Ernest Gary Gygax, co-creator of the Dungeons & Dragons table-top RPG, has died today at age 69. Yahoo News reports that he had previously been plagued by miscellaneous health problems, such as an abdominal aneurysm.

In 1974, Dave Arneson and Gygax developed Dungeons & Dragons due to their mutual desire to create a fantasy board game after feeling something was lacking from the war board games they had previously played. Gygax is also known not only as a creator for the famous game, but also as a renowned fantasy author.

Dungeons & Dragons was not only a pioneer for tabletop games; it also helped inspire multiple video games. Some of the notable video games inspired by D&D are Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: Cloudy Mountain (Intellivision), Eye of the Beholder (SNES), Baldur’s Gate (PC), Neverwinter Nights (PC), Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone (PS2, Xbox, PC) and Dungeon & Dragons Tactics (PSP).

Today we bid a fond farewell to an influential figure who brought joy to a lot of people. Our condolences to Mr. Gygax’s family and friends.

Source: Yahoo News