Steve Kenson (born June 16, 1969) is a writer and designer of

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) and related fiction.

Career

Steve Kenson began working as an author and game designer in 1995. Kenson co-wrote the super-hero

'' Silver Age Sentinels'', which was published by Guardians of Order in 2002. As he worked on the game, Kenson also created a setting called Freedom City to be used with ''Silver Age Sentinels'', but when he pitched the setting to Guardians of Order they were not interested. Chris Pramas of

Green Ronin Publishing Green Ronin Publishing is an American company based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 2000 by Chris Pramas and Nicole Lindroos, they have published several role-playing game–related products. They won several awards for their games includi ...

asked Kenson to design a new d20-based superhero role-playing game, so Kenson developed '' Mutants & Masterminds'' in 2002 and his '' Freedom City'' setting was published in 2003. Kenson was made the line developer for ''Mutants & Masterminds'' in 2004, and became a more regular contributor to products from Green Ronin. Kenson worked with John Snead to produce ''

Blue Rose A blue rose is a flower of the genus ''Rosa'' (family Rosaceae) that presents blue-to-violet pigmentation instead of the more common red, white, or yellow, through use of artificial means such as dyes. Blue roses are often used to symbolize myst ...

'', a

romantic fantasy Romantic fantasy, or "romantasy", is a Genre, subgenre of fantasy fiction that combines fantasy and Romance novel, romance, describing a fantasy story using many of the elements and conventions of the chivalric romance genre. One of the key featur ...

role-playing game published by Green Ronin in 2005. Kenson designed the ''Paragons'' setting for ''Mutants & Masterminds'', which Green Ronin published in 2007. His most notable creation is the

d20 System The d20 System is a role-playing game system published in 2000 by Wizards of the Coast, originally developed for the Editions of Dungeons & Dragons#Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition, 3rd edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons''. The system is named after ...

superhero roleplaying game '' Mutants & Masterminds'' for

, which won multiple ENnie awards. He also designed True20 Adventure Roleplaying and the Freedom City campaign setting for Green Ronin. He has written material for many RPGs, including: '' Aberrant'', '' Champions'', ''

DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the shared universe in which most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. In context, the term "DC Universe" usually refers to the main DC Continuity (fiction), continuity. It contains v ...

'', the '' Marvel Super-Heroes Adventure Game'', ''

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 ...

'', '' Silver Age Sentinels'', and his ''Mutants and Masterminds''. He has written nine RPG tie-in novels: seven for the original ''

'' series, one for ''

Crimson Skies ''Crimson Skies'' is a tabletop and a video game media franchise created by Jordan Weisman and Dave McCoy, first released as a board game in 1998 and then as a PC game in 2000. The series' intellectual property is currently owned by Microsoft C ...

'', and one for ''

MechWarrior ''MechWarrior'' is a series of video games set in the fictional universe of ''BattleTech''. Games Within the ''MechWarrior'' games, players take control of a single BattleTech technology#BattleMechs, BattleMech and combat other BattleMechs, ...

''. He wrote a first trilogy of ''Shadowrun'' books produced by WizKids Games after they acquired the ''Shadowrun'' property from

FASA Corporation 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 ...

: ''Born to Run,'' ''Poison Agendas,'' and ''Fallen Angels.'' In 1993, Kenson helped to found Nashua Outright, a social/support group for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and questioning youth and their allies in

Nashua, NH Nashua () is a city in southern New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 91,322, the second-largest in northern New England after nearby Manchester. It is one of two county seats of New Hampshire's most populou ...

. He worked with the group as a volunteer facilitator for thirteen years. Kenson became a full-time freelance writer for RPGs in 1995. In 2004, he became a line developer for

, the publisher of ''Mutants & Masterminds'' and True20. He cowrote 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 ...

'' manual ''

Exemplars of Evil ''Exemplars of Evil'' is a supplement to the 3.5 edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game written by Robert J. Schwalb. Contents ''Exemplars of Evil'' is an accessory that shows how to build memorable villains for ''Dungeons & D ...

'' (2007). In 2010 Kenson published ''

ICONS Superpowered Role Playing An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic, and Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, saints, and angels. Although especially ...

'', a rules-light superhero RPG. A revised and expanded ''

ICONS Assembled An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic, and Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, saints, and angels. Although especially ...

'' was published through Green Ronin in 2014. Icons is currently supported by Kenson's publishing mark, Ad Infinitum Adventures, and is available through DriveThruRPG.com . Kenson lives in Merrimack,

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

, with his partners, Christopher Penczak and Adam Sartwell.

Awards and honors

''Mutants and Masterminds'' * 2003 EN World "ENnie" Award – Best d20 Game ''Mutants & Masterminds: Ultimate Power'' * 2007 En World "ENnie" Award – Best Art, Interior * 2007 En World "ENnie" Award – Best Rules * 2007 En World "ENnie" Award – Best d20/d20 OGL Product * 2015 GamersTable Appreciation Award

References

External links

Steve Kenson's web pageSteve Kenson RPG bibliography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenson, Steve 1969 births American gay writers Living people American role-playing designers Role-playing game writers