Dante looked at me and asked if there was anything in there. I told him that since it was locked, the more important question was, where is the key.

Fortunately, I rolled really high on my Remember Where Random Item Is Located roll and found the key in a basket on top of the kitchen shelves. Upon opening the safe, it was, in fact, empty.

Dante got a gleam in his eye and headed over to the hutch in which we keep Important Documents. I briefly wondered what he decided was important enough to go in the safe that has been empty for four years, but my contemplations were short-lived as he quickly returned in plopped something right in the safe.

I asked what he put in there, and he lifted from the safe one of the D&D books signed by Gary Gygax. Because, of course, what document could be more important to save during a fire?

It seems that many fans have dubbed this weekend GaryCon, and will be gaming in Gary’s honor. I am happy to report that our crew will not only be participating, but it just so happens that our intrepid bunch of adventurers are heading right into the last known lair of a dracolich, which as many of you know was first mentioned in Gygax’s original World of Greyhawk setting. I can’t think of too many other things that satisfy the adventuring genes in all of us than that!

I think that the whole GaryCon notion is an excellent way to remember Gary’s contributions to our hobby. I will fall in with my other digital brethren… get out there and roll some dice, flop some cards, and have some fun to honor Gary!

We’ll be back to regularly scheduled programming next week!

However, if you’re still looking for a fitting memorial, I encourage you to play something new and expand your roleplaying repertoire; after all, if he hadn’t tried something new, we wouldn’t be the people we are today.

Break Your Stereotype

I’ve noticed that players tend to stick to a certain type of character; I’m guilty of it myself, just ask anyone! But instead of playing the same old character, try playing someone new.

• Play a different class – and I don’t mean playing a wizard instead of a sorcerer. Try something drastically different. There are plenty of options to explore.
• Play a different race – Many of us stick to the same race; personally, I’m very comfortable playing an elf. I think we all tend to gravitate toward races that suit our own personalities. However, there is something to be said for shedding your preferred race in favor of a new race. If you really are having a hard time picking a new race to try, pick one at random!
• Play a different personality – this can be closely tied to the race you pick, but try a new personality for your characters… especially for you quiet-types out there. Break out of your comfort zone and change your participation level in the group.

It may be tough, but trying something new will definitely build your character as a player. Challenge yourself to break away from your stereotype and be someone different for awhile. And when you do, remember Gygax, who gave us the tools to let our imaginations run wild.

P.S. If you haven’t see it yet, Phil has collected a list of several of the tributes. Thanks, Phil, I hadn’t seen some of these.

This homage to Gary Gygax was penned by my co-DM, our good friend Kanati.

I have to say that despite my only brief opportunity to meet Gary last year at GenCon, I am still very sad that Gary is no longer with us. The whole roleplaying genre has suffered a great loss this week and you need look no further than the list that Stupid Ranger mentions in the above post. Gary’s kind, humble nature and his amazing creativity endeared him to all of us.

All we can do now is keep gaming and know that Gary’s looking down on us and his legacy continues on in every critical hit that we roll.

I met him a couple times, he was always very nice. He helped make something that shaped the person I turned out to be, and we’ll all miss him.

When I was at lunch, I bought a Mountain Dew and poured one out on the curb for our dear departed Dungeon Master. It seemed kinda silly, but I didn’t really know what else to do.

Aim for the higher planes, old friend.

The tale begins the Christmas before last, when my good buddy Dave from eScapes Photo gifted me his set of original D&D sourcebooks, including four supplements. I was ecstatic at the gift, and was happy to show them off to all of my roleplaying savvy friends whenever possible.

This year, upon seeing the announcement that Gary Gygax was going to be an Industry Guest of Honor I knew that I had to try to get him to sign my books. Imagine my surprise when I was able to walk right up to his table and fulfill this goal while only having to wait behind one person in line. Because I didn’t want to be That Guy, I originally only had him sign my three core rulebooks however later on in the convention I did make a second trip to get my supplement books signed.

I found Gary to be extremely good natured, taking the time to pose for pictures and chat. For some reason I was imagining a long line with signing limits and him being largely frustrated at having to have the same banter with generation after generation of nerds. I was very impressed at how kind he was in person and how eager he was to sign my stuff.

When I went to get my supplements signed, I was wearing our Save The Owlbears t-shirt. Gary seemed to like it quite well and told me a story about a friend of his that used to wear “Save The …” shirts of various kinds. He asked if we had a card, so I quickly reached into my pocket and pulled out a card. We had made 100 cards with various t-shirt design slogans on them, and the one I handed to Gary was “Gnomes are mining my butt for coal”. I didn’t realize this until I saw that Gary was laughing at the card, and I wanted to die a little when I realized which one it was. Despite that, it was really cool that Gary enjoyed the shirt design and that really made my day.

The story doesn’t end there, however. The guy I was standing behind was also getting some books that looked VERY close my edition signed and Gary told him “hm… looks like the third printing so this is one of 3300 copies.” Since I didn’t exactly know the pedigree of my books, I decided to go and ask the knowledgeable folks over at Crazy Egor’s (I’d link them, but they don’t appear to have a web presence) and ask. I got about three questions in with Mrs. Egor when I mentioned that I had just got Gary to sign the books, and she said “oh, why didn’t you get Dave [Arneson] to sign them too? He’s sitting five feet behind you!”

So I turn, and lo and behold there was Dave Arneson, author of the excellent Blackmoor setting and co-author of Dungeons and Dragons. He was equally kind and eager to sign my books. He even signed my Blackmoor supplement, which was very cool because he was selling an updated edition of the Blackmoor setting at the convention. He was recovering from foot surgery and did not want to have pictures taken, but the experience was so great that I doubt I will need photos to remember it by!

A true nerd’s dream come true, and all in the first half-hour of GenCon! Here’s a shot of (r to l) Stupid Ranger, myself, and Gary Gygax (you’ll notice that we’re wearing a few of the StupidRanger.com shirts, available in our shop)!!

And here’s Gary signing my books!

On Saturday, I attended Hickman’s Killer Breakfast, which turned out to be every bit as awesome as I’d heard. Basically, Tracy Hickman is a killer DM, and literally a hundred first level PCs have to amuse the DM somehow to survive. And we were in Ravenloft this year, so that was basically completely impossible. I arrived early because I thought it’d be packed, and to my dismay I couldn’t find the generic tickets I had bought for this event. Fortunately, a kind couple walked right in front of me to the ticket taker and said “We have an extra ticket we’re not using. If someone else could –” and and that point I was on my feet going “OOH OOH ME ME ME”, except in a much more polite way. I hope. I had the choice of being a spectator, or being killed with the rest of the players. I didn’t come all this way to spectate, I wanted to be killed by the best. So, I lined up with the players.

Before too long, a man in a black shirt came out and everybody started cheering. I had no idea who he was. I thought they were cheering because they were going to let us in. It was shortly thereafter that I was struck with a very important realization — Tracy Hickman was a dude. Up until last week, I thought Dragonlance was written by two women. How do you love and cherish a person’s creative works for almost 20 years AND NOT KNOW THIS? I felt the geek cred seeping out of my body, and I wondered how I was to survive the next two hours.

They marched us into the ballroom seperately from the spectators, and somehow or another my row got ushered into the spectators section and a staffer came over and put us back with the players about two rows back from where we should have sat. Soon the event started, and Tracy and Laura Hickman (OK, I admit it — I thought they were sisters until last week) came out and started singing a parody of The Phantom of the Opera. A “safety presentation” was then shown, and then the carnage began. You had to say why your character was there right then, and it had better not be boring or you died. That let you live one round. And you better DO something brave, stupid, or entertaining the next round or you would die. Also, if anyone around you did something stupid you died. You were pretty much hosed.

I’m usually pretty good at coming up with random funny ideas. I was choking. Hard. I thought briefly about several jokes about how I got there ranging from “I’m here to pick up goth chicks” to “my mom and dad gave each other a special hug” (which thankfully, someone else did and he killed them on the spot). But when I was called up to go backstage, I was out of ideas. About 30 seconds before I got onstage, my random thought generator kicked in, and I got an idea. A funny one. I just hoped everyone else thought it was too.

So I got on stage and I was just about to sit down when Tracy Hickman says “STOP STOP STOP! We have a celebrity that needs to be killed next!”. And I look to my left and Gary Gygax walks on stage. The crowd goes completely bat-shit insane, and a stupid, indelible grin crosses my face. I almost forget to sit down when Tracy tells us to. And that’s when I realize I can only vaguely remember what I was going to say. Fortunately, there was one guy before me and he said something dumb and got killed horribly, giving me time to remember. And so it was, playing D&D with Gary Gygax in front of a crowd of hundreds with Tracy Hickman as my Dungeon Master, I uttered the following words in my best attempt at imitating Peter Cullen:

“I am Optimus Strahd. MegaSoth must be stopped, no matter the cost.”

That’s right. Who of you is nerd enough to make a Transformers joke in front of two D&D legends, one of whom created the characters you just transformed into undead robots? I AM NERD ENOUGH. Thank GOD everybody laughed, I thought my heart was going to stop.

The guy between me and Gary dies, and Gary says he got there by hitchhiking. We’re both still alive. Tracy starts over the table again after telling us a horde of vampires led by Strahd is coming one way and zombies led by Soth the other and we’re in the middle. The guy next to me dies. Then it’s my turn:

“I transform into a bat and ROLL OUT!”

Less laughter that time, but it’s enough to keep me alive. Gary burrows underground, which was smart because the guy at the end of the row hands Tracy a piece of paper with the following words on it: “I prepared Explosive Runes this morning.” The crowd went completely nuts, mostly because it was a hilarious joke from Order of the Stick, a very popular D&D webcomic (and one of my personal favorites). All of us died, except for Gary, who was underground. He died shortly thereafter, when somebody threw the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.

It wasn’t until I sat down that I realized HOLY SHIT I JUST PLAYED D&D WITH GARY GYGAX AND TRACY HICKMAN. Even if it was for only 2 minutes and 17 seconds. And the shame of not knowing Tracy’s gender? Fellow gamers, I am healed.

(Special thanks to neal_swint who graciously allowed me to use this picture from his flickr set. I was really hoping all this wasn’t some sort of E.L. Fudge-fueled hallucination!)