Nigel D. Findley (July 22, 1959 – February 19, 1995) was a Canadian game designer, editor, and an author of science fiction and fantasy novels and

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 ...

s (RPGs).

Biography

Nigel Findley was born in

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

in 1959 to Canadian parents, and lived in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

before moving with his family to

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

in 1969. Although Findley started his career in business, in the mid-1980s he began to design games and write RPG articles and adventures for publication in his spare time. He was successful enough that in 1990, he decided to become a full-time freelance writer, and eventually authored or co-authored twelve novels as well as over one hundred other publications. He wrote material for many game companies, including fantasy role-playing adventures and supplements for TSR, ''

Shadowrun ''Shadowrun'' is a science fantasy tabletop role-playing game set in an alternate future in which cybernetics, magic in fiction, magic and fantasy creatures co-exist. It combines genres of cyberpunk, urban fantasy, and crime fiction, crime, wit ...

'' supplements and fiction for

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 ...

, ''

Role Aids ''Role Aids'' is a line of role-playing game supplements published by Mayfair Games starting in 1982 intended for use with ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons''. Publication history As a veteran role-playing gamer, Bill Fawcett (writer), Bill Fawcett de ...

'' supplements for

Mayfair Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts ...

, ''

The Primal Order ''The Primal Order'', or ''TPO'', is a religion-based fantasy roleplaying game supplement. Of particular note, TPO was the first work published by Wizards of the Coast and its president, Peter Adkison. Through ''TPO'', Wizards of the Coast introd ...

'' for

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 ...

, and various works for

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' ...

and

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 Rampant He is credited with parts of the design of ''

Greyhawk Adventures ''Greyhawk Adventures'' is an accessory for the ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' (''AD&D'') ''World of Greyhawk'' campaign setting. Contents ''Greyhawk Adventures'' contains information about Greyhawk deities, clerics, major non-player characters ...

'' and ''

Fate of Istus ''Fate of Istus'' is a multipart adventure for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' roleplaying game, taking place in the '' World of Greyhawk'' campaign setting. The module is designed for characters of any class or level, and was published as an in-game ...

'', and was the sole author of '' Greyspace''. RPG historian

Shannon Appelcline use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates = ...

noted that Findley's ''Shadowrun'' adventure '' The Universal Brotherhood'' (1990) was particularly well received.

Awards

* Findley won a 1992

Origins Award The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the gaming industry. They are presented by the Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for games released in the preceding year. For example, t ...

for '' GURPS Illuminati''. * In 1994 Findley was inducted into the Origins Awards Hall of Fame.

Death

Findley died at home in Vancouver from a sudden heart attack on February 19, 1995, at the age of 35.

Legacy

* Following his death, the Origins Awards instituted the "Nigel D. Findley Memorial Award" for best role-playing product of the year. The award was given out between 1995 and 2001. '' Castle Falkenstein'' was the first recipient; ''

The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game ''The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game'' (a.k.a. ''LOTR TCG'') is an out-of-print collectible card game produced by Decipher, Inc. Released November 2001, it is based on Peter Jackson's ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy and the J. R. R. ...

'' was the final winner. * Lisa Smedman, Editorial Director of Vancouver RPG magazine ''Adventures Unlimited'' wrote, "If a novel had his name on it, readers could be guaranteed that it was fast-paced, fun, and action-packed. If an adventure bore his byline, players could be assured of Machiavellian plot twists, innovative settings, and authentically motivated characters ... Those of us who worked with him directly or knew him as a friend can testify to his easygoing nature, his willingness to work with others, his refusal to brag about his many accomplishments and his generosity of spirit."

Bibliography

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons

* ''

Dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

'' magazine ** "The Ecology of the Peryton" (February 1984, ''Dragon'' issue #82) ** "The Ecology of the Will-o-Wisp" (July 1985, ''Dragon'' issue #99) ** "The Ecology of the Greenhag" (September 1987, ''Dragon'' issue #125) ** "The Ecology of the Gibbering Mouther" (August 1990, ''Dragon'' issue #160) ** "The Mind of the Vampire" (October 1990, ''Dragon'' issue #162) ** "Picture This!" (March 1992, ''Dragon'' issue 179) * ''

Dungeon A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably derives more from the Renaissance period. An oubliette (fr ...

'' magazine ** "Caermor" (November 1986, ''Dungeon'' issue 2) ** "Nightshade" (September 1987, ''Dungeon'' issue 7) ** "Light of Lost Souls" (July 1988, ''Dungeon'' issue 12) ** "A Question of Balance" (November 1988, ''Dungeon'' issue 14) ** "Necropolis" (March 1989, ''Dungeon'' issue 16) ** "The Serpent's Tooth" (September 1989, ''Dungeon'' issue 19) ** "White Fang" (November 1989, ''Dungeon'' issue 20) * All game worlds ** '' The Castle Guide'' (1990 sourcebook, ) Design ** ''

Tome of Magic ''Tome of Magic'' (abbreviated ToM) is a handbook of rules and guidelines for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. As its name implies, it is a supplement to be used to expand the magical options available in the game. It was first releas ...

'' (1991 sourcebook, ) Design ** '' Dungeons of Despair'' (1999 adventure, ) Coauthor *

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 ...

** ''

Draconomicon The ''Draconomicon'' is the title for several optional sourcebooks for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game, providing supplementary game mechanics for dragons specifically. Different ''Draconomicon'' books have been issued for the 2nd, ...

'' (1990 sourcebook, ) ** ''

Ninja Wars is a 1982 Japanese jidaigeki film directed by Kōsei Saitō. It is based on Futaro Yamada's novel of the same title. Cast * Hiroyuki Sanada as Fuefuki Jotaro * Noriko Watanabe as Kagaribi * Mikio Narita as Kashin Koji * Akira Nakao as Matsuna ...

'' (1990 adventure, ) ** '' Cult of the Dragon'', FR (1998, ) Additional/original design *

Greyhawk Greyhawk, also known as the World of Greyhawk, is a fictional world designed as a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy roleplaying game. Although not the first campaign world developed for ''Dungeons & Dragons''—Dave Arneson' ...

** ''

'' (1988 sourcebook, ) Additional design ** ''

'' (1989 adventure, ) Coauthor *

Lankhmar Lankhmar is a fictional city in the ''Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser'' stories by Fritz Leiber. It is situated on the world of Nehwon, just west of the Great Salt Marsh and east of the River Hlal, and serves as the home of Leiber's two antiheroes. ...

** '' Thieves of Lankhmar'' (1990 adventure, ) *

Ravenloft Ravenloft is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' roleplaying game. It is an alternate time-space existence known as a '' pocket dimension'' or demiplane, called the Demiplane of Dread, which consists of a collection of land piece ...

** '' Van Richten's Guide to Vampires'' (1991 sourcebook, ) ** '' Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts'' (1993 sourcebook, ) ** Both reprinted in ''Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendium: Volume One'' (1999, ) *

Spelljammer ''Spelljammer'' is a campaign setting originally published for the ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' ( 2nd edition) role-playing game, which features a fantastic (as opposed to scientific) outer space environment. Subsequent editions have included ...

** '' Skull & Crossbows'' (1990 adventure, ) ** ''

Practical Planetology Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that views language and thought as tools for prediction, problem solving, and action (philosophy), action, rather than describing, representing, or mirroring reality. Pragmatists contend that most phi ...

'' (1991 sourcebook, ) ** ''Into the Void'' (1991 novel, ) ** '' Greyspace'' (1992 sourcebook, ) crossover with Greyhawk ** ''The Broken Sphere'' (1993 novel, ) *

(unlicensed books published by Mayfair Games) ** ''Witches'' (1990 sourcebook, ) ** ''Psionics'' (1991 sourcebook, ) ** ''To Hell and Back, Realms of Fantasy'' (1993 boxed set, ) ** ''Seed of Darkness'' (1993 novel, )

Shadowrun

Sourcebooks A sourcebook is a collection of texts on a particular subject intended for use as an introduction to the subject. The selected texts are typically edited, laid out, and typeset in a uniform format before binding, and the result is often a hardcov ...

** '' The Universal Brotherhood'' (1990, ) ** ''Paranormal Animals of North America'' (1990, ) ** ''The Neo-Anarchist's Guide to North America'' (1991, ) "Quebec and Quebec City" ** ''Native American Nations, Volume One'' (1991, ) ** ''Native American Nations, Volume Two'' (1991, ) ** ''The Neo-Anarchists' Guide to Real Life'' (1992, ) ** ''Shadowrun, Second Edition'' (1992, ) Additional Material ** ''Tir Tairngire'' (1993, ) ** '' Corporate Shadowfiles'' (1993, ) ** ''Lone Star'' (1994, ) ** '' Denver: The City of Shadows'' (1994, ) with

Tom Dowd Thomas John Dowd (October 20, 1925 – October 27, 2002) was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multitrack recording method. Dowd worked on a veritable "who's who" of recordings ...

and Tom Wong ** '' Aztlan'' (1995, ) ** ''Underworld Sourcebook'' (1997, ) Concepts ** ''Shadowrun Gamemaster Screen'': "Critters" (1998, ) Other original design *

Adventures An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme s ...

** ''One Stage Before'' (1992, ) ** ''Paradise Lost'' (1994, ) with Tom Wong ** ''

Double Exposure In photography and cinematography, a multiple exposure is the superimposition of two or more exposures to create a single image, and double exposure has a corresponding meaning in respect of two images. The exposure values may or may not be id ...

'' (1994, ) with Fraser Cane ** ''Harlequin's Back'' (1994, ) "Aftermath" and Story Development ** "Denver Double Cross" (Spring 1995, ''Adventures Unlimited'', issue #1) *

Novels A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of '' ...

** ''2XS'' (1991, ) ** ''Shadowplay'' (1993, ) ** ''Lone Wolf'' (1994, ) ** ''House of the Sun'' (1995, )

Other RPGs

* ''

Battletech ''BattleTech'' is a wargaming and military science fiction franchise launched by FASA Corporation in 1984, acquired by WizKids in 2001, which was in turn acquired by Topps in 2003; and published since 2007 by Catalyst Game Labs. The trademark ...

Virtual World A virtual world (also called a virtual space or spaces) is a Computer simulation, computer-simulated environment which may be populated by many simultaneous users who can create a personal Avatar (computing), avatar and independently explore th ...

'' ** ''No Limits'' (1996 novel, ) * ''

Bloodshadows ''Bloodshadows'' is an original pulp adventure gamebook by West End Games that was published in 1994. It was the first setting book for WEG's MasterBook game, which used rules elements used earlier in their TORG and Shatterzone games. It was repr ...

'' ** ''Padarr Citybook'' (1995 sourcebook, ) ** ''Fires of Marl'' (1995 sourcebook, ) Additional Material * '' Buck Rogers XXVC'' ** ''Phases of the Moon'' (1991 adventure, ) * ''

Chill In computing, CHILL (an acronym for CCITT High Level Language) is a procedural programming language designed for use in telecommunication switches (the hardware used inside telephone exchanges). The language is still used for legacy systems ...

'' ** ''Horrors of North America'' (1991 sourcebook, ) ** ''Voodoo'' (1992 sourcebook, ) * ''

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 ...

'' ** ''Denizens of Earthdawn Volume Two'' (1993 sourcebook, ) ** ''The Adept's Way'' (1995 sourcebook, ) Coauthor ** ''Lost Kaer'' (1998 novel, ) *

GURPS The ''Generic Universal Role Playing System'', or ''GURPS'', is a tabletop role-playing game system published by Steve Jackson Games. The system is designed to run any genre using the same core mechanics. The core rules were first written by St ...

** '' GURPS Illuminati'' (1992 sourcebook, ) ** "Playing With Your Mind, Secret Knowledge from GURPS Illuminati" (April 1992, ''Roleplayer'' issue 28) ** ''Supporting Cast'' (1993 sourcebook, ) with Fraser Cain ** ''

Warehouse 23 A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities, tow ...

'' (1997 sourcebook, ) Additional Material * ''

'' ** ''Pawns: The Opening Move'' (1992 sourcebook, ) ** ''Knights: Strategies in Motion'' (1993 sourcebook, ) * '' Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game'' ** ''Planet of the Mists'' (1992 adventure, ) ** ''Goroth: Slave of the Empire'' (1995 supplement, ) ** "Forbidden Fruit" (Summer 1995, ''Adventures Unlimited'', issue #2) * Storytelling System ** '' The Succubus Club'' (1991 adventure, ) Coauthor ** "Raiko" (February 1992, ''White Wolf'', issue #30) ** ''Awakening: Diablerie Mexico'' (1992 adventure, ) *** Reprinted in the ''Diablerie'' compilation (1997, ) ** '' Dark Alliance: Vancouver'' (1993 sourcebook, ) with Geoff McMartin ** ''

Street Fighter is a Media mix, Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting games developed and published by Capcom. Street Fighter 1, The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by List of Street Fighter video games, six other ma ...

Player's Guide'' (1994 rulebook, ) Additional Writing ** '' Chicago Chronicles Vol. 1'' (1996 sourcebook, ) Coauthor * ''

Torg ''Torg'' is a cinematic cross-genre tabletop role-playing game created by Greg Gorden and Bill Slavicsek, with art by Daniel Horne. It was first published by West End Games (WEG) in 1990. Game resolution uses a single twenty-sided die, ''dram ...

'' ** '' Kanawa Personal Weapons'' (1991 sourcebook, ) ** ''Kanawa Heavy Weapons'' (1991 sourcebook, ) ** '' Kanawa Land Vehicles'' (1992 sourcebook, ) ** ''Out of Nippon'' (1992 novel, ) * '' Underground'' ** ''Underground Notebook'', (1993 sourcebook, ) ** ''Underground Player's Handbook'' (1994 sourcebook, ) Coauthor * '' The Whispering Vault'' ** '' Dangerous Prey'' (1995 sourcebook, )

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Findley, Nigel 1959 births 1995 deaths Dungeons & Dragons game designers Canadian fantasy writers Canadian science fiction writers Writers from Vancouver