Elizabeth T. Danforth is an illustrator, editor, writer, and scenario designer for

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 and

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games 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 gener ...

s. She has worked in the

game industry Gaming industry, game industry, or games industry may refer to: * Gambling industry ** Especially in reference to casinos ** Online gambling industry * Video game industry * Industry related to games, generically * GamesIndustry, subsidiary of '' ...

continuously since the mid 1970s.

Early life and education

She received her BA in Anthropology from

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in t ...

, and her MLS from the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. ...

Creative work

Flying Buffalo Flying Buffalo Inc. (FBI) is a game company with a line of role playing games, card games, and other gaming materials. The company's founder, Rick Loomis, began game publishing with ''Nuclear Destruction'', a play-by-mail game which started the p ...

hired Danforth as a staff artist and for production work in 1978, and published her magazine ''Sorcerer's Apprentice'' (1978–1983) for 17 issues. While employed with Flying Buffalo, Danforth is noted for editing and developing the Fifth Edition of Flying Buffalo's flagship role playing game, ''

Tunnels & Trolls ''Tunnels & Trolls'' (abbreviated ''T&T'') is a fantasy role-playing game designed by Ken St. Andre and first published in 1975 by Flying Buffalo. The second modern role-playing game published, it was written by Ken St. Andre to be a more access ...

''. She reprised this role in 2013 for the new edition, '' Deluxe Tunnels & Trolls''. Danforth is known primarily as a freelance artist in the fantasy and science fiction genres, with the majority of her body of work illustrating for the game industry between 1976 and 2004. She has created book covers, maps, and illustrations for many of the significant game publishers including

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games. It is currently a subsidi ...

TSR, Inc TSR, Inc. was an American game publishing company, best known as the original publisher of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). Its earliest incarnation, Tactical Studies Rules, was founded in October 1973 by Gary Gygax and Don Kaye. Gygax had bee ...

Alderac Entertainment Group Alderac Entertainment Group, or AEG, is a publisher of role-playing game, board game, and collectible card game products. AEG was formed by Jolly Blackburn in 1993 and is based in the city of Ontario, California. Prior to getting into their cur ...

FASA Corporation Fasa ( fa, فسا, Fasā, also Romanized as Fassa) is a city and capital of Fasa County, Fars Province, Iran. At the 2016 census, its population was 110,825, in 33,379 families. Fasa is the fourth most populous city of the province. The city date ...

Iron Crown Enterprises Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE) is a publishing company that has produced role playing, board, miniature, and collectible card games since 1980. Many of ICE's better-known products were related to J. R. R. Tolkien's world of Middle-earth, but the '' ...

, GDW, and more. She produced over 50 pieces of art for the collectible card game ''

Magic: the Gathering ''Magic: The Gathering'' (colloquially known as ''Magic'' or ''MTG'') is a Tabletop game, tabletop and Digital collectible card game, digital Collectible card game, collectable card game created by Richard Garfield. Released in 1993 by Wizards ...

'' (produced by Wizards of the Coast) as well as an equal quantity of illustrative artwork for the ''

Middle-earth Collectible Card Game Middle-earth Collectible Card Game (MECCG) is an out-of-print collectible card game released by Iron Crown Enterprises in late 1995. It is the first CCG based on J.R.R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth, with added content from ICE's ...

'', ''

Legend of the Five Rings Legend of the Five Rings (often abbreviated ''L5R'') is a fictional setting created by John Zinser, Dave Seay, Ryan Dancey, Dave Williams, DJ Trindle, Matt Wilson and John Wick and first published by a joint venture between Alderac Entertainm ...

'', and many others. Her maps and illustrations appear in novels and anthologies from

Bantam Spectra Bantam Spectra is the science fiction division of American publishing company Bantam Books, which is owned by Random House. According to their website, Spectra publishes "science fiction, fantasy, horror, and speculative novels from recognizab ...

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles, and is the largest publisher of Chinese sci ...

, DAW Books, and

St Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...

. She has freelanced for the computer game industry, developing scenarios for ''

Wasteland Wasteland or waste land may refer to: * Desert or barren area * an uncultivated area of land, whether wooded or not, whether common land or not Art, entertainment, and media Comics * ''Wasteland'' (DC Comics), 1987–1989 anthology-style horror ...

'', ''

Wasteland 2 ''Wasteland 2'' is a post-apocalyptic role-playing video game developed by inXile Entertainment and published by Deep Silver. It is the sequel to 1988's '' Wasteland'', and was successfully crowdfunded through Kickstarter. After the postponemen ...

'', and two licensed ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vario ...

'' computer games from

Interplay Interplay may refer to: * Interplay (John Coltrane album), ''Interplay'' (John Coltrane album), 1957 * Interplay (Bill Evans album), ''Interplay'' (Bill Evans album), 1962 * Interplay (Al Haig album), ''Interplay'' (Al Haig album), 1976 * Interpla ...

. She worked on Interplay's '' Meantime'' which was never released. She was the lead developer for

New World Computing New World Computing, Inc. was an American video game developer and publisher founded in 1984 by Jon Van Caneghem, his wife, Michaela Van Caneghem, and Mark Caldwell. It was best known for its work on the Might and Magic role-playing video game ...

's ''

'' computer game, and worked on projects with

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted th ...

. At the 1995 Origins Awards, held in July 1996, Danforth was inducted into the Academy of Gaming Arts and Design's Hall of Fame. The Academy is the creative arm of GAMA, the Game Manufacturer's Association. She is a lifetime member of ASFA, the

Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists The Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists, ASFA, is a non-profit, educational association, whose membership is made up of amateur and professional artists, art directors, art show managers, publishers and collectors involved in the vis ...

. In 2014, she was chosen by vote as a "famous game designer" to be featured as the king of hearts in

's 2014 Famous Game Designers Playing Card Deck. Danforth has been guest of honor at numerous science fiction conventions over the past 30 years, including

Cascadia Con Cascadia Con was the eighth North American Science Fiction Convention, held in SeaTac, Washington, on September 1–5, 2005, at the Seattle Airport Hilton and Conference Center. This NASFiC was held because Glasgow, Scotland, was selected as the ...

, the

North American Science Fiction Convention NASFiC, a.k.a. the North American Science Fiction Convention, is a science fiction convention scheduled only during years where the Worldcon is being held outside the North American continent. NASFiC bids are voted on by the membership of the Wo ...

held in Seattle in 2005. Other work includes: *''

Irish Country series The Irish Country Novels are an ongoing series of historical fiction books written by Patrick Taylor and published by Forge Books. The first book in the series, ''An Irish Country Doctor'', was originally published as ''The Apprenticeship of Docto ...

'' (novels by

Patrick Taylor Patrick or Pat Taylor may refer to: * Patrick Taylor (American football) (born 1998), American football running back * Patrick Taylor (author) (born 1941), Irish-Canadian author and doctor * Patrick Taylor (politician) (1862–1922), Australian pol ...

; publisher

Macmillan Publishers Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publ ...

: maps * '' Battletech Collectible Card Game'' (

): card artist * '' Cheysuli and Sworddancer'' (novels by

Jennifer Roberson Jennifer Mitchell Roberson (born October 26, 1953) is an American author of fantasy and historical literature. Personal life Roberson has lived in Arizona since 1957. Though she grew up in Phoenix, the author lived in Flagstaff for 12 years ...

; publisher DAW Books): maps * ''

Dragon Crown War A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

'' (novel by

Michael A. Stackpole Michael Austin Stackpole (born November 27, 1957) is an American science fiction and fantasy author best known for his ''Star Wars'' and '' BattleTech'' books. He was born in Wausau, Wisconsin, but raised in Vermont. He has a BA in history ...

; publisher:

; 2002): map * '' Highwaymen: Robbers and Rogues'' (anthology edited by

; publisher: DAW Books; 1997): illustrator * ''

Legend of the Burning Sands ''Legend of the Burning Sands'' (''LBS'') is an out-of-print collectible card game (CCG) published by Five Rings Publishing Group (FRPG, then a subsidiary of Wizards of the Coast) in July 1998. It was a spin-off from the earlier CCG ''Legend of t ...

'' ( Five Rings Publishing): card artist * ''

Legend of the Five Rings Collectible Card Game ''Legend of the Five Rings'' (''L5R'') is an out-of-print collectible card game created by a joint venture featuring Alderac Entertainment Group and ISOMEDIA in 1995 and published until 2015, when it was announced that the game would be discon ...

'' ( Alderac Entertainment): card artist * ''

Lord of the Rings Adventure Game ''Lord of the Rings Adventure Game'' is a role-playing game based on the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien (specifically '' The Lord of the Rings'' and '' The Hobbit'') under license from Tolkien Enterprises. Iron Crown Enterprises (I.C.E.) publi ...

'' and ''

Middle-earth Role Playing ''Middle-earth Role Playing'' (MERP) is a 1984 role-playing game based on J. R. R. Tolkien ''The Lord of the Rings'' and ''The Hobbit'' under license from Tolkien Enterprises. Iron Crown Enterprises (I.C.E.) published the game until they lost ...

'' ( I.C.E.): illustrator of numerous books and modules. * ''

'': card artist in Legends, Ice Age, Fallen Empires, Homelands, Alliances, Coldsnap, Mirage, Time Spiral, and in the Unhinged parody set. Her art appears in '' Magic: The Gathering Online'' as well as on several promotional cards. * '' Of Dice and Pen'' (anthology by editor Fred Poutre; publisher:

Flying Pen Press Flying may refer to: * Flight, the process of flying * Aviation, the creation and operation of aircraft Music Albums * ''Flying'' (Grammatrain album), 1997 * ''Flying'' (Jonathan Fagerlund album), 2008 * ''Flying'' (UFO album), 1971 * ''Fl ...

, 2008): short story * ''

Spirit Gate Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids ...

'' (novel by

Kate Elliott Kate Elliott may refer to: * Kate Elliott (actress) Kate Elliott (born 30 December 1981) is a New Zealand television and film actress. She was born in and currently resides in Auckland, New Zealand. Kate played the role of one of the "Libera ...

; publisher:

, 1997): maps * ''

'' (1988 video game from

): scenario designer * '' Star Trek: 25th Anniversary'' (1992 video game from

): scenario designer * '' Star Trek: Judgment Rites'' (1993 video game from

): scenario designer * '' Tunnels & Trolls Fifth Edition'' (publisher:

Flying Buffalo Inc Flying Buffalo Inc. (FBI) is a game company with a line of role playing games, card games, and other gaming materials. The company's founder, Rick Loomis, began game publishing with ''Nuclear Destruction'', a play-by-mail game which started the pr ...

, 1979): editor, developer and illustrator * '' Crusaders of Khazan'' (video game,

, 1990): lead writer/designer Danforth continues to do art and illustration in a freelance capacity. She has been tapped to provide scenarios and design work for ''

''.

Academic work

Danforth completed a master's degree in Information and Library Science (

, 2008), and was one of a dozen hand-selected "gaming experts" who participated in the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

's million-dollar grant-funded project to explore how gaming can be used to improve problem-solving and literacy skills, and to develop a model gaming "toolbox" for gaming in libraries. Ten libraries nationwide were selected to receive a onetime grant of $5,000 with funds used to expand on or add literacy-based gaming experiences at the library for youth ages 10–18. From May 2009 to December 2011, Danforth wrote the "Games, Gamers and Gaming" blog and column for '' Library Journal'' as an advocate and popularizer of games in libraries.(May 1, 2009). "Next issue", '' Library Journal'' 134 (8): 57. She speaks at professional and fan conferences, and at libraries on gaming-related topics. Based in Arizona, she continues to do freelance art and writing.

References

External links

*
Games, Gamers and Gaming blog

Verizon Foundation press release on the gaming in libraries project
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Danforth, Liz Year of birth missing (living people) American game designers American speculative fiction artists American video game designers Fantasy artists Interplay Entertainment people Living people Role-playing game artists Science fiction artists Video game writers Women science fiction and fantasy writers Women video game designers