Steve Perrin | |
|---|---|
 Perrin at the 2018Gen Con | |
| Born | Stephen Herbert Perrin (1946-01-22)January 22, 1946 |
| Died | August 13, 2021(2021-08-13) (aged 75) |
| Occupation | Game designer,technical writer,editor |
| Nationality | American |
| Genre | Role-playing games |
| Notable works | RuneQuest,Stormbringer,Call of Cthulhu |
Stephen Herbert Perrin (January 22, 1946[1] – August 13, 2021[2]) was an Americangame designer andtechnical writer/editor, best known for creating thetabletop role-playing gameRuneQuest forChaosium.
Perrin earned a Bachelor of Arts in English fromSan Francisco State University.[citation needed] Perrin was a founding member in 1966 of theSociety for Creative Anachronism (SCA).[3]: 83
One of his first contributions to the world of RPGs was "The Perrin Conventions" in 1976, an alternative set of combat rules forDungeons & Dragons, which led to his work onRuneQuest.[3]: 83 [4] Perrin wanted more involvement in the role-playing game industry, and with Jeff Pimper he talked to Chaosium about developing a creature book based onDungeons & Dragons, which they published asAll the Worlds' Monsters (1977), and was released before theMonster Manual fromTSR.[3]: 83 Perrin later worked withSteve Henderson and Warren James on an idea for an original gaming system to be used with the world ofGlorantha after a previous design team failed to produce a supplement to an existing game, andRay Turney from the original team soon joined them; this new RPG was finally published in 1978 asRuneQuest.[3]: 83
Perrin officially joined Chaosium in 1981, although he only stayed with the company for a few years.[3]: 83–84 He was one of several authors who contributed to their licensedThieves' World (1981) supplement.[3]: 85 Perrin designedWorlds of Wonder (1982), which was the third game released by Chaosium using theirBasic Role-Playing system (BRP).[3]: 86 Superworld was originally one of worlds designed forWorlds of Wonder and was then published as its own game in 1983, although it was merely moderately successful and Perrin later admitted its similarity toChampions fromHero Games.[3]: 87 In 1984 he wrote theBRP basedElfquest, based on theElfquest comic book.[3]: 87 While at Chaosium he also createdStormbringer, and contributed toCall of Cthulhu.
Hero Games published its sixth RPG,Robot Warriors (1986), by Perrin.[3]: 147 He also wrote the 1987Champions role-playing game supplementThe Voice of Doom.
He worked atInterplay Productions,Maxis, andSpectrum Holobyte, doing game design, playtesting, and writing manuals for suchcomputer games asMechanized Assault & Exploration,Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, andDescent to Undermountain. He also worked freelance for many of the major companies in the games industry includingTSR,FASA,Hero Games,West End Games, andIron Crown Enterprises.
Steve Perrin's Quest Rules (SPQR) was sold independently throughChaos Limited. In 2004, he collaborated withTaldren onBlack 9 Ops, which Perrin decided to make available for free.
In 2010, Perrin began creating PDF adventures for the gamesIcons andMutants & Masterminds, and completed several scenarios forVigilance Press andFainting Goat Press. In 2019, he returned to Chaosium as a creative consultant.[5] In 2020, he contributed to theWild Cards novelAmerican Hero.[citation needed]
On August 13, 2021, Chaosium announced Perrin's death.[6]
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