D&D General D&D Luminary Jim 'Drawmij' Ward Passes

James M. Ward, writer of Metamorphosis Alpha, co-writer of Deities & Demigods, author of Greyhawk Adventures, and veteran of TSR, has passed away at the age of 72.

Ward was one of the first players in Gary Gygax's early Dungeon & Dragons games in the 1970s--the wizard Drawmij is 'Jim Ward' spelt backwards--and worked for TSR until the mid-1990s. He co-founded Fast Forward Entertainment in the early 2000s. Ward also worked with Troll Lord Games for several supplements.

Jim wrote a column right here at EN World, dealing into various aspects of D&D's genesis and development, and the early days of TSR in the 1970s and 1980s. Amongst the many things he shared with us is a wonderful article where he introduced himself (as if he needed to!) to EN World. I can't think of a better person to summarise Jim's career than the man himself.

Our thoughts are with his friends and family.

 

[Ancalagon]

Very sad news indeed. We were lucky to have him. Sympathies to his family and friends

 

[GuyBoy]

Very sad news.
Jim Ward gave me wonderful memories of reading Deities and Demigods in awe, and of translating Gamma World to the ruins of London and South East England in order to run a campaign for my friends.
Without Jim’s contribution, all our gaming memories would be a little less than they are now.

 

[michaeljpastor]

My first (and ongoing) attempts at creating an RPG, a setting, and a novel are all thanks to James Ward. It's about a generation starship fleet that crashlands on their goal planet in a system named after the Norse gods and mutant mayhem ensues. It's Metamorphosis Alpha, Gamma World, and Deities and Demigods all wrapped up in one. Without even one of those parts, it wouldn't exist. I never thanked him for it, and I should have - he was so accessible on Facebook. Thank the creators who have inspired you, especially the kind ones like Mr. Ward.

 

[Nikosandros]

Very sad news. Must have been rather sudden, he was active on FB until recently, promoting his Patreon and his books and he had plenty of writing plans...

 

[W_E_Ray]

Deities and Demigods is the D&D book from my early childhood that dramatically inspired and influenced my whole life -- not just my gaming life.

It was my first childhood introduction to mythology, culture and folklore; it was one of my earliest introductions to world geography in a sense.

It remains one of four books from my early childhood that I still reference and peruse (albeit nowadays for gaming rather than mythology, culture or folklore).

Thank You James Ward for writing the D&D book from my childhood that so significantly cast me on a Lifelong path of interest in not just D&D (now called 'Pathfinder"), but Humanities as a whole.

Drawmij is now hoping to roll a nat 20 in The Upper planes!

 

[Von Ether]

Very sad news. Must have been rather sudden, he was active on FB until recently, promoting his Patreon and his books and he had plenty of writing plans...

Perhaps. It may seem sudden to us but you never know.

I had an uncle who had a heart attack that seemed out of the blue but all his paperwork and legal stuff was airtight. For someone who we thought was a bit disorganized, he had done some planning behind the scenes. He at least suspected something.

I was also a hospice nurse for almost a decade. Men especially, find solace in work and being active.

I had two cancer patients who both bought houses to renovate. They didn't care as they would rather have something to do than just sit around. (Granted these two both were not close to their families and lived alone, so they were not blessed to have a support system that most of us do.)

 

[Giantrollorc]

What a fantastic game designer Jim was. Definitely one of the best TSR ever had!!! Thank you Jim.

 

[DLIMedia]

Regarding Tim Kask's comment on FB mentioned above:

I was terribly upset to see Jim get enmeshed in recent years in the trash fires set by LaNasa and his minions. I believe Jim may have been a touch naïve and fell for LaNasa’s honeyed tongue. All Jim ever really wanted to do was make games. He tried to defend his creation.

To be fair, I don't think Jim was directly involved with NuTSR's and Justin's nonsense, but rather with Wonderfilled's and Dinehart's nonsense as he was the primary creator for their RPG, Giantlands.

I'm personally bothered that his last creation was so mishandled by Wonderfilled; it really could have been something. He was actively working on an adventure module for them called "The Broken Road"; I don't know how far along he was in that, but it seems like Wonderfilled is pretty much shelving the product without an official release.

 

[DLIMedia]

Very sad news. Must have been rather sudden, he was active on FB until recently, promoting his Patreon and his books and he had plenty of writing plans...

I've heard rumors that he'd recently had heart surgery, but I can't confirm that.

 

[Quickleaf]

What sad news. I also have found memories of the Pools of Radiance books and Greyhawk. Thank you for all you did for our hobby, Mr. Ward. My condolences to his family and friends.