A couple weeks ago one of my players passed away. Not his character, the actual player. This isn’t supposed to happen. My group is GenX with a couple of Millennials.
John White left us too early. His D&D experiences were strongly in 3rd edition, though like myself had played for as long as he could remember. And even though he mostly played in an edition that encouraged optimization, it was his adoption of the story-centric campaign that we’ll all remember.
I remember playing with a friend who was never waiting for his turn to do something, but was engrossed in the act of telling a story together. I remember a collaborator who expanded the world that we played in by fully being in it. I remember characters whose backstories and internal lives were fully fleshed out, who incorporated elements of the world that even its creator hadn’t thought of and who interwove the stories of other players’ characters into their own with a generosity and care that is rare in any circumstance.
— another player at our table
He’s played with this group since it was founded during the pandemic, playing on the patio of a brewery that was roughly a midpoint for a group that is spread through King and Pierce County — Logan Brewing.
We’re going to celebrate John by playing D&D together in public — we’d like you to join us. Or you can watch. The event is March 16 from 1-4 pm PT at Logan Brewing.
Please fill out this form so we can be prepared with characters and the necessary number of DMs
John’s characters were:
- Habergeon, the world’s first, and possibly only, warforged, Habergeon was crafted during the fall of a previous age back when magic was plentiful and those who are now gods walked the world as mortals.
- Gardar, a Mehmdoan, this one-time cooper and weaponsmith lost his first animal companion to tragedy, fled his former master and now seeks to rid the influence of the Dragons and their allies.
- Tsirdan, an elven Scribe Wizard who worked with the Dragons to control the spread of magic in Douad.
- And Artok, our commander Dragonborn Paladin in his final campaign. Artok, like John, was noble and heroic, short on words but those few words were always potent.
John was unlike anyone I’ve ever met, his way of thinking and explaining things was in such detail that I could tell his mind was always working in overdrive
— another of our players.
The first time I met John was when I was co-hosting a Sounders podcast at our local German pub.
The first time I played D&D with John was when I was featured in the Renton History Museum exhibit on Creating Community with D&D. A letter to the editor at the time shouted that the museum shouldn’t support Satan, as if it was the 80s again.
John’s response was to suggest to me that we should play in public so that people could see this game for what it is. He and I were joined by his wife and sister-in-law. We played in a public park.
Though my modern D&D games had frequently been in public it was mostly at geeky places like game cafes.
It was perfect that our post-pandemic campaigns were in a very public brewery. Many times we played a stranger would ask us what we were doing while current and former players would always recognize the game and ask about the campaign.
Playing in public exposed more people to the game John loved.
John enjoyed porters and though he was short on words he was always present.
And that’s why we’re doing one session of a 4th level one-shot on Sunday March 16, from 1-4 pm. People who know John and those who want to experience the game are welcome. Again, please fill out this form so we can get an idea for how many DMs we need.
