Gary Gygax and Christianity: Dungeons & Dragons creator was a believer

Yesterday I posted about the death of Gary Gygax, who co-created Dungeons & Dragons and is regarded as the founder of the role-playing game genre. Lots of people who are around my age will probably remember that Dungeons & Dragons aroused considerable controversy in the early Eighties because a lot of Christians claimed that the game promoted witchcraft, demonic worship, suicide, and pretty much every other undesirable practice that you can think of. Many of these people wanted the game to be banned completely.

It wasn't enough to stop publication of Dungeons & Dragons but the game has never completely shaken-off the stigma that it is somehow a breeding ground for followers of Satan.

This afternoon I received an e-mail from a reader of this blog, and I learned something quite fascinating: that Gary Gygax, the mind behind Dungeons & Dragons, was a born-again Christian. That link takes you to a discussion that Gygax took part in with the Christian Gamer's Guild in 2007.

And then there is this e-mail that Gygax sent to a fan a month and a half before his passing...

Thank You, Michael,

All I am is another fellow human that has at last, after many wrong paths and failed attenpts, found Jesus Christ.

Via con dios,
Gary

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." Matthew 5:16

I thought this was worth making a whole separate post about, because Gygax and his work did suffer a lot of unfair criticism over the years. It's said that the Christian army is the only one that shoots its own wounded. Well, looks like that happened here too.

And so far as some of the more tragic situations involving Dungeons & Dragons that have happened since the game's inception go: yes, this game unfortunately became an idol to some and in their minds more than it was supposed to be. But that same dark potential can be found in practically everything else in life too, whether it be sex or sports or television or whatever. Anything taken to excess becomes a thing that diminishes us and hurts our relationship with God, before it invariably destroys us. In that regard, Gary Gygax certainly did not add anything new to the equation.

And after the past month's sabbatical, some of which I used to study and contemplate what it is to seek after Christ, I now have to wonder if much of the so-called "Christian counter-culture" that I see around us is doing far more damage to the cause of Christ than rolling some dice in a basement ever accomplished. And I'm absolutely serious about that.

But really, this is all still seeing through the glass darkly. The thing that matters most is that yesterday morning, Gary Gygax did "miss his saving throw" as some have joked... but he still won the game before going Home.

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Gary Gygax has passed away

It's weird: I was just thinking of Gary Gygax last week, after reading a review of the new 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons. It was back in the early Seventies that Gygax, along with Dave Arneson, created the first Dungeons & Dragons game. Gygax has since been widely hailed as "the father of the role-playing game".

Now comes the sad news that Gary Gygax has passed away at the age of 69.

I think it's safe to say that Gygax's influence on popular culture for the better part of the past four decades has been profound, if subtle. Gygax's rules for Dungeons & Dragons became the basis for not only pretty much every role-playing game that followed, but also made an enormous impact on video games and even some real-world simulations and tools for education. Gygax's work had a tremendous effect on many movies and television series... to say nothing of the mammoth library of novels that the Dungeons & Dragons franchise and other role-playing games has spawned over the years.

And let's face it: for those who ever played the original "pen and paper" Dungeons & Dragons, it was - and I've heard still is - a heckuva lot of fun! The first "D&D" game that I ever encountered used one of Gygax's modules (those were pre-packaged "adventures" that you'd buy in a bookstore or wherever). Gygax was not only a brilliant innovator, but he also knew how to be downright lethal: I saw a LOT of characters perish from his traps and monsters. Something about a game like that as opposed to a computer-driven role-playing game: you really did have to use your imagination, and you could do pretty much anything no matter how wild and crazy. We've yet to see a video game that gives you that kind of freedom.

Anyways, part of this blog's purpose is to chronicle and celebrate people who have lived interesting lives, and Gary Gygax certainly had that. Farewell, great Dungeon Master.

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