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Ernest Gary Gygax ( ) (July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008) was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating with Dave Arneson the pioneering role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). Gygax has been described as the father of ''D&D''. In the 1960s, Gygax created an organization of wargaming clubs and founded the Gen Con gaming convention. In 1971, he helped develop ''Chainmail'', a miniatures wargame based on medieval warfare. He co-founded the company Tactical Studies Rules (TSR, Inc.) with childhood friend Don Kaye in 1973. The following year, he and Arneson created ''D&D'', which expanded on Gygax's ''Chainmail'' and included elements of the fantasy stories he loved as a child. In the same year, he founded ''The Dragon'', a magazine based around the new game. In 1977, Gygax began work on a more comprehensive version of the game, called ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons''. Gygax designed numerous manuals for the game system, as well as several pre-packaged adventures called "modules" that gave a person running a ''D&D'' game (the "Dungeon Master") a rough script and ideas on how to run a particular gaming scenario. In 1983, he worked to license the ''D&D'' product line into the successful ''D&D'' cartoon series. After leaving TSR in 1985 over issues with its new majority owner, Gygax continued to create role-playing game titles independently, beginning with the multi-genre ''Dangerous Journeys'' in 1992. He designed another gaming system called ''Lejendary Adventure'', released in 1999. In 2005, Gygax was involved in the ''Castles & Crusades'' role-playing game, which was conceived as a hybrid between the third edition of ''D&D'' and the original version of the game conceived by Gygax. Gygax was married twice and had six children. In 2004, Gygax suffered two strokes, narrowly avoided a subsequent heart attack, and was then diagnosed with an abdominal aortic aneurysm, from which he died in March 2008. == Early life and inspiration == Gary Gygax was born in Chicago within a few blocks of Wrigley Field on July 27, 1938. He was the son of Almina Emelie (Burdick)〔http://humphrysfamilytree.com/Royal/Larson/Edw3-GaryGygax.pdf〕 and Swiss immigrant and Chicago Symphony Orchestra violinist Ernst Gygax.〔 Gygax spent his early childhood in Chicago, but in 1946 he was involved in a brawl with a large group of boys, and his father decided to move the family to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, where Gary's mother's family had settled in the early 19th century.〔 During his childhood and teen years, he developed a love of games and an appreciation for fantasy and science fiction literature. When he was five, he played card games such as pinochle and then board games such as chess.〔 (Registration required)〕〔 At the age of ten, he and his friends played the sort of games that eventually came to be called "live action role-playing games" with one of them acting as a referee.〔Gygax, Gary (2005). ''Long Biography of E(rnest) Gary Gygax'' (revision 6-05)〕 His father introduced him to science fiction and fantasy through pulp novels.〔 His interest in games, combined with an appreciation of history, eventually led Gygax to begin playing miniature war games in 1953 with his best friend Don Kaye.〔 As teenagers Gygax and Kaye designed their own miniatures rules for toy soldiers with a large collection of and figures, where they used "ladyfingers" (small firecrackers) to simulate explosions. Gygax dropped out of high school in his junior year and worked at odd jobs for a while, but he moved back to Chicago at age 19 to attend night classes in junior college.〔 He also took anthropology classes at University of Chicago.〔〔 The following year he married Mary Jo Powell. Their marriage produced five children: Ernest ("Ernie"), Lucion ("Luke"), Heidi, Cindy, and Elise.〔 Gygax continued his night-school classes and made the college Dean's List. At the urging of his professors, he applied to the University of Chicago and was admitted. However, because he was married, he decided to take a full-time job in insurance instead. By December 1958, the game Gettysburg from the Avalon Hill company had particularly captured Gygax's attention.〔Fannon, Sean Patrick (1999). ''The Fantasy Roleplaying Gamer's Bible'' (2nd ed.) Obsidian Studios. ISBN 0-9674429-0-7.〕 It was also from Avalon Hill that he ordered the first blank hexagon mapping sheets that were available, which he then employed to design his own games.〔 (Registration required)〕 Gygax became active in fandom and became involved in play-by-mail Diplomacy games, for which he designed his own variants.〔 By 1966 he was active in the wargame hobby and was writing many magazine articles on the subject. Gygax learned about H. G. Wells' ''Little Wars'' book for play of military miniatures wargames and Fletcher Pratt's ''Naval Wargame'' book. Gygax later looked for innovative ways to generate random numbers, and he used not only common, six-sided dice, but dice of all five platonic solid shapes, which he discovered in a school supply catalog.〔 In 1967, he and his family moved back to Lake Geneva.〔 Except for a few months he would spend in Clinton, Wisconsin, following his divorce, and his time in Hollywood while he was the head of TSR's entertainment division, Lake Geneva would be his home for the rest of his life. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gary Gygax」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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