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Greg Stafford Condolence Thread


MOB

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 You sound so much like me. Thank you for sharing all this. I very much appreciate hearing this. Like you I too was an acid head. This was the 60's, 70's and early 80's. I was a personal friend of Timothy Leary and he told me to document all my 107 acid trips. I did just that. These notebooks are in my storage unit at the present time.Tim like Greg had an avid interest in the Tarot. Tim had already made some cards for his deck and published them in High Times which I wrote some articles for. I miss Tim a great deal.We had some good times together. I don't remember if Greg and Tim knew  each other. I knew Tim for over 35 years. He was a good friend. Like you I started with Avalon Hill I think one of my first games was Gettysburg. Most of my Avalon Hill games are also in storage. Some of them did not surive the test of time. Like you I was also involved with early D&D. I met Greg in 1975 when he founded Chaosium. He and I were similar to. A joint interest in Mythology Celtic, Nordic and Finnish the Kalavala and Native American tradition. We had a love of Shamanism and Tarot. I met Katlin and John Mathews through Greg. They keep in contact with me on my Facebook page.I saw her a few years ago at PantheaCon. We hung out for awhile and one of the subjects we talked about was Greg. They contacted  me the day after Greg died. The only difference I see in us is that you are Jewish and I am Pagan. Although I have studied the Qabalah for many years. Our FRP experience is similar too. There were things I did not understand as well but I figured them out. Runequest was a trip to learn. I hope someday we can meet and share our mutual thoughts. It better be soon I am 68 years old with chronic Asthama you do the math. Well that is all I wanted to say and I am very impressed with what you wrote. You awoke in me many old memories like my times and frienship with Timothy Leary. Well as we Pagans say Take Care and Blessed Bee. The second b is inhonor of the bees of this planet who are in danger of extinction. AD(arch-druid) Stephen W. Abbott. Peace! Peace! Peace! and to Greg Rest Peacefully My Shaman Brother.  

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  • 3 weeks later...

facebook-1543807080476.jpg?t=1543811485

A memorial gathering in honour of Greg Stafford was held on Saturday evening last weekend, after Dragonmeet in London, UK.

Our tribe's own rune priest, Rev Dr Stuart Mousir-Harrison aka Dr Moose, gave a beautiful address in Greg's memory. 

It began:

What draws us here together is a love for the world Greg Stafford created, love, admiration, even awe, for him as a creator; a common bond of understanding forged through it. It transcends our disagreements and difference, unites us across perceptions and practice.

Greg gave us a gift. A gift of creation in which to play and flex creative muscles, difference from what had gone before. It doesn’t remove the genius of others, like Tolkien and Gygax, but adds his to the mix – and allows us to do the same.

You can read the rest of Dr Moose's moving eulogy at his web page: 

https://drmoose.wordpress.com/2018/12/02/thanksgiving-for-greg-stafford-1-dec-2018

Earlier that day at Dragonmeet, the Chaosium team also spoke of the life and legacy of Greg Stafford in an equally packed seminar session. 

Here's everyone raising a glass to Greg at the memorial event. The toast was "WeAreAllUs - Vale Greg Stafford".

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Edited by MOB
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  • 3 weeks later...

Shannon Appelcline's Designers and Dragons 'Year in Review' for 2018 includes an In Memoriam for Chaosium founder Greg Stafford:

"...Greg may have been even more important for his reimagination of the roleplaying form. He brought RPGs out of the dungeons, imagining games centered around our religions, our families, and everything else that makes us human."

https://www.rpg.net/columns/advanced-designers-and-dragons/advanced-designers-and-dragons24.phtml

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Our dear friend Fabian, organiser of The Kraken convention, has shared this with the permission of Greg's wife Suzanne. They said, "We are both convinced that the many friends and fans of Greg will find some healing in it" #WeAreAllUs

 

 

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Greg's passing in October 2018 mentioned in Amazing Stories magazine:

"Game Designer Greg Stafford (b.1948) died on October 11. Stafford created the Glorantha setting for his game White Bear and Red Moon and later it was used for the game Runequest, published by Chaosium, the gaming company Stafford co-founded. Stafford also designed the Arthurian RPG Pendragon and Elric, based on Michael Moorcock’s fiction. He was inducted into the Origins Award Hall of Fame in 1987."

https://www.amazingstories.com/2019/02/in-memoriam
#WeAreAllUs

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My personal reminiscence to Greg Stafford:

As already mentioned in a previous post, I never had the honor and the pleasure to meet him in person, but nevertheless he had a great influence on my experiences as a tabletop roleplaying gamer (at least). I did own the King of Sartar already. (In fact in both versions, the original from 1992 as well as the reprint from 2015. Indeed I've bought the original version in the nineties of the previous century (this still sounds weird 🙂), but although I've found the basic concepts quite fascinating, I did not really get a firm grasp on the topics provided here or on Glorantha in general. Roughly 20 years later, in 2015 I returned after a long hiatus regarding roleplaying games. And this time I became hooked for sure! It started with the Guide to Glorantha and HeroQuest Glorantha and it did not stop since then.

October last year I bought the print version The History of the Heortling Peoples and The Book of Heortling Mythology from Moon Design's Lulu store. Then I heard, that Greg Stafford died. And I decided, that my way to honour his memory would be to complete the printed version of the Stafford Library in my personal Glorantha library. In the next weeks I've ordered all the missing books/documents in batches of 2 or 3 items. Last Friday I've received the last package, and here it is:

the whole Stafford Library in print

773308758_StaffordLibrary.thumb.jpg.99197982fe0d724971efad1cf31dc1c8.jpg

Now the next challenge is to read all this Gloranthan stuff, and even more: understand it ... 😓🙂

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13 hours ago, Oracle said:

October last year I bought the print version The History of the Heortling Peoples and The Book of Heortling Mythology from Moon Design's Lulu store. Then I heard, that Greg Stafford died. And I decided, that my way to honour his memory would be to complete the printed version of the Stafford Library in my personal Glorantha library. In the next weeks I've ordered all the missing books/documents in batches of 2 or 3 items. Last Friday I've received the last package, and here it is:

If I remember correctly, you can ask Chaosium for the PDF of all the Lulu physical copies that you bought.

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  • 3 months later...
  • 2 months later...

GREG STAFFORD was featured in the "In Memorium" list shown at the Hugo Award ceremony at World Con in Dublin, Ireland last weekend, honouring those lost in the last year:

"Game Designer Greg Stafford (b.1948) died on October 11*. Stafford created the Glorantha setting for his game White Bear and Red Moon and later it was used for the game Runequest, published by Chaosium, the gaming company Stafford co-founded. Stafford also designed the Arthurian RPG Pendragon and Elric, based on Michael Moorcock’s fiction. He was inducted into the Origins Award Hall of Fame in 1987."
https://dublin2019.com/in-memoriam

*Greg passed away on Oct 10

Edited by MOB
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  • 3 weeks later...

I caught on to Greg's games in 1990 or so, when I was ten years old.  Greg's games always struck me because they created a reason for being first; the game came later. 

Greg's games were notable for that; there was a setting, and a reason for that setting, and then there was a reason for adventuring there.  You weren't just there to pile gold into a bag and leave. 

Everyone loves D&D; I played a lot of D&D.  My fondest memories were of laying on my parents' green fake grass porch carpet and telling my players what limbs they lost, or what spirit quests they succeeded in. 

Gaming is a small community; had I worked hard enough, I'd have met Greg.  I didn't.  That saddens me, because I owe him twenty years of gaming. 

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  • 4 months later...

I was recently interviewed by EN World, and to finish off the discussion I was asked if I had a favourite story to tell about Greg. This is what I said:

EGG: With the many tributes from Chaosium and yourself, it’s clear that Greg Stafford’s passing carried an immense weight and left an empty seat at the gaming table. If it’s not too much, can you share a favorite story about Greg?

MOB: Like my colleagues Rick, Neil and Jeff, who now run Chaosium with me and also “grew up with the company”, Greg’s sudden death last October came as a great shock. Like them, I’ve known Greg for over thirty years, and he’s had a profound influence on my life both as a game writer, and as a wise and knowing friend and mentor. My colleagues and I attended a family memorial for Greg in Arcata, CA, where he spent his final years. As there was to be a bigger, more public commemoration in San Francisco a week later, only a small handful of games industry folk were in attendance. But it was fascinating to meet so many other people in Arcata who said Greg was one of the most interesting, charismatic and inspirational people they knew. They spoke of the impact Greg had on their lives, yet were unaware of his role at Chaosium. Some vaguely knew Greg had something to do with “designing games”, but many didn’t even know he was a game designer at all, let alone one of the greatest game designers of all time. Such was Greg’s humility, and the richness and breadth of his interests and passions, which apart from games included mythology, shamanism, Oaxaca, King Arthur, roller derby, and much more.

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2 hours ago, MOB said:

My colleagues and I attended a family memorial for Greg in Arcata, CA, where he spent his final years. As there was to be a bigger, more public commemoration in San Francisco a week later, only a small handful of games industry folk were in attendance. But it was fascinating to meet so many other people in Arcata who said Greg was one of the most interesting, charismatic and inspirational people they knew. They spoke of the impact Greg had on their lives, yet were unaware of his role at Chaosium. Some vaguely knew Greg had something to do with “designing games”, but many didn’t even know he was a game designer at all, let alone one of the greatest game designers of all time. Such was Greg’s humility, and the richness and breadth of his interests and passions, which apart from games included mythology, shamanism, Oaxaca, King Arthur, roller derby, and much more.

And now I am sad and happy all at once... Thanks MOB!

Edited by Bill the barbarian
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... remember, with a TARDIS, one is never late for breakfast!

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  • 9 months later...

91196256_greg-stafford-vale(1).jpg.e9c1911bb4102572c744ac76b2044729.jpg

It is two years since the passing of Chaosium company founder Greg Stafford. 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, and we still feel his absence.

To honor Greg Stafford and with his family's blessing, over the next week on Chaosium.com, we'll be making several special announcements commemorating Greg and his legacy. 

#WeAreAllUs

https://www.chaosium.com/blogweareallus-chaosium-marks-two-years-since-the-passing-of-greg-stafford

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This week Chaosium is marking the second anniversary of the passing of company founder Greg Stafford. On Sunday we will launch 'The Adventure of the Great Hunt', a special Quickstart preview of Pendragon 6th Edition Rules, Greg's magnum opus. More details here:

 

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On 10/16/2020 at 5:17 PM, MOB said:

This week Chaosium is marking the second anniversary of the passing of company founder Greg Stafford. On Sunday we will launch 'The Adventure of the Great Hunt', a special Quickstart preview of Pendragon 6th Edition Rules, Greg's magnum opus.

Released!

https://www.chaosium.com/blogthe-adventure-of-the-great-hunt-a-quickstart-preview-of-greg-staffords-ultimate-edition-for-the-pendragon-rpg

 

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  • Rick Meints unpinned this topic
  • 8 months later...
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Today is the fifth anniversary of Greg's passing. While there may be a twinge of sadness each time we think of Greg, the smiles and fond memories far outweigh it. As we approach Chaosium’s 50th Anniversary we know his spirit and influence will remain undiminished. He left us five years ago today, but only in body.

We have a post by Chaosium President Rick Meints in the Mythic Worlds forum:

 

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