Andy Collins Game designer who wrote several books for the role-playing game “Dungeons” Country: USA

1. Biography of Andy Collins
2. Early Life and Education
3. Professional Career
4. Contributions to the Gaming Community

Biography of Andy Collins

Andy Collins, a game designer who has written several books for the role-playing game "Dungeons & Dragons," grew up in Olympia, Washington. On his tenth birthday, his uncle gave him a copy of the original "Dungeons & Dragons" set. However, Andy was not familiar with other players, and it was difficult for him to understand the rules without a game board and figurines. Andy says that one day he, his brother, and his friend finally sat down to play the game. After nine hours, during which they skipped breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the boys realized that they were hooked.

Early Life and Education

Andy Collins was a fan of the "Star Wars" series and went to the theater to see each film in the series multiple times. In school and college, Collins did not give up his passion for gaming. In 1994, he graduated from Stanford University with a degree in English language.

Professional Career

In April 1996, Collins joined the company "Wizards of the Coast" as an editor and developer. His first project was the science fiction game "Alternity," for which he developed several products, including the campaign "Dark Matter." After "Wizards of the Coast" discontinued the production of "Alternity," Collins became one of the developers of the "Star Wars Roleplaying Game." Collins commented on working on this game, saying, "It is very interesting to work with Bill Slavicsek. I have seen all the movies, read several books, but he knows everything about the 'Star Wars' universe – all the movies, all the books, all the comics, all the material. Everything!" As an experienced player and a "Star Wars" fan participating in the game's development, Collins describes his emotions as, "I could paraphrase Lou Gehrig and say, 'I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth because I get to do this with such great people. Sometimes when I'm walking down the hall, I feel like pinching myself."

Contributions to the Gaming Community

Andy Collins also wrote a column called "Sage Advice" in the magazine "Dragon" and later the column "Sage Advice Online" on the "Wizards of the Coast" website. Collins was part of the team that worked on the revision of the 3.5 version of "Dungeons & Dragons" and was also one of the authors of the 4th edition "Player's Handbook."