Loren Wiseman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Loren Wiseman
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Loren Wiseman
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| Born | March 7, 1951 Bloomington, Illinois, U.S.
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| Died | February 14, 2017 (aged 65) Austin, Texas, U.S.
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| Resting place | Randolph Township Cemetery (Heyworth, Illinois) |
| Occupation | Wargame and role-playing game designer, game developer, editor |
| Years active | 44 |
| Known for | Journal of the Traveller' Aid Society, Twilight: 2000, GURPS Traveller |
Loren Keith Wiseman (March 7, 1951 – February 14, 2017) was an American game designer. He created wargames and role-playing games. He also worked as a game developer and editor. He is well-known for his work on games like Traveller and Twilight: 2000.
Contents
Loren Wiseman's Gaming Journey
Starting Game Designers' Workshop
After finishing college, Loren Wiseman helped start a company called Game Designers' Workshop (GDW). He co-founded it with Frank Chadwick, Rich Banner, and Marc Miller on June 22, 1973.
In 1974, Wiseman published his first wargame, Eagles. This was the fifth game released by GDW. Later, another company, Avalon Hill, published it as Caesar's Legions.
As a partner at GDW, Loren's main job was game development. This meant he edited and improved game ideas and made them ready for publishing. During this time, he designed the wargame Pharsalus (1977). He also wrote an award-winning adventure for the Twilight: 2000 role-playing game called Going Home.
Working on Traveller
Wiseman helped design the popular role-playing game Traveller (1977). He worked on it with Frank Chadwick, John Harshman, and Marc Miller.
Loren was also the editor for the Journal of the Travellers Aid Society magazine. He edited 24 issues of this magazine. After that, he edited its next version, Challenge magazine, for 53 issues.
He brought J. Andrew Keith and William H. Keith, Jr. to GDW to work as freelancers. These three designers helped shape the early stories and world of the Traveller universe.
Leading Twilight: 2000
Loren Wiseman became the "line developer" for Twilight: 2000. A line developer's job at GDW was very important. The designer would write the game's story and rules. But the developer would put all the parts together. This included diagrams and artwork. They would then prepare the text for printing and make sure the game was published correctly. Loren designed 20 out of 46 extra titles for the Twilight: 2000 series.
Moving to Steve Jackson Games
When GDW closed in 1995, Loren Wiseman worked some part-time jobs. Soon after, he was offered a job at Steve Jackson Games. He became their Art Director and the editor for their Traveller game line.
Steve Jackson hired Wiseman to create the GURPS Traveller (1998) series. Loren wrote the main GURPS Traveller book. He also wrote several other books for the series. These included GURPS Traveller Nobles and The Interstellar Wars.
Awards and Recognition
Loren Wiseman received many awards for his excellent work.
- He won the H. G. Wells Award for Twilight: 2000 Going Home in 1986.
- He also won the H. G. Wells Award three years in a row (1979, 1980, 1981) for the Journal of the Travellers Aid Society.
In 2003, Loren was the special Gaming Guest of Honor at CoastCon. This is a well-known science fiction convention.
In 2004, Loren received a very high honor in the gaming world. He was added to the Adventure Gaming Hall of Fame. This showed how much his work was valued.
In 2010, he was featured as the king of clubs in Flying Buffalo's Famous Game Designers Playing Card Deck. This recognized him as a "famous game designer."
His Passing
Loren Wiseman passed away on February 14, 2017. He was 65 years old.
