Our Silent Auction this year is special, we have a large selection of Roleplaying Books from the personal collection of John Brosnahan. We will be donating the proceeds from this auction in
his name to Extra Life. We have several bundles of RPG books mostly from the earlier days of Dungeon and Dragons, including a few box sets, lots of Ravenloft and Dragonlance modules and many single titles of note.
We encourage our attendees to take into consideration that their winning bids will go towards
Extra Life, a cause that John would have embraced and will be a fitting tribute to this man’s love of gaming.

John’s friend, Brian Courtemanche, writes this touching tribute:

John Brosnahan – or as his friends all knew him, “Big John” was a dyed-in-the-wool tabletop gamer from the days of AD&D 1 st  edition forward.  Hailing from Billerica, Massachusetts, Big
John loved creating homebrew adventures for his friends to play in and was always ready with a character sheet and a set of dice if there was a game to be had.  He was a gentle giant of a man
who had a ready smile, a kind demeanor, and a great love of animals.  If you didn’t have a ride to the game, he’d drop by with his pick-up truck and get you to the game, often with a stop at Dunkin Donuts for extra-large coffees in route.  Big John loved to laugh and had a wonderful
sense of humor that made everyone feel included and part of the fun.  It was a shock to lose him last spring (2023) to a sudden and merciless illness.  “Big John failed his Death Save” we gamer friends joked through our tears.  Big John would’ve grinned at that.  He was that type of guy.  He could laugh at himself and had a heart the size of Texas.  When he passed, his widow Brenda thought it fitting that his beloved game books should go to his friends and to people in the hobby.  It’s what John would’ve wanted.  It is wonderful that Big John’s treasure trove of game books can find new life and use at Rising Phoenix, where they will continue to inform and entertain gamers.

Here is Big John’s obituary notice.