Ernest Gary Gygax was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating the pioneering tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) with Dave Arneson.
Gygax at Gen Con Indy 2007
Image: Gary Gygax's Signature
Members of the Gygax family pose on the Throne of Reading at the Lake Geneva Public Library.
Gary Gygax at ModCon Game Fair in 1999, Modena, Italy. His t-shirt advertises the third edition of D&D, which was to be released the following year.
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TSR). It has been published by Wizards of the Coast, later a subsidiary of Hasbro, since 1997. The game was derived from miniature wargames, with a variation of the 1971 game Chainmail serving as the initial rule system. D&D's publication is commonly recognized as the beginning of modern role-playing games and the role-playing game industry, and also deeply influenced video games, especially the role-playing video game genre.
An elaborate D&D game in progress. Among the gaming aids here are dice, a variety of miniatures, and a dungeon diorama.
Players utilize both dice and character sheets during a game session.
D&D uses polyhedral dice to resolve in-game events. These are abbreviated by a 'd' followed by the number of sides. Shown from left to right are a d20, d12, d%, d10, d8, d6, and a d4. A d% and d10 can be rolled together to produce a number between 1 and 100.
A Dungeon Master's notebook with a custom design adventure
