Bill Slavicsek began playing the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS roleplaying game with his friends during his formative teenage years in New York City. This was in 1977, the same year that
Star Wars and
Sword of Shannara debuted. This trilogy of epic fantasy combined with comic books and horror novels were to forever influence Bill’s outlook on life and entertainment. In 1986, Bill’s hobby became his career when he joined the staff of West End Games. There, as an editor and game designer, Bill worked on a number of board games and roleplaying games, including
Ghostbusters, Paranoia, Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, and
Torg: Roleplaying the Possibility Wars. Later, Bill went on to use his vast knowledge of the
Star Wars films and associated extensions to write two editions of
A Guide to the Star Wars Universe for Lucasfilm, Ltd., and published by Del Rey Books.
In 1993, Bill joined the staff of TSR, Inc., then publishers of the DUNGEON & DRAGONS game lines, as a game designer and editor. His design credits for the company include the ALTERNITY
Science Fiction Game (which he co-designed with Richard Baker), the
d20 Modern Roleplaying Game, the
d20 Star Wars Roleplaying Game, the
Star Wars Miniatures Game,
Urban Arcana,
Council of Wyrms, and the EBERRON
Campaign Setting.
Since 1997, Bill has been the Director of Roleplaying Games Research and Development for Wizards of the Coast, Inc., the company that now publishes all DUNGEONS & DRAGONS novels and game products. He oversaw the creation of the d20 Roleplaying Game System and the newest edition of the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game. Bill leads a talented staff of game designers, developers, and editors who produce award-winning game products for DUNGEONS & DRAGONS and other d20 System game lines, including roleplaying game supplements and accessories, adventures and campaign books, and prepainted plastic miniatures.
Richard Baker is an award-winning game designer and a best-selling author. He’s worked on the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game lines since 1991. Rich traces his D&D experience back to 1979, when he began playing the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game as a 7th-grader. He spent a significant amount of his high school and college years playing D&D at every opportunity, and after serving as a surface warfare officer in the United States Navy, Rich decided to take a shot at working on the game he grew up playing — and so he joined the staff of TSR, Inc., and became a game designer. Rich’s list of D&D design credits numbers over 50 game products, including the Origins Award-winning BIRTHRIGHT Campaign Setting, the ALTERNITY Science Fiction Roleplaying Game (which he co-designed with Bill Slavicsek), and the newest edition of the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game. He has also served as creative director for the ALTERNITY and FORGOTTEN REALMS game lines. As an author, Rich has published eight fantasy and science fiction novels, including City of Ravens, Forsaken House, and the New York Times bestseller Condemnation. Rich is currently employed as a senior game designer at Wizards of the Coast, Inc., and works every day on new products for the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game.
