Colin McComb
Encyclopedia
Colin McComb is an American writer and game designer born in Evanston, Illinois
. He is married to musician Robin Moulder
. They currently live in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan
, with their two children. He has a degree in Philosophy from Lake Forest College
, from which he graduated in 1991.
, where he produced numerous role-playing game
supplements and magazine articles relating to those games. He won an Origins Award
for Best Game Adventure in 1993 for Dragon Mountain, and another for New Role-Playing Supplement for the Birthright Campaign Setting
in 1995. He is primarily known for his work on the Planescape line, for which he and Monte Cook
were the primary designers after the departure of David "Zeb" Cook from TSR.
In 1996, McComb left TSR to take a job at Interplay Entertainment
's roleplaying division, later called Black Isle Studios
. While there, he had a small role in the design of Fallout 2
and a far more significant role in the design of Planescape: Torment
.
McComb left Black Isle in 2000, and moved to Detroit, Michigan
with Robin Moulder
, who would become his wife in 2001.
In addition to his gaming work, McComb contributed interviews, album reviews, and concert reviews to the underground magazine Outburn. In 2004, he reunited with his Planescape cohorts in the Malhavoc Press book, Beyond Countless Doorways, which received an Honorable Mention for Best Writing at the 2005 ENnie Awards
. He and his wife also designed and wrote the manual for the MMORPG
RYL in 2005.
Currently, McComb teaches at the International Academy of Design and Technology
.
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...
. He is married to musician Robin Moulder
Robin Moulder
Robin Moulder is an American musician, best known as being one of the founders of the goth-girl group Jack Off Jill and her subsequent project, TCR. She is a bassist, pianist, and programmer.-History:...
. They currently live in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan
Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan
Grosse Pointe Park is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 11,555 at the 2010 census. Bordering on Detroit with frontage on southern Lake Saint Clair, it is the westernmost of the noted Grosse Pointe suburbs, with the oldest overall housing stock of the five cities...
, with their two children. He has a degree in Philosophy from Lake Forest College
Lake Forest College
Lake Forest College, founded in 1857, is a private liberal arts college in Lake Forest, Illinois. The college has 1,500 students representing 47 states and 78 countries....
, from which he graduated in 1991.
Career history
Immediately after his commencement, McComb took at a job at TSR, Inc.TSR, Inc.
Blume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc....
, where he produced numerous role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
supplements and magazine articles relating to those games. He won an Origins Award
Origins Award
The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 Origins.The Origins Award is commonly...
for Best Game Adventure in 1993 for Dragon Mountain, and another for New Role-Playing Supplement for the Birthright Campaign Setting
Birthright Campaign Setting
Birthright Campaign Setting is an accessory for the 2nd edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, published in 1995....
in 1995. He is primarily known for his work on the Planescape line, for which he and Monte Cook
Monte Cook
Monte Cook is a professional table-top role-playing game designer and writer. He is married to Sue Weinlein Cook.-Roleplaying:Cook has been a professional game designer since 1988, working primarily on role-playing games. Much of his early work was for Iron Crown Enterprises as an editor and writer...
were the primary designers after the departure of David "Zeb" Cook from TSR.
In 1996, McComb left TSR to take a job at Interplay Entertainment
Interplay Entertainment
Interplay Entertainment Corporation is an American video game developer and publisher, founded in 1983 as Interplay Productions by Brian Fargo. The company had been a quality developer until they started publishing their own games in 1988, like Neuromancer and Battle Chess. The company was renamed...
's roleplaying division, later called Black Isle Studios
Black Isle Studios
Black Isle Studios was a division of the computer and video game developer and publisher Interplay Entertainment. Black Isle Studios was a division that developed computer role-playing games, and also published several games from other developers. It was based in Orange County, California, USA. The...
. While there, he had a small role in the design of Fallout 2
Fallout 2
Fallout 2 is a computer role-playing game developed by Black Isle Studios and published by Interplay in 1998. The game's story takes place in 2241, 80 years after the events of Fallout...
and a far more significant role in the design of Planescape: Torment
Planescape: Torment
Planescape: Torment is a computer role-playing game developed for Windows by Black Isle Studios and released on December 12, 1999 by Interplay Entertainment. It takes place in Planescape, an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy campaign setting...
.
McComb left Black Isle in 2000, and moved to Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
with Robin Moulder
Robin Moulder
Robin Moulder is an American musician, best known as being one of the founders of the goth-girl group Jack Off Jill and her subsequent project, TCR. She is a bassist, pianist, and programmer.-History:...
, who would become his wife in 2001.
In addition to his gaming work, McComb contributed interviews, album reviews, and concert reviews to the underground magazine Outburn. In 2004, he reunited with his Planescape cohorts in the Malhavoc Press book, Beyond Countless Doorways, which received an Honorable Mention for Best Writing at the 2005 ENnie Awards
ENnies
The Annual Gen Con EN World RPG Awards are annual, fan-based awards for role-playing game products and publishers hosted at Gen Con in Indianapolis, Indiana...
. He and his wife also designed and wrote the manual for the MMORPG
MMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
RYL in 2005.
Currently, McComb teaches at the International Academy of Design and Technology
International Academy of Design and Technology
The International Academy of Design and Technology is a for-profit media arts college accredited by a national agency, the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools .- International Academy of Design and Technology :...
.
TSR
- Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
- The Complete Book of Elves
- Dragon Mountain
- Amazing EngineAmazing EngineAmazing Engine was a series of role-playing game books that was published by TSR, Inc. from 1993 until 1994.Each publication employed the same minimalist generic rules, as described in the Amazing Engine System Guide, but each world book had an entirely different setting or genre...
- The Galactos Barrier
- Bughunter (additional design)
- BirthrightBirthright (campaign setting)Birthright is a Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting that was first released by TSR in 1995. The setting based on the world of Aebrynis on the continent of Cerilia, in which the players take on the role of the divinely-empowered rulers, with emphasis on the political rulership level of gameplay...
- Birthright Campaign SettingBirthright Campaign SettingBirthright Campaign Setting is an accessory for the 2nd edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, published in 1995....
- Players Guide to Endier
- Sword and CrownSword and CrownSword and Crown is an official game adventure of the Birthight Campaign Setting in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game. Published in 1995 by TSR Inc....
- Birthright Campaign Setting
- Dark SunDark SunDark Sun is a Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting featuring the fictional desert world of Athas. The original Dark Sun Boxed Set campaign setting was released in 1991....
- The Complete Gladiators' Handbook
- DragonlanceDragonlanceDragonlance is a shared universe created by Laura and Tracy Hickman, and expanded by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis under the direction of TSR, Inc. into a series of popular fantasy novels. The Hickmans conceived Dragonlance while driving in their car on the way to TSR for a job application...
- Taladas: The Minotaurs
- Knight's Sword
- Tales of the Lance
- Dungeons & DragonsDungeons & DragonsDungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
- Thunder Rift
- PlanescapePlanescapePlanescape is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, originally designed by Zeb Cook. The Planescape setting was published in 1994...
- Planescape Campaign SettingPlanescape Campaign SettingThe Planescape Campaign Setting was a boxed set for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. The set was designed by David "Zeb" Cook and published in 1994, and introduced the Planescape setting.-Contents:...
(monster design) - Planes of Law
- Planes of ConflictPlanes of ConflictPlanes of Conflict is an accessory for the 2nd edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, published in 1995....
- Players Primer to the Outlands (Audio CD script)
- Well of Worlds
- Hellbound: The Blood War
- On Hallowed GroundOn Hallowed GroundOn Hallowed Ground is an accessory book for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, for the Planescape campaign setting.-Contents:This book contains information about deities' planar domains from 20 separate pantheons...
- Faces of Evil: The Fiends
- The Great Modron March
- Planescape Campaign Setting
- RavenloftRavenloftRavenloft is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. It is an alternate time-space existence known as a pocket dimension called the Demiplane of Dread, which consists of a collection of land pieces called domains brought together by a mysterious force known only as "The Dark...
- Islands of TerrorIslands of TerrorIslands of Terror is an accessory for the 2nd edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, published in 1992....
- Howls in the Night
- Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium III: Creatures of Darkness (additional design)
- Masque of the Red Death and Other Tales
- Islands of Terror
Black Isle Studios
- Fallout 2Fallout 2Fallout 2 is a computer role-playing game developed by Black Isle Studios and published by Interplay in 1998. The game's story takes place in 2241, 80 years after the events of Fallout...
- Planescape: TormentPlanescape: TormentPlanescape: Torment is a computer role-playing game developed for Windows by Black Isle Studios and released on December 12, 1999 by Interplay Entertainment. It takes place in Planescape, an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy campaign setting...
- Red Asphalt (in-game commercial scripting)
External links
- MobyGames entry for Colin McComb
- Pen & Paper RPG Database Bibliography for Colin McComb
- A Talk with Colin McComb
- Tales of Torment, Part 1 — an interview in two parts with Chris AvelloneChris AvelloneChris Avellone is an American video game designer and comic book writer who worked for Interplay and currently works in Obsidian Entertainment.-Early life and education:...
and Colin McComb - Tales of Torment, Part 2 — an interview in two parts with Chris AvelloneChris AvelloneChris Avellone is an American video game designer and comic book writer who worked for Interplay and currently works in Obsidian Entertainment.-Early life and education:...
and Colin McComb