RPGaDay 2025 #12 Path

Where is the person I am grateful to for putting me on the Path?

I think I've spent a lot of blog space writing about the people who I have gamed with who have influenced my journey as a player and as a GM. But I will admit that a rather significant influence is a person I have never met. That would be Joe Bloch, designer of the Castle of the Mad Archmage megadungeon. I had sort of drifted from system to system and was kinda over D&D by that time, but found OSRIC for sale for the cost of printing and I do love a bargain. Coupled with the free version of Castle of the Mad Archmage, before it got a lot of the polish that it has since received, it made the prospect of running an Old School game somewhat appealing.

What started as an experiment in a period where I might expect to try a new system for a few months before moving on to the next turned into 5 years of fun memories and at least one new gamer. It also led to an interest in the OSR as a whole and a number of my own attempts to create an Old School setting or dungeon (still trying!).