Scott Fitzgerald Gray
Canadian writer and game designer
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Scott Fitzgerald Gray is a Canadian writer, editor, story editor, and role-playing game designer known for his work on the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing game.
Biography
Gray was born in British Columbia, Canada, and has lived there most of his life.[1] He started playing role-playing games in high school,[2] and has spoken of how discovering Dungeons & Dragons was instrumental in helping him deal with depression and thoughts of suicide as a teenager.[citation needed] In the 1990s he lived in Vancouver, and wrote reviews for the Vancouver Sun.[3][4] His wife is a retired schoolteacher, and they have two daughters.[2]
After spending a number of years in publishing, he started freelancing in tabletop RPGs in 2004,[5][2] working for Wizards of the Coast and a number of smaller companies.[2] He has written and edited upwards of two hundred books, adventures, and articles.[6] Gray was the editor of the fifth edition Monster Manual, and one of the editors of the Dungeon Master's Guide, the Player's Handbook, and the D&D Starter Set.[7] He also worked for Penny Arcade as managing editor and co-creative director on the Acquisitions Incorporated (2019) book published by Wizards of the Coast.[8]
Gray is an author of Secrets of Sarlona (2007).[9] He wrote the third adventure for the Scales of War adventure path in 2009, "The Shadow Rift of Umbraforge".[10] The 2010 version of Tomb of Horrors was written by Gray and Ari Marmell.[11] He is known for the adventure Dead in Thay, written for the D&D Encounters series in 2014 during the D&D Next playtest for 5th edition,[12][13] and updated to appear in the Tales from the Yawning Portal hardcover in 2017.[14][15] He also wrote the ENnie-nominated The Hidden Halls of Hazakor (2018), a 5E starter adventure for young Dungeon Masters, published by his own Insane Angel Studios imprint.[16] He was an editor on the Stranger Things Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set (2019).[17]
In addition to his RPG work, Gray is the author of a number of fantasy novels and anthologies, including We Can Be Heroes (2012), a contemporary SF novel about gamers, whose character story draws on elements from his own life.[18] He also wrote Sidnye (Queen of the Universe) (2013), a science fiction novel about a thirteen-year-old girl.[19]
Gray spoke at a Master Class on writing at the 2021 Word on the Lake Writers' Festival in Salmon Arm,[20] and he was among the cast of presenters for the 2022 Word on the Lake Writers' Festival.[21]
Awards
- Thieves’ World Player’s Manual (Green Ronin Publishing) — Editor — 2006 Honorable Mention ENnie Award for Best Supplement[22]
- Monte Cook’s Arcana Evolved: Spell Treasury (Malhavoc Press) — Editor — 2006 Silver ENnie Award for Best Supplement[22]
- King of the Trollhaunt Warrens (Wizards of the Coast) — Editor — 2009 Silver ENnie Award for Best Adventure[23]
- Dungeons & Dragons Players Handbook (Wizards of the Coast) — Editor — 2015 Gold ENnie Awards for Best Rules, Product Of The Year; 2014 Origins Award for Best Role Playing Game[24][25]
- Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Masters Guide (Wizards of the Coast) — Editor — 2015 Gold ENnie Award for Best Supplement[24]
- Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast) — Editor — 2015 Gold ENnie Award for Best Monster/Adversary; 2014 Origins Award for Best Role Playing Supplement[24][25]
- Dungeons & Dragons Players Handbook (Wizards of the Coast) — Editor — 2015 Gold ENnie Award for Best Game[26]
- Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set (Wizards of the Coast) — Editor — 2015 ENnie Gold Award for Best Family Game[26]
- Tales from the Yawning Portal (Wizards of the Coast) — Designer — 2017 ENnie Awards Judges’ Spotlight Winner[27]
- The Dark of Hot Springs Island (Swordfish Islands) — Editor — 2018 Gold ENnie Award for Best Adventure.[28]
- Sly Flourish's Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master (Last Word Audio) — Editor — 2019 Gold ENnie Award for Best Electronic Book[28]