Aaron Allston Passed Away

I was saddened to read this morning that Aaron Allston passed away.  The power trio of D&D authors that shaped my early years with the game were Tom Moldvay, Bruce Heard, and Aaron.  Aaron wrote for TSR at a time when the D&D line had a lot of flexibility for innovative products, and his name is on The Grand Duchy of Karameikos, The Hollow World, The Dawn of the Emperors Boxed Set, The Wrath of the Immortals set, the D&D Rules Cyclopedia, and other Mystara products like the Poor Wizard's Almanacs.

I think it makes fine sense to do a retrospective and take an objective look at these products and how they shaped the ongoing market - they're all still sitting on my game shelf.  But not today.  I wasn't blogging when Tom Moldvay passed in 2007, but I would have liked to have done the same thing as I'm doing here:  take a moment to mark the author's passing, remember their contributions to the hobby, and express thanks for the many fine hours spent with friends enjoying their work.