Jeff Grubb | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1957-08-27)August 27, 1957 (age 68) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Spouse | |
Jeff Grubb (born August 27, 1957)[1] is an author of novels,[2] short stories, and comics, as well as a computer androle-playinggame designer in the fantasy genre. Grubb worked on theDragonlancecampaign setting underTracy Hickman, and theForgotten Realms setting withEd Greenwood.[3] His written works includeThe Finder's Stone Trilogy, theSpelljammer andJakandorcampaign settings, and contributions toDragonlance and the computer gameGuild Wars Nightfall (2006).[4]
Grubb was born inPittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He metKate Novak in high school and married her in 1983.[1] His first year of employment involved work with air pollution control devices.[citation needed]
Grubb became awargaming enthusiast during his high school years. He started to playAvalon Hill wargames includingPanzerBlitz andBlitzkrieg, and theSPI game,Frigate. As afreshman, he attended the campus war-gaming club and was introduced to the role-playing game,Dungeons & Dragons.[1] Grubb said,
Within the year, Grubb attendedGen Con, a table-topgaming convention, for the first time. He also ran his own campaign set inToril, his own game universe.[1]
Grubb's overseeing of the design of the "AD&D Open" at Gen Con in 1982, led to his employment as a game designer atTSR.[1][5] He was a design consultant onGary Gygax's 1983 work,Monster Manual II for theAdvanced Dungeons & Dragonsrole-playing game.[6]Tracy Hickman gotHarold Johnson, then Grubb,Carl Smith andLarry Elmore in on the idea ofDragonlance beforeMargaret Weis andDouglas Niles joined them.[7]: 16 In 1984, Grubb was the principal architect of theMarvel Super Heroes game system.[8]
Grubb was a consultant on the first edition ofUnearthed Arcana,[1] and authored the first edition of theManual of the Planes.[5] Grubb contactedEd Greenwood, author of numerous articles inDragon about his home campaign setting, and soon Greenwood began sending Grubb packages full of maps of his world and background information for the setting; this collaboration resulted in the publication of theForgotten Realms campaign setting beginning with theForgotten Realms Campaign Setting (1987).[7]: 19 He is the designer of theSpelljammer campaign setting,[5] and theAl-Qadim setting.[3] Grubb felt that Al-Qadim was well received because the designers were able to hide the potential of the setting from the executives at TSR.[7]: 26
In the late 1980s, Grubb wrote four fill-in issues of theDC Comics licensedAdvanced Dungeons & Dragons comic book, and wrote 25 issues of DC Comic'sForgotten Realms series.[5] Grubb started theBuck Rogers line for TSR with a board game published in 1988.[7]: 27 Grubb continued to work on role-playing games with TSR for many years, long enough to be regarded affectionately as an "old timer" byScott Haring.[9] In 1994, he left TSR to pursue freelance work.[5] Grubb wrote three supplements for theJakandor setting, published in 1997–1998 as the final publications in theOdyssey series.[7]: 283
WhenWizards of the Coast purchased TSR inc., Grubb was engaged to work on games, settings, and source books such asTempest Feud for theStar Wars Roleplaying Game,[10]d20 Modern[11] andUrban Arcana.[12] He wroteThe Memoirs of Auberon of Faerie forR. Talsorian Games and was one of the authors of the D20Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game[13] forSword & Sorcery Studios. He has also been involved withSovereign Press, founded byMargaret Weis andDon Perrin in 2001.[14] He designed theHeroClix Unleashed set.[3]
In 1988,Azure Bonds, Grubb's first novel, which was coauthored with his wife, Kate Novak, was published as part ofThe Finder's Stone Trilogy. The second and third books in the trilogy,The Wyvern's Spur andSong of the Saurials, were published by TSR inc. in 1990 and 1991. Grubb and Novak continued to write novels in theForgotten Realms setting, releasingMasquerades,Finder's Bane, andTymora's Luck. Other settings such asMagic: The Gathering,Warcraft andStarCraft have also featured in his novels. Grubb also wrote the 45th issue ofSuperman Adventures,"Mateless in Metropolis" (cover date July 2000).
Grubb's short stories are set in a variety of fictional worlds, includingDragonlance,Forgotten Realms,Ravenloft andThieves' World. In general, his short fiction has been well received, with his story"Malediction" being described as amongst the best of those included inThieves' World: Enemies of Fortune,[15] while"Beowulf in the City of the Dark Elves" has been regarded as the best of the original fiction inThe Further Adventures of Beowulf: Champion of Middle Earth.[16]
Among his favorite novels that he authored areAzure Bonds,Lord Toede, andThe Brothers' War, and his favorite short stories include "The Judgement of abd-al-Mammat" and "Lycanthrope Summer."[3]
Grubb is the author of over a dozen novels and 30 short stories.[17]
The novelAzure Bonds was developed into a computer game,Curse of the Azure Bonds, in 1989, and was published byStrategic Simulations.ArenaNet hired Grubb to write the story for the third installment of theirGuild Wars franchise,Guild Wars Nightfall.[4] Although credited as a designer under lead designer James Phinney,[18] in an interview withGameSpy he describes his role as more of an 'embedded writer' than a designer.[19] Grubb was involved in designing theGuild Wars: Eye of the North expansion pack. He has also done world-building and writing forBlue Byte.[3] He is working as a writer and game designer for Guild Wars 2.[20]
