Miniatures wargaming, roleplaying and adventure gaming pioneer Duke Seifried has passed away

One of the people responsible for pioneering the miniatures wargaming hobby has died.

Bruce Seifried – often known as Uncle Duke – was involved with organising some of the first wargaming gatherings and newsletters, before having a hand in the emergence of Dungeons & Dragons and the roleplaying genre in the 1970s as executive vice president of TSR.

Seifried is widely credited with coining the term ‘adventure gaming’ and bringing together of historical and fantasy gaming on the tabletop. He was ultimately inducted into the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design Origins Award Hall of Fame by the organisation built on his phrase in recognition of his influence and impact on the hobby.

The Historical Miniatures Gaming Society honoured Seifried in 2010 with a Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as renaming its Game Master of the Year Award to The Duke Seifried Game Master of the Year Award. The same year, Seifried announced his retirement from hosting events due to a diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis five years before and his declining health, with 2010’s Historicon intended to be his last. He returned to the event two years later.

As well as creating some of the first widely available miniatures for the tabletop in the early 1970s, Seifried designed and produced dioramas and displays featuring figures and scenery – both historical and fantastical – for museums throughout the US and the rest of the world.

Seifried passed away on September 29th 2018 as the result of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. He was 83.