Jeff Dee
Encyclopedia
Jeff Dee is an American artist
and game designer. Based in Austin, Texas
, he is a recognized figure in the role-playing game
community and game industry. His illustrative work shows comic book
art form and influence.
, the first complete superhero role-playing game. He went on to illustrate numerous material for the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons
(AD&D) including interior artwork for manuals and illustrations and covers for adventure modules for the game. Some of his most recognized work can be found in the manual Deities & Demigods
(especially in the Egypt
ian and Norse
pantheons
). Along with Erol Otus
, Jim Roslof
, David S. LaForce
, David C. Sutherland III
and David A. Trampier
, Dee is recognized as one of the first-generation D&D artists, providing artwork as settings for imaginary worlds and adventures.
About 1989, Dee went on to provide artwork for computer games. He worked on several installments in the Ultima series including serving as the Art Director for Ultima VII. Dee has worked for companies such as Apogee
, Origin
, Simtex Software
and Looking Glass Studios
. He was the Director of Development on Ashen Empires, a massively multiplayer online fantasy RPG
from TKO Software
, and Lead Designer on The Sims: Castaway Stories.
Dee designed
and provided the artwork for Villains and Vigilantes
, a tabletop superhero
RPG. He also designed or co-designed several other RPG's including TWERPS
, The System, Living Legends, Quicksilver, and Pocket Universe. He also designed WarChest
, a customizable fantasy boardgame.
In the early 1990s Dee became the art director for the PC game developer Simtex and was involved in the development of several games, including Master of Orion
and the sequel Master of Orion 2, Master of Magic
, and other titles. He was also involved in the early developmental stages of a superhero game project that was cancelled later. Dee and most of his art department, as well as notable producer Jeff Johannigman, had famous clashes with the management style of Simtex CEO and lead programmer Steve Barcia
.
In 1997 with partner, 'Manda, Dee founded UNIgames, a publisher of role-playing, board
and computer games. In 2009 he co-founded Nemesis Games, developers of an MMO
named Gargantua. In 2010 he and Jack Herman co-founded Monkey House Games in order to re-release Villains and Vigilantes.
and transhumanist
. He's the former host of a bi-weekly Internet
podcast called The Non-Prophets (now hosted by Denis Loubet) and a current rotating co-host (and former host) of a live, weekly, Public-access television
program, The Atheist Experience (now hosted by Matt Dillahunty
, the president of the Atheist Community of Austin).
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
and game designer. Based in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, he is a recognized figure in the 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...
community and game industry. His illustrative work shows comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
art form and influence.
Biography
When still a teenager in the late 1970s, Dee and Jack Herman co-created Villains and VigilantesVillains and Vigilantes
Villains and Vigilantes is a superhero-themed role-playing game which competed primarily with Champions and Superworld in early to mid 1980s.-Origin:...
, the first complete superhero role-playing game. He went on to illustrate numerous material for the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & 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...
(AD&D) including interior artwork for manuals and illustrations and covers for adventure modules for the game. Some of his most recognized work can be found in the manual Deities & Demigods
Deities & Demigods
Deities & Demigods , alternatively known as Legends & Lore , is a reference book for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game . The book provides descriptions and game statistics of gods and legendary creatures from various sources in mythology and fiction...
(especially in the Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian and Norse
Norse mythology
Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
pantheons
Pantheon (gods)
A pantheon is a set of all the gods of a particular polytheistic religion or mythology.Max Weber's 1922 opus, Economy and Society discusses the link between a...
). Along with Erol Otus
Erol Otus
Erol Otus is an American artist and game designer, known internationally for his contributions to the fantasy RPG genre, most notably for the early Dungeons & Dragons franchise...
, Jim Roslof
Jim Roslof
James Paul "Jim" Roslof was an American artist and graphic designer particularly well known for cover art and interior illustrations of fantasy role-playing games published by TSR, Inc. during the "golden age" of Dungeons & Dragons...
, David S. LaForce
David S. LaForce
David S. LaForce is an artist, noted for his artwork in fantasy role-playing games.-Career:Along with Jeff Dee, Erol Otus, Jim Roslof, David C. Sutherland III and David A...
, David C. Sutherland III
David C. Sutherland III
David C. Sutherland III was an early Dungeons & Dragons artist. Sutherland was a prolific artist and his work heavily influenced the early development of Dungeons & Dragons.-Early life and inspiration:...
and David A. Trampier
David A. Trampier
Dave A. Trampier is a former artist and writer who worked on some of the earliest editions of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and was the creator of the Wormy comic strip that ran in Dragon magazine...
, Dee is recognized as one of the first-generation D&D artists, providing artwork as settings for imaginary worlds and adventures.
About 1989, Dee went on to provide artwork for computer games. He worked on several installments in the Ultima series including serving as the Art Director for Ultima VII. Dee has worked for companies such as Apogee
3D Realms
3D Realms is a current video game publisher and former video game developer based in Garland, Texas, United States, established in 1987...
, Origin
Origin Systems
Origin Systems, Inc. was a computer game developer based in Austin, Texas that was active from 1983 to 2004...
, Simtex Software
Simtex
Simtex was a video game developer established by Steve Barcia in 1988. It created a number of well-known turn-based strategy games for the PC, most notably the first two Master of Orion games...
and Looking Glass Studios
Looking Glass Studios
Looking Glass Studios was a computer game development company during the 1990s.The company originally formed as Looking Glass Technologies, when Blue Sky Productions and Lerner Research merged....
. He was the Director of Development on Ashen Empires, a massively multiplayer online fantasy RPG
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....
from TKO Software
TKO Software
TKO Software is a video game developer founded in 2002 in Santa Cruz, California, United States by Jacob Hawley and Michael Songy.TKO Software created Medal of Honor: Allied Assault: Breakthrough and the multiplayer portion of Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault , both for Electronic Arts...
, and Lead Designer on The Sims: Castaway Stories.
Dee designed
Game design
Game design, a subset of game development, is the process of designing the content and rules of a game in the pre-production stage and design of gameplay, environment, storyline, and characters during production stage. The term is also used to describe both the game design embodied in a game as...
and provided the artwork for Villains and Vigilantes
Villains and Vigilantes
Villains and Vigilantes is a superhero-themed role-playing game which competed primarily with Champions and Superworld in early to mid 1980s.-Origin:...
, a tabletop superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
RPG. He also designed or co-designed several other RPG's including TWERPS
TWERPS
TWERPS is a minimalist role-playing game originally created by Reindeer Games and distributed by Gamescience...
, The System, Living Legends, Quicksilver, and Pocket Universe. He also designed WarChest
Warchest
Warchest is a box set from the American heavy metal band Megadeth. Warchest features five discs and features studio tracks, demos and live recordings of a number of the band's songs from its previous eleven studio albums and rarities EP...
, a customizable fantasy boardgame.
In the early 1990s Dee became the art director for the PC game developer Simtex and was involved in the development of several games, including Master of Orion
Master of Orion
Master of Orion is a turn-based, 4X science fiction computer strategy game released in 1993 by MicroProse on the MS-DOS and Mac OS operating systems. The purpose of the game is to lead one of ten races to dominate the galaxy through a combination of diplomacy and conquest while developing...
and the sequel Master of Orion 2, Master of Magic
Master of Magic
Master of Magic is a single-player, fantasy turn-based strategy computer game created by Simtex and published for MS-DOS by Microprose in . It is of the 4X genre. The player is a wizard attempting to dominate two linked worlds. From a small settlement, the player grows an empire and banishes the...
, and other titles. He was also involved in the early developmental stages of a superhero game project that was cancelled later. Dee and most of his art department, as well as notable producer Jeff Johannigman, had famous clashes with the management style of Simtex CEO and lead programmer Steve Barcia
Steve Barcia
Steve Barcia is a game programmer, game producer and entrepreneur, having founded the computer game developer Simtex Studios Inc. in 1988. The company released computer games such as Master of Magic, Master of Orion and Master of Orion II....
.
In 1997 with partner, 'Manda, Dee founded UNIgames, a publisher of role-playing, board
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
and computer games. In 2009 he co-founded Nemesis Games, developers of an MMO
Massively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and usually feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on...
named Gargantua. In 2010 he and Jack Herman co-founded Monkey House Games in order to re-release Villains and Vigilantes.
Other endeavors
In addition to his artistic and game-related work, Dee is an outspoken atheistAtheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...
and transhumanist
Transhumanism
Transhumanism, often abbreviated as H+ or h+, is an international intellectual and cultural movement that affirms the possibility and desirability of fundamentally transforming the human condition by developing and making widely available technologies to eliminate aging and to greatly enhance human...
. He's the former host of a bi-weekly Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
podcast called The Non-Prophets (now hosted by Denis Loubet) and a current rotating co-host (and former host) of a live, weekly, Public-access television
Public-access television
Public-access television is a form of non-commercial mass media where ordinary people can create content television programming which is cablecast through cable TV specialty channels...
program, The Atheist Experience (now hosted by Matt Dillahunty
Matt Dillahunty
Matt Dillahunty is the president of the Atheist Community of Austin, and is also a host of the live internet radio show "Non-Prophets Radio" and of the Austin Public-access television cable TV show "The Atheist Experience....
, the president of the Atheist Community of Austin).
External links
- A Jeff Dee art gallery, including most of his AD&D work
- What Worries Jeff Dee?, Dee's blog