Gary Gygax, the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, died yesterday at age 69. Gygax’s influence on hobby games and pencil & paper is unquestionably enormous, but many gamers are not aware of his indirect impact on computer and video games.

Not only does the vast pool of Dungeons & Dragons games (such as Baldur’s Gate or Icewind Dale) owe their legacy, in part, to Gygax , most role-playing games borrow heavily from the systems Gygax helped put in place in Dungeons & Dragons. Massively multiplayer online games, in particular, owe much to Gygax’s work.

Gygax passed away in his home in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.