[

Current Mood

|

contemplative

]

Without Gary Gygax, presumably D&D wouldn’t exist.  I’m only one guy, but here’s what his creation Dungeons & Dragons has done for me.

• Leadership: Any qualities of leadership I’ve ever displayed had their seeds planted by being a Dungeon Master.  Providing organization, motivation and coordination to other people without (hopefully) coming off as a tyrant were learned as a teenage DM.  Whether it was my days as supervising, running committee and focus group meetings or even the commissioning of fantasy sports leagues, I might not have succeeded at these with out the experience learned as a youth.

• Extroversion:  I’m a pretty diehard introvert.  D&D was an outlet for me to get out and meet people.  To have people come over, rather than being the hermit I’d just as soon be.  It was a baseline and/or point of origin for many friends I have or had.

• Creativity:  D&D expanded my mind, encouraging research and experimentation.  D&D expanded my vocabulary – pretty valuable for a guy who studied history.  On the flip side of the extroversion factor, many hours were spent alone, designing dungeons or “my world.” I loved reading the goofy appendices in the back of the 1^st edition Dungeon Master’s Guide.  Honestly, this is a characteristic I don’t exercise as much as I’d like these days.

On a deep and serious personal level, the escapism provided by the game really helped me carry on during the process my parents’ separation and divorce.

I never met Gary Gygax, beyond a smile and head nod at last year’s GenCon.  Still, I feel he has impacted my life in profound ways.

Heck, my whole lj "network" is based around a part of the "greater intgamersphere."