digg

Facebook Connect Join Digg About

Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Dave Arneson dead at 61

scifiwire.com — Dave Arneson, born 1947, an American game designer, teacher, entrepreneur, and the co-creator of the seminal Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, passed away on Tuesday April 7th after a long battle with cancer. He is survived by his wife and daughter.

Who dugg this? Made popular Apr 9, 2009

Digg DudeWhat is Digg?

Digg is a place for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the web. Digg surfaces the best stuff as submitted and voted on by the community. Take the Tour to learn more.

125 Comments

show profanity settings
expand all
  • pagit, on 04/09/2009, -2/+103Hope you and Gary are having the ultimate campaign with the big DM in the sky

    thanks for your contribution to D & D and ultimately the MMORPG's we play today

    RIP
  • reyoo30309, on 04/09/2009, -1/+71Don't worry I'll resurrect him.
  • dejanigma, on 04/09/2009, -1/+582 D6 rounds of silence for our fallen homie.
  • beachtrader, on 04/09/2009, -0/+53Finally missed his saving throw.

    He, with Gary Gygax, led a revolution.
  • cptmichael101st, on 04/09/2009, -1/+34...but also a new type of nerd.

    we'll miss you, dave.
  • DavidGX, on 04/09/2009, -6/+39Did he drop any good loot?
  • robustyoungsoul, on 04/09/2009, -0/+31In these difficult economic times who can afford the material components for that spell?
  • Eldorian, on 04/09/2009, -0/+28Jesus saves...


    and only takes half damage.

    Duh.
  • Norumeni, on 04/09/2009, -5/+32I put on my robe and wizard hat...
  • npcabral, on 04/09/2009, -1/+24What does jesus have to do with D&D?
  • thelastheraclid, on 04/09/2009, -0/+20Thanks for everything Dave.
  • divinediva, on 04/09/2009, -3/+23Dungeons & Dragons created not just a new type of gaming.
  • TheBadWolf, on 04/09/2009, -1/+16I can't be the only one who's sick of this whole "/s" *****. If you're not clever enough for your sarcasm to get across, why even bother posting?
  • Dumbledorito, on 04/09/2009, -0/+14So far it's an interesting contrast. Most of the articles when Gygax died called him the "father of Dungeons & Dragons" or "the Dungeonmaster." So far, the best I've seen is Arneson being dubbed the "godfather of Dungeons & Dragons," as if he just showed up for the baptism or something. Most often its the bland moniker, "co-creator."

    I guess not having a cool last name like "Gygax" is bad for your epitaph.
  • robustyoungsoul, on 04/09/2009, -0/+12Gary Gygax died in March last year.
  • robustyoungsoul, on 04/09/2009, -1/+13Another dead hero.

    RIP
  • inactive, on 04/09/2009, -0/+12I remember the reverence we had for those books as we got them into our greedy little teenage hands, the Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Masters' Guide, the Monster Manual . . . those books were borderline holy to us.
  • firewall1, on 04/09/2009, -0/+11Didn't the other co-creator just recently pass away?
  • pilgrim3970, on 04/09/2009, -3/+13"MMORPG's we play today"

    pffft... those aren't role playing games those are more like a hack and slash Twitter.

    Ain't no school like the old school
  • scoot2006, on 04/09/2009, -1/+11Sentence fragments are not only.

    Sorry, couldn't resist. You're right, though, they created something new and exciting at the time. It's still being emulated in all sorts of ways which already shows it's importance in the gaming industry.
  • vofuse, on 04/09/2009, -0/+10Gygax was the pitchman of the two. That's always the one who gets the most fame. Like Stan Lee to Jack Kirby. Or Steve Jobs to Steve Wozniak.
  • DavidGX, on 04/09/2009, -1/+11Congratulations, you win.
  • Trebis, on 04/09/2009, -0/+10You're mixing your editions, son.
  • Octopie, on 04/09/2009, -0/+9Yes, he dropped Dungeons and Dragons!
  • TheWilder, on 04/09/2009, -0/+8He will be missed.
  • ProfessorRiffs, on 04/09/2009, -0/+8I am hit with +99 Sadness.......
  • MelekTawus, on 04/09/2009, -0/+8Raise Dead! Raise Dead!
  • evisr8r, on 04/09/2009, -0/+8Nice try, I'm sure he's just completed his lich ritual and is hiding w/ gygax planning their ultimate undead takeover.

    * i wish :_( *
  • higgy345, on 04/09/2009, -0/+7Looks like you rolled on 1 on that comment.
  • inactive, on 04/09/2009, -0/+7R.I.P.
  • anaclagon, on 04/09/2009, -0/+7Do a constitution check.
  • wolfing, on 04/09/2009, -1/+8eew, 4th ed
  • Bowie, on 04/09/2009, -4/+11Dave has been attacked by a Cancer!
    A Cancer hit Dave causing +49 damage!
    Dave has died.

    (N,S,E,W,Attack,Run,Sleep?) :



  • Balath, on 04/09/2009, -0/+7"Goodbye, Dave."
  • Malhavoc, on 04/09/2009, -0/+7He was one of my teachers at Full Sail a few years back. He was always a lot of fun, told us a bunch of old stories about the early days of D&D (best one was the origin of dice other than d6 in D&D). He will certainly be missed.
  • Arceliar, on 04/10/2009, -1/+82 men, Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax, make a game. Because of them, millions of 20 sided dice will be rolled.

    20^2 = 400.

    March 4th, 2008 - Gary Gygax dies.
    April 7th, 2009 - Dave Arneson dies.

    Time between deaths (inclusive of the end date): 400 days.

    In a profoundly sad way, it seems fitting.
  • SirBruce, on 04/09/2009, -0/+6I met Dave many times over the past several years at gaming conventions. He was a great guy, more personable than Gygax, but had been in declining health for some time. It's sad to see them go.
  • BoneheadFarker, on 04/09/2009, -3/+9According to some of the more "enthusiastic" Christians, D&D is an introduction to witchcraft and satanism. Just ask Jack Chick: http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0046/0046_01.a ...
  • Dumbledorito, on 04/09/2009, -0/+6Am I drunk yet?
  • IgorUnchained, on 04/09/2009, -1/+7D&D especially contributed to Dungeons and Dragons Online...the best MMORPG there is.
    The game already has a shrine dedicated to Gygax, I hope Arneson will have one soon too.
  • kingmanic, on 04/09/2009, -0/+5'Clone' healthy nerd. 'raise dead'. 'magic jar'. Transfer.
  • supertaliman, on 04/09/2009, -0/+5I had the pleasure of meeting Dave and getting an autograph a few months ago. Cool Guy.

    Rest In Peace.
  • strictnein, on 04/09/2009, -0/+5The seventeen exclamation points weren't clear enough for me. Thanks for adding the /s
  • kingmanic, on 04/09/2009, -0/+5Probably need a 'Permanency' in there too.
  • ZincSaucier, on 04/09/2009, -1/+6sip for my homie
  • Renian, on 04/09/2009, -0/+4***** Raise Dead, use True Resurrection. Doesn't Raise Dead give -1 CON?
  • Dumbledorito, on 04/09/2009, -2/+6Just like D&D, MMOs have as much role-playing as the players bring to the game. You can pretty much run a D&D game by the numbers without having to act out a single piece of dialogue or describe an action beyond "I use my X skill to do Y."

    That said, hardly anyone I know role-plays while playing an MMO, unless they're trying to weird-out their fellow players.
  • SneakyNinja, on 04/09/2009, -0/+4Way to leave a legacy Mr. Arneson. I'm happy to say, you've influenced my life.
  • blah247, on 04/09/2009, -1/+5Lighting bolt!!
  • solidcube, on 04/10/2009, -0/+4Yes, he did Dave over bad, but since they're both dead and TSR is being run into the ground by Hasbro, can it be forgiven at this point?
  • Fetching more discussions...
    Show 51 - 100 of 129 discussions

  • Add a Comment

    Login or register to comment!
    Or, sign-in super fast with your Facebook account ...


© Digg Inc. 2009 — Content created and posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain | Terms of Use Updated | Privacy Policy
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.