Jenna K. Moran

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Jenna Katerin Moran[1], previously Rebecca Sean Borgstrom (Born: March 3, 1972) is a roleplaying game writer. She is the author of Nobilis and The Game of Powers (the LARP version of Nobilis), as well as co-author of several source books for Exalted, the Weapons of the Gods RPG, and other works. She currently resides in Seattle, Washington.

Moran recently legally changed her name. Rebecca Sean Borgstrom was, she says, her legal name, but she did not consider it her 'real' name[2]. She is also credited as R. Sean Borgstrom, Rebecca Borgstrom, and Sean Borgstrom. In contexts where she is well known, such as mailing lists centered on games she has authored, she is often referred to simply as "RSB."

Moran graduated from Georgetown University with a bachelor's degree in Computer Science in 1988, and from Johns Hopkins University with a doctorate in computer science in 2000.

Moran writes Hitherby Dragons, a blog-style ongoing story or collection of stories. She posts a new entry Monday through Saturday. The collection consists of legends and histories. Legends are performances put on by a girl named Jane, her brother Martin, and other recurring actors. Histories are actual events in Jane's world. They are marked by numbers after their titles, such as "1 of 2". For more information, see her own explanation at What is Hitherby Dragons?. Readers can comment on entries, and there is usually a lively discussion of what each entry means and how they fit together.[citation needed] In content, Hitherbies tend toward the surreal and fantastic, are often humorous, and incorporate elements of philosophy, computer science, and pop culture.

As a writer and designer of roleplaying games, Borgstrom is controversial. Critics find her books dense, florid, and inaccessible. They argue that Borgstrom's writing doesn't distinguish between "flavor text" and game mechanics, and utilize what they regard as unnecessary and insufficiently explained use of obscure terminology.[citation needed] Her fans argue that Borgstrom cleverly blends rules with setting information to create a more holistic experience. Members of the RPGnet forum community often humorously refer to the mindset required to understand Borgstrom's prose and rule systems (sometimes along with stylistically similar works by other writers) as "Borgstromancy" - implying, by analogy with terms like oneiromancy, that it is an arcane discipline akin to the ability to interpret omens.

[edit] Roleplaying bibliography

Nobilis

Exalted

In Nomine

Others

[edit] Trivia

  • Rebecca Borgstrom appears as a player character in the scenario "And I Feel Fine," by Geoffrey C. Grabowski, which was published in the One Shots sourcebook for Unknown Armies. This fictional version of Borgstrom lives in a trailer and is described as "a single mom making her good way in a bad world." Another roleplaying game author, Rich Dansky, also appears as a player character in the same scenario. In real life, Grabowski and Borgstrom are known to be friends.

[edit] External links

  1. ^ A recent publication, displaying the full name
  2. ^ In her own words
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