April 10, 2004: Greg Rickards

Greg Rickards, widely known in roleplaying and gaming circles in Australia, died March 10 of a heart attack brought on by undiagnosed diabetes. His funeral was held in Sydney on March 29th.

Greg was for decades a motivating force in Australian roleplaying and writing. He is remembered for his passion, his endless fount of ideas, his ability to inspire others to create and write, his willingness to help people, and his innovative design. Greg loved to tell stories, both in person and in writing, and he collaborated with many people to create them.

Fans of Car Wars will remember Greg as one of the authors of The AADA Road Atlas and Survival Guide Volume Four: Australia.

Among roleplayers he was perhaps best known for co-designing and running the unique miniatures-based roleplaying game "Saga of Raven's Nest" at Australian cons throughout the 1980s and 90s. Greg had planned to begin a new chapter of the Saga later this year. Each Raven's Nest game was linked to the events of earlier stories, and it was possible to play a character multiple times. (Stephen Gryphon has spent a lot of time documenting the Saga and has made the player's guide available on the Internet.)

Whenever he could, Greg played in other convention games as well, both freeform and tabletop. He continued to be involved in roleplaying and writing (for example, he was actively participating in online/PBeM roleplaying on alt.starfleet.rpg) until shortly before his death.

He will be sorely missed.

A service for Greg will be held in Brisbane on Thursday, April 22, at 11:00am at the Star of the Sea Church, 65 Passage Street Cleveland.

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