R.I.P: Dave Arneson D&D Cofounder

[Laurie52]

RPG video games got their start through D&D pencil&paper and if you ever played D&D -- especially back in the Old Days -- you would know Dave Arneson's name. Here is the sad news:

Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Dave Arneson passed away at the age of 61 shortly after 11:00 pm CDT on Tuesday, April 7th, just 13 months after the death of Gary Gygax. Arneson suffered a stroke in 2002, but the cause of death is not mentioned in the announcement. Here's word on the arrangements:

Cards and letters can continue to be sent:
Dave Arneson
1043 Grand Avenue
Box #257
St. Paul, MN
55105

Visitation will be on April 20th
Time: yet to be determined
Address:
Bradshaw Funeral Home
687 Snelling Avenue South
St. Paul, MN 5510

There has been no better obituary than this "Order of the Stick" online D&D comic by Rich Burlew.


In his "Giant In the Playground Games" blog, he writes:

Many of our younger readers may not know who Mr. Arneson was, but he was a pivotal part of the birth of the hobby we all play. By most accounts, he literally invented the very concept of role-playing games. While he would share official credit for the original Dungeons & Dragons rules with the late Mr. Gygax, Mr. Arneson was the first to take the Chainmail wargaming rules and run a game where players controlled a single character, rather than an army, and described that character's actions to a judge who would determine how the environment reacted to them. Pretty much every roleplaying game (and many computer games) can trace their lineage to this single idea. He also invented the first campaign world, Blackmoor, which is hardly surprising considering he invented the concept of campaign worlds in the first place. It is impossible for me to overstate the impact his games had on what would become our mutual hobby.

Sadly, there won't be the outpouring of mainstream condolences for Mr. Arneson that we all saw for Mr. Gygax. There won't be an AP obituary or celebrity commentaries. For better or worse, Mr. Gygax was always identified as the creator of the game in the eyes of the media. But while I never met Mr. Arneson, I hope you will all join me in remembering a man from whose mind sprung the critical innovations that led to the birth of role-playing games. D&D may never have become popular without the work of Mr. Gygax, but it never would have existed at all without that of Mr. Arneson.

Well since this has been posted, Dave's passing has been noted elsewhere and rightly so. You will find these Here and Here Even a sentimental tribute from a fellow artist, John Kovalic

So while playing your favorite RPG video game on or off line...Give Dave a "thanks" for helping start all this.
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[Mcninjaguy]

ohh thats too bad he died kind of young, I love RPG's what an awesome person