Self-Indulgent Nerd Musings

Gary Gygax, R.I.P.. When I first heard that Gygax had died (courtesy of Seth), I wondered how long it would be until I read someone, using the parlance of D&D, make a joke about how he had failed a saving throw against death or something like that. Answer: less than 24 hours (to wit: "Headline: Gary Gygax makes unsuccessful saving throw.") Isn't that more than a little obvious? Let's put a little effort into it, people. Of course, that being said, I also read this: "Pours healing potion out on the curb", which is also a little obvious, but also fucking hilarious. So the point of this is: I'm a hypocrite. Actually the real point is: I wouldn't call Gygax a hero of mine, but I always respected him, and D&D had a huge impact on me growing up. I can still remember when I got my first copy of the Player's Handbook at the Book and Card Shop in Merrifield sometime in the late 80s. I proceeded to read through it so often that the glue in the spine totally dissolved and all the pages fell out. Hell yeah! Honestly, what blue-blooded dork wouldn't spazz off over something that looked like this?:

Not any dork that I want to be associated with.

Since we're dorking out, let me post the cover of my favorite AD&D module of all-time (which is actually a collection of three modules combined into one--I don't want the other nerds out there to think that I don't know what I'm talking about) (I mean, any more than usual, that is), which was written by Mr. Gygax:

Heck yes. I first became aware of Against the Giants when I bought a huge stash of D&D material from an elementary school chum. It was no longer in print by that time, so I had never seen it or heard about it before that point. Reading through it, I quickly became obsessed with it. I mean, I LOVED everything about this module--the artwork, the story, the setting, and the fact that you got to kill a bunch of stinky giants. When I subsequently discovered that it was the tip of the dork-berg, being only the introduction to a much-larger series (consisting of, as we all know, Descent into the Depths of the Earth/Shrine of the Kuo-Toa, Vault of the Drow, and Queen of the Demonweb Pits), I wrote an impassioned letter to TSR Games (a) explaining how awesome the module was and (b) begging them to sell me copies of the other modules in the series from their corporate archives because gee if I could just get my hands on those modules then life would be complete. I even invented an elaborate back-story in the letter--something about my brother being sick or something--to try to generate sympathy for my cause. I seriously did this. I guess I had a lot more chutzpah when I was a kid. Long story long--TSR's reply?: they sent me a catalogue of their current offerings. Thanks for nothing, jerks! Ultimately, the joke was on them, because later, I downloaded all of the modules for free. Who's laughing now? (Hint: it's me.)

We've wandered dramatically off-topic. That's what happens to a man when he thinks about slaughtering giants, I guess. The point: here's to you, Gary Gygax. If nothing else, you've given me lots of interesting things to kill time by thinking about throughout the years whenever I've been mired in the throes of homework and/or regular work procrastination. Salute!