http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7278927.stm

Ah, memories... I grew up in Nova Scotia, but went to Connecticut every summer (that's where nearly all my relatives are). We always visited this one couple, old college friends of my parents, whose youngest son was big time into D&D. The only times I ever played D&D were the summers of '81-'83. I loved it, but never found anyone at home who would play it with me. My older brother played it with his friends, but wouldn't let me join in. Irrelevant side note: The couple in question lived in Old Lyme, Connecticut. The summer of '80, my sister returned to Nova Scotia, where it was soon discovered that she had Lyme disease -the first documented case of it in Nova Scotia.

My gaming friends and I have been discussing this for a few days. He had such an impact on all of our lives. We even use 'Gygaxian' as an adjective around here. My favourite comic strip did an homage to Gary:

I'm ashamed to admit that I did not know who he was until I read that he had died. Which comic strip did the homage?

Order of the Stick... I posted the strip above. Can you see it?

No, I can't see it. It could be some issue with my computer. Off to google "Order of the Stick"...

I'll post a link. http://www.giantitp.com/comics/images/rZ5a6UyMKCDAwzZyA2l.gif But if you are a gamer and you haven't read this strip, I strongly recommend you start at strip #1.Strip #1

I've just read strips 1 through 15, and I am just dying here! This is hysterical! Off to read 16 through 538 -so much for working on my WIP fic tonight!

LOL... glad to corrupt you...

I played the odd game here and there,but I wasn't really into it like some of my friends...ok they were really hardcore into it! But I did enjoy painting lead figures. I still have a bunch that haven't been finished!

Same here! I painted a whole bunch 'o miniatures before I had kiddies. Now that the kids are old enough not to interfere with me when I paint, I'm more interested in writing Gatch fics, and so my miniatures remain unpainted...

I wouldn't have known who he was either. Hadn't heard of that comic strip either. Still thanks to you both for sharing the info, and the comic strips.

Originally posted by Transmute Jun LOL... glad to corrupt you...

I'm up to comic #202 now. It's a good thing that my boyfriend has been away on a business trip, because the way I keep bursting into laughter at the computer would freak him out. I emailed an old grad school friend about Order of the Stick, and it turned out that she'd known about it for a long time -and hadn't told me about it! But then, the poor dear is busy, still finishing her history dissertation -that's what you get for deciding that Merovingian nuns are where it's at.

Mergovingian nuns? Sounds like Belkar's latest disguise....

Originally posted by Transmute Jun Mergovingian nuns? Sounds like Belkar's latest disguise....

Yes, and I think I can probably guess why he would want to sneak into a convent! Me, I relate the most to Vaarsuvius.

Originally posted by lborgia88

Originally posted by Transmute Jun Mergovingian nuns? Sounds like Belkar's latest disguise....

Yes, and I think I can probably guess why he would want to sneak into a convent! Me, I relate the most to Vaarsuvius.

Magic-using and gender-confused? And here I thought you were a Condor, not a Katse! Glad to see that you're enjoying the strip...

Gender confused? And here I was thinking he was just shy. In D&D, I always wanted to be an elf magic user -it stemmed from my Tolkien obsession. I think I aligned myself with the Condor because he's basically my alter-ego. In reality, I'm a humble geek.

Originally posted by lborgia88 Gender confused? And here I was thinking he was just shy. In D&D, I always wanted to be an elf magic user -it stemmed from my Tolkien obsession. I think I aligned myself with the Condor because he's basically my alter-ego. In reality, I'm a humble geek.

I hear you on the 'humble geek' front. When Rich Burlew first started drawing OOTS, he didn't intend to make Varsuvvius' gender ambiguous. But fans constantly asked him the question of what V's gender was, and so it became a running joke. For example, when V is polymorphed into a lizard, Belkar picks V up and looks between V's legs, commenting that if he knew more about lizard physiollogy, then a lot of questions would be answered. So basically, V's probably not gender-confused, but everyone else is. Kind of like 'Pat'.

Or Felix the cat.