As Theo already posted yesterday, Dave Arneson, the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, and therefore one of the founders of the RPG hobby and responsible for suckering a lot of kids like me into the genre of heroic fantasy, died at age 61 on 7 April 2009 from cancer.

Gary Gygax, the man who co-wrote the original D&D, received much more fame for his work on the famous RPG, mostly because Arneson left the company in 1976. Arneson later filed a series of five lawsuits against TSR over royalties for D&D and later settled out-of-court with Gygax—but some things never quite heal.

I gained a greater respect for Arneson the more I found about his part in developing gaming theory. I also read some of Gary Gygax’s novels and thought they were terrible, which suddenly made me think much more about Arneson’s contribution to D&D.

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“Dave Arneson, one of the co-creators of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy game and a pioneer of role-playing entertainment, died after a two-year battle with cancer, his family said Thursday. He was 61.”

I had the good fortune to meet Dave Arneson 13 years ago, at a book signing in Roseville, Minnesota. The large Barnes & Noble there was holding its first, and I believe only, SF/F day, which featured science fiction and fantasy authors including Gordon R. Dickson, David Feintuch, and Dave Arneson. It’s probably just as well that B&N no longer holds the event, considering that a significant percentage of the authors who were there are no longer with us. Dave was a friendly and humble man who was more than happy to discuss game mechanisms and the history of gaming with anyone who happened to be interested.

I had recently located and bought a boxed set of the three original brown books, so at lunchtime, I took the opportunity to run home and grab them. Mr. Arneson was obviously delighted to sign them; it was clear that while he bore no great bitterness towards Gary Gygax, he did feel as if most D&D fans were unaware of his primary role in the creation of what was not so much a game as an entire gaming genre. Arneson will neither be the first nor the last creator to be eclipsed by a more business-savvy partner, but it behooves those of us who are creators to recognize the man and salute his foundational contribution to fantasy and science fiction gaming as we know it today.

Steve Tompkins has died.

It wasn’t just that Steve was incredibly well read, it was that he could tap into his vast depth of knowledge and recognize themes and connections that no one else had seen and then articulate them cogently and thoroughly, with great insight and an inimitable sly wit.  When he decided to write about an author, or a genre, then by God it was worth the time to read every word and ruminate over what he had to say.  His writing was so rich with depth and meaning that a second, third, or fourth look might well be needed to truly appreciate what Steve was saying, for he never wrote without thinking long and hard.  If you don’t believe us, then visit The Cimmerian and leaf through any number of wonderful essays archived there, or pick up Del Rey’s KULL and read Steve’s introductory essay, or read the fine remembrance Steve co-wrote about the passing of David Gemmell right here on the Black Gate web site.

If, like us, you are an aficionado of sword-and-sorcery, then you should understand that we have lost a sword-brother.  And not just any sword-brother, but one of the elite, a Cimmerian, a Red Slayer, someone who formed the shield wall when anyone moved against the authors and stories that we revere.  Someone who saw the heroic history of our genre, understood its power and worth, and who could articulate its value in words of iron.

He has fallen now and the ranks will close, but no one can take his place. What five men could?  We have lost more than a brother; we have lost all that he might yet have done, and are poorer for it than we can ever know.

Raise high your glasses then, and drink deep in his name.  Cleave close to those you love and do not waste your time with the shadow players who blot our days.  Find your passion and, so long as it harms no one, follow it.  For all too soon those you treasure and the work you mean to do will be lost to you, for if life is sweet, death is ever greedy.

Carpe diem.

Howard Andrew Jones & John Chris Hocking