Editing Gary Gygax (section)

== Wargames ==
{{Wargaming}}

In 1967, Gygax co-founded the [[International Federation of Wargamers]] (IFW) with Bill Speer and Scott Duncan.<ref name="playingworld" />{{Rp|9–10}} The IFW grew rapidly, particularly by assimilating several preexisting wargaming clubs, and aimed to promote interest in wargames of all periods. It provided a forum for wargamers via its newsletters and societies, which enabled them to form local groups and share rules. In 1967, Gygax organized a 20-person gaming meet in the basement of his home; this event was later called "Gen Con 0".<ref name="Parker2008" /> In 1968, he rented Lake Geneva's vine-covered [[Horticultural Hall, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin|Horticultural Hall]] for $50 ({{Inflation|US|50|1968|fmt=eq|r=-1}}){{Inflation/fn|US}} to hold the first Lake Geneva Convention, also known as the [[Gen Con]] [[gaming convention]].<ref name="Wired" /> Gen Con is now one of North America's largest annual hobby-game gatherings.<ref name="Miller2002">{{cite news| last = Miller II| first = Stanley A.| date = August 3, 2002| title = Gen gone: Next year, gamers will be draggin' their tales to Indiana prairie| work = [[Journal Sentinel]]| url = http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=63415| access-date = December 17, 2008|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070809193643/http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=63415|archive-date = August 9, 2007}}</ref> Gygax met [[Dave Arneson]], the future co-creator of ''D&D'', at the second Gen Con in August 1969.<ref name="Wired" /><ref name="King & Borland">{{cite book| last1 = King| first1 = Brad| last2 = Borland|first2 = John| year = 2003| title = Dungeons & Dreamers: The Rise of Computer Game Culture from Chic to Geek| publisher = [[McGraw-Hill]]| isbn = 0-07-222888-1}}</ref>

{{blockquote|text=I'm very fond of the [[Middle Ages|Medieval period]], the [[Dark Ages (historiography)|Dark Ages]] in particular. We started playing in the period because I had found appropriate miniatures. I started devising rules where what the plastic figure was wearing was what he had. If he had a shield and no armor, then he just has a shield. Shields and half-armor = half-armor rules; full-armor figure = full armor rules. I did rules for weapons as well.|sign=Gary Gygax<ref name="gamespy1.2">{{cite web |url = http://pc.gamespy.com/articles/538/538817p2.html |title = Gary Gygax Interview – Part I (page 2)|first = Allen |last = Rausch|work = [[GameSpy]]|publisher = IGN Entertainment|access-date = January 3, 2005|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080918210157/http://pc.gamespy.com/articles/538/538817p2.html|archive-date = September 18, 2008|url-status = dead|df = mdy-all }}</ref>}}

Together with Don Kaye, Mike Reese, and Leon Tucker, Gygax created a military miniatures society called [[Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association]] (LGTSA) in 1970,<ref name="playingworld">{{cite book|title=Playing at the World |last=Peterson |first=Jon |publisher=Unreason Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-615-64204-8|location=San Diego|oclc=808727087}}</ref>{{Rp|26}} with its first headquarters in Gygax's basement.<ref name="EconomistObit" /> Shortly thereafter in 1970, Gygax and Robert Kuntz founded the [[Castle & Crusade Society]] of the IFW.<ref name="playingworld" />{{Rp|29}}

In October 1970, Gygax lost his job at the insurance company after almost nine years. Unemployed and now with five children he tried to use his enthusiasm for games to make a living by designing board games for commercial sale.<ref name="longbio" /><ref name="TheTimesObit" /> This proved unsustainable when he grossed only $882 in 1971 ({{Inflation|US|882|1971|fmt=eq}}).<ref name="witwer" />{{rp|84}} He began [[cobbling]] shoes in his basement, which provided him with a steady income and gave him more time for game development.<ref name="playingworld" />{{Rp|33}} In 1971, he began doing some editing work at [[Guidon Games]], a publisher of [[wargaming|wargames]],<ref name="longbio" /> for which he produced the board games ''[[Alexander the Great (board game)|Alexander the Great]]'' and ''[[Dunkirk: The Battle of France]]''. Early that same year, Gygax published ''[[Chainmail (game)|Chainmail]]'', a miniatures wargame that simulated medieval-era tactical combat, which he had originally written with hobby-shop owner [[Jeff Perren]].<ref name="Wired" /><ref name="30 Years">{{cite book|last=Winter|first=Steve|title=30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons & Dragons|title-link=30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons & Dragons |date=October 2004 |publisher=[[Wizards of the Coast]] |isbn=0-7869-3498-0 |oclc=56961559 |display-authors=etal}}</ref><ref name="inc">{{cite web | url=http://www.inc.com/magazine/19820201/3601.html | title=TSR Hobbies Mixes Fact and Fantasy | date=February 1, 1982 | author=Stewart Alsop II}}</ref> The ''Chainmail'' medieval miniatures rules were originally published in the Castle & Crusade Society's fanzine ''The Domesday Book''. Guidon Games hired Gygax to produce a game series called "Wargaming with Miniatures", with the initial release for the series being a new edition of ''Chainmail'' (1971).<ref name="designers">{{cite book |title=Designers & Dragons|last=Appelcline|first=Shannon|publisher=Mongoose Publishing |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-907702-58-7}}</ref>{{rp|6}} The first edition of ''Chainmail'' included a fantasy supplement to the rules.<ref name="inc" /> These comprised a system for warriors, wizards, and various monsters of nonhuman races drawn from the works of [[J. R. R. Tolkien]] and other sources.<ref name=Chainmail>{{cite book |last1=Gygax |first1=Gary |first2=Jeff|last2=Perren|author-link2=Jeff Perren |year=1971|title=Chainmail |publisher=[[Guidon Games]] |page=39 }}</ref> For a small publisher like Guidon Games, ''Chainmail'' was relatively successful, selling 100 copies per month.<ref name=witwer />{{rp|86}}

Gygax also collaborated on ''[[Tractics]]'' with Mike Reese and Leon Tucker, his contribution being the change to a 20-sided spinner or a coffee can with 20 numbered poker chips (eventually, 20-sided dice) to decide combat resolutions instead of the standard six-sided dice.<ref name="witwer" />{{rp|87}} He also collaborated with Arneson on the Napoleonic naval wargame ''[[Don't Give Up the Ship!]]''<ref name="King & Borland" />

Dave Arneson briefly adapted the ''Chainmail'' rules for his fantasy ''[[Blackmoor (campaign setting)|Blackmoor]]'' campaign.<ref name="Wired"/> In the winter of 1972–1973, Arneson and friend [[David Megarry]], inventor of the ''[[Dungeon!]]'' board game, traveled to Lake Geneva to showcase their respective games to Gygax, in his role as a representative of Guidon Games. Gygax saw potential in both games, and was especially excited by Arneson's role-playing game.<ref name="Wired" /><ref name="schick">{{cite book|title=Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games|last=Schick|first=Lawrence|publisher=[[Prometheus Books]]|year=1991|isbn=0-87975-653-5|oclc=22907515}}</ref> Gygax and Arneson immediately started to collaborate on creating "The Fantasy Game", the role-playing game that evolved into ''Dungeons & Dragons''.<ref name="D&Dfaq" /><ref name="Wired" /><ref name="history">{{cite web | url = http://www.wizards.com/dnd/DnDArchives_History.asp | title = The History of TSR | publisher = [[Wizards of the Coast]] | access-date = August 20, 2005 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080924195557/http://www.wizards.com/dnd/DnDArchives_History.asp | archive-date = September 24, 2008 | url-status = dead | df = mdy-all }}</ref>

Following Arneson's ''Blackmoor'' demonstration, Gygax requested more information from Arneson and began testing ideas for the game on his two oldest children, Ernie and Elise, in a setting he called "Greyhawk". This group rapidly expanded to include Kaye, Kuntz, and eventually a large circle of players. Gygax and Arneson continued to trade notes about their respective campaigns as Gygax began work on a draft. Several aspects of the system governing magic in the game were inspired by fantasy author [[Jack Vance]]'s ''[[The Dying Earth]]'' stories (notably that ''magic-users'' in the game forget the spells that they have learned immediately upon casting them and must re-study them in order to cast them again), and the system as a whole drew upon the work of authors such as [[Robert E. Howard]], [[L. Sprague de Camp]], [[Michael Moorcock]], [[Roger Zelazny]], [[Poul Anderson]], [[Works inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien#Other games|Tolkien]], [[Bram Stoker]], and others.<ref name="Gygax2001">{{cite web|url=http://www.dyingearth.com/files/gary%20gygax%20jack%20vance.pdf|title=JACK VANCE & THE D&D GAME|last1=Gygax|first1=Gary|website=Dying Earth Roleplaying Game Site|publisher=Pelgrane Press|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610173333/http://www.dyingearth.com/files/gary%20gygax%20jack%20vance.pdf|archive-date=June 10, 2015|url-status=dead|access-date=May 23, 2015}}</ref> The final draft contained changes not vetted by Arneson, and Gygax's vision differed on some rule details Arneson had preferred.<ref name=witwer />{{rp|100}}

Gygax asked Guidon Games to publish it,<ref name="designers" />{{rp|7}} but the three-volume rule set in a labeled box was beyond the small publisher's scope. Gygax pitched the game to Avalon Hill, but it did not understand the concept of role-playing and turned down his offer.<ref name="Fads">{{cite book |last=Hoffmann |first=Frank W. |author2=Bailey, William G. |year=1991 |title=Sports & Recreation Fads |publisher=[[Haworth Press]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/sportsrecreation0000hoff/page/109 109] |isbn=1-56024-056-3 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/sportsrecreation0000hoff/page/109 }}</ref>

By 1974, Gygax's Greyhawk group, which had started off with himself, Ernie Gygax, Don Kaye, Rob Kuntz, and [[Terry Kuntz]], had grown to over 20 people, with Rob Kuntz operating as co-dungeon-master so that each of them could referee smaller groups of about a dozen players.<ref name="designers" />{{rp|7}}