For those of you who didn't know, possibly the greatest creative mind of our time passed away yesterday, March 4. This is a man responsible for an entire generation of nerds spending time in their parents basement instead of going out to meet girls. People who consumed mass quanitities of pizza and Mountain Dew and stayed up until 5am or later throwing dice and arguing about character actions based on allignment (myself proudly included among them). Imagine a time pre-internet where the only thing to do was table-top gaming.

This man inspired an entire genre of gaming, and set the standard for countless spin-offs and entire series of multi-media (we're talking billions and billions of dollars in industry) that all spawned from a franchise that he no doubt came up with while, well...sitting in his parents basement. His passing marks a sad day indeed, especially for those among us who consider themselves a member of the table-top gaming community (and fans of RPG games in general). Without the ideas that spewed forth from this mans mind, our world would be a very different place today.

Penny-Arcade said it best:

For all of us who get this, I will set aside my lucky 20-sided in your name, sir. May your adventures continue far into the afterlife and beyond.