Originally shared by Jacob Ross
Tuesday's are always the worst, and here's one more reason why. A longtime member of the gaming community, Zach Best, just passed away.
Zach was an innovative designer who wrote such books as UNE, BOLD and more. His work was geared towards solo role-playing, and in that group he was much respected.
Zach had esophageal cancer, which he fought for a long tome before it took him last night. He is survived by his wife and two daughters.
Back in August you members of the gaming community opened your hearts to the Best family by supporting a bundle on Drivethrurpg. The bundle was driven by sales of Zach's Book, a PDF whose sales go entirely to Zach's family.
The bundle was amazing. It featured many titles from a lot of publishers, both large and small. The bundle managed to make it and stay at the number two spot on drive-thru RPG for a very long time. Wow that bundle is no longer offered, Zach's Book remains up for sale. It is now available at any price so you can choose to pay as little or as much as you like to support Zach's family. I am going to leave it up for sale indefinitely. All proceeds go directly to Zach's family.
Thank you all for everything.
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/218834
Please convey to them my heartfelt sympathies, for such a terrible situation. I am glad I was able to contribute to the bundle at the time, and was just thinking about Mr. Best this morning, as i saw an article referencing CRGE. HE will be missed.
ReplyDelete2 months in hospice. That takes a lot of grit and courage.
ReplyDeleteMy condolences to Zach as well.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts are with the family. Zach will be missed.
ReplyDeleteDamn, I am dreadfully sorry to hear that :(
ReplyDeleteSuch a great work. I still go to it for inspiration on a regular basis.
ReplyDeleteTime to start up a solo game again and use it! Going to go buy it again too!
Amazing material. Such a valuable thing.
To Zach! Huzzah!
Devastated by this loss. UNE is one of the greatest contributions to solo RPG'ing IMO. All of my NPC's in games owe their lives to it & Zach. Heck of a nice guy who was always helpful & supportive to the community at large. I'm going to miss him & his input here. :(
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting us know, Jacob. I didn't know the guy and I haven't tried any of his books yet, but his contributions to the RPG community are undeniable and we're all much poorer for his absence.
ReplyDeleteA sad day today...thank you for everything, Zach....now, it is one adventure that ends, and another great campaign that is just starting...be in peace.
ReplyDeleteTerrible news. He would want us to remember him in our games, so I will be celebrating his life by immortalising him as an untouchable and immortal NPC in a game dedicated to his memory. My deepest sympathies to his family. You are our chosen hero, Zach.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jacob, for organizing this.
ReplyDeleteMy condolence to Zach's family.
Thank you, Zach, for your beautiful contribution to this hobby. You touched our lives.
David Coleman's post has me thinking that we should dedicate this year's Solo Gaming Month to Zach. I can try to re-initiate my attempt to collect the products of the month into a pdf.
ReplyDeleteAny thoughts?
Definitely gonna dedicate my Remembrance Day AP to Zach.
ReplyDeleteChris Stieha it would be awesome to dedicate the month to Zach. Whatever we can to get the word out for his family. The average time in hospice is no more than two weeks. That's why I only ran the bundle for a wee. I wanted to give him and his family something RIGHT THEN in order to pay for whatever expenses came up and have a week to maybe do something fun, take care of bills, whatever. Then he went and proved what a warrior he was by surviving two months through all of that pain.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear this. He has given us so much and he will be remembered in this community. And we will miss him.
ReplyDeleteRIP Zach, it could be nice to dedicate this month to him and his games
ReplyDeleteZach will be missed. Since I discovered UNE, I haven't played a single game without it.
ReplyDeleteI feel...awkward even memorializing him. All I knew him from was his excellent work with UNE and BOLD, both of which have become mainstays of my hobby. I hope his family makes it through this rough time.
ReplyDeleteWe never met in person. But his assistance and encouragement on Species and Societies made me not want to quit writing.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the hours of fun and adventure, Zach. My I express my sincere condolences to the family, and hope that they know how much Zach touched us with his innovation, humor and open heart. I came to solo RPG without any experience with traditional, social RPGs. I was struggling until I found UNE. It was eye opening. I bought the rest of his books as they came out, but I always come back to UNE, which I consider essential for the solo gamer, and should be in every game master's bag of tricks as well. RIP, brother.
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