Dave Arneson passed away on April 7th of 2009 and I missed the date. Fortunately there are others out there who are better at keeping track of things than I am. More on that in a moment. Has it really been 6 years since Dave Arneson passed away? I never played in one of his games, but by all accounts it would have been an incredible experience as he was a highly gifted referee. He was brilliant and creating Blackmoor which lead directly to OD&D was the leap of inspiration that no one else made. Would someone else have eventually made that leap, likely yes, but he did it first.
Fortunately Bruno Galan over at Eye Ray of the Beholder is better at remembering things than I am. So go to his blog and read Thank You For Everything, Dave Arneson and thank him for remembering what many of us did not.
I also missed that Gary Gygax the co-creator of OD&D passed away on March 4th of 2008 and that M.A.R Barker the creator of Tékumel: The World of the Petal Throne passed away on March 16th of 2012. Both of these were brilliant men and great referees. I also regularly miss the fact that Dave Hargrave the creator of Arduin passed away on August 29th of 1988 (a man that was ahead of his time as he walked directly in the gonzo footsteps of Dave Arneson). To all reports he was also a highly gifted referee. These men not only created games, but they knew how to play them in legendary fashion. They should all be remembered and honored. I again thank Bruno Galan for reminding me of that.
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