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Curated playlist

Dungeons & Dragons game designers

  • Tom MoldvayYavdlom is a fictional city in Mystara, a setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. Read the name in reverse and it spells Moldvay. The city is an homage to Tom Moldvay, an American game designer and author who was born on the…
  • Ed StarkEd Stark was on the small team that reworked the Dungeons and Dragons world for fourth edition.
  • Harold Johnson (game designer)Harold Johnson interviewed for a games editor job at TSR and did not get it. TSR hired him anyway.
  • F. Wesley SchneiderF. Wesley Schneider's design work earned nominations for a Nebula, a Diana Jones Award and two ENNIE Awards.
  • Jeremy CrawfordJeremy Crawford left Wizards of the Coast in April 2025 after the revised Dungeons & Dragons rulebooks came out.
  • Steve Winter (game designer)A campus newsletter ad turned journalist Steve Winter into a Dungeons and Dragons designer.
  • Chris Perkins (game designer)Chris Perkins retired from Dungeons and Dragons in April 2025 and joined Critical Role's game company by June.
  • David Noonan (game designer)David Noonan wrote the treasure tables in the third edition Dungeon Master's Guide.
  • Peter AdkisonPeter Adkison rejected a costly board game and got Magic: The Gathering instead.
  • Mike MearlsMike Mearls inherited the lead designer job at Dungeons and Dragons when Rob Heinsoo was laid off in 2009.
  • Gary GygaxGary Gygax grew up hearing Wrigley Field crowds from his bedroom window. He later helped create Dungeons and Dragons.
  • Aaron AllstonAaron Allston wrote Dungeons and Dragons game books, then Star Wars novels. He joined the X-Wing novels in 1997.
  • Dave ArnesonDave Arneson's Blackmoor game had a tank, submarines and steam power. It also introduced hit points.
  • David Cook (game designer)David Cook is known to the gaming world as Zeb, a nickname he earned from a room full of high school students. They noticed that his signature was dominated by a stroke shaped like a Z. They also thought he looked like Zeb Macahan, the…
  • Frank MentzerIn 1972, Frank Mentzer sang for Pat Nixon in the White House gardens. He later helped write Dungeons & Dragons rules.
  • James Wyatt (game designer)James Wyatt wrote Dungeons and Dragons adventures while working as a Methodist minister.
  • John Eric HolmesA neurology professor asked TSR for an easier Dungeons and Dragons. John Eric Holmes wrote its 1977 Basic Set.

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