In those early days, there was no " Flanaess "; the world map of " Oerth " was developed by Gygax as circumstances dictated, the new cities and lands simply drawn over a map of North America.

Gygax and his friend Rob Kuntz further developed this campaign setting, and by 1976, the lands within a radius of 50 miles had been mapped in depth, and the lands within a radius of approximately 500 miles were in outline form.

Gygax developed the adventure from an idea by Alan Lucien, one of his original AD & D playtesters, " and I admit to chuckling evilly as I did so.

In the fictional campaign setting of Greyhawk used for the Dungeons and Dragons fantasy role-playing game, Pholtus was one of the first gods created by Gary Gygax as he and Dave Arneson developed the game of Dungeons & Dragons.

When Gary Gygax developed new spells for Dungeons & Dragons, he often borrowed wizards ' names to give the spell names more verisimilitude.

Gary Gygax, in helping to create the game of Dungeons & Dragons, developed a home campaign in and around the City of Greyhawk.

Dungeons & Dragons ( abbreviated as D & D or DnD ) is a fantasy role-playing game ( RPG ) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. ( TSR ).

These were expanded by Gary Gygax, whose additions included a fantasy supplement, before the game was published as Chainmail.

Having partnered previously with Gygax on Don't Give Up the Ship !, Arneson introduced Gygax to his Blackmoor game and the two then collaborated on developing " The Fantasy Game ", the role-playing game ( RPG ) that became Dungeons & Dragons, with the final writing and preparation of the text being done by Gygax.

Ernest Gary Gygax ( ; July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008 ) was an American writer and game designer best known for co-creating the pioneering role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons ( D & D ) with Dave Arneson.

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.

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.

In 2005, Gygax was involved in the Castles & Crusades role-playing game, which was conceived as a hybrid between D & D's third edition and the original version of the game conceived by Gygax.

Late in October 1970, Gygax lost his job at the insurance company and then became a shoe repairman, which gave him more time for pursuing his interest in game development.

While visiting Lake Geneva in 1972, Arneson ran his fantasy game using the new rules, and Gygax immediately saw the potential of role-playing games.

Basing their work on Arneson's modified version of Chainmail for his Blackmoor campaign, Gygax and Arneson collaborated on The Fantasy Game, the role-playing game that later became Dungeons & Dragons.

In 1973, Gygax attempted to publish the game through Avalon Hill, who turned down his offer.

" Gygax wrote the supplements Greyhawk, Eldritch Wizardry, and Swords & Spells for the original D & D game.

* 1938 – Gary Gygax, American game designer and writer, co-created Dungeons & Dragons ( d. 2008 )

In late 1972, Dave Arneson demonstrated a new type of game to a group of gamers in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, including game designer Gary Gygax.

Gygax spent his early childhood in Chicago, but in 1946 ( after he was involved in a brawl with a large group of boys ), his father decided to move the family to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, where Gary's mother's family had settled in the early 19th century.

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, and they used " ladyfingers " ( small firecrackers ) to simulate explosions.

In 1967, Gygax co-founded the International Federation of Wargamers ( IFW ) with Bill Speer and Scott Duncan.

Together with Don Kaye, Mike Reese, and Leon Tucker, Gygax created a military miniatures society called Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association ( LGTSA ) in 1970, with its first headquarters in Gygax's basement.

Early that same year, Gygax published Chainmail, a miniatures wargame that simulated medieval-era tactical combat, which he had originally written with hobby-shop owner Jeff Perren.

Gygax also collaborated on Tractics ( WWII to c. 1965, with Mike Reese & Leon Tucker ) and with Dave Arneson on the Napoleonic naval wargame Don't Give Up the Ship!

Gygax left Guidon Games in 1973 and, with Don Kaye as a partner, founded the publishing company Tactical Studies Rules ( later known as TSR, Inc .) in October.

Gygax worked on rules for more miniatures and tabletop battle games, including Cavaliers and Roundheads ( English Civil War, with Jeff Perren ), Classic Warfare ( Ancient Period: 1500 BC to 500 AD ), and Warriors of Mars.

In the same year, Gygax created the magazine The Strategic Review with himself as editor, and then he hired Tim Kask to assist in the transition of this magazine into the fantasy periodical The Dragon, with Gygax as writer, columnist, and publisher ( from 1978 to 1981 ).

In 1968, Gygax rented Lake Geneva's vine-covered Horticultural Hall for to hold the first Lake Geneva Convention, also known as the Gen Con gaming convention for short.

Barker was a Professor of Urdu and South Asian Studies at the University of Minnesota during the period when David Arneson, Gary Gygax and a handful of others were developing the first role-playing games in the Twin Cities and Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

Returning to Lake Geneva, Gygax managed to get TSR back on firm financial footing.

Lake Geneva was also home to Dungeons and Dragons creator Gary Gygax until his death in 2008.

The Dragon debuted in June 1976, and Gygax commented on its success years later: " When I decided that The Strategic Review was not the right vehicle, hired Tim Kask as a magazine editor for Tactical Studies Rules, and named the new publication he was to produce The Dragon, I thought we would eventually have a great periodical to serve gaming enthusiasts worldwide ... At no time did I ever contemplate so great a success or so long a lifespan.

When he unexpectedly died of a heart attack in January 1975, his share of TSR passed to his wife, a woman whom Gygax characterized as " less than personable ... After Don died she dumped all the Tactical Studies Rules materials off on my front porch.

When Gary Gygax could not find an established games company willing to publish Dungeons & Dragons, the new type of game he and Dave Arneson were co-developing, Gygax and Don Kaye formed Tactical Studies Rules in October 1973.

Tactical Studies Rules ( TSR ) was formed in 1973 as a partnership between Gary Gygax and Don Kaye, who scraped together $ 2, 400 for startup costs, to formally publish and sell the rules of Dungeons & Dragons, one of the first modern role-playing games ( RPG ).

He introduced the rules to Gary Gygax and the LGTSA.

Lolth was created by Gary Gygax for the World of Greyhawk campaign setting, later appeared in the Forgotten Realms setting, and in 3rd edition became a member of the default pantheon of D & D gods.