I first met Bryan at a Dungeons & Dragons game in Bristol when we were in our late teens. Turned out he was in the year above me at school and we shared a common friend, Pete Groome. Pete, Bryan and me all lived in Redland and would hang out at Bryan's house or meet up for regular Roleplaying sessions with Glover Rogerson over in Clifton.

Bryan was always one for playing his character to the hilt and though I never saw him in action at his live roleplaying later on, I can certainly see he threw himself into it with just as much enthusiasm. One particular event sticks in my mind when Bryan's character was faced with a 10 foot pit and he was trying to ascertain if his character would be able to jump it successfully. Bryan argued that sure he would know such a fact, whereas the GM (Games master) said these things were NDTQ (Notoriously Difficult to Quantify) and perhaps he thought he could clear it, but nothing was certain. It sparked a lot of talking about would we, ourselves be certain of jumping over a particular gap, and would we risk it?

As for the "nothing being certain", that figures in our everyday lives. And I smile when I think of Bryan making sure he did take that leap and living life to the full. As a fellow beer lover, I'll be raising a jug in his memory... Cheers Bryan!