When I first started upgrading to AD&D in fourth grade or so, the Latin abbreviations (starting, I think, with q.v., because the Fiend Folio and then the Monster Manual were my first books) really lept out at me. Even the glossary in the back of the Dungeon Master's Guide didn't satisfy my curiosity: I knew there had to be more abbreviations I was missing, and I wanted to know them all, and what each stood for. So naturally I asked my dad. My father is a lawyer, and has a certain fondness for sesquipedalian verbiage (a clichéd phrase, yes, but how can I avoid it?), so he was the most qualified person in my world. He was certainly happy to help. He opened up his legal pad and started writing down "i.e., id est, that is" and so on. Then having filled about half a legal page, he tore it out and gave it to me. I hung this page on my bedroom door, and, as the years went by, slowly made additions until I had filled the page. Granted, I hadn't yet actually started learning Latin (that began in seventh grade), so there are some horrendous mistakes (e.g. I conflated quod vide with quo vadis, inexplicably coming up with the mysterious and nonsensical quod vote.) That yellow and yellowed legal page sits on my old bedroom door in my parents' house to this very day.
So it is indeed possible that without Gygax I would never have become a Mad Latinist. But I suppose that's something of an ambiguous complement ;)
Without further ado, here are some of the notable tributes. Roll 1d6 and consult the appropriate subtable.
1. Gaming Companies subtable (1d6÷2, round down)
- Wizards Of The Coast's official tribute (a video in which employees of the company that now makes Dungeons & Dragons talk about what Gygax meant to them.)
- WotC's list of tributes
- Troll Lord's official tribute (that link is not permanent. Screencap available here, thanks to Professor Christopher Heard)
2. TV & Radio subtable (1d6÷2, round down)
- Wait wait, don't tell me! (about half-way into the "Not My Job" segment. But what the baator is "plus eight charisma" supposed to mean?)
- The Colbert Report
- Talk of the Nation (two different segments. But ability checks should be made on 20-sided dice!)
3. Webcomics subtable (1d6)
- The Order of the Stick Hard to beat this one.
- Penny Arcade (with commentary)
- Dork Tower
- Weregeek
- GU Comics
- XKCD. I found this one especially moving for some reason, notwithstanding that the geek in me wants to complain that it perpetuates the myth that D&D is played competitively. I mean, it theoretically can be, but this is rarely done, and in any case would still require a DM.
4. My D&D friends (see special section below)
5. Miscellany (1d4÷2, round down. Or just flip a coin)
6. No Encounter.
Of course the most important group of tributes are those by my own circle of D&D friends. I already linked to Internal Monologue's initial post on the subject, but Zac continued posting on the topic all week. See especially here, here, and here.
Note also
grishnash's comment to the first post:In his honor, I will roll for random encounters for his journey to the Outer Planes according to the 1st Edition DMG rules. Rolling percentile dice for Psychic Wind: 34. He avoids being blown off course in the Astral Plane. Checking for random encounters in the Astral Plane: 14, 6, 20!Of course knowledge of how to summon aerial servants—let alone retrieve the souls of the dead—is not exactly common in our world, so I believe this means Gary has been brought back to
A random encounter just prior to arrival at his chosen plane.
Rolling percentile dice: 04
Gary Gygax encounters an aerial servant, which, as luck would have it, was sent by a friendly cleric tasked with retrieving him...
grishnash's campaign world. So if you're looking for Mr. Gygax, I would recommend you start somewhere in Illexia.The most fitting tribute I've seen so far, though, has to be the work of my friend Pablo. Pablo, you see, has been running a campaign with Zac and some other mutual friends, since the late eighties (I was involved very briefly when it started). In honor of Gary Gygax, Paul wrote a special adventure, sending the PC's to "The Dungeon of the Erudite E.G.G." The whole dungeon is one continuous string of Gygax references. It's hilarious, of course, but it wouldn't be a Gygax dungeon if it weren't also horrendously and arbitrarily deadly. Since Paul hasn't published his work, I can't really share it with you, but he has generously given me permission include some of my favorite quotes:
- The first time a player verbally recognizes that the party is in a Gygaxian dungeon, his PC is immediately attacked by a falling Green Slime.
- First drink from fountain (by anyone) acts as Heal spell. Second drink boosts a random stat by 8 points for this adventure. Third drink permanently drains 2 points from prime attribute of drinker. Fourth drink… (who’s going to drink after that?!).
- Encounters with her are very awkward, however, especially because she has no name or history, and if pressed for even these basic details, she grows frustrated, then confused, and then declares “Screw it! Fight to the death!”
It should come as no surprise, though, that what I'm most eager to mention is my own (all too predictable) tribute: [[la:Ernestus Geisericus Gygax]]. It has been pointed out that there might be better Latin names to equate with Gary, but I'm hoping the wikipedian community will allow me to keep Geisericus, just because it's so absurdly Dark-Age sounding. Those of you who can handle Latin, please check the article for anything that needs emendation or amendment. Heck, if you appreciate the subject matter but not the language, I will be happy to take your suggestions either here or on the disputatio page.
ADDENDVM: if you know Latin, you should also check
beluosus' clever tribute. 
