Chris Birch is a
game designer
Game design is the art of applying design and aesthetics to create a game for entertainment or for educational, exercise, or experimental purposes. Increasingly, elements and principles of game design are also applied to other interactions, in ...
who has worked primarily on
role-playing game
A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...
s (RPGs).
Early life
When Birch was 8, one of his brothers introduced him to ''
Dungeons & Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (T ...
''. He then moved on to ''
Ogre
An ogre ( feminine: ogress) is a legendary monster depicted as a large, hideous, man-like being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the wor ...
'' and other board wargames as well as
Napoleonic
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
wargames.
Without many friends who shared his passions, Birch started to design solo rules for his various games.
Birch worked in London in the music business. He is married to Rita.
Career
As a young adult, Birch had read the British comic series ''
Starblazer: Science Adventure in Picture'' (1979–1991). In August 2006, Birch discovered that the ''Starblazer'' series had an RPG playing game license available. Years earlier, Birch had discussed a board game design with
Angus Abranson
Angus Abranson is a game designer, publisher and poet who has worked primarily on role-playing games.
Career
Angus Abranson started playing ''AD&D'' in 1984, and by the age of 14 he was working for Leisure Games - one of the top game retailers ...
of
Cubicle 7
Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd is an Irish games company that creates and publishes tabletop games. Best known for its ''Doctor Who'' and ''Lord of the Rings'' games, Cubicle 7 offers titles covering a range of licensed and self-developed propertie ...
, so he reached out to Abranson about creating a ''Starblazer'' RPG. Abranson was interested and encouraged Birch to create his first professional game, ''
Starblazer Adventures
''Starblazer Adventures'' is a role-playing game published by Cubicle 7 in 2008.
History
In May 2007 Cubicle 7 Entertainment announced that they were producing a licensed ''Starblazer'' role-playing game using the FATE 3.0 system. The game was ...
'' with friend
Stuart Newman
Stuart Alan Newman (born April 4, 1945 in New York City) is a professor of cell biology and anatomy at New York Medical College in Valhalla, NY, United States. His research centers around three program areas: cellular and molecular mechan ...
.
Birch and Newman decided to use the ''
Fate
Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual.
Fate
Although ofte ...
'' game system rather than try to invent a new game engine.
Cubicle 7 published the result in 2008.
Two years later, Birch worked with
Sarah Newton
Sarah Louise Newton, ( Hick; 19 July 1961) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Truro and Falmouth from 2010 to 2019.
Early life
Born in Gloucestershire, Newton moved to Cornwall
Cornw ...
to design ''
Legends of Anglerre
''Legends of Anglerre'' is a role-playing game published by Cubicle 7 in 2010.
Description
''Legends of Anglerre'' is a ''Fate'' system game. Legends was a sequel to the 2008 Starblazer Adventures RPG, and like the earlier game drew on material ...
'' (2010), an RPG based on fantasy stories published in ''Starblazer''.
In 2012, Birch set up
Modiphius Entertainment
Modiphius Entertainment is an RPG and tabletop game publisher based in Fulham, London. Modiphius was founded in 2012 by husband-wife team Rita and Chris Birch to publish their first game ''Achtung! Cthulhu''. The company have since published a n ...
with himself as the Chief Creative Officer, and used
Kickstarter
Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, K ...
to raise the funds for the production of ''
Achtung! Cthulhu'', which Birch produced and directed.
Birch co-founded the company with his partner Rita. Birch was the publishing director for Modiphius, and also organised the Dragonmeet convention in 2017.
Birch created the game ''Cohorts of Cthulhu''. Birch developed the universe of the ''Dreams and Machines'' role-playing game.
[https://www.tabletopgamingnews.com/modiphius-entertainment-announces-pre-order-for-dreams-and-machines-starter-set/]
References
Living people
Role-playing game designers
Year of birth missing (living people)
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