Richard Leonard Snider (August 29, 1953–November 17, 2009) was 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 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 ...

Early life and introduction to role-playing games

Richard Snider was born to Leonard and Elizabeth Snider, one of ten children, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. After moving to Minnesota, he and his brother John joined the

Midwest Military Simulation Association The Midwest Military Simulation Association (MMSA) is a group of wargamers and military figurine collectors active during the late 1960s and 1970s. History When wargaming was in its heyday and role-playing games were first developed, the group live ...

gaming group, where he met

Dave Arneson David Lance Arneson (; October 1, 1947Minnesota Department of Health. ''Minnesota Birth Index, 1935–2002'' atabase on-line Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004. – April 7, 2009) was an American game designer best known ...

David Wesely David Wesely (born 1945) is a wargamer, board game designer, and video game developer. Wesely's developments, inspired by '' Kriegsspiel'' wargames, were important and influential in the early history of role-playing games. Early life and ed ...

, Ken Fletcher,

Dave Megarry David R. Megarry is a game designer most notable for the board game ''Dungeon!''. Career Early gaming and Blackmoor Dave Megarry was a member of the Midwest Military Simulation Association (MMSA), along with Dave Arneson, David Wesely, Ken ...

, and others. Snider was also one of the players in Arneson's original ''Blackmoor'' group. He contributed many suggestions for rule revisions and additions, and Arneson dedicated an entire section of his '' The First Fantasy Campaign'', published by

Judges Guild Judges Guild is a game publisher that has been active since 1976. The company created and sold many role-playing game supplements, periodicals and related materials, but became best known during the late 1970s and early 1980s as one of the leadi ...

in 1977, to Snider's contributions.

Career

In 1974, Richard's brother John designed ''

Star Probe ''Star Probe'' is a science fiction game written by John Snider and published in 1975 by TSR, Inc. with artwork by Paul Snider. It was to be the first of a series of interconnected space games, followed ''Star Empires''. The game consists of a 36 ...

'', a science fiction role-playing game that was published by TSR. In 1977, Richard, John,

Brian Blume Brian John Blume (January 12, 1950 – March 27, 2020) was an American game designer and writer, principally known as a former business partner of Gary Gygax at TSR, Inc., original publishers of the fantasy role-playing game '' Dungeons & Drago ...

and Greg Svenson co-authored an expansion to ''Star Probe'' titled ''

Star Empires ''Star Empires'' is a 1977 board wargame published by TSR. Gameplay ''Star Empires'' is a sequel to ''Star Probe'', and is a game in which the players control a civilization that has just discovered interstellar exploration and must explore a v ...

'', also published by TSR. In 1978, Snider coauthored the role-playing game ''

Adventures in Fantasy ''Adventures in Fantasy'' is a role-playing game published by Excalibre Games in 1979, designed by Dave Arneson and Richard Snider. The game is a fantasy system, similar to early ''Dungeons & Dragons (D&D)'', which Arneson co-created. It recei ...

'' with Arneson, published by Excalibre Games and then through Arneson's company Adventure Games. In 1981, Snider also contributed to

Chaosium Chaosium Inc. is a publisher of tabletop role-playing games established by Greg Stafford in 1975. Chaosium's major titles include ''Call of Cthulhu (role-playing game), Call of Cthulhu'', based on the horror fiction stories of H. P. Lovecraft'', R ...

's ''

Thieves' World Thieves' World is a shared world fantasy series created by Robert Lynn Asprin in 1978. The original series comprised twelve anthologies, including stories by science fiction authors Poul Anderson, John Brunner, Andrew J. Offutt, C. J. Cherry ...

''. Snider then designed a role-playing game for

Avalon Hill Avalon Hill Games Inc. is a game company that publishes wargames and strategic board games. It has also published miniature wargaming rules, role-playing games and sports simulations. It is a subsidiary of Hasbro, and operates under the compan ...

titled ''

Powers & Perils ''Powers & Perils (P&P)'' is a role-playing game written by Richard Snider and published by Avalon Hill in 1983 as a boxed set. History ''Powers & Perils'' (1984) by Richard Snider was scheduled to be released at Origins 1983, but the demonstr ...

''. It was scheduled for release at

Origins Origin(s) or The Origin may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics and manga * ''Origin'' (comics), a Wolverine comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002 * ''The Origin'' (Buffy comic), a 1999 ''Buffy the Vampire Sl ...

1983; instead the convention was filled with empty demo rooms where the game was to have appeared, and the game was not released until early in 1984. In addition to designing two supplements for ''Powers & Perils'' and the adventure ''

Tower of the Dead ''Tower of the Dead'' is the only adventure published by Avalon Hill in 1984 for the fantasy role-playing game '' Powers & Perils''. Description ''Tower of the Dead'' is a boxed set that contains a 56-page adventure book, and a cardstock gamem ...

'' that were all released in 1984 by Avalon Hill, Snider also authored several supplemental articles that appeared in Avalon Hill's shortlived role-playing game magazine ''Heroes'', including the adventure ''Doom Manor''. Sporting a much higher price tag than industry powerhouse ''

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 ...

'', ''Powers & Perils'' languished, and Avalon Hill dropped the project in 1985. Snider became a self-employed landscaper, and also wrote several novels, although only one, ''The Leather Rose'', was published.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Snider, Richard 1953 births 2009 deaths Role-playing game designers