Richard Dansky
Encyclopedia
Richard "Rich" Dansky is a writer and a designer of both computer games
and role-playing games. He is a former game developer for White Wolf, Inc.
where he worked as developer on the Wraith: The Oblivion
, Mind's Eye Theatre
, Vampire: The Dark Ages
, Kindred of the East
, and Orpheus
game lines. He is the author of over a hundred role-playing sourcebooks; he is also credited with creating the humorous t-shirt
which reads "Don't Tell Me About Your Character", a reference to the habit many role-playing game enthusiasts have of talking at length about their player character
s. His writing has also appeared in sources such as the Green Man Review and Lovecraft Studies.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s he attended Wesleyan University
, where he was the gamemaster
of a long-running Villains and Vigilantes
game (which briefly included Jonathan Woodward as a player). He currently lives in Durham, North Carolina
where he works for Red Storm Entertainment
as "Manager of Design" as well as serving as "Central Clancy Writer" for Ubisoft
. He has contributed to video games in series including Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon
, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
, Far Cry
, Blazing Angels, and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six
, as well as helping to design the setting for the new Might and Magic
universe.
Dansky has published four media tie-in novels through White Wolf, including Clan Novel Lasombra and the Trilogy of the Second Age for Exalted
. He has also written original fiction, including the novella Shadows In Green from Yard Dog Press and Firefly Rain due out in 2008. Currently, he is part of the Storytellers Unplugged blogging collective, as well as serving as one of the executives of the IGDA's Writers Special Interest Group.
His namesake, Rich Dansky, appears as a player character
in the scenario "And I Feel Fine," by Geoffrey C. Grabowski, which was published in the One Shots sourcebook for Unknown Armies
. The fictional version of Dansky is described as "a bohemian academic living the simple life of a trailer park
manager." Another role-playing game author, Rebecca Sean Borgstrom also appears as a player character in the same scenario.
He is married to author Melinda Thielbar.
Computer Games
"Computer Games" is a single by New Zealand group, Mi-Sex released in 1979 in Australia and New Zealand and in 1981 throughout Europe. It was the single that launched the band, and was hugely popular, particularly in Australia and New Zealand...
and role-playing games. He is a former game developer for White Wolf, Inc.
White Wolf, Inc.
White Wolf Publishing is an American gaming and book publisher. The company was founded in 1991 as a merger between Lion Rampant and White Wolf Magazine, and was initially led by Mark Rein·Hagen of the former and Steve and Stewart Wieck of the latter. Since White Wolf Publishing, Inc. merged with...
where he worked as developer on the Wraith: The Oblivion
Wraith: The Oblivion
Wraith: The Oblivion is a role-playing game set in the afterlife of White Wolf Game Studio's World of Darkness. In the game, players take on characters who are recently dead and are now ghosts...
, Mind's Eye Theatre
Mind's Eye Theatre
Mind's Eye Theatre is a live action role-playing game based on the White Wolf World of Darkness universe, sharing a theme and setting originally with the table-top role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade and now with its revision, Vampire: The Requiem...
, Vampire: The Dark Ages
Vampire: The Dark Ages
Vampire: The Dark Ages is a role-playing game originally published by White Wolf Game Studio in 1996. Later, in 2002, the gameline was replaced by Dark Ages: Vampire...
, Kindred of the East
Kindred of the East
Kindred of the East is a role-playing supplement by White Wolf Game Studio to their Vampire: The Masquerade line. The vanguard of White Wolf's "Year of the Lotus" theme , this rich sourcebook is a stand-alone setting, requiring only secondary rules to be fully playable...
, and Orpheus
Orpheus
Orpheus was a legendary musician, poet, and prophet in ancient Greek religion and myth. The major stories about him are centered on his ability to charm all living things and even stones with his music; his attempt to retrieve his wife from the underworld; and his death at the hands of those who...
game lines. He is the author of over a hundred role-playing sourcebooks; he is also credited with creating the humorous t-shirt
T-shirt
A T-shirt is a style of shirt. A T-shirt is buttonless and collarless, with short sleeves and frequently a round neck line....
which reads "Don't Tell Me About Your Character", a reference to the habit many role-playing game enthusiasts have of talking at length about their player character
Player character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
s. His writing has also appeared in sources such as the Green Man Review and Lovecraft Studies.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s he attended Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
, where he was the gamemaster
Gamemaster
A gamemaster is a person who acts as an organizer, officiant for questions regarding rules, arbitrator, and moderator for a multiplayer game...
of a long-running 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:...
game (which briefly included Jonathan Woodward as a player). He currently lives in Durham, North Carolina
Durham, North Carolina
Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...
where he works for Red Storm Entertainment
Red Storm Entertainment
Ubisoft Red Storm is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ubisoft Entertainment, specializing in video games and related merchandise, mainly based on the works of the writer Tom Clancy. The company develops and markets their own CD/DVD-ROM games...
as "Manager of Design" as well as serving as "Central Clancy Writer" for Ubisoft
Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. is a major French video game publisher and developer, with headquarters in Montreuil, France. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries....
. He has contributed to video games in series including Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon is a tactical shooter video game developed by Red Storm Entertainment, a Ubisoft subsidiary, and published by Ubisoft in 2001 for the PC. It was ported to the Mac, PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2002 and to the GameCube in 2003...
, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell is an action-adventure stealth game, developed by Ubisoft Montreal and built on the Unreal Engine 2. It is the first Splinter Cell game in the series endorsed by author Tom Clancy, and follows the activities of American NSA Black Operation, "Black Ops", agent Sam Fisher....
, Far Cry
Far Cry
Far Cry is a first-person shooter video game developed by Crytek Studios from Germany and published by Ubisoft on March 23, 2004, for Microsoft Windows. Far Cry sold 730,000 units within four months of release. It received positive reviews upon release...
, Blazing Angels, and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six is a tactical shooter computer game and the first in the Rainbow Six series. It was developed and published by Red Storm Entertainment for the PC in 1998. It was later ported to Mac OS, Nintendo 64, PlayStation, Dreamcast and Game Boy Color. An expansion pack, Tom Clancy's...
, as well as helping to design the setting for the new Might and Magic
Might and Magic
Might and Magic is a series of role-playing video games from New World Computing, which in 1996 became a subsidiary of The 3DO Company...
universe.
Dansky has published four media tie-in novels through White Wolf, including Clan Novel Lasombra and the Trilogy of the Second Age for Exalted
Exalted
Exalted is a role-playing game published by White Wolf Publishing. The game is classified as high fantasy, but may be more accurately described as "mythic fantasy", as the developer specifically avoided drawing on J. R. R. Tolkien, but rather turned to a mixture of world mythologies for inspiration...
. He has also written original fiction, including the novella Shadows In Green from Yard Dog Press and Firefly Rain due out in 2008. Currently, he is part of the Storytellers Unplugged blogging collective, as well as serving as one of the executives of the IGDA's Writers Special Interest Group.
His namesake, Rich Dansky, appears as a player character
Player character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
in the scenario "And I Feel Fine," by Geoffrey C. Grabowski, which was published in the One Shots sourcebook for Unknown Armies
Unknown Armies
Unknown Armies is an occult-themed role playing game by John Tynes and Greg Stolze and published by Atlas Games. Subtitled "A roleplaying game of power and consequences"...
. The fictional version of Dansky is described as "a bohemian academic living the simple life of a trailer park
Trailer park
A trailer park is a semi-permanent or permanent area for mobile homes or travel trailers. The main reasons for living in such trailer parks are the often lower cost compared to other housing, and the ability to move to a new area more quickly and easily, for example when changing jobs to another...
manager." Another role-playing game author, Rebecca Sean Borgstrom also appears as a player character in the same scenario.
He is married to author Melinda Thielbar.