We are saddened by the news of the passing of William "Bud" Baird, who died in his home town of Liverpool UK on August 10th after a short illness.
As the key feature of his Bud's RPG Review YouTube Channel, Bud's hands were perhaps better known than his face among the wider gaming community. Bud loved Chaosium games new and old, and they regularly featured on his channel (his other big loves were Delta Green and Warhammer). In his "Bud Explains" series, he took on esoteric, complex, or little-known topics, presenting the lore clearly and approachably. And comprehensively – for example, Bud's series on Masks of Nyarlathotep runs to over five hours long in 16 parts! Bud particularly enjoyed doing deep dives into Greg Stafford's world of Glorantha: indeed, his final video was a "Bud Explains" about the Gloranthan god Nysalor.
Bud was also co-host of Bud & Griff's Gaming Creepshow, an entertaining podcast where the two co-hosts amiably shared their love of horror gaming and interviewed figures from the gaming community, "while trying to have a laugh at the same time". Various Call of Cthulhu creators enjoyed Bud and Griff's company, including Mike Mason, Mike Mearls, Sandy Petersen, MOB, Andrew Logan Montgomery, C.J. Romer, Scott Dorward, Seth Skorkowsky, and Alex Guillotte. Sadly no longer to be, Paul Fricker was all set to be the next guest interviewee later this month.
Bud was also a best selling TTRPG creator himself. With creative partner Alex Guillotte, Bud produced the critically praised Call of Cthulhu scenario Viral, which Seth Skorkowsky's review describes as "a fantastic example of how to do a modern day Call of Cthulhu adventure right." Viral became the second-ever Miskatonic Repository title to be a Mithral best seller at DriveThruRPG (over 2,500 paid sales)! Bud and Alex followed this up with Inversion, another modern day Call of Cthulhu scenario that has received popular acclaim.
Bud's sudden passing leaves a big hole in the gaming community and he will be sorely missed. His videos will live on though, and their timeless quality means he will continue to inform, inspire, and entertain gamers for many years to come.
Our heartfelt condolences go to Bud's wife Claire and their daughters Gracie and Evie, and their family and friends.
— Michael O'Brien, Chaosium Inc.
