Contributors

Ashley Brown is currently based in the Sociology Department at the University of Manchester, UK. Although she used to consider herself a true neutral druid of the grove, recent conversations with co-author Matt Jones have caused an alignment drop to neutral evil. Although there are some downsides, she has to admit that raising the dead to do her bidding has certainly increased productivity.

Rob Crandall lives and games in Madison, Wisconsin – for a generous definition of “lives.” As the latest mortal guise of a centuries-old arch-lich, his foul ambition is matched only by his delight in abusing multiclass rules. When not weaving unspeakable plots, he spends his days researching lost magic, maintaining his army of minions, and tempting adventurers with promises of dark power. He spends his nights trying to get enough rest to recover his spell slots.

Robert A. Delfino is Associate Professor of Philosophy at St. John’s University, New York. He received his PhD from SUNY Buffalo, where he specialized in metaphysics and medieval philosophy. His current research interests include the relationship between science and religion, the metaphysical foundations of ethics, and the nature of the soul. In the fifth grade he was lucky to sit next to Jerome Hillock, who introduced him to D&D and many years of great friendship and adventure. There are days when he would prefer to live in Rivendell, spending nights drinking ale and mead while laughing with old friends.

Ben Dyer has taken several levels in moral and political philosophy, and has recently begun multi-classing in instructional design. A lawful-good philosopher, he quests in search of truth, justice, and warm feelings of moral superiority, knowing full well that he may never find truth and justice. He is also a conscientious objector to the edition wars whose tabletop tastes are ecumenical, frequently eccentric, and liable to tinkering given world enough and time.

Karington Hess is one of the innkeepers at Ravenwood Castle. Tales of his exploits are well known in the gilded city of Quincy, Illinois. Recently he has traveled to the faraway land of Ohio in search of new adventures and excitement. In his current role as innkeeper, he tends to the needs of the wary travelers who bravely venture in to the perilous reaches of southeastern Ohio. He enjoys the many tales of treasure, heroism, magic, and the good life told to him by other adventurers. He has a tale or two himself to tell already, but as he looks at his old bag of holding, he wonders … Is he ready for his next adventure?

Jerome C. Hillock received his BA in English literature from Rutgers University. It was 1982 on Staten Island, NY, when he was first introduced to AD&D by his elder brother, Charlie. It was not a direct indoctrination, but rather consisted of raids of his brother’s room the next morning for Entenmann’s chocolate chip cookies where he would peruse the painted metal figurines and read the obscure manuals left there. Jerome felt impelled to anoint himself with the mantle of Dungeon Master and imposed his esteemed title on his fifth-grade desk partner Robert Delfino. A year later, his role was officiated through the mail in receipt of a dozen pencils from Honey Nut Cheerio emblazoned “The DM Rules!” Jerome is credited in the financial industry with starting the trend of assigning all clients in terms of strength, intelligence, wisdom, dexterity, constitution, and charisma on a 3–18 scale. Jerome can be found on the weekends evangelizing with his deities and demigods, first edition, which includes Cthulhu and Melnibonean gods. His main Dungeon Mastering continues with his 4-year-old son, where he teaches him how to get along with NPCs.

Matt Hummel, after venturing north to become a Master of Arts in ethics and values at Valparaiso University, returned to his homeland in Evansville, Indiana. There he serves as a second-level apprentice to the dark wizards commonly referred to as “defense attorneys.” In exchange for tutelage in the mystical and all but incomprehensible sorcery that is American criminal law, he gives the “lawyers” lessons in shapeshifting, helping them seem almost human as they advocate for those accused of being wicked. Word has it Matt will soon adjunct at the Academy of the Underdark to instruct new generations in the backward morality of drow society.

Matthew Jones is a doctoral student writing on the political and religious thought of Thomas Hobbes. Reports that he is either lawful evil in alignment or affiliated in any way with the cults of Orcus or Chemosh are greatly exaggerated.

The Hand and Eye of Greg Littmann are cursed artifacts. If a character removes an eye and replaces it with the Eye of Greg Littmann, they will become Associate Professor of Philosophy at SIUE. If they amputate their hand and attach the Hand to the stump, they will publish on metaphilosophy, metaphysics and philosophy of logic, and will write more than twenty-five chapters for books relating philosophy to popular culture, including volumes on Adventure Time, Big Bang Theory, Doctor Who, Final Fantasy, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Neil Gaiman, and Roald Dahl. A character who attaches both the Eye and Hand will contract septicemia.

Esther MacCallum-Stewart has been spending weekends in muddy fields waving swords or drinking bad wine in bedsits whilst rolling for initiative for most of her life. She spent her first live action role-playing event lying in a bramble bush because the party hadn’t noticed she was dead (hey, it was dark, okay!), but didn’t let it put her off and has been pulling thorns out of her cloaks ever since. Esther has been role-playing with a group of friends for over twenty years, where they have seen betrayal, love on the Reik, and far too many voluminous muffs for comfort. She has an unconscionable fondness for dwarves (och, they’re nice), and prides herself on her collection of lovely, lovely dice. Esther is also a Research Fellow at the Digital Cultures Research Centre and a Senior Lecturer at the University of Surrey, UK. Her work examines the ways that players understanding gaming narratives, and she has written widely on role-playing, gender, deviant play, and gaming communities.

Kevin McCain is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is a master of the sneak attack and superb at hurling well-placed fireballs. But, he is most sought after for his dice-rolling skills and his ability to pass the potato chips during the surprise round of combat. It is for these reasons that his name is spoken in hushed whispers around gaming tables the world over.

J.K. Miles is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Quincy University. He has been rolling dice since he was knee high to a kobold and cut his teeth on the first printing of AD&D. He favors the rogue class and thinks paladins make great meat shields. His love of medieval and Renaissance life led him to join the Society for Creative Anachronism so he could poke people with a sword for real, though he was disappointed they didn’t allow sneak attacks. Occasionally he can be found quaffing potions of wisdom to help with his philosophy research and figuring out ways to work discussions of Marvel Comics into his ethics lectures.

Neil Mussett, using second edition rules, switched classes from graduate-level philosopher to first-level programmer. He has advanced to one level higher than his previous philosopher class and is now able to use those abilities (although he can never advance as a philosopher). He aspires one day to make sense of the rules around Psionic Powers.

Shannon M. Mussett is Associate Professor of Philosophy and chair of the Department of Philosophy and Humanities at Utah Valley University. After a childhood spent playing D&D, drawing unicorns, and reading fantasy novels, she decided to grow up and become a professor of philosophy where she basically gets paid to do the same thing.

Jeffery L. Nicholas went to school to be a bard, but was misled by a cleric and ended up being a wizard (of philosophy), which is fine since he doesn’t have charisma anyway and at least didn’t end up a cleric. His backpack contains several scrolls of pop culture and philosophy: one in The Big Lebowski and Philosophy and one in Ender’s Game and Philosophy. He also penned a tome on reason … mainly because he failed an intelligence check once. The wizarding life has caused Jeff to move his family across the great land of “America” twice, but now he resides in the poorly named Rhode Island where he teaches ethics at Providence College.

Samantha Noll is a doctoral student in philosophy of science and animal ethics at Michigan State University. She’s been an avid Dungeons & Dragons player since the tender age of 8, when she saved up her allowance money to buy her first Dungeon Master’s Guide. At that time, she could occasionally be caught wearing a wizarding robe, using her staff to dispel demons (aka her brothers) from her plane of existence (aka her room). Today, while her wizarding robe and staff are largely lost in the attic crypt, it is whispered in dark alleys that goblins should take care, as you never know when they might surface again … to the chagrin of her spouse.

Christopher Robichaud is Lecturer in Ethics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He’s been rolling D20s for over three decades and shows no signs of stopping. He’d like to give a shout-out to his weekly group at Pandemonium Books and Games in Central Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Young and old alike, his players tolerate him brutalizing their characters with glee in the deadly dungeon crawls he runs. A Dungeon Master at heart, Christopher never gained the evil superpowers that the 1980s promised him he was going to get from playing the game, but that’s never kept him from enjoying it all the same.

Charles Taliaferro (neutral good human cleric) teaches philosophy and religion at St. Olaf College, where his auxiliary responsibilities include protecting the campus from the undead. After he was gravely injured in a quest to recover a copy of the Book of Exalted Deeds from Nessus he was forced to retire from active adventuring, but he keeps his holy symbol polished and ready in case his god calls upon him to once more face the forces of evil. He enjoys vacations on Arborea, although he wishes the eladrin would turn the music down.

William J. White is Associate Professor of Communication Arts & Sciences at Penn State Altoona. His players assure him that a PhD in communication has improved his dungeon mastering skills immensely. He is particularly proud of his Campbellian random adventure generator, “The Hero with 1d1000 Faces,” which appeared in Dragon #274. More recently, his noirish Lovecraftian RPG scenario, “The Big Hoodoo,” in which the player-characters are sci-fi authors Bob Heinlein, Phil Dick, and Tony Boucher investigating the death by explosion of rocket scientist occultist Jack Parsons in 1952 Pasadena (published by Pelgrane Press in a collection called Out of Time), was declared by one critic to be “an excellent example of hitting what you’re aiming at.” If you ask him nicely, he’ll probably come run a game for you and your friends.