Silicon Knights president Denis Dyack

When we got the report that Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax had passed away, we first shared our own reminiscences on The Pen-and-Paper Game That Started It All . Then we reached out to some of the top computer and videogame developers--those who either work in the role-playing game genre or whose titles are clearly inspired by RPGs--to find out how D&D influenced them both personally and professionally. Our next respondent is Silicon Knights president and Level Up guest contributor Denis Dyack, best known for his work on such titles as Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, Eternal Darkness, and the upcoming Xbox 360 exclusive Too Human. Here's what he told us.

What do you remember about your first experience with Dungeons & Dragons?

I remember breaking open the Monster Compendium and spending time looking at the different types of dragons and marveling at the different complexities of their attacks and variations--everything from acid to poison. I really liked the systematic breakdown of the different creatures from mythologies to other folklore.

How did your parents feel about you playing D&D?

My parents were completely fine with it. In fact, they were fine with everything I did when delving into hobbies like D&D. If anything, they encouraged and taught me when I was young not to believe in many of the stereotypes and fear mongering that occurs in society. They also made sure, of course, that I not only played these types of games, but also participated in sports and kept up in school.

Were you primarily a dungeon master or a player?

Actually, I was a bit of both, but didn't really play that much. I spent significantly more time going over all the different scenarios, setups, enemy types, and rules than actually playing the game. I enjoyed comparing different additions, complaining to others when they took out demons, etc.

How has D&D influenced you as a game developer?

It taught me that environment and atmosphere count for a great deal. A good dungeon master can make or break the game and that was really the story to me back then.

What was gained and what has been lost over the years as videogames have supplanted pen-and-paper RPGs?

The game industry has allowed for easy accessibility. With D&D, you had to arrange for people to get together, plan and roll your characters and spend a ton of time on the setup before you actually started playing. In that way video games have really helped RPG gaming.

However, with videogames much of the social aspects and unexpected situations that happen with person-to-person interaction have been lost. Really, the reciprocity of playing with other humans is something the video game industry has not yet replaced and will not likely do so for a while. This is a mournful loss.

Next: Mythic Entertainment's Mark Jacobs and NCsoft's Richard Garriott.