Christopher Perkins (born February 29, 1968) is a

Canadian American Canadian Americans is a term that can be applied to Citizenship of the United States, American citizens whose ancestry is wholly or partly Canadians, Canadian, or citizens of either country that hold dual citizenship. The term ''Canadian'' can ...

game designer and editor who is known for his work on

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for ga ...

's ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...

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 ...

, currently as the senior story designer.

Career

Under the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

"Christopher Zarathustra", Perkins got his career start in 1988 writing the adventure "Wards of Witching Ways" for ''

Dungeon A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably belongs more to the Renaissance period. An oubliette (from ...

'' magazine #11. He later officially started working for

in 1997, beginning as the editor for ''Dungeon''. A few years later, he was promoted to editor-in-chief of Wizards periodicals. Perkins later became the senior producer for ''Dungeons & Dragons'', leading the team of designers, developers, and editors who make products for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. Perkins was the story manager for ''Dungeons & Dragons'' in 2007 before the release of the game's fourth edition. Perkins was working on the '' Star Wars Saga Edition'' while ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fourth edition was being developed, and ideas were exchanged freely between Perkins and the fourth edition team. He was also on the SCRAMJET team, led by Richard Baker, and including

James Wyatt James Wyatt (3 August 1746 – 4 September 1813) was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the neoclassical and neo-Gothic styles. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1785 and was its president from 1805 to 1806. Early life W ...

Matthew Sernett Matthew Lee Sernett is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. Career Matt Sernett was part of the SCRAMJET team, led by Richard Baker, with designers James Wyatt, Ed Stark, Michele Carter, Stacy Longstreet, and Chri ...

Ed Stark Ed Stark is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. Career Ed Stark began his career at West End Games, where he wrote for the ''TORG'' and ''Star Wars'' lines. He was the main developer behind the MasterBook system and ...

, Michele Carter, and Stacy Longstreet; this team updated the setting and

cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount (lexicographer), Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in ...

of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' as the fourth edition was being developed. Perkins was the Lead Story Designer of the Ravenloft fifth edition reboot ''

Curse of Strahd ''Curse of Strahd'' is an adventure book for the 5th edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. It was released on March 15, 2016 and is based on the ''Ravenloft'' module published in 1983. Contents Adventurers are mysteriously ...

'', released in 2016. Perkins wrote a blog, "The Dungeon Master Experience", on the Wizards of the Coast website for over two years, where he shared tricks and advice about the challenge of "dungeon mastering" a campaign through the lens of his homebrew world, Iomandra. However, in the penultimate posting of March 2013, he announced the following posting would be the last "at least for a while", whereupon the blog became inactive. He was also the longtime Dungeon Master for the Acquisitions Incorporated ''

'' games at the

Penny Arcade Expo PAX (originally known as Penny Arcade Expo) is a series of gaming culture festivals involving tabletop, arcade, and video gaming. PAX is held annually in Seattle, Boston and Philadelphia in the United States; and Melbourne in Australia. PAX w ...

(PAX), until

PAX Unplugged PAX (originally known as Penny Arcade Expo) is a series of gaming culture festivals involving tabletop, arcade, and video gaming. PAX is held annually in Seattle, Boston and Philadelphia in the United States; and Melbourne in Australia. PAX was ...

2018.

Livestreams

From 2016 to 2019, Perkins was the Dungeon Master in the

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livestream Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but no ...

''Dice, Camera, Action,'' which was a live play-through of ''Dungeons & Dragons''' latest story lines. He has also guest starred twice on the ''Dungeons & Dragons''-based show, ''

Critical Role ''Critical Role'' is an American web series in which a group of professional voice actors play ''Dungeons & Dragons''. The show started streaming partway through the cast's first campaign in March 2015. Campaign one ended in October 2017 after ...

''.

Personal life

In his free time, Perkins runs a ''Dungeons & Dragons'' campaign set in his homebrew world of Iomandra.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perkins, Chris 1968 births Canadian American Canadian emigrants to the United States Dungeons & Dragons game designers Living people People from Seattle Place of birth missing (living people)