Angel Leigh McCoy (born December 13, 1962) is an American

game designer Game design is the process of creating and shaping the mechanics, systems, rules, and gameplay of a game. Game design processes apply to board games, card games, dice games, casino games, role-playing games, sports, Wargame (video games), war ga ...

and fiction writer based in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington.

Early life and education

Originally from the Midwest, Angel Leigh McCoy grew up delving into fantasy and horror novels and won her first essay contest in sixth grade. She studied French Literature at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

in Champaign-Urbana.

Career

She is credited with published work in the

role-playing games A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) 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, eith ...

industry as far back as 1994. Over the years, she has designed RPG material for companies such as White Wolf,

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (WotC or Wizards) is an American game Publishing, publisher, most of which are based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science-fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail game stores. In 1999, toy ...

FASA FASA Corporation was an American publisher of role-playing games, wargaming, wargames and board games between 1980 and 2001, after which they closed publishing operations for several years, becoming an IP holding company under the name FASA In ...

, and

Pinnacle Entertainment Group Pinnacle Entertainment Group is a publisher of role-playing games and wargames. History Shane Lacy Hensley wanted to create a 19th-century miniatures game so he contacted the company Chameleon Eclectic to get the game published. As a result '' Fi ...

. In 2001, she was writing in the

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

industry for

Microsoft Game Studios Xbox Game Studios (previously known as Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, and Microsoft Games) is an American video game publisher based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000, spun out from an internal Games Group, fo ...

, writing articles as Xbox.com correspondent Wireless Angel. She transferred to

ArenaNet ArenaNet, LLC is an American video game developer and subsidiary of NCSoft, founded in 2000 by Mike O'Brien (game developer), Mike O'Brien, Patrick Wyatt and Jeff Strain and located in Bellevue, Washington. They are most notable as developers o ...

in 2007, where she was part of a team effort to make the MMORPG ''

Guild Wars 2 ''Guild Wars 2'' is a free-to-play, massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by ArenaNet and published by NCSoft. Set in the fantasy world of Tyria, the core game follows the re-emergence of Destiny's Edge, a disbanded guild dedi ...

''. Her side projects have included: founding and providing creative direction for an indie game team (Games Omniverse LLC); short fiction writing; webmaster for the Horror Writers Association; producing the Wily Writers Speculative Fiction Podcast; and editing short story anthologies "Deep Cuts", and "Another Dimension Anthology".

Publications

Novella

:* ''Charlie Darwin, or the Trine of 1809'', Nevermet Press, 2011.

Short fiction

McCoy has published short fiction in various anthologies and magazines, including: :* "Ravens in the Library", Quiet Thunder :* "Vile Things: Extreme Deviations of Horror", Comet Press :* "Masters of Horror Anthology", Triskaideka Books :* "Cobalt City Christmas", Timid Pirates Productions. :* "Fear of the Dark", HorrorBound :* Growing Dread: Biopunk Visions", by Timid Pirate Publishing :* Tales for Canterbury", Random Static :* Necrotic Tissue", issue 14, Stygian Publications

Computer game work

McCoy worked as a game reviewer and journalist for

and

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...

. She currently works for

as lore and narrative designer on ''

''.

Role-playing game work

McCoy's work in the

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as 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 ...

industry includes supplements for

Forgotten Realms ''Forgotten Realms'' is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setti ...

;

's ''

Earthdawn ''Earthdawn'' is a fantasy role-playing game, originally produced by FASA in 1993. In 1999 it was licensed to Living Room Games, which produced the ''Second Edition''. It was licensed to RedBrick in 2003, who released the Classic Edition in 200 ...

'';

West End Games West End Games (WEG) was a company that made board, role-playing, and war games. It was founded by Daniel Scott Palter in 1974 in New York City, but later moved to Honesdale, Pennsylvania. Its product lines included ''Star Wars'', ''Paranoia' ...

' World of Necroscope;

Pinnacle Entertainment Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. was an American gambling and hospitality company. It was acquired by Penn National Gaming in 2018. At the time of acquisition, it operated sixteen casino properties, located in Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mis ...

's ''

Deadlands ''Deadlands'' is a genre-mixing alternate history role-playing game which combines the Western and horror genres, with some steampunk elements. The original game was written by Shane Lacy Hensley and published by Pinnacle Entertainment Group i ...

''; and White Wolf's ''

Mage: The Ascension ''Mage: The Ascension'' is a supernatural fiction tabletop role-playing game first published on August 19, 1993, by White Wolf Publishing. It is set in the World of Darkness universe. History Following the success of '' Vampire: The Masquerade ...

'', '' Vampire: The Masquerade'', '' Hunter: The Reckoning'' and '' Changeling: The Dreaming''. ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

'' product line, TSR : * '' The Magic of Faerun'', co-author; 2000 '' Changeling: The Dreaming'' product line,

White Wolf Publishing White Wolf Entertainment AB, formerly White Wolf Publishing, was an American roleplaying game and book publisher. The company was founded in 1991 as a merger between Lion Rampant (game publisher), Lion RampantArtHaus Publishing : * ''Pooka Kithbook'', ArtHaus Publishing; 1999 : * '' Inanimae: The Secret Way'', contributing author; 1998 : * ''Satyr Kithbook'', 1997 : * ''Player's Guide'', contributing author, 1997 : * ''Second Edition'', contributing author, 1997 : * ''Storyteller's Guide'', contributing author; 1995 : * '' Shadows on the Hill'', contributing author; 1995 ''

'' product line,

White Wolf Publishing White Wolf Entertainment AB, formerly White Wolf Publishing, was an American roleplaying game and book publisher. The company was founded in 1991 as a merger between Lion Rampant (game publisher), Lion RampantTechnomancer's Toybox'', contributing author, 1997 : * '' Beyond the Barriers'', contributing author, 1996 '' Vampire: The Masquerade'' product line,

White Wolf Publishing White Wolf Entertainment AB, formerly White Wolf Publishing, was an American roleplaying game and book publisher. The company was founded in 1991 as a merger between Lion Rampant (game publisher), Lion RampantEverQuest Role-Playing Game ''EverQuest Role-Playing Game'' is a role-playing game based on the ''EverQuest'' fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). The game was published by White Wolf, Inc., White Wolf under its Sword and Sorcery Studios imprint ...

'' product line,

White Wolf Publishing White Wolf Entertainment AB, formerly White Wolf Publishing, was an American roleplaying game and book publisher. The company was founded in 1991 as a merger between Lion Rampant (game publisher), Lion RampantSurvival Guide'', contributing author; 1999 : * ''Hunter: The Reckoning'', contributing author; 1999 '' Millennium's End'' product line, Chameleon Eclectic : * ''The Medellín Agent'', co-author; 1997 : * ''Overlay Accessory Kit'', contributing author; 1994 ''

'' product line,

Corporation : * ''Magic'', contributing author; 1995 : * ''Legends of Earthdawn'', contributing author; 1995 Miscellaneous : * '' Aberrant'': ''Project Utopia'',

White Wolf Publishing White Wolf Entertainment AB, formerly White Wolf Publishing, was an American roleplaying game and book publisher. The company was founded in 1991 as a merger between Lion Rampant (game publisher), Lion RampantDeadlands ''Deadlands'' is a genre-mixing alternate history role-playing game which combines the Western and horror genres, with some steampunk elements. The original game was written by Shane Lacy Hensley and published by Pinnacle Entertainment Group i ...

'': ''Marshall Law'',

, contributing author, 1996 : * ''World of Necroscope: Book of Adventures'',

, contributing author; 1995

References

External links

*
Angel's Encyclopedia of Speculative Fiction entry

Wily Writers Speculative Fiction site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCoy, Angel Leigh 1962 births 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century American women writers American fantasy writers American game designers American horror writers American online publication editors American video game designers American women horror writers American women novelists American women science fiction and fantasy writers American women short story writers American women video game designers Dungeons & Dragons game designers Guild Wars Living people Novelists from Illinois People from Elgin, Illinois University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni White Wolf game designers