Remembering RPG Legend Jennell Jaquays
RPG legend, game designer, artist, and activist Jennell Jaquays passed away yesterday at the age of 68 after a lengthy battle with Guillain-Barré.
One of the icons of the earliest days of RPGs, Jennell Jaquays, has passed. Jennell was an icon of the early days of RPGs as a game designer, writer, and artist. Her influence isn’t limited to D&D. She worked for all the big names at the time: TSR, Judges Guild, and Chaosium. Jaquays eventually made the leap to video games, having worked on Age of Empires, Quake, and Halo Wars, among others.
In addition to her game design work, Jennell was a strong advocate for trans rights. She was the Creative Director for the Transgender Human Rights Institute, and was one of the big voices behind Leelah’s Law.
In short, several industries and the continued fight for social justice lost an icon this week.
Remembering Jennell Jaquays
The early days of Dungeons & Dragons were defined as much by the adventure modules that challenged players as they were by the core rulebooks. And Jennell Jaquays wrote and designed adventures that still hold up almost fifty years later.
Her works include legendary adventures like Dark Tower, which is widely considered to be one of the best adventure modules of all time. Back in 2004, Dungeon Magazine ranked it as the 21st greatest adventure – and it was the sole adventure module to make the list that wasn’t produced by TSR.
She also wrote 1979’s Caverns of Thracia, which was noted for its flexibility and variety. It has since become hailed as a “classic of the genre” and is one of the pillars of OSR design.
While at TSR, Jaquays helped flesh out the Forgotten Realms while it was still baking, working on titles like Savage Frontier, which explored the region and peoples of the North. She did amazing artwork for modules like Dragon Mountain, as well as writing the Campaign Sourcebook and Catacomb Guide. Which is considered to be one of the most exhaustive DM advice books.
This book was all about writing campaigns, running campaigns, and how to be a good DM.
In the realm of video games, Jennell worked as an artist and level designer for games like Quake 2 and 3, and Halo Wars. She also co-founded the SMU Guildhall, one of the earliest video game development programs in the US.
A GoFundMe had been raising funds for Jennell’s medical care and will now help to cover funeral costs. If you have ever been impacted by her work, please consider donating to Jennell’s GoFundMe.
We’ve lost an icon this week.
