Dungeons & Dragons Co-creator Dave Arneson Dead at 61

Dave Arneson, co-creator of the first commercial roleplaying game, Dungeons & Dragons, lost a battle with cancer on Tuesday. Arneson was 61. A fan of table-top wargames, Arneson began designing his own gaming scenarios from an early age. In 1969 he met fellow D&D co-creator Gary Gygax at the second official Gen Con gaming convention. Collaboration between the two would eventually see the first release of Dungeons & Dragons in 1974. – from Shacknews

Since suffering a stroke in 2002, Arneson’s health declined, and he struggled with cancer – a condition which suddenly worsened late last week, when he checked into a hospital with a “poor” prognosis. After some confusion with conflicting reports on the 7th, Arneson lost his fight against cancer last night with family at his side. Gygax himself passed away last March. – from Escapist

It’s hard to imagine a world without Dave Arneson. His name isn’t one most of you are familiar with – and if you are one of those who are familiar with it, you might not fully grasp his significance. Most people think that the ‘creator’ of Dungeons & Dragons passed away last year. That was Gary Gygax. The CO-creator of Dungeons & Dragons. He was the money man, a game creator in his own right who understood how to make D&D a hit. But Arneson? He was the guy that said Hey, you know what would be cool? If we played a game in which a group of heroes went into a dungeon and fought monsters. And then he made it cool. – from AICN