Kenneth Eugene St. Andre (born on April 28, 1947 in Ogden, Utah) is an American fantasy author and game designer, best known for his work with Tunnels & Trolls and Wasteland. He has been an active member of The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America since 1989.
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Game design
St. Andre is the original designer of the 'pen-and-paper' role-playing game Tunnels & Trolls which was first released by Flying Buffalo, Inc. in 1975.[1] In addition to writing the game rules, Ken was one of the creators of solitaire adventures which allowed players to experience the game without a game master or judge. St. Andre has written many modules and stand alone adventures for Tunnels and Trolls.
He also worked as a designer on the role-playing games Stormbringer and Monsters! Monsters!, and the video game Wasteland. In 2008, he modified the 7th edition Tunnels and Trolls to bring the game world into modern times and turned it into a superhero RPG called Power Trip.
In 1986, Ken was also the first editor for a fan club newsletter based around the Adventure Construction Set video game, one of the rare cases of a professional designer leading gamer activities for another designer's game.
In 2011, St. Andre and Richard Loomis (president and owner of Flying Buffalo, Inc.) created a Kickstarter project to fund a new edition of Tunnels & Trolls. The project met its funding goals, and is scheduled to be released in February, 2013.
Fiction
St. Andre has written various short stories and novels.
- "Old Soldiers Never" (1989), in Shrapnel: Fragments from the Inner Sphere, a Battletech anthology.
- "Turtle in the Tower" (1990), in Shadowrun: Into the Shadows edited by Jordan K. Weisman. An anthology of stories based on the Shadowrun role-playing game. (ISBN 1-55560-118-9).
- "The Two Worst Thieves in Khazan" (1992) in "Mages Blood and Old Bones".
- "The Triple Death" (1995), in Enchanted Forests edited by Katharine Kerr and Martin H. Greenberg. An anthology of stories about magical woods. (ISBN 0-88677-672-4).
- "Moral Invaders" (2005) in Flash Fantastic. A very short story in issue 16 of the online magazine.
- "A Thief's Day in Khazan" (2005) in Golden Heroes.
- Dragon Child (2006), by Ken St. Andre and James L. Shipman. A fantasy novel based on the Tunnels & Trolls role-playing game.
- Griffin Feathers (2008), by Ken St. Andre. A collection of linked short stories based on the Tunnels & Trolls role-playing game.
- "Introduction: Trollgod's Treasure Hunt" (2008) in Troll Tunnels, edited by Christina Lea. A collection of short sword and sorcery tales.
- "The Awakening" (2008) in Troll Tunnels, by Ken St. Andre and James L. Shipman.
Personal life
Ken St. Andre lives in Phoenix, Arizona. He and his wife Catherine initiated divorce proceedings in 2012. They have two grown children, a daughter named Jillian and son named James. On August 27, 2010, he retired after 36 years of service to the city of Phoenix as a public librarian.[2][3]
References
External links
- Ken St. Andre's SFWA web page
- Trollhalla - online fanclub for Tunnels & Trolls, run by St. Andre.
- Delver's Tales - Ken's gaming blog
- Atroll's Entertainment - Ken's all purpose blog
- Ken St. Andre at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
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