News has emerged online that Dungeons and Dragons co-creator Dave Arneson has been hospitalized; his prognosis is reportedly not good – apparently he’s been given a matter of days. When Gary Gygax passed away last year much was made of his contributions to the role-playing hobby. Arneson arguably deserves a share of the credit as well, having been instrumental in the creation of the ur-RPG, D&D.

I heard Arneson – and some of his former TSR cohorts – conduct a Q&A regarding the creation of D&D at GenCon a few years back and was delighted to listen to his reminiscences. Thanks to his work and that of many other pioneers in the field, I have a whole host of good memories of my own, many of them spent in basements or huddled around kitchen tables rolling dice and hanging out with some of the best friends I’ve ever had. It’s pretty easy to think that none of that would have happened were it not for Arneson and his creation.

He’s not gone yet, so I won’t turn this into an obituary – but I’d feel remiss if I didn’t give the man his due respect.