Don Kaye

Don Kaye was born on June 27, 1938.{{Cite journal | title = In Memorium | journal=The Strategic Review | issue = #2 | page = 1 | publisher=TSR, Inc. | location = Lake Geneva, Wisconsin | date = Summer 1975 }} He grew up in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, where at age 8, he became friends with Gygax, who had moved there from Chicago, Illinois.{{cite web|url=http://www.rpg.net/news+reviews/columns/lynch17may01.html|title=Interview with Gary Gygax, part 2 of 3|date=2001-05-17|last=Lynch|first=Scott|work=RPGnet}} The two young boys also often played with tomboy Mary Jo Powell, but lost touch with her when she moved away.{{cite book | last = Witwer | first = Michael | title = Empire of the Imagination: Gary Gygax and the Birth of Dungeons & Dragons | publisher = Bloomsbury Publishing | date = 2015 | location = New York | isbn = 978-1-63286-279-2}}{{rp|22}} At age 15, Kaye and Gygax began playing miniature war games,{{Cite news | date = March 13, 2008 | title = Gary Gygax |newspaper=The Economist | url = http://www.economist.com/obituary/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10838120&CFID=17643695&CFTOKEN=eb6b0a6fe805fcd3-C484BEF6-B27C-BB00-0127F658915D58E3 | access-date = October 7, 2008}} designing their own miniatures rules for their large collection of 54 mm and 70 mm toy soldiers, using "ladyfinger firecrackers" to simulate explosions.{{Cite journal | title = TSR Profiles | journal=Dragon | issue = #103 | page = 56 | publisher=TSR, Inc. | location = Lake Geneva, Wisconsin | date = November 1985 }}

When they were 19, Mary Jo Powell, now a young woman, returned to Lake Geneva and the two friends were smitten with her. Although they both courted her, it was Gygax who ultimately persuaded Mary Jo to marry him. This caused a rift in their friendship, and Kaye refused to attend Gygax's wedding.{{rp|47}}

In 1965, Kaye, Gygax, Mike Reese, and Leon Tucker created a military miniatures society, Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association (LGTSA). Its first headquarters were in Gygax's basement, and they later held meetings in Kaye's garage.{{cite web|url=http://www.acaeum.com/library/castlecrusade.html|title=The Castle & Crusade Society|work=The Acaeum|access-date=2012-04-17}} - excerpt notes from Paul Stromberg, with Gary Gygax and Rob Kuntz debating the location and organization of LGTSA meetings.

In the fall of 1972, Dave Arneson, a wargamer from nearby Minneapolis-St. Paul, demonstrated a new type of role-playing game to the LGTSA. Gygax then created a similar game set in the imaginary Castle Greyhawk, and invited his children, Ernie and Elise, "to create characters and adventure".Gygax: "It was in the late fall of 1972 when I completed a map of some castle ruins, noted ways down to the dungeon level (singular), and invited my 11-year-old son Ernie and nine-year-old daughter Elise to create characters and adventure. This they did, and around 9 pm ... they had to come back from such imaginary derring-do, put their index card character sheets aside, and get ready for bed. They had had a marvelous time and wanted to keep playing." {{cite web | title = Gary Gygax: Q & A (Part IV, Page 1) | publisher = EN World | date = 2003-07-22 | url = http://www.enworld.org/forum/archive-threads/57832-gary-gygax-q-part-iv.html | access-date = 2010-03-16 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110614222529/http://www.enworld.org/forum/archive-threads/57832-gary-gygax-q-part-iv.html | archive-date = 2011-06-14 | url-status = dead }} The next evening, Kaye joined the game along with Gygax's friends Rob Kuntz and Terry Kuntz. Kaye created the character Murlynd, Rob Kuntz created Robilar and Terry Kuntz created Terik.Gygax: "In a couple of days time Don Kaye (Murlynd), Rob (Robilar, Otto) and Terry (Terik) Kuntz joined the gang." {{cite web | title = Gary Gygax: Q & A (Part I, Page 8) | publisher = EN World | date = 2006-08-06 | url = http://www.enworld.org/forum/archive-threads/22566-q-gary-gygax-part-i-8.html | access-date = 2009-03-15 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110615030234/http://www.enworld.org/forum/archive-threads/22566-q-gary-gygax-part-i-8.html | archive-date = 2011-06-15 | url-status = dead }} Kaye observed as a group eagerly played the prototype Dungeons & Dragons game at Gen Con VI (1973), and brought the idea to Gygax of starting a company so that they could publish the game on their own.

Sensing the potential popularity of the game, in October 1973 the two men each invested {{USD|1000}} in the venture — Kaye borrowed his share on his life insurance policy — in order to finance the start-up of TSR,{{cite AV media | title = Witness History: My dad created Dungeons & Dragons| people=Luke Gygax | medium = Audio recording| publisher = BBC | date = 2024-10-25| url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct5yf6?fbclid=IwY2xjawGIp89leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHTV6d-bPxnpuXgjGUNHIhaSyuhihTibm0CAgDei38YO7isalczwxV-XV8Q_aem_97UslRSIUJGlAbncEjzojQ}} which was initially run with business taking place in Kaye's dining room.{{cite book|author=Shannon Appelcline|title=Designers & Dragons|publisher=Mongoose Publishing|year=2011| isbn= 978-1-907702-58-7}} Their investment of $2000 was not enough to print their new role-playing game, so they instead published Cavaliers and Roundheads, a miniatures game based on the English Civil War,{{cite web|url=http://tomeoftreasures.com/tot_adnd/adnd_history.htm|title=From D&D to AD&D (1966-1976)|last=Toth|first=Ralf|work=Tome of Treasures|access-date=2012-04-17}} - "After being turned down by all major game manufacturers of the time, Gary Gygax and Don Kaye formed a partnership, which operated out of Kaye's dining room in Lake Geneva. It was named Tactical Studies Rules after their local wargaming club called Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association. Kaye covered the $1,000 they needed to publish Cavaliers and Roundheads, a miniature game of the English Civil War." and planned to use its revenue to print and publish D&D.{{cite web | url=http://www.inc.com/magazine/19820201/3601.html | title=TSR Hobbies Mixes Fact and Fantasy | date=February 1, 1982 | author=Stewart Alsop II}} But sales were poor, and they still did not have enough capital to publish Dungeons & Dragons. While developing D&D, Gygax had sent copies of his preliminary rules to other wargaming friends for playtesting. Now worried that someone who had playtested the new type of game would bring a similar product to the market first,{{cite book | title = Playing at the World | last = Peterson | first = Jon | publisher = Unreason Press | year = 2012 | location = San Diego CA | page = 78 | isbn = 978-0-615-64204-8}} the two accepted an offer in December 1973 by playing acquaintance Brian Blume to invest $2000 in TSR to become an equal one-third partner. (Gygax accepted Blume's offer right away. Kaye was less enthusiastic, and after a week to consider the offer, he questioned Blume closely before acquiescing.) Blume's investment finally brought the financing that enabled them to publish D&D.{{cite web | url = http://www.wizards.com/dnd/DnDArchives_History.asp | title = The History of TSR | publisher = Wizards of the Coast | access-date = August 20, 2005 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080924195557/http://www.wizards.com/dnd/DnDArchives_History.asp | url-status = dead | archive-date = September 24, 2008}}

In January 1974,{{cite book|last=Tinsman|first=Brian|title=The game inventor's guidebook|year=2003|publisher=Krause|location=Iola, Wis.|isbn=0-87349-552-7}} they printed a thousand copies of the game and hand-assembled them in the basement of Gygax's house. Warehousing and shipping was done from Kaye's home. The first printing sold out before the end of 1974, and sales of a second printing began to increase exponentially.{{cite book | title = 30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons & Dragons | publisher = Wizards of the Coast | year = 2004 | location = Renton WA | page = 55 | isbn = 0-7869-3498-0}} In late 1974, Kaye helped develop some of the rules for a new Western-genre game to be called Boot Hill.Kuntz: "Don was a great fan of the Western and an avid supporter of the Boot Hill rules." {{cite web | title = Robilar Remembers: Murlynd | publisher = Pied Piper Publishing | date = 2004-10-18 | url = http://piedpiperpublishing.yuku.com/topic/1966 | access-date = 2009-09-16}}

Although only 36 years old at the start of 1975, Kaye needed heart surgery, a fact that he did not disclose to his partners. Gygax and Blume were therefore unprepared when Kaye suffered a heart attack before the scheduled date for surgery and died on January 31, 1975.

Kaye had not made any specific provision in his will regarding his one-third share of the company, so his share of TSR passed to his wife, who was not interested in having any part of TSR. Gygax stated "After Don died [Kaye's wife] dumped all the Tactical Studies Rules materials off on my front porch. It would have been impossible to manage a business with her involved as a partner."{{cite web | title = Gary Gygax: Q & A (Part IV, Page 2) | publisher = EN World | date = 2003-07-23 | url = http://www.enworld.org/forum/archive-threads/57832-gary-gygax-q-part-iv-2.html | access-date = 2010-03-23 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120319235259/http://www.enworld.org/forum/archive-threads/57832-gary-gygax-q-part-iv-2.html | archive-date = 2012-03-19 | url-status = dead }} Neither Gygax nor Blume had the money to formally buy the share owned by Kaye's wife, but Blume persuaded Gygax to allow his father, Melvin Blume, to buy it.{{cite web | title = The Ultimate Interview with Gary Gygax | url = http://www.thekyngdoms.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=37 | access-date = 2010-03-23 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120208133710/http://www.thekyngdoms.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=37 | archive-date = 2012-02-08 | url-status = dead }} The company was re-formed as TSR Hobbies, Inc, with the Blume family owning controlling interest.{{Cite news | last = Parker | first = Laura | date =March 7, 2008 | title = Gary Gygax: Founding father of fantasy computer games and co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons | work=The Guardian | url = https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2008/mar/07/games?gusrc=rss&feed=technology | access-date = October 7, 2008}}

In 1975, Gygax and Blume published Boot Hill in memory of Kaye. Gygax highlighted Kaye's character Murlynd in the March 1983 issue of Dragon magazine.{{cite journal | last = Gygax | first = Gary | author-link = Gary Gygax | title = Greyhawk's World: Four Uncharacteristic Characters | journal = Dragon | volume = VII, No. 9 | issue = 71 | pages = 19–22 | publisher = TSR | location = Lake Geneva WI |date=March 1983}} Gygax paid further tribute to Kaye when he used Murlynd's name for two spells (Murlynd's Ogre, Murlynd's Void) and an item (Murlynd's Spoon) in Unearthed Arcana.Gygax, Gary. Unearthed Arcana (TSR, 1985)

{{reflist}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaye, Don}}

Category:1938 births

Category:1975 deaths

Category:American game designers