D&D Legend Jim Ward Passes At 72
One of the greats of the RPG industry passed away yesterday. Jim “Drawmij” Ward left an indelible mark on D&D and beyond.
Legendary designer James M. Ward, better known as Jim, passed away yesterday at the age of 72. Ward’s influence on the RPG industry is hard to overstate. From the earliest days of Dungeons & Dragons to the dizzying days of the collectible card game explosion, Ward played a huge role in creating memorable games.
Ward was a friend of Gary Gygax in the earliest days of Dungeons & Dragons’ development. Ward was a player in the Greyhawk game, which is where Gary Gygax developed much of D&D. He was one of the early employees at TSR. Ward’s character, as many of the original players were, was made canon in D&D as Drawmij, which is Jim Ward spelled backward.
Gods, Demi-Gods, & Heroes
Players from older editions might know of some of his namesake spells, Drawmij’s Instant Summons, or Drawmij’s Marvelous Shield. But Ward’s tenure with D&D goes much deeper than playing the game and creating spells. He helped introduce gods into D&D in a big way. He was one of the coauthors of an early supplement, Gods, Demi-Gods, & Heroes, for the original pre-1E D&D ruleset.
In it, Ward and Robert Kuntz outline expansive pantheons. Outlining real world mythology as well as the mythos from works like Robert E. Howard’s Conan series and the Melinbonean mythos of Michael Moorcock’s Elric novels.
This work would pave the way for Deities and Demigod. The book not only defined deities in AD&D but also resulted in one of the more infamous moments in D&D history.
The earliest printings of the book used the Cthulhu Mythos and gods from Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melnibone series, both of which vanished from later printings. Though this was not because of any infringement, Jim Ward set the record straight almost a decade ago, explaining that it was a matter of TSR executives being gunshy about referencing their competition.
Metamorphosis Alpha
Beyond introducing the gods themselves to D&D, a pillar of the game so entrenched that it’s difficult to imagine a D&D without them playing as big a role, Ward designed TSR’s first foray into sci-fi, Metamorphosis Alpha.
Metamorphosis Alpha was an RPG set on a massive generation ship, struck by a cataclysmic event in the distant past, leaving the survivors to grow up in what they believed to be a world full of mutated creatures and unfathomable technology, completely unaware of its nature as a ship. This also paved the way for Gamma World and many others in the sci-fantasy genre.
Beyond TSR, Ward designed several collectible card games, including the Dragon Ball Z Collectible Card Game. He most recently worked at Troll Lord Games and as a columnist at EN World.
James Ward will be missed.
