Re: {Game Developer] Obituary: Jim Ward, Dungeons & Dragons designer, died at age 72

On 3/22/2024 4:17 PM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

On Fri, 22 Mar 2024 10:29:03 +0100, kyonshi <gmkeros@gmail.com> wrote:
 

Source:
https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/obituary-jim-ward-dungeons-dragons-designer-died-at-age-72

 

Obituary: Jim Ward, Dungeons & Dragons designer, died at age 72

 

Ward joined TSR during Dungeons & Dragons' first boom, and worked on
several add-ons for the TTRPG, plus his own science-fantasy game,
Metamorphosis Alpha.

 Aww, not Jim Ward. He was involved in a lot of gaming projects that
brought much joy into our campaigns. Even if his name wasn't directly
associated with all that many products, he was an major character at
TSR who influenced how a lot of their products turned out
 (not least of which was his controversial decision to remove demons,
assassins and half-orcs from 2nd Edition to assuage the "angry
mothers" of the world... which probably was the right decision to make
at the time).

I mean, on the one hand it removed the bad D-words, on the other it gave fiends actual character and plasticity they didn't have before.
I don't think it ever worked in getting the heat off the game though. It's not like any of the angry mothers ever touched the game in the first place. (except to toss it on the burning pile together with the heavy metal CDs and whatever else they thought was the devil's work)

 "Ruins of Adventure" was a fantastic campaign-module. I encountered it
only after playing the computer game that was based upon it (in fact,
I bought the module as a 'strategy guide' to help me cheat through the
video-game ;-) and was surprised at how full of content it was. It was
a go-to book for whenever I needed to quickly steal an encounter or
mini-adventure into my main campaign.

Totally am not aware of that one. I guess I should look into it?

 His "Greyhawk Adventures" hardbound was interesting, but sadly lacked
the charm and accessibility of other D&D product lines. It was a
product I really wanted to get behind, but never could. But I think
that has more to do with the generally unappealing nature of Greyhawk
than any fault of Ward's writing.

I do actually have Greyhawk Adventures. It's... kind of pointless. Sorry to say.
Greyhawk in my opinion is not a bad setting, but it only makes sense in the original folio/boxed set form. Once all kinds of people got their hands on it and tried to fill it with stuff it just didn't work anymore.
This is a setting that delights in minimalism, both in the setting, and the material produced for it.

 On the other hand, Mr. Ward was also the guiding hand behind the
"Spellfire" collectible trading card game TSR produced. He also
apparently wrote episodes for the GI Joe (Action Force) cartoon too.
 I was completely unaware that he was the man behind Fast Forward
Entertainment. I've a few of their d20 books but didn't notice the
"James M. Ward" name associated with them.