TheRPGSite

Thanks to Rients for letting us know, and this deserves a cross-post so we all know.

QuoteMoldvay Obit (http://jrients.blogspot.com/2007/04/moldvay-obit.html)

Tom Moldvay, 58 passed peacefully into his next adventure on March 8th 2007 . Tom was a game designer and author most notable for his work on early materials for the fantasy role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). As an employee of TSR, Inc., he authored or co-authored many landmark D&D adventure modules. During the early 80’s when home computers were not prevalent, Tom was creating thought provoking games that stirred the imagination and were played by thousands of enthusiasts across the country. The Classic Rulebooks and Player’s Handbooks written by Tom had been in print for several years and played so intensely that many gamers had them practically memorized. Odds were that if you’d played a published adventure, most likely you were a fan of Tom Moldvay. Most of those early modules achieved classic status, some of them being collected and reprinted again and again in the years that followed.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Tom graduated from Mayfield High School and went on to receive his Masters degree in Anthropology from Kent State University.

.. Preceded in death by parents Thomas and Selma Moldvay and sister Jody Brown

Tom is survived by his sister, Rebecca (David) Welner of Akron, nieces and nephews, Lauren Welner, Dave Welner, and Kurt Brown Jr.

Toms wishes were to be cremated without a formal service.

His D&D got me started over 20 years ago. It's a shame he passed so relatively young.

Sad, sad news.  He was one of the greats in this industry.

Damn.

Red book basic D&D is how I got started.  It's still one of my favorites.

holy shit!  that is very, very sad news.  red-covered d&d got me into the hobby back in '81 or '82.  

:(

I'm going to bring that red box down here this weekend.   Condolences to the family, a giant has passed.

He did good work.  His life brightened others'.  His passing is mourned.

we should all add a "morgan ironwolf" to our respective games in honor of him.

and a dwarf (or the equivalent) named fredrik who dies in the first fight.

Quote from: beeberwe should all add a "morgan ironwolf" to our respective games in honor of him.
 
and a dwarf (or the equivalent) named fredrik who dies in the first fight.

Consider this done.  I think there also needs to be a town or geographic feature in my game named Moldvay.  It's a good fantasy-type name, anyhow.

Sad news!  :(

I'll always be grateful for his contributions to our hobby.

Hmm, pity. He was one of so many who were basically shut out by the rise of Story-based gaming.

I also notice that many of the big figures in both gaming and comics (thinking of Dave Cockrum here) are dying relatively young.  I have to wonder if Moldvay had some kind of freak illness/accident or died from lifestyle-related causes?

RPGPundit

There's a post in dragonsfoot.org by Frank Mentzer who said Moldvay has had a history of respiratory problems and had a heart attack just last year.

Quote from: MoriartyThere's a post in dragonsfoot.org by Frank Mentzer who said Moldvay has had a history of respiratory problems and had a heart attack just last year.

Smoker?

Good question, I don't know if he was a smoker or not.

I salute you for what you've done, may you rest in peace.

He was a great talent. He will be sorely missed. :(

Quote from: James J SkachSmoker?

From what I hear, most of them were.  Even Gygax smoked quite a bit back in the day...until that heart attack a few years ago.

The gamer's world has suffered a loss.

 While his life may have been somewhat short, he spent it doing something he enjoyed and that was both noticed and appreciated by his fellows.

I never said it or posted it where he might have heard or read it, but now that it's to late I'll say it anyway.

Thank you Mr. Moldvay.

The giants give away more than we could ever repay them.

Ditto all of the above.  RIP.

It should be added that this news is still pending an obituary, but I guess outside of mistaken identity I don't see why anyone would go out of their way to hoax this.

well, crap