On failed saving throws
It seems that Gary Gygax has passed away. I'm sure that most of you, being of the nerdly persuasion, have heard this a dozen times today already. I don't care.

I didn't get into D&D until I was eighteen, and it was my first experience with a roleplaying game. Prior to that I had spent years immersed in Warhammer and its spinoff games, all of them designed around a structure of one player attempting to trounce another at all costs. Second Edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (in all its blue-and-black-inked glory) redefined my paradigm of gaming. Even now, playing mostly wacky European strategy games, I still look for interesting ways for players to interact before I look for ways to win. Anyone can crunch the numbers of a game and steer it towards victory, but it takes a particular approach to find the excitement of a well-told story in a jumble of hex tiles and funny dice. Without the work of Gary Gygax, I'm sure I would never have found the passion that has kept me gaming. So thanks, Mr. Gygax, for the gift of imagination. Enjoy eternity in the plane of your alignment of choice.

Rich Burlew has made a fitting eulogy in his excellent webcomic, The Order Of The Stick.