WHEN WE WERE WIZARDS (W4) is a 14-episode podcast series that charts the rise and fall of Gary Gygax, co-creator of the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. Taking a journalistic approach to blow open the known ”gospel” of D&D history, W4 draws from nearly 30 interview subjects – including Gary’s ex- wife, two children, employees, friends, and partners. From Gary’s basement in the early 60s to the 1985 boardroom coup that ripped the game from his control, W4 is a sweeping story about the cost of the American Dream when idealistic ambition is corrupted by greed, lust, and human folly.
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WHEN WE WERE WIZARDS (W4) is a 14-episode podcast series that charts the rise and fall of Gary Gygax, co-creator of the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. Taking a journalistic approach to blow open the known ”gospel” of D&D history, W4 draws from nearly 30 interview subjects – including Gary’s ex- wife, two children, employees, friends, and partners. From Gary’s basement in the early 60s to the 1985 boardroom coup that ripped the game from his control, W4 is a sweeping story about the cost of the American Dream when idealistic ambition is corrupted by greed, lust, and human folly.
Chapter 1 - In the early 1960s, Gary and Mary Jo Gygax move their young family to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin to escape their urban life in Chicago,. Though he works as an insurance underwriter by day, Gary spends his nights and weekends as a central figure in a burgeoning community of wargame players seeking camaraderie and a distraction from a turbulent era. When he’s fired from his job, Gary begins a second career as a shoe-cobbler while continuing to pursue his creative ambitions. Barely able to make ends meet, Gary is on the verge of abandoning his dream altogether when a fellow gamer from the Twin Cities introduces him to a game that will change both of their lives forever.
When We Were Wizards
WHEN WE WERE WIZARDS (W4) is a 14-episode podcast series that charts the rise and fall of Gary Gygax, co-creator of the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. Taking a journalistic approach to blow open the known ”gospel” of D&D history, W4 draws from nearly 30 interview subjects – including Gary’s ex- wife, two children, employees, friends, and partners. From Gary’s basement in the early 60s to the 1985 boardroom coup that ripped the game from his control, W4 is a sweeping story about the cost of the American Dream when idealistic ambition is corrupted by greed, lust, and human folly.
