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Grubb, Jeff
Jeff Grubb (born August 27, 1957) is an author who writes novels, short stories, and comics and a computer and role-playing game designer in the fantasy genre. Grubb worked on the ''Dragonlance'' campaign setting under Tracy Hickman, and the ''Forgotten Realms'' setting with Ed Greenwood. His written works include '' The Finder's Stone Trilogy'', the ''Spelljammer'' and ''Jakandor'' campaign settings, and contributions to ''Dragonlance'' and the computer game ''Guild Wars Nightfall'' (2006). Personal life Grubb was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He met Kate Novak in high school, and married her in 1983. His first year of employment involved work with air pollution control devices. Beginnings in role-playing games Grubb became a wargaming enthusiast during his high school years. He started to play Avalon Hill wargames including ''PanzerBlitz'' and ''Blitzkrieg'', and the SPI game, ''Frigate''. As a freshman, he attended the campus war-gaming club and was introduced to the ro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania behind Philadelphia, and the List of United States cities by population, 68th-largest city in the U.S. with a population of 302,971 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city anchors the Pittsburgh metropolitan area of Western Pennsylvania; its population of 2.37 million is the largest in both the Ohio Valley and Appalachia, the Pennsylvania metropolitan areas, second-largest in Pennsylvania, and the List of metropolitan statistical areas, 27th-largest in the U.S. It is the principal city of the greater Pittsburgh–New Castle–Weirton combined statistical area that extends into Ohio and West Virginia. Pitts ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blitzkrieg (game)
''Blitzkrieg'' is a strategic-level wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1965 that simulates a non-historical attack by one major power against another using blitzkrieg strategy. It was the first commercial wargame that did not simulate an actual historical battle, and with almost 400 counters, it was a precursor of the "monster" wargames of the 1970s featuring more than a thousand counters. Description ''Blitzkrieg'' is a two-player wargame simulating military technology used at the end of World War II. The game uses a large hex grid map of a fictional continent dominated by the major powers "Big Red" and "Great Blue", with several neutral counties separating them. ''Blitzkrieg'' was innovative in several respects, including being the first commercial wargame to offer partial eliminations as a combat result, and also the first that did not simulate a specific historical battle. Game historian Harry Lowood noted that "Players intrigued by the unprecedented array of military o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carl Smith (game Designer)
Carl Smith is a game designer who has worked primary on role-playing games. Career Carl Smith was an editor at TSR when Tracy Hickman got Harold Johnson, then Jeff Grubb, Smith and Larry Elmore in on the idea of Dragonlance before Margaret Weis and Douglas Niles joined them. Between 1983 and 1984, approximately 200 people left TSR as a result of multiple rounds of layoffs; as a result Smith joined CEO John Rickets, as well as Mark Acres, Andria Hayday, Gaye Goldsberry O'Keefe, Gali Sanchez, Garry Spiegle, Stephen D. Sullivan Stephen D. Sullivan is an American author and artist. Career Sullivan taught a course in ''Dungeons & Dragons'' at MIT the first of its kind in the country. Sullivan worked for TSR as a writer and artist. Sullivan joined CEO John Rickets, Ma ... and Michael Williams in forming the game company Pacesetter on January 23, 1984. In 1985, Smith announced that Pacesetter was developing a "totally new concept in gaming", that he referred to as the "inst ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harold Johnson (game Designer)
Harold Johnson is an American game designer and editor, and author of several products and articles for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game from TSR. Early life and education Harold Johnson was born in Evanston, Illinois. Johnson attended Northwestern University and got his B.S. in Biology in 1977. Johnson played his first game of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' in 1976; he soon became an avid player, and attended his first Gen Con convention in Lake Geneva in 1977. "I was very surprised to find that TSR was located so close to Chicago." After graduating from college, Johnson continued to work odd jobs, and play games. Career In the fall of 1978, Johnson responded to an ad in ''Dragon'' magazine for a job as a games editor at the magazine's publisher, TSR. He was not selected for the job after the interview, but applied for another job with TSR as a game designer, but instead TSR hired him as an editor. His first assignment was as a copy editor on the original ''Dungeon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Role-playing Game
A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting or through a process of structured decision-making regarding character development. Actions taken within many games succeed or fail according to a formal role-playing game system, system of rules and guidelines. There are several forms of role-playing games. The original form, sometimes called the tabletop role-playing game (TRPG), is conducted through discussion, whereas in live action role-playing game, live action role-playing (LARP), players physically perform their characters' actions.(Tychsen et al. 2006:255) "LARPs can be viewed as forming a distinct category of RPG because of two unique features: (a) The players physically embody their characters, and (b) the game takes place in a physica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monster Manual II
''Monster Manual II'' is the title shared by two hardback rulebooks published for different versions of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy roleplaying game. ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' ''Monster Manual II'' was a 160-page hardcover book published in 1983, credited solely to Gary Gygax, which featured cover art by Jeff Easley. The book was a supplement describing over 250 monsters, most with illustrations. Many of the monsters were drawn from scenario modules, in particular from '' S4: Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth''. The book included random encounter tables for dungeon and wilderness settings built from the ''Monster Manual'', ''Fiend Folio'', and ''Monster Manual II'', and a dozen new devils that had been first published in the pages of ''Dragon'' magazine. Like the ''Fiend Folio'' before it, the monsters in ''Monster Manual II'' listed the experience point value for each monster within the entry. The ''Monster Manual II'' along with the First Edition ''Unearthed Arca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gary Gygax
Ernest Gary Gygax ( ; July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008) was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating the pioneering role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') with Dave Arneson. In the 1960s, Gygax created an organization of wargaming clubs and founded the Gen Con gaming convention. In 1971, he helped develop ''Chainmail'', a miniatures wargame based on medieval warfare. He co-founded the company Tactical Studies Rules (TSR, Inc.) with childhood friend Don Kaye in 1973. The following year, he and Arneson created ''D&D'', which expanded on Gygax's ''Chainmail'' and included elements of the fantasy stories he loved as a child. In the same year, he founded '' The Dragon'', a magazine based around the new game. In 1977, Gygax began work on a more comprehensive version of the game, called ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons''. Gygax designed numerous manuals for the game system, as well as several pre-packaged adventures called "modules" that gave a pers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
TSR, Inc
TSR, Inc. was an American game publishing company, best known as the original publisher of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). Its earliest incarnation, Tactical Studies Rules, was founded in October 1973 by Gary Gygax and Don Kaye. Gygax had been unable to find a publisher for ''D&D'', a new type of game he and Dave Arneson were co-developing, so founded the new company with Kaye to self-publish their products. Needing financing to bring their new game to market, Gygax and Kaye brought in Brian Blume in December as an equal partner. ''Dungeons & Dragons'' is generally considered the first tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG), and established the genre. When Kaye died suddenly in 1975, the Tactical Studies Rules partnership restructured into TSR Hobbies, Inc. and accepted investment from Blume's father Melvin. With the popular ''D&D'' as its main product, TSR Hobbies became a major force in the games industry by the late 1970s. Melvin Blume eventually transferred his shares to his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abeir-Toril
Abeir-Toril is the fictional planet that makes up the ''Forgotten Realms'' ''Dungeons & Dragons'' campaign setting, as well as the Al-Qadim and Maztica campaign settings and the 1st edition version of the Oriental Adventures campaign setting. The name means "cradle of life" in an archaic fictional language of the setting. It consists of various continents and islands, including Faerûn, Kara-Tur, Zakhara, Maztica, Osse (Forgotten Realms), Osse, Anchorome and Katashaka, a sub-Saharan-like continent south of Maztica, where humanity appeared. Toril was originally the name of Jeff Grubb's personal campaign world before part of it was merged with Ed Greenwood's Forgotten Realms setting. Publishing history Toril was the name of Jeff Grubb's campaign world, and it was adopted as the name of the planet upon which the continent of Faerûn existed when he and Ed Greenwood were designing the original ''Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, Forgotten Realms Boxed Set'' in 1987. Abeir- was added ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaming Convention
A gaming convention is a gathering centered on role-playing games, collectible card games, miniatures wargames, board games, video games, or other types of games. These conventions are typically two or three days long, and often held at either a university or in a convention center hotel. The largest gaming convention, Spiel, is a trade fair held in Essen, Germany that focuses on German-style board games and RPGs. A similarly large event is ''Festival Ludique International de Parthenay'' (FLIP), a games festival held over twelve days in France. The annual Gamescom in Cologne is the world's leading expo for video games. While games are often a large part of science fiction conventions and other hobby conventions, gaming conventions are distinguished by focusing on games and game-industry guests. The Penny Arcade Expo is the largest gaming convention in the US, with over 70,000 attendees at both its East (Boston) and Prime (Seattle) events. Gen Con has an emphasis on RPGs and featur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gen Con
Gen Con is the largest tabletop game convention in North America by both attendance and number of events. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, live action role-playing games, collectible card games, and strategy games. Gen Con also features computer games. Attendees engage in a variety of tournament and interactive game sessions. In 2019, Gen Con had nearly 70,000 unique attendees. Established in 1968 as the Lake Geneva Wargames Convention by Gary Gygax, who later co-created ''Dungeons & Dragons'', Gen Con was first held in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. The convention was moved to various locations in Wisconsin from 1972 to 1984 before becoming fixed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1985, where it remained until moving to Indianapolis, Indiana, in 2003. Other Gen Con conventions have been held sporadically in various locations around the United States, as well as internationally. In 1976, Gen Con became the prop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cleric (Dungeons & Dragons)
The cleric is one of the standard playable character class in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. Clerics are versatile figures, both capable in combat and skilled in the use of divine magic (thaumaturgy). Clerics are powerful healers due to the large number of healing and curative magics available to them. With divinely-granted abilities over life or death, they are also able to repel or control undead creatures. Clerics also have specific 'domains' which usually align with the character's alignment and the god that cleric serves. Whether the cleric repels or controls undead is dependent on the cleric's alignment. It is the only class to be included in every version of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' without a name change. Publication history ''Dungeons & Dragons'' The cleric character class first appeared in the original edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons''. In the original edition, the class is described as gaining "some of the advantages from both of the other two c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
