventure?

I told my gaming friends, had a Kahlua Mudslide, and returned to planning for my next two upcoming game sessions.

[Jack of None]

I was actually in the process of playing Exalted when somebody told me what had happened. It makes me feel kind of guilty. I was absolutely floored -- for a moment I thought people were joking or something.

This weekend my friends and I are planning to do something -- probably go have a drink and run some hardcore old-school D&D. I'm going to try to dig up the earliest copy of D&D I have access to and run some old modules for the local gaming club. Tomb of Horrors if I can find it, although Keep on the Borderlands is looking pretty good.

I've been gloomy all day. I never met Gygax, but news of his death was really difficult to wrap my head around...I mean, his work had such a large effect on my life and the life of most of my friends. Most of the friends I met in college -- the best friends I've ever had -- I met because of D&D.

The last time I can remember feeling this moved by a famous person's death is when Jim Henson died when I was a kid.

[trippingsatyr]

I was actually running Deadlands: Reloaded. I didn't even know he had died until the larp I went to in America posted that he had died and I read it this morning.

[Devin Parker]

As I said on Dragonsfoot, I read a lot of tributes to the Old Man online, shed a few tears, and posted turns on my Castle Falkenstein game I'm running. I would have really loved to sit down and play some classic Basic/Expert D&D last night - if anyone had been available (and my wife hadn't been on an apartment-cleaning jag), I would have been more than willing to improvise an adventure on the spot.

An hour before I learned about Gary's death, I just happened to be rolling up and doodling this Hordeling from the Monster Manual II, just for kicks:



Still every bit as much fun as when I was a kid.

[The Wyzard]

I went out and raised a glass. Pretty decent scotch.