Tom Moldvay
| Thomas Steven Moldvay | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 5, 1948[1] |
| Died | March 9, 2007 (aged 58) |
| Nationality | United States |
Tom Moldvay (Thomas Steven Moldvay, Nov. 5, 1948 – March 9, 2007[2]) was a game designer and author most notable for his work on early materials for the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons (D&D).
Career
As an employee of TSR, Inc., Moldvay authored or co-authored landmark D&D adventure modules such as Castle Amber, Isle of Dread, the rewrite of Palace of the Silver Princess,[3] and Secret of the Slavers Stockade, all published in 1981. Of these, X1 – Isle of Dread was one of the most widely played modules of the time because it was distributed inside the D&D Expert Set rules.
Also in 1981, Moldvay edited the first major revision of the rulebooks in the D&D Basic Set since its original publication. Other Moldvay adventure modules for D&D include The Lost City (1982) and Twilight Calling (1986). In the years between 1980 and 1988, he also penned several articles in Dragon magazine. The fictional city of Yavdlom in the D&D Mystara setting – which in the following years included most of the old D&D material – is an homage to him (Yavdlom being the backward reading of Moldvay).
Moldvay also co-developed TSR's Gangbusters role-playing game, wrote adventures for TSR's Star Frontiers game, and developed materials for Lords of Creation, a game published by Avalon Hill. In 1985 he created the one-shot game "The Future King" based on Arthurian legend. In 1986 he created the "Challenges Game System", essentially a streamlining of the AD&D players handbook down to 8 pages, and the single adventure published for the system, "Seren Ironhand." During the 1970s while a student at Kent State University in Ohio, Moldvay was a writer for the science fiction fanzine Infinite Dreams.
Tom Moldvay died at the age of 58 on March 9, 2007.[2] (Source: Coroner's Office, Summit County, Ohio)
After Moldvay's death in 2007, Steve Winter called Isle of Dread "Tom's work that had the widest impact", as its inclusion in the Expert Set "made it one of the most widely known and played adventures for years".[4]
References
- ↑ "United States Social Security Death Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VMDB-J4W : accessed 12 Feb 2013), Thomas Steven Moldvay, 9 March 2007; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "SSDI on Fold3.com". Social Security Death Index.
- ↑ Sacco, Ciro Alessandro. "The Ultimate Interview with Gary Gygax". thekyngdoms.com. Retrieved 2008-10-24.
- ↑ Winter, Steve (2007). "Designer Tom Moldvay". Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved 2007-10-04.
Resources
Dragonsfoot Tom Moldvay Bibliography
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||