Game designer and creator of Chaosium’s RuneQuest, Steve Perrin, passed away suddenly last week at the age of seventy-five.
Perrin was a founding member of the Society for Creative Anachronism in 1966. In the ’70s, he was responsible for an alternate set of Dungeons & Dragons rules known as “The Perrin Conventions,” which eventually spun out into work on many other RPGs for Chaosium and other companies. In addition to RuneQuest, other RPGs he created or contributed to included Stormbringer, Call of Cthulhu, Thieves’ World, Elfquest, and Robot Warriors. He was also a prolific contributer to the comics fanzines of previous decades, and created many original characters for other fans to enjoy during that period.
The RPG manuals that Perrin wrote were of great inspiration to many writers, and George R.R. Martin has credited his work on Superworld as a foundational piece of the Wild Cards universe. Perrin finally got the chance to contribute a story to that universe in this year’s Joker Moon.
Chaosium President Rick Meints had this to say of Perrin:
He is one of our Great Old Ones. An innovative genius who helped pave the way for us to exist today, delighting gamers while they sit around a table, in person or online, exploring stories and adventures together, weaving new tales of derring-do. RuneQuest and Superworld were his children, and his imprint on so many of our other games is indelibly present.
Many of us grew up playing his games. He was the uncle we admired, envied, and listened to for his wise counsel. In the last few years, as a new edition of RuneQuest was born he was there, his wisdom and experience reminding us of the simple, pure, and wondrous origins of the magic of roleplaying. How can you say thank you for that?
