One of my favorite places on the Internet might surprise you.

It’s a subreddit called r/AdventuresOfGalder, and it’s a place to celebrate those we’ve lost.

Imagine that you’re in a Dungeons & Dragons campaign with your friends. You’re each playing a different character in the party, adventuring throughout the land, performing good acts and feats of derring-do.

But the real world intervenes in the cruelest way possible. Your friend passes away. And as you are slowly confronting your grief and mourning your loss, you realize a smaller loss.

Your friend’s character is still there, their story unfinished.

There are different ways to handle this. The character could be quietly retired, or become an NPC played by the Dungeon Master. The game itself could end and a new one begin in its wake.

When I lost a friend to suicide who had been part of my D&D game at the time, his character ended up becoming a chosen of his faith, and elevated into my game world’s pantheon. There are still references to him to this day in my other games, since he continues to be a part of my world. It is my small way of honoring my friend.

Every group finds a different way to deal with this at their table.

But you can also honor both your real-life loved one and their roleplaying character at r/AdventuresOfGalder.

Named for Galder the Conjurer, the character played by a man named Laurence who sadly passed away from cancer in 2018, this subreddit is dedicated to those we’ve lost. It is a repository of stories about those people and the characters they played. Their fictional adventures are shared here, their good deeds chronicled.

And sometimes, other Dungeon Masters incorporate these characters into their own home games, bringing new life to these wonderful creations of those we have lost.

It’s an electronic version of lore building, sharing stories of larger-than-life deeds around the campfire, stories that can then go on and evolve and become larger and stranger and funnier and more grandiose as others retell the stories. It’s a part of an ever-growing newborn mythology.

At a time when people feel adrift, alone, confused and hurt and scared, they can come to r/AdventuresOfGalder and find waiting ears and friendly shoulders to lean on. They can share their grief and their love and all the good times for others to enjoy.

Yes, it’s an incredibly sad place, but it’s also beautiful. You should check it out sometime.

Happy adventuring, friends.