D&D General Tim Kask, TSR's First Employee, Passes At Age 76

The very first full-time employee of TSR, the company which created D&D, passed away last night after a sudden illness.

A playtester for early versions of Dungeons & Dragons and TSR's first employee in 1975, Tim Kask worked as an editor for the company, notably for Dragon Magazine. He left TSR in 1980, protesting against the creation of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, later became a teacher, and more recently co-founded Eldritch Enterprises, along with fellow industry veterans Frank Mentzer, Jim Ward, and Chris Clark.

One of Tim Kask's D&D characters was called Kwalish. Later, Kwalish--like other characters from that period--was immortalised by TSR with the Apparatus of Kwalish.

Tim passed peacefully in his sleep, surrounded by family and friends. Our thoughts go out to those who knew him.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Alas.

Somehow I didn't know that Kwalish was Tim Kask's character until now.

I got to play in one of his online Wheel of Blame games a few years ago. It was a lot of fun and a great window into the past.

Playing with Tim really drove home how even the original players, literally the first players, just ignored a bunch of rules and played with those they liked.

 

[Mannahnin]

This news hits hard. I am blessed to have met Tim, gamed with him a few times, and had several chats with him over the past few years. He truly was an old school curmudgeon*, but he was also a good man, with good values and perspectives. He was a perfect example of an old grognard who also had progressive views--one of the most visible and popular OG gamer that was the opposite of most of the stereotypes we have. I appreciated that.

I will always cherish his friendship and support he gave me.

*For those not in the know, Tim has had a long running weekly youtube podcast called Curmudgeon in the Cellar.

Echoing all of this. I was very pleased and amused to meet and play in a few of Tim's games at conventions over the years, and while I wasn't close to him or able to claim personal friendship, I always found him a lovely, warm, and inclusive human being.

Playing with Tim really drove home how even the original players, literally the first players, just ignored a bunch of rules and played with those they liked.

Oh yes. And how old dogs can adopt new tricks and still be big kids at play. I remember when he started enthusing over "newfangled" initiative with d10s and employing it in his games.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Playing with Tim really drove home how even the original players, literally the first players, just ignored a bunch of rules and played with those they liked.

Same. There was very much a "if it doesn't work for you, toss it or mod it" attitude. People have been hacking D&D since its beginning, even those that you might think would be invested in a more orthodox approach.

 

[E2ThaT]

Rest in peace.

I wonder how many of his students knew that he was that Mr. Kask...

He was my first soccer coach back in the ‘80s and I grew up with his son Zack and never knew this! May he rest in power!

 

[CleverNickName]

Playing with Tim really drove home how even the original players, literally the first players, just ignored a bunch of rules and played with those they liked.

Same. There was very much a "if it doesn't work for you, toss it or mod it" attitude. People have been hacking D&D since its beginning, even those that you might think would be invested in a more orthodox approach.

Heck, this is the way my nieces and nephews play D&D right now, in year 2026. I overhear the phrase "Nah that's boring, let's do this instead" at least once at every gaming session. It's still the best way to play the game, IMO.