David A. Hargrave

For years, Hargrave had suffered a heart disability with diabetic complications. He died in his sleep August 29, 1988. He was survived by his wife, Brigitte Hargrave.

Around 1979, Hargrave operated a game store in Concord, California, called Multiversal Trading Company.

From the mid-1970s through 1988 Hargrave was very active in the role-playing community. He authored ten books based upon his Arduin game world. Hargrave also produced four Arduin Dungeon Modules and several fantasy item collections, which were published by Grimoire Games. Hargrave originally submitted his Arduin Grimoire to Greg Stafford's publishing house Chaosium, in 1977, but Stafford rejected it as too derivative of Dungeons & Dragons. Hargrave wound up self-publishing Arduin before having it published over the years at small press companies: The aforementioned Grimoire Games, then later Dragon Tree Press, and finally Emperors Choice Games.

Hargrave served in the United States Army during the Vietnam War for six years, serving from August 28, 1964, through August 20, 1970. While in Vietnam, Hargrave regularly served as a combat photographer, often in the line of fire.

David Allen Hargrave (May 25, 1946 – August 29, 1988), known as The Dream Weaver, was a prolific and sometimes controversial game designer and writer of fantasy and science fiction role-playing games (RPGs). Hargrave's most notable written works were based upon his own mythical world of Arduin.