Dave Arneson, co-creator with Gary Gygax of Dungeons & Dragons, passed away last night in the company of his family.  Arneson and Gygax both designed games before Dungeons and Dragons (Chainmail in the case of Gygax and Blackmoor in the case of Arneson), but put their talents together in the early 70s to create the first Dungeons and Dragons game, which was released by TSR in 1974.

Arneson filed the first of five lawsuits against TSR in 1979, eventually resulting in being credited as the co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons.  Arneson also ran his own company, Adventure Games, for a time.  He returned to TSR in the mid-80s and produced a series of Blackmoor modules.

In his later years, Arneson worked in the computer industry and taught.

Arneson was preceded in death by Gygax, who passed away last year (see “Gary Gygax, 1938-2008”).