RIP Greg Stafford

Started by airboy, October 12, 2018, 06:17:14 PM

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airboy

Greg Stafford, one of the founders of Chaosium died.

Here is the information sent to members of the mailing list:

Vale Greg Stafford (1948 - 2018)
The shock and grief the Chaosium family felt at the news of the passing of our beloved and revered company founder, Greg Stafford, cannot be measured. Greg died yesterday in his sweat lodge at his home in Arcata, CA. Mercifully, his passing was painless and quick. He died as he lived, on a spiritual quest of enlightenment.

As one of the greatest game designers of all time; winner of too many awards to count; and a friend, mentor, guide, and inspiration to generations of gamers, "the Grand Shaman of Gaming" influenced the universe of tabletop gaming beyond measure.

Greg founded The Chaosium in 1975, and from the outset (to quote his own words) "was never content to imitate, but instead published games that were original in their style of play, content and design". Under his leadership, the company quickly became renowned for its originality and creativity, and was responsible for introducing numerous things to the hobby that are standards today. As John Wick (7th Sea, Legend of the Five Rings) memorably said, "The older I get, the more I hear young RPG designers say 'Never been done before!' And then I just point at something Greg Stafford did a few decades ago."

Greg's work in roleplaying games, board games, and fiction have been acclaimed as some of the most engaging and innovative of all time. There will doubtless be many valedictory messages over the coming days from the countless many that Greg inspired and enthused across his many interests and passions - Glorantha, Oaxaca, King Arthur, shamanism, mythology and more.

For now, we leave you with the words of the Myth maker himself, speaking at the 2018 ENnies Awards ceremony, his last public engagement. Greg was immensely proud of the work Chaosium had done in recent years, particularly since his return as chair of the board in 2015. Ultimately, on reflection, he recognized that everyone's success in the gaming industry was down to the enthusiasm and support of the fans. We at Chaosium recognize that countless RPG fans are fans (including us!) because of Greg Stafford and what he achieved.

Toonces

I recognized the name but couldn't figure out where from.  Then I realized he wrote the Pendragon RPG, which is very, very cool.
"If you had a chance, right now, to go back in time and stop Hitler, wouldn't you do it?  I mean, I personally wouldn't stop him because I think he's awesome." - Eric Cartman

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Nefaro

Man... seems like sweat lodges have an extra high mortality rate for old folks.  RIP  :(

As for Stafford, he reportedly returned to Chaosium a few years ago and gave it a swift kick back into quality and profitability.  I'm curious as to whether their recent revivification will continue now that the old leader is gone.   :-\

Their new Glorantha Runequest edition physical copies are coming out any day now.  While I've had complaints about some of the oddities in the setting, it's still tempting to grab.  I just hope the line doesn't go fallow or drop in quality.  It looks damn good.