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Chris Perkins (game designer)

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Chris Perkins
Perkins at the Penny Arcade Expo in 2008, second from the left
Born
Christopher Perkins

(1968-02-29) February 29, 1968 (age 56)
Canada
NationalityAmerican
Other namesChristopher Zarathustra
OccupationGame designer
Years active1988–present
Known forStory design for Dungeons & Dragons

Christopher Perkins (born February 29, 1968[1]) is a Canadian American[2] game designer and editor who is known for his work on Wizards of the Coast's Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, currently as the Creative Director.[3]

Career

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Under the pen name "Christopher Zarathustra", Perkins got his career start in 1988 writing the adventure "Wards of Witching Ways" for Dungeon magazine #11.[4] He later officially started working for Wizards of the Coast in 1997, beginning as the editor for Dungeon.[5][6][7] A few years later, he was promoted to editor-in-chief of Wizards periodicals.[8]

Perkins later became the senior producer for Dungeons & Dragons, leading the team of designers, developers, and editors who make products for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.[5][7] Perkins was the story manager for Dungeons & Dragons in 2007 before the release of the game's fourth edition.[9] Perkins was working on the Star Wars Saga Edition while Dungeons & Dragons fourth edition was being developed, and ideas were exchanged freely between Perkins and the fourth edition team.[10] He was also on the SCRAMJET team, led by Richard Baker, and including James Wyatt, Matthew Sernett, Ed Stark, Michele Carter, and Stacy Longstreet; this team updated the setting and cosmology of Dungeons & Dragons as the fourth edition was being developed.[10]

Perkins wrote a blog, "The Dungeon Master Experience", on the Wizards of the Coast website for over two years, where he shared tricks and advice about the challenge of "dungeon mastering" a campaign through the lens of his homebrew world, Iomandra.[11] However, in the penultimate posting of March 2013, he announced the following posting would be the last "at least for a while", whereupon the blog became inactive.[12]

Perkins was the Lead Story Designer for the adventure module Curse of Strahd, released in 2016, which added Ravenloft to the 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons.[13][14] In 2018, Perkins was the senior story designer for Dungeons & Dragons.[15] In a 2024 interview, he highlighted that as the Game Architect for the Dungeons & Dragons brand his "primary responsibility is to manage the team of designers and editors" who make the tabletop game products along with supporting "other D&D teams as well as business partners".[16] In October 2024, Perkins stated that "although I made substantial contributions to the Monster Manual (2025) and the next D&D starter set, the Dungeon Master's Guide (2024) is the last official D&D book in which I'm credited as a product lead".[17] He later clarified that his position at Wizards of the Coast has shifted from Game Design Architect to Creative Director.[3]

Actual play

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See also: Actual play

Perkins was the longtime Dungeon Master for the Acquisitions Incorporated Dungeons & Dragons games at the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX), until PAX Unplugged 2018.[18][19][20] The games began in 2008 with the 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons before switching to the 5th edition following the release of the new edition.[21]

From 2016 to 2019, Perkins was the Dungeon Master in the Twitch show Dice, Camera, Action, which was a livestream play-through of Dungeons & Dragons' latest story lines.[20][22][23] He has also guest starred twice on the Dungeons & Dragons-based show, Critical Role.[20][24]

Personal life

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In his free time, Perkins runs a Dungeons & Dragons campaign set in his homebrew world of Iomandra.[5]

References

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  1. ^ "Happy Birthday to Dungeon Master Chris Perkins". Dungeons & Dragons. 29 February 2016. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  2. ^ Perkins, Christoper (4 June 2016). "I was born in Canada..." Twitter. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  3. ^ a b Perkins, Chris [@ChrisPerkinsDnD] (October 17, 2024). "Not true. I *was* a Game Design Architect. Now I'm the Creative Director, which is a more "behind the scenes" gig that lets me play quietly in a bunch of different sandboxes. #wotcstaff" (Tweet). Retrieved October 21, 2024 – via Twitter.
  4. ^ Baichtal, John (5 March 2008). "Chris Perkins Answers D&D 4E Questions". Wired. Condé Nast. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  5. ^ a b c "Christopher Perkins - D&D Creative Manager". Dungeons & Dragons. Wizards of the Coast. 12 September 2009. Archived from the original on 14 August 2010. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
  6. ^ "Christopher Perkins :: Pen & Paper RPG Database". Archived from the original on October 4, 2007. Retrieved February 2, 2018.
  7. ^ a b "Chris Perkins". Dungeons & Dragons. Archived from the original on November 29, 2017. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
  8. ^ "The Magic Touch". The Seattle Times. 2000. Archived from the original on May 3, 2014. Retrieved April 19, 2013.
  9. ^ Villoria, Gerald (September 10, 2007). "Dungeons & Dragons: The 4th Edition Interview". GameSpy. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on December 7, 2008. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
  10. ^ a b Appelcline, Shannon (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. p. 298. ISBN 978-1-907702-58-7.
  11. ^ "Article Archive". Dungeons & Dragons. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2014-10-12. Retrieved 2015-10-22.
  12. ^ Perkins, Chris (2013-03-14). "Until the Next Encounter". Dungeons & Dragons. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on February 18, 2015. Retrieved 2015-10-22.
  13. ^ "Chris Perkins and Tracy Hickman on Curse of Strahd". Dungeons & Dragons. 21 January 2016. Archived from the original on 2017-09-21. Retrieved 2017-09-22.
  14. ^ Whalen, Andrew (2018-12-03). "'D&D' roleplayers can alter reality with Worldbuilders boons from Critical Role, Patrick Rothfuss". Newsweek. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
  15. ^ Brodeur, Nicole (2018-05-04). "Behind the scenes of the making of Dungeons & Dragons". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
  16. ^ Johnson, Deej (2024-04-02). "DUNGEONS & DRAGONS at 50: a chat with Chris Perkins, Game Design Architect, WOTC". Brands Untapped. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  17. ^ Hall, Charlie (2024-10-15). "Matt Mercer, Deborah Ann Woll, other professional DMs helped write the new Dungeon Master's Guide". Polygon. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  18. ^ Gabe (2011-08-01). "Acquisitions Inc". Penny Arcade. Retrieved 2015-10-22.
  19. ^ Haeck, James (2018-12-03). "Chris Perkins Steps Down from Acquisitions Inc.; Jeremy Crawford Named Successor". D&D Beyond. Wizards of the Coast. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  20. ^ a b c Hoffer, Christian (1 February 2019). "Chris Perkins Makes Hilarious Surprise Appearance on 'Critical Role'". ComicBook.com. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
  21. ^ Hall, Charlie (2015-08-27). "Watch Acquisitions Inc. from PAX 2015, one of the most-watched D&D games of all time". Polygon. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  22. ^ "Dice, Camera, Action". Dungeons & Dragons. 17 February 2016. Archived from the original on February 20, 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  23. ^ "Dungeons & Dragons on Twitter". twitter. 3 December 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  24. ^ "Critical Role: Episode 55 - Umbrasyl". Geek & Sundry. 2016-06-06. Archived from the original on August 14, 2016. Retrieved 2016-06-15.
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