Bill Bridges is a role-playing game developer and author. He was one of the primary White Wolf original developer (along with many others who contributed) to Werewolf: The Apocalypse[1] from 1992 to 1995. He was extremely influential in turning the idea that werewolves could be something besides cursed humans, and instead be spiritual warriors defending the environment from inevitable impending doom.[2] This idea has since been echoed in some of popular contemporary novel series[3][4] in werewolves can breed new werewolves in addition to creating new ones by biting them. While previous examples of this exist, his contributions help broaden the idea of what a werewolf could be or entail as accepted by the reading audience. He was a part of the original Mage: The Ascension design team. He has numerous writing credits encompassing most of the second edition World of Darkness games, and helped design the Werewolf collectible card game, Rage.[5]
After years with White Wolf, he joined Holistic Design[6][7] (HDI) where he co-created Fading Suns with Andrew Greenberg. Bridge's most measurable contributions to the game were his "Alustro's Journals" a series of Marco Polo style travel logs featuring the travels of the pilgrim Alustro and his companions as they moved from one area to another. He was also the primary author of the War in the Heaven's series which revealed the secrets of the Symbiots and the Vau respectively. Minor literary similarities can be seen between the pro-environmental Symbiots and the 'defenders of Gaia' among the Garou in Werewolf the Apocalypse. Another common theme includes the deeper mysteries implied in the setting over the battle of fate and free will (in Fading Suns this manifest through the proxy war the Ananaki fight through Vau influence whereas in Werewolf: The Apocalypse it shows itself through the conflict between arch-spirits Wyrm, Weaver and Wyld.
His work for other companies include writing for Chaosium, and development for the Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine role-playing games for Last Unicorn Games. He has also worked on computer games, notably Emperor of the Fading Suns for Segasoft (based on the Fading Suns RPG), co-writing scripts for Viacom's "interactive horror movie" Dracula Unleashed, and more Star Trek work on Starfleet Academy for Interplay.[8]
Bridges moved back to White Wolf in 2002, replacing Jess Heinig as the developer for the revised edition of Mage: The Ascension,[9] seeing the game he created through to its conclusion in the Time of Judgment. For the new World of Darkness, he worked on the new core rules and was a designer, author and developer on Mage: The Awakening.[10] He later moved on line edit Promethean: The Created, which has won several awards.[11]
Bridges also co-chairs the content committee for the biannual myth based academic conference and performance festival, Mythic Journeys.[12] His published novels include The Silver Crown and The Last Battle, both of which are set in the Werewolf: The Apocalypse setting.