Ken Rolston is an American computer game and

role-playing Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing a ...

game designer Game design is the art of applying design and aesthetics to create a game for entertainment or for educational, exercise, or experimental purposes. Increasingly, elements and principles of game design are also applied to other interactions, in ...

best known for his work with

West End Games West End Games (WEG) was a company that made Board game, board, Role-playing game, role-playing, and wargaming, war games. It was founded by Daniel Scott Palter in 1974 in New York City, but later moved to Honesdale, Pennsylvania. Its product line ...

and on the computer game series ''

The Elder Scrolls ''The Elder Scrolls'' is a series of Action role-playing game, action role-playing video games primarily developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. The series focuses on Nonlinear gameplay, free-form gameplay in an ...

''. In February 2007, he elected to join the staff of computer games company

Big Huge Games Big Huge Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Timonium, Maryland since 2000, known first for real-time strategy games such as ''Rise of Nations'', later for the console RPG '' Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning'', and more recentl ...

to create a new role-playing game.: 13 February 2007 press release Rolston has a master's degree from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

, and is a member of the

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. While ...

. He has been a professional games designer since 1982.

Tabletop role-playing games

Ken Rolston spent twelve years as an award-winning designer of tabletop role-playing games. His credits include games and supplements for ''

Paranoia Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concer ...

'', ''

RuneQuest ''RuneQuest'' (commonly abbreviated as RQ) is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game originally designed by Steve Perrin, Ray Turney, Steve Henderson (game designer), Steve Henderson, and Warren James, and set in Greg Stafford's mythical world of ...

'', ''

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay ''Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay'' or ''Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play'' (abbreviated to ''WFRP'' or ''WHFRP'') is a role-playing game set in the ''Warhammer Fantasy'' setting, published by Games Workshop or its licensees. The first edition of ''WFR ...

'', ''

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Several different editions of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game have been produced since 1974. The current publisher of ''D&D'', Wizards of the Coast, produces new materials only for the most current edition of the ga ...

'', and ''

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 ...

''. Rolston was a ''

Basic Role-Playing ''Basic Role-Playing'' (''BRP'') is a tabletop role-playing game which originated in the ''RuneQuest'' fantasy role-playing game. Chaosium released the ''BRP'' standalone booklet in 1980 in the boxed set release of the second edition of ''RuneQu ...

'' writer for

Chaosium Chaosium Inc. is a publisher of tabletop role-playing games established by Greg Stafford in 1975. Chaosium's major titles include '' Call of Cthulhu'', based on the horror fiction stories of H. P. Lovecraft'', RuneQuest Glorantha'', ''Pendragon'' ...

. Rolston had also done work for Chaosium's ''

Stormbringer Stormbringer is a magic sword featured in a number of fantasy stories by the author Michael Moorcock. It is described as a huge, black sword covered with strange runes, created by the forces of Chaos with its own will. It is wielded by the doo ...

'' and ''

Superworld ''Superworld'' is a superhero-themed role-playing game published by Chaosium in 1983 that uses the generic ''Basic Role-Playing'' rules system. The game began as just one part of the '' Worlds of Wonder'' product before being published as a stand ...

'' lines. When Rolston was a new hire at

in 1983, he became the fourth creator on ''Paranoia'' and was responsible for turning

Greg Costikyan Greg Costikyan (born July 22, 1959, in New York City), sometimes known under the pseudonym "Designer X", is an American game designer and science fiction writer. Costikyan's career spans nearly all extant genres of gaming, including: hex-based wa ...

's dry rules into a highly atmospheric game, the results of which were published at

GenCon 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 ...

in 1984. Rolston wrote a complete manuscript for a magic system for

Games Workshop Games Workshop Group (often abbreviated as GW) is a British manufacturer of miniature wargames, based in Nottingham, England. Its best-known products are ''Warhammer Age of Sigmar'' and ''Warhammer 40,000''. Founded in 1975 by John Peake (gam ...

to use in their ''Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay'' RPG, but they rejected it; Rolston's manuscript circulated on the internet for years. Rolston left West End Games when

Scott Palter Daniel Scott Palter (died February 17, 2020) was a game designer who worked primarily on wargames and role-playing games. Early life and education Scott Palter received an Bachelor of Arts, AB from Dartmouth College, Dartmouth, then a Juris Doct ...

decided to move the company from New York to rural Honesdale, Pennsylvania in 1988. Chaosium stopped writing material for ''RuneQuest'' at

Avalon Hill Avalon Hill Games Inc. is a game company that publishes wargames and strategic board games. It has also published miniature wargaming rules, role-playing games and sports simulations. It is a subsidiary of Hasbro, and operates under the company' ...

in 1989, but ''RuneQuest'' returned in 1992 with Rolston as editor. Rolston's first publication as part of the "''RuneQuest'' Renaissance" was '' Tales of the Reaching Moon'' contributor Michael O'Brien's ''

Sun County The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared rad ...

'' (1992). In 1994, Avalon Hill dropped Rolston from their regular staff, relegating him to freelancer status; his last two manuscripts, ''Strangers in Prax'' and ''Lords of Terror'' saw print that year, but afterward, Rolston moved on to work for a multimedia company. Ken also was winner of the H. G. Wells Award for Best Role-playing Game, Paranoia, 1985, and served as role-playing director for West End Games, Games Workshop, and Avalon Hill Game Company. In 2016, Rolston joined

Mongoose Games A mongoose is a small terrestrial carnivorous mammal belonging to the Family (biology), family Herpestidae. This family is currently split into two subfamilies, the Herpestinae and the Mungotinae. The Herpestinae comprises 23 living species tha ...

to assist in editing their newest edition of Paranoia, which was Kickstarted in 2014, in order to "hit all the right notes for both veteran players and newbies alike."

Video game industry

Rolston was the lead designer for Bethesda's role-playing game, '' The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind'', its expansions and was also lead designer for '' The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion''. He was lead designer for two

projects, both of which were canceled in 2009.: Status update Rolston went on to be the lead creative visionary for '' Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning'', a single player RPG designed by

, a Baltimore subsidiary of

38 Studios 38 Studios, LLC, formerly Green Monster Games, LLC, was an American entertainment and intellectual property, IP development company founded in 2006 by Major League Baseball player Curt Schilling and named for his jersey number. Originally based in ...

. The game was created for the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...

PS3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on November 11, 2006, in Japan, November ...

and PC platforms and is set in the world of Amalur. An

MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...

codenamed "Project Copernicus", was being developed by

parent studio

, until the company ceased operations in May 2012. The game would have been set in the world of Amalur and was planned to feature inter connectivity with future Amalur projects.

Selected works

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rolston, Ken American video game designers Bethesda Softworks employees Board game designers Chaosium game designers Dungeons & Dragons game designers Living people New York University alumni Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay game designers Year of birth missing (living people)