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Bruce Nesmith

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Bruce Nesmith
Bruce Nesmith, 2018
Born
United States
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Game designer, Novelist
Known forDungeons & Dragons, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Bruce Nesmith is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. He was Creative Director at TSR, working on a variety of games including Dungeons & Dragons, and is a senior game designer at Bethesda Game Studios, where he has worked on AAA titles such as Fallout 3, Fallout 4 and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and was lead designer on Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Career

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TSR, Inc. hired Nesmith in 1981 to design computer games on the Apple II+, and he soon moved on to be a writer of Dungeons & Dragons modules.[1] After the original Dragonlance group began, the Dragonlance Series Design Team was later expanded to include Nesmith as well as Margaret Weis, Douglas Niles, Mike Breault, Roger Moore, Laura Hickman, Linda Bakk, Michael Dobson and Garry Spiegle.[2] Nesmith designed Ravenloft: Realm of Terror (1990), which built on the ideas explored in the original Ravenloft adventure written by the Hickmans in an attempt to make Advanced Dungeons & Dragons competitive with horror role-playing games such as Call of Cthulhu and Chill.[3] Nesmith and Andria Hayday designed the DragonStrike board game, which was published by TSR, Inc.[4]

His other design work for D&D includes The War Rafts of Kron (1984), Sabre River (1984), Master Player Screen Featuring The Spindle (1985), The Book of Lairs II (1987), Tales of the Outer Planes (1988), Monstrous Compendium, Volume 2 (1989), Monstrous Compendium, Volume 1 (1989), Hall of Heroes (1989), Monstrous Compendium Spelljammer Appendix (1990), Monstrous Compendium Greyhawk Appendix (1990), Monstrous Compendium Dragonlance Appendix (1990), Greyhawk Ruins (1990), Touch of Death (1991), Monstrous Compendium Forgotten Realms Appendix II (1991), Goblins' Return (1991), Darklords (1991), Unsung Heroes (1992), From the Shadows (1992), Forbidden Lore (1992), Van Richten's Guide to Werebeasts (1993), House of Strahd (1993), The Created (1993), Ravenloft Campaign Setting, 2nd Ed. (1994), Hour of the Knife (1994), First Quest (1994), Dark Sun Monstrous Compendium Appendix II: Terrors Beyond Tyr (1995), Psionic Artifacts of Athas (1996), and Domains of Dread (1997).

Nesmith was one of the guests of honor at "Winter Fantasy 18" in 1994.[5]

In 1995, Nesmith moved into the computer game field, contributing to The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall computer roleplaying game, and Terminator computer games, and then became a senior game designer for Bethesda Game Studios, where he worked extensively on The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and its expansion, The Shivering Isles.[1] He was also the lead designer on Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.[6] The video game Fallout 3, for which Nesmith did some of the quest writing, was nominated for an award for videogame writing at the Writers Guild of America Awards 2008.[7][8]

In 2021, Nesmith released his first novel, Mischief Maker: Norse Mythology Reimagined.[9]

References

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  1. ^ a b Nesmith, Bruce (2007). "Star Fleet Battles". In Lowder, James (ed.). Hobby Games: The 100 Best. Green Ronin Publishing. pp. 295–297. ISBN 978-1-932442-96-0.
  2. ^ Hickman, Tracy; Weis, Margaret (1987). Dragonlance Adventures. TSR. pp. 2. ISBN 0-88038-452-2.
  3. ^ Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
  4. ^ Swan, Rick (December 1993). "Role-playing Reviews". Dragon (#200). Lake Geneva, Wisconsin: TSR: 117–118.
  5. ^ Jean Rabe, ed. (July 1993). "The Gaming Is Hot at Winter Fantasy™". Polyhedron. Vol. 15, no. 7. Back Cover [p. 32 of scanned version].
  6. ^ Talbot, Carrie (October 28, 2023). "Skyrim's lead designer says he played the RPG for 1,000 hours – 'and for 950 of those hours, it was broken'". GamesRadar+. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  7. ^ "Bruce Nesmith Interview". RPGamer (Interview). Interviewed by Johnathan Stringer. March 21, 2022. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
  8. ^ Fritz, Ben (January 12, 2009). "Writers Guild Videogame Award Nominees Announced". The Cut Scene. Variety. Archived from the original on January 16, 2009.
  9. ^ Nesmith, Bruce (2021). Mischief Maker: Norse Mythology Reimagined. Craig Martelle, Incorporated. ISBN 978-1953062130.
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