Scott Bennie has died at the age of 61 as a result of pneumonia complications. Bennie had a major impact on the gaming and tabletop industries throughout his lifetime. During the 90s, Bennie worked at Interplay, where he served in several roles, including producer, designer, and writer. There, he worked on a number of different titles, including the company’s adaptations of The Lord of the Rings, as well as several Star Trek projects. For Bennie, the Star Trek games were a passion project, referring to himself as “a Trekkie since the early 70s” in a 2017 interview with Steemit. Bennie also served as one of the writers on the original Fallout, working on maps, and contributing the name “Dogmeat.”
Following his work at Interplay, Bennie worked on a number of other video games, including Descent, Stonekeep, Champions of Norrath, and more. Outside of his work on video games, Bennie gained a strong reputation working on tabletop RPGs. He began his career with pen and paper RPGs, including games such as Dungeons & Dragons, Runequest, Champions, and more. In Champions Online, Bennie often played as a character named Thundrax, that became well known throughout the community. In a post to the official Champions Online Twitter account, developer Cryptic Studios paid tribute to Bennie’s passing.
“The entire Champions and Cryptic family is saddened to hear about the passing of Scott Bennie, aka Thundrax, a long time designer for the pen and paper Champions game and a avid player of CO. Rest in peace, Scott, we’ll miss you terribly,” the Tweet reads.
Over the last few hours, there have been a number of additional tributes to Bennie across social media, as friends and former coworkers shared kind words. Game designer Matt Forbeck called Bennie “a sharp man, full of neat ideas,” while Colin McComb referred to him as “kind and gentle.” Dungeons & Dragons senior designer Jason Tondro called Bennie “a creative genius.”
In later years, Bennie had taken on a role as a freelance writer. Bennie’s contributions have clearly had a profound impact on many lives, and will likely continue to do so long after his passing.
[H/T: PC Gamer]
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