Elise Gygax as a Sultry Dungeons & Dragons Model

Awesome Adam · Feb 6, 2016

Came across this today and thought it was a valuable piece of D&D history

"Sex Sells" is a popular saying in advertising, but difficult to apply when you're trying to sell arguably the least sexy thing that has ever been created. That was the task undertaken by Gary Gygax, one of the creators of Dungeons & Dragons. Back in 1977, no one had heard of this delightful combination of board game and make-believe, so Gygax had to do everything in his power to get the public's attention. Would he appeal to their imaginations? Their sense of adventure? Their fear of outdoor hobbies? Or would he dress his 16-year-old daughter as a casino waitress and snap pictures of her perving out over a Monster Manual?
You already know what he picked. It was that last thing.

"Hey, big fella. Want me to read you a passage from Owlbear?"

Monster Manual, the book young Miss Gygax is holding as if it contains Aphrodite's secrets of the sensual universe, is an encyclopedia of creature statistics. Basically, charts and numbers describing the attributes of fantasy monsters, otherwise known as "the exact opposite of sexy." It's several hundred pages of boner-quenching math and unintentionally hilarious illustrations.

It would be decades before people attracted to this found acceptance online.
To make matters worse, his marketing team, in fonts too ugly for an apartment community newsletter, complemented images of his little girl's barely covered body with suggestive slogans, like "What's in Demand Today" and "Where the Action Is," which, in retrospect, seems more like a question.

Dire Bare · Feb 6, 2016

Pretty sure Gary's daughters are named Heidi, Cindy, and Elise. Gary's second wife is Gail. Any actual evidence that the model in the D&D ads is related to Gary in any way?

I made the mistake of following your link, Cracked.com seems to be one of those websites that offer no real content, just poorly researched and snarkily-toned click-bait articles that are painful to read and have no real substance. Do we have a "gossip" forum here on ENWorld? Maybe this would be better in such a location. (sarcasm, obviously such a forum does not exist)

Even if the model is one of Gygax's daughters . . . who cares? The ads are definitely silly and certainly trying for the "sexy" angle, but they are far from "creepy" or inappropriate in any way. They just kinda suck and miss the mark in a mildly embarrassing sort of way. I also doubt that the model actually is one of Gygax's daughters, will wait to see some actual evidence of that.

Awesome Adam · Feb 6, 2016

I posted it because I thought it was funny that they advertised D&D that way.

After your rant, I was curious if he sited sources, http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=48401&start=15 , Tim Kask lists the model as Elise Gygax. According to Tim Kask she also did some advertising for Dragon Magazine and even a few issues of White Dwarf.

Re-reading the article I noticed that the article didn't actually name her at all.

I assumed it was Gail because I saw that name under the pic.