Patrick Lucien Price (? - July 2023) was a

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 editor who worked on the ''

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 ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

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 ...

from TSR.

Early life and education

Pat Price was born in

Whiting, Indiana Whiting ( ) is a city located in the Chicago Metropolitan Area in Lake County, Indiana, which was founded in 1889. The city is located on the southern shore of Lake Michigan. It is roughly 16 miles from the Chicago Loop and two miles from Chicago ...

. Price earned a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in French and Spanish from Marian College in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, Indiana, and worked as a teacher and tutor in those languages for several years.

Career

Pat's brother, Michael Pierre Price, was a game designer for

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 ...

Pat answered the call for new editors at TSR, beginning as a games editor in 1980 for the revisions ''

Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set The ''Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set'' is a set of rulebooks for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game. First published in 1977, it saw a handful of revisions and reprintings. The first edition was written by J. Eric Holme ...

'' and ''Expert Set''. A year later, he was promoted to manager of the Pre-Press Department, and managed the department for nearly three years before transferring to TSR's magazines department. “By this time, I had the technical background to be a good editor, and I could be useful in all phases of the operation,” Price said. “I’m not a gaming fan, or a would-be game designer, or a would-be writer. I like the editor’s role—the responsibility for helping people come up with ideas and make them work. I think I’ve got a good critical sense for identifying problem areas in manuscripts and advising writers on improvements?” Price worked on the editorial staff for ''

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, reviewing all fiction submissions for ''Dragon'', editing book reviews, and other editorial duties. Price also worked as Assistant Editor for ''

Strategy & Tactics ''Strategy & Tactics'' (''S&T'') is a wargaming magazine now published by Decision Games, notable for publishing a new wargame in each issue. Beginnings ''Strategy & Tactics'' was first published in January 1967 under its original editor, Chri ...

'', and Managing Editor for ''

Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearance ...

'' while with TSR. With George H. Scithers, he coordinated all business and production aspects of ''Amazing Stories''. While working as editor for the magazine, Price left his fulltime position at TSR as director of periodicals to go freelance and work on nonfiction writing in October 1988, and continued to edit ''Amazing'' but his editing on ''Dragon'' was taken over by Barbara G. Young. Price also worked on ''

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, and contributed to the

Dragonlance ''Dragonlance'' is a shared universe created by Laura and Tracy Hickman, and expanded by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis under the direction of TSR, Inc. into a series of fantasy novels. The Hickmans conceived ''Dragonlance'' while driving i ...

supplement, '' Leaves from the Inn of the Last Home'' (1987).

References

External links

* 2023 deaths Dungeons & Dragons game designers People from Whiting, Indiana Year of birth missing {{D&D-stub