Pete Fenlon (born 1955) is an American

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 ...

cartographer, game designer, game developer, graphics designer and publisher. His works include stories, art and games (electronic and non) in the genres of

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

and

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

Personal life

He was born in Japan to an Air Force Colonel (Peter C. Fenlon) and Captain (Melba S. Fenlon, RN). He also lived in Germany and the US before settling in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is a graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School (1964–1987), where he served as Executive Officer of the Simulations Club. Fenlon began playing ''

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 ...

'' when it was introduced in 1974. After obtaining a degree in

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

and

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

, he earned a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree at the College of William & Mary Law School and passed the

Virginia State Bar The Virginia State Bar (VSB) is the administrative agency of the Supreme Court of Virginia created to regulate, improve and advance the legal profession in Virginia. Membership in good standing in the VSB is mandatory for attorneys wishing to pr ...

exam. In 1982, Fenlon married Olivia Johnston and moved to

Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Ch ...

, Virginia. He has since worked as a game publisher. Fenlon is very active in the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...

,, serving as the Council President to the Virginia Headwaters Council from 2018-21. serving as the Council President to the Virginia Headwaters Council from 2018 to 2021.

Career

He began his career by creating custom fantasy role playing game rules and drawing detailed, full-color

Middle-earth Middle-earth is the fictional setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the ''Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf''. Middle-earth is t ...

maps after passing the Bar exam. He has created and published games and fiction since 1980. Fenlon began playing ''

'' when it was introduced in 1974, and by the late seventies he, S. Coleman Charlton and Kurt Fischer were developing a set of unique house rules for their six-year campaign. They decided to turn their rules into a business, starting

Iron Crown Enterprises Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE) is a publishing company that has produced role playing, board, miniature, and collectible card games since 1980. Many of ICE's better-known products were related to J. R. R. Tolkien's world of Middle-earth, but the ''R ...

in 1980. Fenlon's first map of Middle-earth was printed in '' A Campaign and Adventure Guidebook for Middle-earth'' in 1982, and his maps continued to be used in ICE's ''

Middle-earth Role Playing ''Middle-earth Role Playing'' (MERP) is a 1984 role-playing game based on J. R. R. Tolkien ''The Lord of the Rings'' and ''The Hobbit'' under license from Tolkien Enterprises. Iron Crown Enterprises (I.C.E.) published the game until they lost th ...

'' books for about 15 years. He also worked on ICE's ''

Rolemaster ''Rolemaster'' (originally ''Role Master'') is a tabletop role-playing game published by Iron Crown Enterprises since 1980. Editions ''Rolemaster'' has a total of four editions. First edition (RM1): 1980–1982 This edition includes the or ...

'' and '' Shadow World'' games. In October 2000, Fenlon announced that ICE had entered chapter 7 bankruptcy. In 2000–01, Fenlon became involved in development of

alternate reality game An alternate reality game (ARG) is an interactive networked narrative that uses the real world as a platform and employs transmedia storytelling to deliver a story that may be altered by players' ideas or actions. The form is defined by inten ...

'' The Beast'', for which he served as Content Lead and Producer. Together with

Jordan Weisman Jordan Weisman is an American game designer, author, and serial entrepreneur who has founded five game design companies, each in a different game genre and segment of the industry. Biography Weisman graduated from Francis W. Parker High School, ...

Sean Stewart Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; angliciz ...

, and

Elan Lee Elan Lee is an American game designer, developer, and creator. He has designed games for the Xbox; helped create the world’s first Alternate Reality Games; and with Matthew Inman created the card game '' Exploding Kittens'', whose Kickstarter c ...

, he was one of The Beast's four "Puppetmasters" and awarded a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

for Transmedia Storytelling on March 24, 2022. In 2007, Fenlon was appointed

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Mayfair Games Mayfair Games was an American publisher of board, card, and roleplaying games that also licensed Euro-style board games to publish them in English. The company licensed worldwide English-language publishing rights to ''The Settlers of Catan'' ser ...

, the worldwide English-language publisher of ''

Catan ''Catan'', previously known as ''The Settlers of Catan'' or simply ''Settlers'', is a multiplayer board game designed by Klaus Teuber. It was first published in 1995 in Germany by Franckh-Kosmos Verlag (Kosmos) as ''Die Siedler von Catan''. Pl ...

'' (from 1997 until 2015 ''

The Settlers of Catan ''Catan'', previously known as ''The Settlers of Catan'' or simply ''Settlers'', is a multiplayer board game designed by Klaus Teuber. It was first published in 1995 in Germany by Franckh-Kosmos Verlag (Kosmos) as ''Die Siedler von Catan''. Pl ...

''). In 2016, he became CEO of Catan Studio, Inc., an independent studio with the Asmodee Group (see

Asmodée Éditions Asmodee is a French publisher of board games, card games and role-playing games (RPGs). Founded in 1995 to develop their own games and to publish and distribute for other smaller game developers, they have since acquired numerous other board game ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fenlon, Pete 1955 births Living people Role-playing game artists