Gareth Hanrahan
Irish game designer and novelist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan is an Irish game designer and novelist who has worked primarily on role-playing games.
Gareth Hanrahan | |
|---|---|
Hanrahan at Warpcon 2019 | |
| Occupations | Game designer, author |
Career
Games
Hanrahan was one of the game designers included in the experimental community connected to the Gaming Outpost.[1]: 406 Hanrahan oversaw the writing for Paranoia when Mongoose Publishing brought it in-house.[1]: 398 Hanrahan wrote the fifth RuneQuest setting from Mongoose, Hawkmoon: The Roleplaying Game (2007).[1]: 399 Hanrahan wrote the Traveller Core Rulebook (2008), which was able to outsell RuneQuest and become the new #1 game from Mongoose.[1]: 401 Hanrahan wrote the 12th-century setting Deus Vult (2010) which became one of the settings that received new support in RuneQuest II.[1]: 399 Hanrahan was one of the employees let go in the layoffs which resulted when Mongoose separated from Rebellion in March 2010.[1]: 402
Hanrahan helped Pelgrane Press support their GUMSHOE System by producing monthly supplements, beginning in late 2010.[1]: 385 Cubicle 7 expanded its staff in 2011 by hiring industry insiders such as Hanrahan, Walt Ciechanowski, Charles Ryan, and Neil Ford.[1]: 432 He is currently employed as a full-time writer for Pelgrane Press.[2] He also holds the position of line developer for The Laundry Files roleplaying game published by Cubicle 7.[3]
Fiction
Hanrahan is the author of the Paranoia novel Reality Optional.[4] He has also contributed short stories to the Stone Skin Press anthologies The Lion and the Aardvark[5] and Schemers.[6]
He released his debut novel in 2019, and its sequels in the Black Iron Legacy series in 2020 and 2021:
- The Gutter Prayer, Orbit, January 22, 2019[7]
- The Shadow Saint, Orbit, January 7, 2020[8]
- The Broken God, Orbit, May 18, 2021[9]
The series is a gothic/steampunk adventure, set in the city of Guerdon, which has been described as being inspired by Hanrahan's native city of Cork.[10]
His second trilogy, Lands of the Firstborn, is set years after a band a heroes defeated the Dark Lord, having to come together once more to overcome a new threat.
- The Sword Defiant, Orbit, May 2023 ISBN 9780356516530
- The Sword Unbound, Orbit, May 2024 ISBN 9780356516547
- The Sword Triumphant, Orbit, May 2025 ISBN 9780356516561
Awards and nominations
Hanrahan has received the following ENnie awards:
- 2011: Best New Game (Silver), The Laundry RPG by Cubicle 7[11][12]
- 2012: Best Rules (Silver), Lorefinder: GUMSHOE Pathfinder Mashup by Pelgrane Press[13][14]
Hanrahan has received the following ENnie nominations:
- 2012: Best Adventure, Dead Rock Seven by Pelgrane Press[15]
- 2012: Best Adventure, Invasive Procedures by Pelgrane Press[16]
- 2013: Best Adventure, The Zalozhniy Quartet by Pelgrane Press[17][18]
Hanrahan has received the following Origins nominations:
Games
Games designed / written by Hanrahan include:
- The Slayer's Guide to Titans (2003)[21]
- The Quintessential Halfling (2003)[22]
- The Quintessential Paladin II: Advanced Tactics (2004)[23]
- The Quintessential Druid II (2004)[24]
- OGL Horror (2004)[25]
- The Traitor's Manual (2004), Paranoia RPG[26]
- EarthForce Campaign Book (2005), Babylon 5 Roleplaying Game[27]
- Conan: The Roleplaying Game (2007, 2nd edition)[28]
- The Laundry (2010)
- Primeval: The Role-Playing Game (2011)
- Eyes of the Stone Thief (2015), 13th Age RPG[29]