Since hearing this yesterday I have spent a lot of time thinking about Bob and his Judges Guild product line and its effects and my gaming and myself.
Not only did those products (Wilderlands, Traveller, and adventures) give me tons of innovative fun they also taught me one of my fundamental gaming philosophies.
Simple, straight forward, to the point, gets the job done.
See, I was still a pretty newbie DM back in 1985. Less than two years of gaming under my belt at the time. I thought I had to have these rich, detailed, well developed worlds and NPC's to run a good game and be a great DM. Then I ran into Judges Guild. Very simple, very cheap presentation. Initially I thought this stuff was going to be useless. But a few gamer friends had raved about the stuff, so I was going to give it a fair shake.
So I did. My gaming philosophy was radically changed forever. It may have looked cheap. It may have looked overly simplistic and poorly done. However it was loaded with nuggets of gold. It was evocative. It was inspiring. It made me quit focusing on the details and just concentrating on the essentials. It worked! It worked well, very well.
As I am sure any of you long time gamers know, my (our) gaming has led to many, many hours of fun. Fun filled with laughs. Filled with wondrous magic, creatures and battles. Fun spent with good people. Now its fun filled hours spent with my kids. Even newer gaming friends. Tons more fun to come.
So even though I have never had the priveledge of meeting Bob, he has had a very big impact on my life. He contributed to the way in which I have spent hundreds, likely thousands, of hours playing RPG's. He and his Judges Guild employees shaped how I approached adventure and world design, and how I DMed my games. He/they helped me define what was fun about gaming.
Now they are views and fun I share with my own children. Hopefully giving them many fun filled memories of great times spent with their mother and father. Times shaped by what I learned from Judges Guild and Bob Bledsaw.
So thank you Bob Bledsaw. Thank you for putting together the Judges Guild team, and helping to create so many great memories not only for me, but for many friends, my wife, and especially my kids.